The Three Wartime Instincts Obama Lacks
The president's shortcomings have placed the Afghan war effort in serious jeopardy.
Last month, as the war in Afghanistan entered its ninth year, it became clear that President Obama lacks certain requisite instincts necessary for a wartime commander. There are three leadership flaws in particular.
The first is Obama’s disconcerting tendency to distrust the operational capabilities of the United States military. It is now ironclad history that Obama was wrong on the Iraq surge. “It is clear at this point that we cannot, through putting more troops or maintaining the presence that we have, expect that somehow the situation [in Iraq] is going to improve,” then-Senator Obama said in October 2006, three months prior to the surge. “I am not persuaded that 20,000 additional troops in Iraq are going to solve the sectarian violence there. In fact, I think it will do the reverse,” Obama said once the surge was announced, later insisting that the new strategy would “not prove to be one that changes the dynamics significantly.”
The rest, as they say, is history. A new and comprehensive military-diplomatic strategy, now singularly known as “the surge,” was spearheaded by Ambassador Crocker, along with Gens. Petraeus and Odierno. Together, the new war team oversaw a reinforcement of soldiers and Marines into Iraq. Their mission? To leave their bases, walk the streets, and protect the Iraqi population from insurgent violence; to connect with the populace and form anti-terrorist alliances with the locals.
Spectacularly, that is precisely what happened. Sunni Iraqis came into the political fold and Shiite warlords disappeared into isolation. Anbari tribes flipped on al-Qaeda and drove the foreign jihadists out of Iraq itself. Cities were secured and provinces were pacified. Violence plummeted and casualties — U.S. and Iraqi, civilian and military alike — decreased almost exponentially. Insurgent attacks, bombings, kidnappings, and assassinations, which were once daily occurrences, became dispersed and infrequent. Ethnic strife was tamed; civil war was averted. The Iraq war was, miraculously and ever so slowly, coming to an end — and most consequentially, a successful and peaceful end.
Had Obama gotten his way in 2006-07, none of this would have happened. Iraq today would have fragmented, imploding under the weight of Iranian-stoked sectarianism and Salafist-incited civil destruction. The United States would have lost and there would have been both genocidal and generational costs to pay. Yet during the Democratic primaries, Obama, seeking to outflank Clinton on her political left, treated Iraq with utter insouciance. Iraq, after all, was the war of “choice,” the bad “unnecessary” war to Afghanistan’s “good war” and “war of necessity.”
Obama parsed words throughout the entirety of the campaign. Even after all objective observers came to the conclusion that the surge was having tangible and positive effects on conditions in Iraq, Obama was still saying, “My assessment is that the surge has not worked,” long after everyone else concluded otherwise. Why was this so? Sure, Obama occasionally gave credit to the military, but he never put the military’s successes in context of the big picture, for that would compel him to divulge he was wrong. It was as if Obama was too proud to admit that the U.S. military actually accomplished what he initially thought they could not. To do so would have played right into Senator McCain’s hands, and that was a political price Barack Obama, the ambitious upstart, would never pay.
President Obama is repeating the same symptoms today in regards to Afghanistan.
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Nicholas Guariglia is a foreign policy analyst and columnist who writes on Islam and Middle Eastern geopolitics. He is a contributing editor for Family Security Matters and blogs at WorldThreats.com. He can be reached at nickguar@gmail.com.
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57 Comments
1. Chris:President Obama is hard core liberal (maybe worse) and he wants to transform America into something most Americans abhor. He despises the military and has nor regard for the valor of our men and women in uniform, even as they are attacked at home by a cowardly jihadist. There is no way that we can be militarily defeated by the rabble that is the Taliban and al-Qaeda, however just as in Vietnam, where we never lost a battle but lost the war due to the lack of political will to WIN we risk the same outcome . Obama has already stated that victory is not what he seeks in Afghanistan, enough said. The next president will no doubt have a disastrous situation to rectify when he/she takes office in 2013.
Nov 6, 2009 - 2:36 am 2. Free man:Fort Hood shows where the priorities should be.
