US Military

$8.7 Billion of $9.1 Billion Unaccounted For

Speaks for itself: http://tinyurl.com/USmoneymissing

General McChrystal Out – General Petraeus In

Congrats Patraeus! Now I think we might just have a shot of serious impact!

I agree with South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham -the switch of hands of Commanding Officer  in Afghanistan is the perfect time to reevaluate our strategy in AfPak and ’start over’.

We all know we won’t ever ‘win’ this war – this isn’t even a war really anymore. This is just an endless battle. If it were really a war -it would insinuate there could realistically and viably be a side that wins.

But in this fight – no side does. The Taliban and Al Qaeda extremist are never going to wipe us all out…and the USA is never going to wipe them all out.

It’s an idealistic strategy that doesn’t even rank in worthiness for the time to do the probable/possible test. It’s quite clear to see the answer anyway.

But – if we are going to pretend this is war – and we are going to have US Military engaged in battle overseas- now more than ever, we need to give a Serious Sustainable Kick in the Butt to these terrorists!!

Now more so than ever  - McChrystal doing the fine job of making some of the top  US  leaders & US Government look even more like a bunch of jokes (more so than what maybe we all have our personal opinions on anyway). We are now even more the laughing stock to the Taliban and Al Qaeda members…I can only imagine how long and how loud they were laughing when they heard McChrystal’s daring words.

At this point it is crucial, McChrystal’s stupidity or not. It’s been 9 years now and we haven’t made really an ounce of progress. We can’t keep doing this as we approach our 10th year at war. We need to send Petraeus overseas with a serious and dynamite blow-you-up plan to really shake these Taliban out of their hiding cells!!!

He needs to arrive with explosive umph and such power, that the fear we are trying to put upon these terrorists actually works for a change – and not only works – but works instantly – completely taking them off guard!

His presence needs to shake the ground so hard they fall to their feet and say ‘uncle’. He needs to whip massive transformation across the remote training camps, hiding villages and roadside bombs and stop at nothing – going full force 24/7- until our US military is actually the dominant fighter -not the tail chaser we have been for 9 years (not their fault, they are following orders).  General Petraeus needs to do a complete 180 of how things are done there if he wants to bring himself and our soldiers home alive, early and victorious.

We now have an open window of opportunity to seriously shake things up & make significant progress – as our soldiers will be lead by one of the best. So we should take complete advantage of this in every way we can. If anyone can do this – General David Petraeus can! But don’t send Petraeus over without a new strategy, without a new plan. It’s pointless if you do.

Maybe McCrystal committed professional suicide for a reason. Maybe this is a blessing in disguise.

He obviously did this purposefully. No one of his experience, age, stature, ranking is that stupid to make mistake after mistake after mistake in what you say to a magazine reporter. It was too instant and too easy for it to be a mistake. To me, this was akin to having drinks with Bin Laden himself. Mocking the US to the enemy.  No General is that careless – drinks or no drinks.

Makes ya wonder if McChrystal’s a double agent. Not too far fetched — there was so much disloyalty not only to those specific individuals he mocked, but to the US in general, to the US Military in general. I wonder if he realizes the actual reprecussion his words had in more ways than one.

Either way, McChrystal, Petraeus, Snoopy – this is AfPak fight is still what I call an mission impossible – and it really doesn’t make a difference who is Commanding General.

We Should Thank the Terrorists

An odd statement I know. But if you think about it, the terrorists -Al Qaeda specifically – tells us where we are weak in focus in stopping them.

In the beginning of December 2009, after a very long and intensive decision process with his National Security Team, President Obama let the American people know his final decision to tackle the Taliban and Al Qaeda in Afghanistan was to send 30,000 more troops by the Spring 2010.

Not one peep about Yemen.

Now, Al Qaeda isn’t as large in numbers in Yemen in comparrison to the AfPak region, however, Al Qaeda recently (2008) attacked our embassy there. How come he didn’t consider beefing up troops there as well?

