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POPSObama Quietly Deploying 13,000 More US troops to Afghanistan
In addition to the deployments under way, McChrystal has also requested an extra 40,000 troops he says are necessary to prevent the country falling into the hands of the Taliban. The Afghanistan president Hamid Karzai, today expressed support for McChrystal's request. "I'm fully behind him for what he's seeking in this report," Karzai told ABC's Good Morning America. As part of the internal debate, the US defence secretary, Robert Gates, who is cautiously supporting McChrystal, is due to meet later today the vice-president Joe Biden, who is opposed to the troop increase and favours a shift in priority to tracking down al-Qaida in Pakistan. A decision on McChrystal's troop request appears to have been postponed for a few weeks. Any extra troops will come as a result of a parallel reduction in the number of US troops in Iraq. A US military planner told the Army Times: "We've increased forces in Afghanistan before we've reduced forces in Iraq in a meaningful way.
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POPSObama's War: PBS Special Tonight 9PM HIGHLIGHTS Eight years in -- what is the new approach? The critical importance of connecting with locals Why the push into Helmand province What should we expect to see a year from now Who are the Taliban we're fighting in Afghanistan
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POPSNobel Tops 'SNL' for Obama Joke by Mark Steyn What "extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy" did he make in those first 12 days? Bowing to the Saudi king? Giving the British prime minister the Walmart discount box of "Twenty Classic Movies You've Seen A Thousand Times"? "Er, Barack, I've already seen these." "That's OK. They won't work in your DVD player anyway." For these and other "extraordinary efforts" in "cooperation between peoples", President Obama is now the fastest winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in history. Alas, the extraordinary efforts of those first 12 days are already ancient history. Reflecting the new harmony of U.S.-world relations since the administration hit the "reset" button, The Times of London declared the award "preposterous," and Svenska Freds (the Swedish Peace and Arbitration Society) called it "shameful." Why, only the other day, very conversationally, the administration floated the trial balloon that it could live with the Taliban returning to government in Afghanistan.
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POPS Then There’s The Iran Bit Reidel led the Obama Administration’s strategy review of Afghanistan and Pakistan earlier this year. But he’s also worried about Iran. “It’s clear that U.S.-Iranian relations now are going to go into an increasingly difficult period,” Reidel said. “If I was sitting in Teheran, I’d be looking for the place where you could hurt the Americans the most and that’s Obama’s war right next door in Afghanistan.” Remember that Chicagoland speech in The Untouchables? “He sends one of yours to the hospital, you send one of his to the morgue.” Not exactly the community-organizing Chicago way, I know … Anyway, another nuance overlooked in the complex AfPakInd picture painted by the AP’s Reid today. It isn’t just a war about al-Qaeda, or the Taliban, or Pakistan or India. It’s a war about Iran, too. A lot like Iraq that way. jules crittenden
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POPSAnalysis: Al Qaeda is The Tip of The Jihadist Spear Indeed, al Qaeda leaders have long recognized that Mullah Omar is firmly behind them. Abdullah Sa'id, an al Qaeda commander who leads its “Shadow Army,” has openly mocked the idea that Mullah Omar would betray al Qaeda now. “US and Western sources talk about their readiness to accept the Taliban in the Afghan future political structure should it leave the Al Qaeda," he has said. But that is not reality, Sa'id explained: “However, these sources close the eyes to the fact that Mullah Mohammad Omar has lost his throne upon his refusal to hand over one person who is Osama bin Laden. Thus, will Mullah Mohammad Omar agree to a condition which he refused when he used to rule and when the United States was at the top of its might, and accept it now while he is on the threshold of a victory over his enemies?” Sa'id’s calculation is plain. Mullah Omar would not agree to turn over bin Laden when he was faced with the prospect of imminent annihilation.
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POPSOMG, How Dumb Is This Administration! (Act II) For what purpose? Shore up their support with the Jewish voters or Israeli lobby? Show how savvy they are in international matters? Are they that dumb, or do they think we are that dumb to think we few 100+ million are being quietly let in on the big secret?
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POPSAfghanistan Metrics Revealed The metrics span just about every conceivable issue, including progress towards Pakistan's civilian government and judicial system becoming stable, to support for human rights, to public perceptions of security, to volume and value of narcotics. What does it mean? Republicans aren't happy -- Rogin has that story, too, including this classic quote from McCain: For example, the document lists as one Afghanistan metric "support from allies." "It's like that old joke ‘How's your wife?" McCain quipped. "Compared to what?" Spencer Ackerman lays out the metrics in detail, and notes that they do not compare favorably with the metrics Congress produced for Iraq in 2006. Trying to track down a Kagan to get some additional context and will update as soon as I do. Posted by Michael Goldfarb
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POPSAre the Taliban Surrounding NATO Armies and Cutting them Off? The logistics war in AfPak were on full view Sunday, with the long fingers of blazing conflagrations jabbing the sky amidst billowing waves of jet black smoke both in Chaman in Pakistan near the Afghan border, and in Kunar Province. The bombing of supply trucks is to this war what u-boat attacks on supply ships were to the two world wars. In Chaman, Dawn reports, "At least 15 oil tankers, trailers and containers caught fire in Chaman on Sunday night after a blast in a vehicle carrying supplies for Nato forces in Afghanistan." The NATO supply vehicle became a sitting duck because the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan has been closed for the last few days over a dispute about whether Pakistani border guards may search Afghan fruit trucks.
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POPSVictory at the Cost of Sanity in Obama’s Forever War The tired old mentality of the U.S. military, actually any military, is “There is no alternative to victory.” What is considered victory, the complete subjugation of the enemy? What would be considered a victory for the U.S. in Afghanistan? If we think we are going to eradicate terrorism and hatred towards the U.S. then we are sadly mistaken. Victory comes in many different forms. At this point in time I would consider it a victory to get our troops home without any further loss of life, our troops as well as civilians at the hands of America’s war machine, accidental though they may be. It really doesn’t matter who rules Afghanistan or Iraq after we leave, assuming there are plans to ever leave. We need to get back home and divert some of the obscene amount of money being thrown at the pentagon and put it towards domestic purposes, like schools and healthcare. We can defend our borders just fine from within our borders.
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POPSObama Strategy Deepens U.S. Commitment To AfPak War (referring to the Pakistani president.) “Honestly, I don’t believe there’s a war going on in the tribal areas. The Pakistanis tell us that, but they’re just baldfaced lies.” The official believes that U.S. diplomats in Pakistan accept Pakistani claims of maximal war-fighting efforts at face value: “They don’t speak Urdu, they don’t speak Pashto, and they eat it all up.” Army Gen. David Petraeus, the commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East and South Asia, said he has discussed the Pakistani intelligence services’ former and perhaps current support for the Taliban with its director and with the chief of staff of the Pakistani Army. “It’s a topic that is of enormous importance,” he told Warner, “because if there are links and if those continue and if it undermines the operations, obviously that would be very damaging to the kind of trust we need to build.”
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POPSGeneral (ret.) Barry McCaffrey on Mexico - 23 March 2009 This isn't AfPak, it's AmMex. Drugs are flowing north, weapons are flowing south, and money is flying everywhere. AmMex is not about al Qaeda and the Taliban, but equally ruthless criminal gangs -- with far more money than al Qaeda could ever dream of. These gangs will be bringing guns and drugs to your city, and they will hope to make your kid a customer. And if your kid causes problems, he'll be shot. Or worse.
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