Nov 6, 2009 - 3:02 am 3. kochevnik:Yes it is so important to make wars to enrich the banksters. We are all chattel only meant to die so that plutocracy may further entrench their death grip on the planet. Al-Qaeda is a real threat, not the name of a database CIA assets from the 90s. Look at the name: Qaeda means place or table. And Osama was working for the CIA on 9/11. Doesn’t that mean that the CIA is directly linked with the WTC and Pentagon? Oh why isn’t Osama on the FBI list for 911? Is that because they’re slightly more factual with less time to chase ghosts for political propaganda?
Nov 6, 2009 - 3:24 am 4. Sickening:The three most important instincts that Obama doesn’t have are; The heart of an American, the Spirit of an American and the Courage of an American.
Nov 6, 2009 - 3:40 am 5. formwiz:“What decision will President Obama make? We will find out in the coming weeks.”
Don’t count on it.
Nov 6, 2009 - 4:00 am 6. Booker T. Gain:There’s no reason to believe Barack Hussein Obama is interested in winning the war in Afghanistan. He advocated and agitated for Iraq to be conceded to al Qaeda and Iran. He’s unfit. His election is a cruel joke upon all who serve their country.
Nov 6, 2009 - 5:12 am 7. GLASS:My very strong feeling is that the USA had better belly up to the bar and be prepared to do what they had commited to do in Afghanistan under NATO guidelines. Failing that and turning it into another political war, Viet Nam style, allies may be few and far between the next time around when help is asked for.
Your new Commander in Chief is not trusted in Canadian military circles already because of his political antics on the home front, a war is a war, not a political exercise. If you are going to fight you use everything at your disposal to get it over as fast as possible to save your own, not pussy foot around for political purposes. Fight to win, not win friends, you can always do that later.
Nov 6, 2009 - 5:21 am 8. justasimplepatriot:A phrase comes to mind: “This is a 100 knot mind trying to deal with a mach 2 problem.”
This is not necessarily referring to native intelligence, or the lack thereof. It is referring to the inability to “get ahead of the airplane.” In a continuous motion activity, you can’t call a time out and think your way out of a problem. Flying an airplane is like that. So is leading troops in a time of war.
This does not mean you act without thinking, either. Being “ahead of the airplane” means you are anticipating the possible problems and weighing contingencies before the problem is at hand.
Obama’s hesitancy is causing needless deaths among our troops. The blood is on his hands. Charisma is not leadership.
Nov 6, 2009 - 6:02 am 9. BigMac:The contrast here between President Obama and his hero President Lincoln is pretty clear. Lincoln used to jump up and down in frustration because he couldn’t get his generals to act—he once asked McClellan if he might borrow the Army of the Potomac if the general had no plans to use it. Generals Petraeus and McChrystal have made up their minds and I don’t know how wise it would be to accept anyone else’s judgment against theirs. Still, the decision is not a simple one and there is more than one alternative approach available. If I understand them correctly (I don’t want to put words in their mouths), respected military thinkers like Ralph Peters, William Lind, and others argue that all-out COIN is the worst possible strategy for America in Afghanistan, that it will make matters worse and all but guarantee defeat.
Nov 6, 2009 - 6:03 am 10. whyamInotsurprised?:Barry is still playing gangland. He was elected a wolf in sheeps clothing. He cares nothing for the concept of America. He is only worried about consolidating his power on his own turf while he can with his merry band of loons. The rest of the world can wait. And so can our troops.
A-stan, someone else’s turf right now. Why bother. Gots his own problems on his own turf. Once he has his power here in hand, then he can go for the next power grab. Until then expect him to vote “present” on foreign affairs.
Nov 6, 2009 - 6:16 am 11. JED:It took the commander-in-chief 4 months to pick out a house dog. How long will it take for the public to decide weither he is diliberating or dithering? Is he still refusing to work above his pay-grade?
Nov 6, 2009 - 7:40 am 12. gracie:Above and beyond all, Obama lacks a love of America and her people.
Where are the trolls with their crappy comments on this?
Nov 6, 2009 - 7:56 am 13. Poor Citizen:no. 12 Gracie…
I am sorry, I have been mourning the loss of my fellow countrymen at the hands of that moron…
Then I read your comment, .. now that was really funny.
