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POPSThe Hole at the Heart of Our Strategy ~ Mark Steyn
...to the “noble” “heroism” of suicide bombers and, indeed, objectively supporting the other side in an active war is to be regarded as just some kind of alternative lifestyle that adds to the general vibrancy of the base. Since 9/11, we have, as the Twitterers recommend, judged people by their actions " flying planes into skyscrapers, blowing themselves up in Bali nightclubs or London Tube trains, planting IEDs by the roadside in Baghdad or Tikrit. And on the whole we’re effective at responding with action of our own " taking out training camps in Afghanistan, rolling up insurgency networks in Fallujah and Ramadi, intercepting terror plots in London and Toronto and Dearborn. But we’re scrupulously non-judgmental about the ideology that drives a man to fly into a building or self-detonate on the subway, and thus we have a hole at the heart of our strategy. We use rhetorical conveniences like “radical Islam” or, if that seems a wee bit Islamophobic .......
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POPSThe Enemy Within Comments on the attack at Fort Hood, is this an example of terrorism or an isolated case? Maybe the tipping point for something altogether more sinister should certain elements use it to their advantage.
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POPS Nature Picking Up Obama's Slack Bear kills militants in Kashmir By Altaf Hussain BBC News, Srinagar A bear killed two militants after discovering them in its den in Indian-administered Kashmir, police say. Two other militants escaped, one of them badly wounded, after the attack in Kulgam district, south of Srinagar. The militants had assault rifles but were taken by surprise - police found the remains of pudding they had made to eat when the bear attacked. Animal attacks Wildlife experts say the conflict in Kashmir has actually resulted in an increase in the population of bears and leopards. Following the outbreak of the insurgency people had to hand in their weapons to police - which put a halt to poaching. As a result, there has been a greater incidence of man-animal conflict, say experts. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8339549.stm
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POPSNonviolence As Their Weapon "It was 2001. Khatib watched in horror as Israeli soldiers shot an unarmed friend at a checkpoint. Two weeks later, the militant Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade made a revenge attack on the checkpoint, killing seven soldiers. "My first reaction was 'Good for Al Aqsa!' " Khatib said. Then he realized the dead soldiers belonged to a different unit, not the one on duty when his friend was shot. "It made me wonder: This cycle of death, of violent action and reaction, how we can break it?"
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POPSReal men don't read D.C. pundits
Even worse than Krauthammer's column today, though, was David Brooks in the New York Times. Partly it's because Brooks likes to pretend to be open-minded and reasonable, while spouting neocon talking points, and occasionally liberals get pulled in by him. But today was trademark lazy ideological Brooks. As Glenn Greenwald notes, unbelievably he bragged about "doing what journalists are supposed to do" -- which he defined as talking to a handful of anonymous pro-war sources, who uniformly criticized Obama's inaction to date on McCrystal's troop request. That's some brave shit. Not quite David Rohde brave, but hey, he made the calls! If it was unanimous, that means he didn't call retired Marine Matthew Hoh, who resigned from a civilian post in Afghanistan this week because he said we can't win, and our presense is only fueling the insurgency. Hoh told the Washington Post's Karen de Young he's "not some peacenik, pot-smoking hippie who wants everyone to be in love" and that he believes
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POPSU.S. Official Resigns Over Afghanistan War Policy Hoh's letter caused a stir in the Obama administration, and he was hastened to meetings with senior U.S. officials in Kabul and Washington. They praised his record of service and begged him to stay, offering him new positions in both locations. Hoh initially accepted the Washington job, but changed his mind a week later. Hoh said that his act of protest and decision to speak out were painful, even "nauseating" at times, but he was strongly motivated by the friends he had lost on the battlefield and the mental anguish he has experienced since returning home. "I want people in Iowa, people in Arkansas, people in Arizona, to call their congressman and say, 'Listen, I don't think this is right,' " he explained, adding that he "is not some peacenik, pot-smoking hippie who wants everyone to be in love."
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POPSZinnie to Obama: Time's Up on Afghanistan Decision If Zinni is calling for more troops Now then things are more serious than we're hearing. And I bet he didn't use the word "dillydallying". I just read that 8 US soldiers were killed today by roadside bombs. Either support our people there or throw our integrity to the wind and leave.