I mean if he is going to ponder troop numbers and his lofty and ideological plan to ‘disrupt, dismantle, and defeat’ Al Qaeda, you would think he would cover all countries where Al Qaeda has a decent size, and more importantly has recently (within 3 years or less) attacked a US establishment.

And it’s not even just the Embassy. Al Qaeda terrorists in Yemen have attacked Western hotels and restaurants in the past as well – as we have come to learn via his 1st Weekly Address speech of 2010 on http://www.whitehouse.gov.

Three weeks after Obama’s December announcement, he is celebrating the holidays with his family in Hawaii. He learns that on Christmas, a 23 year old Nigerian attempts to blow up a plane headed from Amsterdam to the U.S. (Detroit  - Northwest flight 253). That Nigerian got the bomb materials and the instructions of how to successfully do this in Yemen.

Now, all of a sudden, all attention is on Yemen and everyone is scrambling to beef up training, security and military there. UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown is backing the USA 100% with the same.

So, if it wasn’t for this attempted terrorist attack, we wouldn’t be doing a thing in Yemen. It wouldn’t even be in print. I would take a shot to say that I am sure it wasn’t even a discussion during all these long and intense sessions with his National Security Team.

I am aware that those discussions were focused on the AfPak region, but remember Obama was working his team off the theory of his overarching goal – to ‘disrupt, dismantle and defeat Al Qaeda’. He wanted a plan of how to do that best.  In that case, Yemen should have been on the table.

So, we should really thank the terrorists.

I would never really, obviously…I think you get my point.

It also furthers my constant point: since 9/11 that the US is always chasing it’s tail when it comes to Al Qaeda. I laugh very hard when Obama tells the global world he is out to ‘disrupt, dismantle, and defeat Al Qaeda’ when they are just always very ahead of us.

They out number us by so many, and that’s the ones we know of (which are never correct statistics exactly),  let a lone all the Al Qaeda trained individuals we don’t know about yet. Al Qaeda is in virtually every country in some aspect, if not by trained killers, then by people who fund it or help orchestrate the situation for funding (organized crime, drugs, etc). This is an infinite number that is unchaseable, as it grows each day.

They dictate what we (global governments) do. They dictate how we act. They hold a constant threat over us everywhere. And they are incorporated into almost every decision being made today on a global scale in all facets of government. Even Corporate America is influenced by terrorists. Almost every business since 9/11 now has a Homeland Security department or something akin.

Their power is 10x the size of our biggest global players combined (America, Canada, UK, Europe, Mexico, etc.)

With that said, how does President Obama really believe he can make a dent in this organization? I constantly ask this.

You are dealing with individuals whose mindset is pure hatred against America and western countries, where human lives mean nothing to them (they behead and kill like we kill a mosquito) and more importantly when they themselves are willing to die to kill us. Their religious belief almost begs them too – the virgins on the ‘other side’, their families protected, etc. (reference the Koran).

There is absolutely no way we can even come close to stopping them unless we become like them. Where we put all ethics, morals, aside, and say ‘no holds bar”. Where we stop protecting civilians and we just fight and fight dirty until we can’t fight anymore.

The way we fight right now is wimpy. Not because our military is wimpy. Our militaries are incredible! It’s because our leaders have the false belief we can fight an enemy that is both visible and hidden with grace and constitutional law, empty words of trying to scare them, and without giving up our steadfast values, ethics and principles.

This is why the terrorists still succeed. They know this. This is actually our weakness when it comes to them. It’s our strength in other situations, but not with Al Qaeda and our fight against them.

When we alter our course of destruction against them because there are too many civilians in that area, we loose chances to win.  The terrorists know this and they use the civilians as their advantage.

Ex: Count the number of airstrikes, attack plans, etc. over the past 8 years that could have wiped out hundreds of thousands of terrorists that didn’t happen because civilians were in the vicinity.