Thanks for that. Sometimes people dont realize when they bring a smile through the tears. I am not sure if I am a troll or not. And I dont really have any crappy comments to make at this time. Sorry if I disappoint you. I hope someone comes in to help you out though. Thanks again.
Nov 6, 2009 - 8:37 am 14. Peter the Bubblehead:I will say it again. The Won’s choices are simple.
A) Send the troops and equipment his Generals have requested and let them fight until victory.
B) Withdraw all the troops now, bring them all home, but be willing to accept the blame when the excrement hits the occilating air distributor and Afghanistan goes further down the hole than it was 1999-2001.
We all know The Won’s ego won’t allow him to accept blame for anything, but likewise he doesn’t seem to want to allow the US military to do its job properly either, and it just hasn’t gotten though his skull that he can’t vote ‘present’ in this situation.
Nov 6, 2009 - 9:27 am 15. Peter the Bubblehead:12. gracie wrote:
Where are the trolls with their crappy comments on this?
And the very next comment was;
13. Poor Citizen:
The timing on that couldn’t have been better, gracie.
Nov 6, 2009 - 9:31 am 16. Brian:Obama is paralyzed by indecision, not a good trait in a leader. He beleives he has an eternity to decide… has spent 9 months looking for a church, 4 months for a dog, 2 months now trying to figure out what to do about troops. Its amazing that he can so quickly decide on things like 2000 page bills and cap and trade which will send us into the poor house. No indecision there… Is it because the text on his teleprompter for that was already written 2 years ago?
Nov 6, 2009 - 9:44 am 17. Ytzik:@4. “Sickening:
The three most important instincts that Obama doesn’t have are; The heart of an American, the Spirit of an American and the Courage of an American.”
An possibly not even the birth certificate of an American.
Nov 6, 2009 - 10:03 am 18. ahad ha'amoratsim:Hey kochevnik, after reading only 1 of your other posts on another thread, I had a pretty good idea of what you were going to say here. I was trying to figure out why your posts sounded so familiar, then I flashed back to SDS in the late 60′.? Don’t forget to throw in “military industrial complex” a few times. Right on! Power to the people! ” In our hands is placed a power greater than their hoarded gold!” Just try not to smash your fingers while you’re smashing the state.
Nov 6, 2009 - 10:09 am 19. ahad ha'amoratsim aka ahad:#12 “Where are the trolls with their crappy comments on this?”
You must have missed #3.
Nov 6, 2009 - 10:18 am 20. biblio44:12. gracie: “Where are the trolls…?”
Thanks, gracie, It’s nice to be missed by the a-holes.
Nov 6, 2009 - 10:31 am 21. Trainwreck:It is simple: Obozo will just vote “present” on Afghan strategy.
After reading a column by Ralph Peters, the best thing is to get all our troops out of there. Have you looked at the army policy regarding rules of engagement? If civilians are present, we cannot bring in air support. We are not permitted to desecrate a mosque, even if it is being used as a military base and bomb storage. We are more concerned about winning hearts and minds than winning a war, and rebuilding afghanistan into a functional democracy. Our soldiers have become armed social workers with restrictions on their firearm use more befitting a san fran beat cop than a soldier.
HOw much treasure have we expended “rebuilding” afghanistan and iraq? Yet Ground Zero, 8 years after 9/11, is a hole in the ground. You cannot win a PC war, so we need to get our troops out, prepare our homeland for the next attacks, and wait for a new generation of Americans less beholden to PC crap.
Nov 6, 2009 - 10:43 am 22. Paul -Indiana:And you expected more from a Chicago Alderman??????
Nov 6, 2009 - 10:46 am 23. moho:The three wartime instincts Obama lacks, in order of importance:
1. Going with your gut
Nov 6, 2009 - 10:51 am 24. Graham:2. Ignoring factually based data
3. Asking G-d if its ok with him
The Vietnam War was run by useless politicians, and we lost the war and 58,000 troops.
Nov 6, 2009 - 11:11 am 25. myth buster:The Iraq war and Afghanistan is being run by Curious George in the White House and the same result will evolve.