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POPSDick Cheney's losing his old black magic It's great to watch people step up to smack Cheney down. Retired Gen. Paul Eaton blasted back today, and I couldn't say it any better: "The record is clear: Dick Cheney and the Bush administration were incompetent war fighters. They ignored Afghanistan for 7 years with a crude approach to counter-insurgency warfare best illustrated by: 1. Deny it. 2. Ignore it. 3. Bomb it. While our intelligence agencies called the region the greatest threat to America, the Bush White House under-resourced our military efforts, shifted attention to Iraq, and failed to bring to justice the masterminds of September 11. "The only time Cheney and his cabal of foreign policy 'experts' have anything to say is when they feel compelled to protect this failed legacy. While President Obama is tasked with cleaning up the considerable mess they left behind, they continue to defend torture or rewrite a legacy of indifference on Afghanistan. …
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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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POPSAfghan outlook bleak as Taliban grabs territory While Obama plans his Peace Prize speech, our declared enemy is defeating our military for lack of commitment by their Commander-in-Chief. This is a travesty. The Taliban will, again, make Afghanistan it's launching site for terror attacks against the West, enslave it's population, and the soldiers who gave their lives there will have done it for nothing. All because of a lack of will. Well Ms Michelle says that she is now proud of America....I couldn't be more ashamed of her husband's treachery and abandonment. This is aiding our enemies and undermining the American soldier. Shame! This is Vietnam times TEN.
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POPSChechen, North African and Pakistani Fighters Helping Taliban Defense Minister Requests More International Troops, Says Thousands Bolstering Taliban Insurgency (AP) Thousands of foreign fighters have poured into Afghanistan to bolster the Taliban insurgency, the country's defense minister said Saturday as he called for more international troops. The remarks come as the U.S. debates whether to substantially increase its forces in Afghanistan or to conduct a more limited campaign focused on targeting al Qaeda figures - most of whom are believed to be in neighboring Pakistan. An American and two Polish troops were killed by bombs in the latest violence reported by NATO forces. U.S. military officials said they could not immediately comment on the claim of a recent influx of foreign fighters. Afghanistan's interior minister, who also spoke to parliament, endorsed a strategy promoted by the top U.S. commander Gen. Stanley McChrystal to focus on protecting civilians rather than simply killing insurgents.
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POPSMichael Barone again Barone has the ability to cut to the bone with very little wasted space. He's like a surgical strike on Obamoid smartough diplomacy:
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POPSThe Afghanistan Report by By Ikram Sehgal The population can also be a source of strength and intelligence and provide resistance to the insurgency. Alternatively, they can often change sides and provide tacit or real support to the insurgents. Communities make deliberate choices to resist, support or allow insurgent influence. The reasons for these choices must be better understood." The report addresses corruption and abuse of power but it does not give it the primary weightage it should. Karzai and his lot should not remain in power even a day. Abdullah would probably be worse. In the eight years since the Taliban were deposed in November 2001, "criminality has contributed to a pervasive sense of insecurity among the people. Extensive smuggling diverts major revenues from the government and increases its susceptibility to insurgent penetration. http://www.thenews.com.pk/editorial_detail.asp?id=201008
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POPSObama to Meet High-Powered Aides for Afghan Review were the top ranking civilian officials expected for a bracing session on a war some supporters fear could swamp Obama's presidency. War commander General Stanley McChrystal, who warned in a leaked report that the conflict could be lost within a year without more troops, was also due to to take part, either in person or by video link-up, the White House said. Other top military brass included were General David Petraeus who heads US central command, Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Director of National Intelligence Admiral Dennis Blair. CIA chief Leon Panetta was also due to take part, along with Richard Holbrooke, the US envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, as well as the US ambassadors to Islamabad and Kabul. Obama warned after meeting NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen on Tuesday that the United States could not fight the battle in Afghanistan alone, in remarks apparently aimed at European partners.