24. Ditch the Curious George line- there’s no good way to interpret it. 1. It confuses people with Bush, and 2. I don’t care how horrible of a President Obama is, it’s disrespectful to the office to call him a monkey.
3. If Al Queda is run by the CIA, then who is fighting us in Afghanistan? Is it possible the CIA started Al Queda to fight the Russians only to find it had created a monster? Perhaps, but your ideas are just completely insane. The FBI has no jurisdiction over foreign nationals outside the US. That said, I suppose we must be grateful for the diversity in the lineup of trolls. I don’t recall the last time we had a truther here. He also raises a good point about the CIA- too many of our intelligence agents have questionable loyalty, cf politically convenient leaks of classified information. The CIA needs to be investigated and purged of anyone who isn’t loyal to the Constitution.
Nov 6, 2009 - 11:29 am 26. justasimplepatriot:In Vietnam, we had a selective service draft to ensure a steady supply of troops. If you want to see the vastly-superior, volunteer military disappear, just keep this up, Obama. But then, you never served so you have no clue, do you?
Obama’s incompetency coupled with his arrogance are contemptible beyond words!
Nov 6, 2009 - 11:33 am 27. WestWright:I do know one thing that stands out in a lot of blog verbiage, PURGE. I think that will be the appropriate word for 2010! Start with the WH and down from there.
Nov 6, 2009 - 11:46 am 28. Poor Citizen:no 15: the bubblehead..
Yes, it really wuz funny, you just had to be there at the moment. Couldn’t make it up. I dont know who gracie is, but she (?) definately rocks. For a tea bagger … that is. and after I get over this bit of grief, I will go out of my way to get her adrenelin flowing. Just not today, or tomorrow.
Nov 6, 2009 - 12:11 pm 29. BC:As usual, you guys are seriously confused about who didn’t do the job in Afghanistan as opposed to someone who *is* taking care of woefully unfinished business there.
Nov 6, 2009 - 12:24 pm 30. kochevnik:What a way to remember the 5th of November—Guy Fawkes Day! The Jesuits, using their domestic Muslim assassins overseen by the FBI/CIA/NSA, have done it again! The first such Sunni-Muslim, CIA mind-controlled assassin was Palestinian Sirhan Sirhan, one of the shooters in the murder of 1968 American Democratic Party presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy publicly gunned down in Roman Catholic Los Angeles. Subsequently, the LAPD suppressed 10,000 pieces of evidence leading to the obvious conclusion there was a conspiracy involving multiple gunmen. Four years later in Roman Catholic Munich, West Germany (not far from Pullach in which is located the ex-Nazi SS/CIA-created BND (German Intelligence)), 11 Israeli athletes were murdered by Palestinian Sunni Muslims calling themselves “Black September.” The murderous group had indisputable ties to Freemasonic, CFR-directed, papal court Arab, Yasser Arafat’s Fatah. In 1988 Pan Am Flight 103 was bombed and plunged into Lockerbie, Scotland, killing all on board. Sunni Muslim Libyan Intelligence officer Abdelbaset Ali al Megrahi was convicted and sent to prison, while it was in fact the CIA working with England’s MI6/SIS and Libyan Intelligence that brought down the aircraft killing CIA Station Chief Matthew Gannon and accompanying agents returning from Beriut. In 1990, Egyptian Muslim El Sayyid Nosair, shot and killed Rabbi Meir Kahane who called for the deportation of all Arab Muslims from Israel—the only Biblical, as well as practical, solution to the relentless, Jesuit-directed, Arab/Israeli conflict in Israel—the Pope’s revived “Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem.” After serving a brief sentence in Attica prison, Nosair was returned to Egypt courtesy of the CIA. In 1993 we have the first World Trade Center bombing involving previously CIA-financed Muslim cleric Sheik Abdul Rahman. Rahman’s bodyguard and paid FBI informant Emad Salem, a former Egyptian Intelligence officer, publicly and notoriously stated the FBI had aided him in building the bomb that damaged the WTC. That bombing, quite conveniently, burned all the evidence to be used in a trial against Merrill Lynch, known as the “Roman Catholic firm on Wall Street.” In 2001, it is well-settled that Sunni/Wahhabi Muslim Saudi Intelligence agents were co-conspirators in the Bush Administration’s demolition of the WTC and building No. 7, overseen by the Empire’s Intelligence Community (FBI/NSA/CIA/DIA, etc.), which in turn was controlled by New York City Archbishop Edward Cardinal Egan and his foot soldier, Jesuit Georgetown University-trained, CFR member, DCI/Knight of Malta George J. Tenet. For a job well done in inciting the Pope’s 12th Crusade against Islam under the alias “War on Terror,” Skull and Bonesman George W. Bush awarded Knight Tenet the Presidential Medal of Freedom!
Thus, from 1968 to the present, there is a chain of evidence linking every notoriously Muslim act of terrorism to Islamic Intelligence Agencies which have in turn been built by the Black Pope’s British and American Intelligence Communities. The CIA built Al Qaeda, the Taliban and the Pakistani ISI! We have the Islamic Intelligence agencies of Libya, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Western Intelligence agencies working together for over 50 years! And now father figure, CFR-member Jim Lehrer of ABC News is going to tell us that American-born, Palestinian-Jordanian mass-murderer Nidal Kalik Hasan acted alone while he cried “Allahu Akbar” as he opened fire? that he was mentally distraught over being deployed to Iraq—as a professional soldier and officer in a volunteer army knowing full well his duties and obligations? that he was not a secret jihadist at heart, taking vengeance for the American mass-killings of civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan? Clearly, Hasan had motive, opportunity ability and the jihadist Islamic mindset. The real question is where is he connected to American Intelligence operatives who directed another act of Islamic terror/murder so as to further drive all White Americans into a right-wing, Jesuit-fascist military dictatorship. The Order’s endgame includes a national roundup of all Muslims as portrayed by Black Roman Catholic, Jesuit Fordham University-trained, Jesuit Temporal Coadjutor, Hollywood actor Denzel Washington as well as White actor Bruce Willis, in The Siege.
My suspicions arise from Hasan’s connection to Walter Reed Army Hospital as it was here that the head woulds of President Kennedy were altered before the body was taken to Bethesda Naval Hospital in Maryland for its formal, cover-up autopsy. Nidal Hasan has a connection to the Order’s American Intelligence Community: it must be found to fully expose this horrible murder.
Nov 6, 2009 - 12:37 pm 31. Brian:That would be true…. if the unfinished business was ignoring your in-theater commanders requests. After all.. Obama thinks he is better informed than a professional soldier who has spent his entire career learning how to fight wars and what is required.
Nov 6, 2009 - 1:00 pm 32. ster:Obama has spent 2 months “considering” the request!!
And Moho has the NADS to say Obama is basing decisions on factual data??? LMAO! Are those the facts from the commanders or Nancy Pelosi?
Obama doesn’t realize that he was elected to be Commander in Chief… the President. Not just some community organizer to push healthcare. Being President is much more than that. I don’t think he even realizes that now.
He’s never had to make tough decisions, or run anything in his life. He just knows how to draw a crowd and give a speech… and threaten people. That’s it.
He did not write the stimulus package, he left it to Congress. The same with healthcare. He doesn’t even know what’s in it… yet.
next time, maybe the electorate will be a bit more hesitant to vote for some guy just because he’s young, handsome (not my opinion), promises unicorns and pixie dust and speaks well. We’ll see.
Nov 6, 2009 - 1:12 pm 33. Ster:People keep saying he needs to take his time with the war decision. WTF?
He was elected a year ago and started getting briefings. He’s been President for 9+ months. HOW MUCH TIME DOES THIS IDIOT NEED?
Meanwhile, our soldiers are dying.
Nov 6, 2009 - 1:13 pm 34. Ster:BC said: “As usual, you guys are seriously confused about who didn’t do the job in Afghanistan as opposed to someone who *is* taking care of woefully unfinished business there.”
Taking care of the business? LOL. By taking a year to figure out what to do? Please, spare me.
Nov 6, 2009 - 1:15 pm 35. Stare:Yes, it was mismanaged before, it’s being mismanaged now! And if you haven’t noticed, it’s GETTING WORSE!
It’s Obama’s arrogance that astounds me.