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POPS U.S., NATO Risk Afghan Failure Without More Troops risks an outcome where defeating the insurgency is no longer possible.” He maintains that the situation is serious; success is none-the-less achievable. But he describes in this report, according to the Washington Post, “extensive new details about the Taliban insurgency,” which General McChrystal calls a muscular and sophisticated enemy that uses modern propaganda and reaches into Afghanistan’s prisons to recruit members, and even plan operations. Now, the thrust of this report is that General McChrystal who, let’s recall, was hired by President Obama, brought into the job he now holds, commanding our forces and those of NATO in theater in Afghanistan, precisely for the purpose of devising a new, more effective strategy for prevailing there, and for the execution of that strategy. So, this is President Obama’s pick, charged with putting together a winning strategy " what is known as a counterinsurgency strategy " and charged by the president . . .
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POPSThose Who Ignore History... History didn't listen to us," said Tabeyev, who's now 81. "All our efforts to restore peace in the country . . . this was a flop in the end." The fundamental problem in Afghanistan is that it isn't a country in the way the West thinks of countries, said retired Lt. Gen. Ruslan Aushev, who did two tours there and left as a regimental commander. "There has never been any real centralized state in Afghanistan. There is no such nation as Afghanistan," said Aushev, who's a former president of the Russian Caucasus republic of Ingushetia and now heads a veterans group in Moscow. "There are (ethnic groups of) Pashtuns, Uzbeks and Tajiks, and they all have different tribal policies." As a result, any occupation force will spend much of its time propping up a government that has little relevance outside Kabul and trying to corral disparate ethnic groups and tribes into a national army that's often unwilling to fight, Aushev said.
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POPSSmarttough diplomacy at work? I certainly hope so. For the US to get Russian concessions on its support of Iran would practically mean that missile BMD would be superfluous. I don't think we're abandoning allies like the Czechs and Poles either. We don't need BMD to be loyal to them. At least, this is what I hope US authorities are assuring them today. It's not too much to expect that at least this much common sense is on display. It's past time to push Iran into a corner. It's the key insurgency in the region. The Islamic movement had its first success there and it must end there for it to end at all. If this is what it takes, then I say my hat's off to Obama. I'm changing my opinion 180 degrees. Bush would never have dared such a move.
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POPSEight Years Later: Speak Out Against the War in Afghanistan I remember the day after 9-11 when I was talking to a group of friends in Rehab about it--they (all supposedly reasonable people) all wanted to go to war and I was alone in saying that going to war would solve NOTHING. So, who was right? 'Mericans first response to any crisis seems to be violence of some kind and I'm SICK OF IT. So speak out, don't hold back, fellow Americans!!!
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POPSSimple insight into Latin American culture—institutionalized revenge
It's amusing that an academic/pundit can have these insights and yet they do not interfere with his policy proposals, which completely contradict the insights themselves. Author reviews several cases pending against former rulers for corruption. He says, Few Latin American countries are exempt from these judicial vendettas. The victor attempts to liquidate the vanquished. In those nations, the law is not an instrument to regulate civilized coexistence but a mace to crush the adversary's head. , which is quite true. Benito Juárez (Mexico's first Indian president, mid-19th century) put it best, after the ten-year civil war and insurgency against conservatives and monarchists: "For my friends, clemency; for my enemies, the law." The author's suggestion for a remedy is to revisit a Spanish colonial practice, called "judgments of residence." Instead of a remedy, however, they would become just another example of the evil that the author describes: the law as a club with which to be
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POPSCould Taliban 4 Hire Be Defeated by Jobs Instead of Predator Rockets? Chances are that sending a couple of dozen day-labor brokers from any city in the US to Afghanistan and the SWAT area of Pakistan, with suicases of money and guards would bring the "insurgency" to a halt in about a month! So, why won't it happen? You have to hire General Dynamics, Lockheed and Boeing as the labor contractors and then it would happen. Follow the money, follow the money, follow the money!
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POPSTaliban Now Winning There is a segment of the left that is fundamentally mired in the quagmire that is their thinking on any war. They seem to believe that absent a direct threat to the sovereignty and safety of the United States, there is no justification for fighting. I'm not about to begin to explain that because I could care less what the leftards think. They can learn to march backwards on their own damn time. So brace for another information war during the 2010 election cycle as the trumpeters of quagmire sound forth. President Obama may have campaigned with some lively rhetoric about Afghanistan and Pakistan, but there will be considerable opposition from his own party and we will have to see if he will stay the course or cut and run. If the left had their way, they'd make "cut-and-running" an Olympic demonstration sport.
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