After the Ft Hood shootings, he took several minutes to even mention it. He had to give a “shout-out” and what not. That was Obama’s “My Pet Goat” moment, for sure.
Our soldiers were massacered at home… and he has to thank people for 3 minutes before even mentioning it… and then says to not jump to conclusions?
He just proved he cares very little about the military. It’s his ego that matters.
Nov 6, 2009 - 1:17 pm 36. ster:If B.O. doesn’t want to make the tough decisions, he should not have run for president.
Nov 6, 2009 - 1:19 pm 37. moho:The three wartime instincts Obama lacks, in order of importance:
1. Don’t eat pretzels while dropping ludes
Nov 6, 2009 - 1:47 pm 38. goy:2. reject Connecticut accent
3. do all hiring from Oral Roberts University
While it is documented history that BHO has never, ever exhibited anything remotely resembling executive leadership capability, noting that he lacks wartime instincts (while accurate) is a bit of a red herring.
If you look at the president’s past and his (never-ending) campaign rhetoric, BHO’s overriding priority as POTUS is clear: his actions demonstrate unequivocally that he’s not interested in defeating islamist terrorism (in Iraq, Afghanistan, or anywhere else), nor is he interested in dealing with any other enemies of the U.S. and its allies. He and the Democrat ‘leadership’ have thoroughly abandoned the national interests of the U.S. and its people in every way that matters.
BHO isn’t making irrational, indecisive decisions on Afghanistan because he doesn’t know what to do. He’s dithering because he doesn’t really care what happens there. Past and ongoing empty rhetoric aside, now that it’s no longer needed to attack Bush and the Republican Party, the situation in Afghanistan is no longer of any political use. This is perfectly in keeping with BHO’s long history of voting “Present” on issues that can’t advance his career.
The only issues that garner BHO’s attention and energy are those which further (a) his personal aggrandizement and (b) implementation of his Third Way, corporatist/socialist/fascist agenda – an agenda he has pursued all his adult life. Right now, BHO’s only interests are the redistribution of wealth through faux ’stimulus’ and increasing government omnipotence through seizure of the health care industry.
Winning a war in Afghanistan against an enemy that can only help him (through future, easily exploited crises, when they inevitably occur) is not even on BHO’s to-do list, let alone a priority. His actions have made that abundantly clear. So, while accurate, it’s a bit less than useful to go on about BHO’s missing character traits while at the same time ignoring that he wouldn’t be using them even if he possessed them.
Nov 6, 2009 - 2:36 pm 39. kochevnik:Why do YOU care what’s going on there, goy?
Nov 6, 2009 - 3:16 pm 40. BC:To Ster: Much if not most of the “good stuff” is not making the news. Like so many of the things Bush & Co. left behind, it’s a complicated and messy situation — thanks to the Iraq distraction, both the Taliban and al-Qaeda have had several years to develop strategies to compensate for the vastly superior US forces. Obama seems to be taking a two-fold approach: a covert “war” using things like the Predator drones and no doubt special forces; and the “public war” that’s been the discussable stuff so far. It’s a good strategy, actually, even if the usual numbnuts don’t get it.
Nov 6, 2009 - 3:33 pm 41. BC:I just belatedly noticed this extensive New Yorker article about the “covert war”.
Nov 6, 2009 - 3:37 pm 42. Roark:Obama is a national embarrassment.
Nov 6, 2009 - 3:43 pm 43. Poor Citizen:Will the last soldier in the middle east please remember to turn the lights off when we leave this time. The Vietnam electric bill just came in……man, this is gettin expensive mr. president.
Nov 6, 2009 - 3:57 pm 44. goy:@39. kochevnik: – Why do YOU care what’s going on there, goy?
Why are you trying to deflect to what I think about it, kochevnik?
BHO – most powerful human in the known universe at the moment – is the one who has claimed that “This is not a war of choice. This is a war of necessity.” Maybe you should be asking him why he consistently says one thing but always does something else. Of course, if you do, you’ll need to get in line.
Nov 6, 2009 - 5:47 pm 45. john from cinncinatti:the big O is dithering on AF PAK because George Bush woefully ignored it while playing around in Iraq and the big O has nothing to blame GWB for, nor does he have anything to co-opt from GWB. taking care of unfinished business? he doesn’t know what it is. the usual numbnuts that don’t get it, are they Mchrystal and Petreus? what BC is saying is that the Big O has ixnayed the troops because he knows better. why hasn’t he come out and publicly said it? oh yeah he doesn’t answer to us. why the speed on the stimulus and healthcare and the foot dragging on AF-pak? does he want the morale of our troops to fall to injure the military and the USA?
Nov 6, 2009 - 7:04 pm 46. Gary Rosen:Only three?
Nov 6, 2009 - 9:49 pm 47. Libertyship46:I think the Obama administration, as well as Congress, really need to decide on what our ultimate objective is in Afghanistan. If our intention is to make Kabul into a democratic copy of Iowa, then we don’t stand a chance. Afghanistan is a tribal nation with a tribal culture that has existed for thousands of years and no outside influence, and certainly NOT a non-Muslim or Christian influence, is going to change that. If our intention is to simply kill al Qaeda members, we don’t have to keep almost 100,000 troops in Afghanistan to do that. We should carve out a remote piece of the country, like Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, keep a strong force stationed there, and use it as a base to attack al Qaeda members. I doubt this would be effective for the long run, because if the Taliban takes over power again they certainly won’t allow us to stay in Afghanistan and would want us to leave such a base. But, having said that, it could be worth a try and worth it to the Taliban if they understand that we will cease fighting them in exchange for a permanent base in Afghanistan. But this fantasy of trying to separate the Taliban from al Qaeda is insulting to say the least, and dangerous thinking to say the most. They are one and the same and depend on each other for both military and political support. We shouldn’t fool ourselves that if we allow the Taliban to come back into power that the al Qaeda threat in Afghanistan will simply disappear. If we allow the Taliban to take over Afghanistan again, we will be allowing their medieval rule to return and thousands of Afghans, especially those that supported the American and NATO forces, will be executed. The Taliban did that already to all of the Afghans who assisted the Russians after they left the country, so why won’t they do it if they return to power now? So we need to decide what it is we want out of Afghanistan. If we want to totally defeat the Taliban and rid the country of al Qaeda once and for all, then we’ll need a lot, and I mean a lot, more troops, perhaps even more than the 40,000 McChrystal wants. If all we want to do is lob cruise missiles at suspected al Qaeda positions, like the Clinton administration did, then we should leave, now. But just remember what the success ratio of the Clinton Administration’s plan was and what it lead to, which was 9/11. Do we want to go there again? No easy choices here, but we have to decide what it is we want to do in Afghanistan.
Nov 7, 2009 - 4:11 am 48. vivo:30. kochevnik:
Assuming that your conspiracy theories are true, why would these CIA/Catholic/etc conspirators want to do these executions?
“The CIA built Al Qaeda, the Taliban and the Pakistani ISI! ”
Explain that.
Nov 7, 2009 - 7:19 am 49. Bohemond:kochevnik:
“Yes it is so important to make wars to enrich the banksters. We are all chattel only meant to die so that plutocracy may further entrench their death grip on the planet.”
Do you prefer Reynolds Wrap for your hat, or do you use the store-brand?
Nov 7, 2009 - 7:26 am 50. vivo:We should withdraw all troops from Afghanistan except for a qualified group to train the Afghan government and troops on fighting the Taliban and Al-Quaeda. What’s the use if they don’t do it themselves?
It’s like sending troops to the corn fields of Kansas to fight locusts. The farmers are the ones who should do the fighting! It’s their land.
Nov 7, 2009 - 7:31 am 51. Sybil:The president is busily engaged remaking American into his socialist ideal. Afghanistan isn’t important. Iraq isn’t important. The military isn’t important. The productive citizens of American when not horribly shaming the Obamas are irrelevant to the goal. Understand that, and you will understand his “dithering”.
Nov 7, 2009 - 11:16 am 52. moho:And Moho has the NADS to say Obama is basing decisions on factual data
Believe me when I say there is no evidence to indicate that you are literate.
Nov 7, 2009 - 3:56 pm 53. vivo:51. Sybil:
“The president is busily engaged remaking American into his socialist ideal.”
I disagree. I think he’s taking a vacation from two years of campaigning. Just warming up . . .
Nov 8, 2009 - 6:55 am 54. TCMSOLS:If Israel attacks Iran and the US has to enter the war the withdrawal of forces from Iraq will have to stop and be reversed around 75,000 troops will be required to secure the Iraq fields from the IRG and Iranian irregulars ’special groups’. A full spectrum invasion and occupation of Iran will have to occur. As the Iranians can close the Straits of Hormuz without conventional forces, as soon as we re-open it they will close it again. The Iranians can still supply the PRC without the use of the Straits of Hormuz. Question what would the US do if their energy security was compromised, reverse you answer to what the PRC would do. The PRC can draw the US into a proxy insurgency on the Korean Peninsula, a war in four AO’s. Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, DPRK/ROK.
Therefore Afghanistan will have to go back into a strategic holding pattern and a massive increase of forces is ill-advised for the Afghan COIN.
The PRC will not support sanctions against Tehran and Iran is putting pressure on Russia to supply the S-300, after renouncing the nuclear deal. Moscow will have to choose a side, the PRC already has. Turkey may side with Iran and pullout of NATO, if Moscow sides militarily with Tehran. Iran, PRC,DPRK,Russia, Turkey?.
So Israel will have to fight Lebanon, Syria and Hamas,and long range in the East against Tehran. They have upset most Arab nations over the West Bank situation if the war turns against Israel, it is possible Egypt and Jordan could enter the war against Israel.
This is how world wars start, it sounds like a world war to me, 43 always said it would end in WW3, if a diplomatic approach did not work or Israel attacked alone.
Now if you excuse me, I am going to get very drunk.
Nov 8, 2009 - 8:08 am 55. TCMSOLS:I should also add that 3:00 am phone call you all talked about during the election is going to be from Ben, as he defecates in his pants and begs the US to save him or threatens that if the US does not enter the war he will launch nuclear weapons.
Work it out the US cannot stop settlements, cannot stop an Israeli operation against Iran, and cannot stop the 3:00 am phone call.
Nov 8, 2009 - 8:20 am 56. kochevnik:48. vivo:
…why would these CIA/Catholic/etc conspirators want to do these executions?
The US is destined for three world wars, as planned by 33rd degree mason General Pike, founder of the KKK. The first two you know about. The third will be between the polarity of the artificial state of Israel and the Middle East. The US must create puppets as foils for it’s false flag preludes to attacks. The banksters want Islam destroyed because usury is forbidden. Europe can become Islam-friendly as they are not the military wing of the Bank of England.
Al-Qaeda is the name of a database. “In the mid-1980s, Al Qaida was a database located in computer and dedicated to the communications of the Islamic Conference’s secretariat.”
“I first heard about Al-Qaida while I was attending the Command and Staff course in Jordan. I was a French officer at that time and the French Armed Forces had close contacts and cooperation with Jordan . . .
“Two of my Jordanian colleagues were experts in computers. They were air defense officers. Using computer science slang, they introduced a series of jokes about students’ punishment.
“For example, when one of us was late at the bus stop to leave the Staff College, the two officers used to tell us: ‘You’ll be noted in ‘Q eidat il-Maaloomaat’ which meant ‘You’ll be logged in the information database.’ Meaning ‘You will receive a warning . . .’ If the case was more severe, they would used to talk about ‘Q eidat i-Taaleemaat.’ Meaning ‘the decision database.’ It meant ‘you will be punished.’ For the worst cases they used to speak of logging in ‘Al Qaida.’
“The truth is, there is no Islamic army or terrorist group called Al Qaida. And any informed intelligence officer knows this. But there is a propaganda campaign to make the public believe in the presence of an identified entity representing the ‘devil’ only in order to drive the ‘TV watcher’ to accept a unified international leadership for a war against terrorism. The country behind this propaganda is the US and the lobbyists for the US war on terrorism are only interested in making money.”
Nov 9, 2009 - 9:36 am 57. deguello:There are at least 2 he lacks;the most important:cojones!
Nov 9, 2009 - 6:35 pm