So Obama can do all the troop increasing he wants. Unless he changes the rules of engagement, Al Qaeda will not only stay strong, they will get stronger.

We are no where near disrupting them, let a lone dismantling and defeating them. This was clear on Christmas 2009.

Keep in mind, just 3 weeks prior to this attempted attack, Obama bellowed out this power phrase proudly and confidently – how 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan was the strongest answer he could come up with for his strategy of ‘disrupting, dismantling, and defeating Al Qaeda’.

Yet, their attack plan still went through. Yemen didn’t flinch. It didn’t even deter them enough for them not to try to implement this attack. Because they know America doesn’t know what they are really supposed to do in this fight against Al Qaeda.  They just proved that even more. So much for Obama’s powerful statement.

The global governments, US especially, are focusing on all the wrong things. All we simply have to do is change the way we fight. And then I surmise, we will really see significant results. But we all know that will never happen – that’s just my ideological thinking I guess.

Since I would not advocate killing innocent civilians, and Obama wouldn’t engage in this either, then there just needs to come to the point of common sense of this all and realize that we  will never be able to ‘disrupt, dismantle and defeat Al Qaeda.’

Moreover, we can’t do the 3 D’s simply because we rely on the terrorists to tell us where we need to go next! It’s sad, but true.

They point out where we aren’t strong enough to have stopped them from an attack already, as in all the attacks (and failed attacks) that have taken place since before 9/11 even.

We wait until they try (or do) attack us, then we all react to the situation. We are a passive nation. Amazing a superpower is so demeaned by a bunch of men who live in the mountains and have no education.

When you are constantly reacting, and really have no clue of how to handle this (the words just sound great),  you are certainly not in the position to state we will ‘disrupt, dismantle and defeat’ anyone or anything.

If we aren’t waiting for the attempted attacks to guide us, then I guess we are waiting for the day when our US President or global governments think 100 Al Qaeda members in Yemen is 100 too many and we should have taken those 100 out 2 years ago when they bombed our embassy, or just earlier overall.

I am aware we had Bush W. as a president then, who did zilcho on terrroism but create a conglomerate mishap of an organization (DHS). But that is no excuse now.

When Obama came into office he could have done more when he reviewed all Al Qaeda attacks on US establishments in the past decade (this is presuming he did this knowing we had a president for 8 years who didn’t handle anything).

Interestingly enough, when Obama first stepped into office in January 2009, he sent more troops to Afghanistan. It’s a hot topic, he acted appropriately.

He should have sent more troops to Yemen too.

Why? Because of the 2008 embassy attack and the others the President mentioned.

Why? Indeed because of the October 2000 USS Cole bombing that was devised and executed in Yemen!

This is a country that should have never left our site as much as it did. It went to the wayside simply because numbers of Al Qaeda members we larger in the AfPak region.

If they really understood Al Qaeda (which it’s obvious they don’t), they would grasp that numbers don’t matter with a terrorist group like Al Qaeda. They don’t need hundreds to be powerful.

The United States benchmark for how we assess where Al Qaeda is strong and where we should take action is based on numbers. We constantly make the same mistake with that assessment qualifier.

So, Al Qaeda taught us again. Yemen has about 100 Al Qaeda terrorists. Apparantly that wasn’t justifiable enough for us to take stronger action – until now, when an attack almost happened, parts of which originated from Yemen.

The terrorists just keep teaching us lessons, and I state that we should thank them because it reveals our weaknesses.

America has this theory that they are so smart with ‘power phrases’ that have zero substance behind them.

In the meantime, the terrorists just keep dangling our weakness in our faces, keep laughing at us, keep plotting more, and show the world we are no less prepared today than we were in September 2001 – yet we have we spent billions of dollars on each year on this.

If it wasn’t for the bomb malfunctioning, and for the passengers jumping to take action (since when are passengers responsible for US security) then we would have a tragic situation on our hands.  The US got lucky.

So why should we thank the terrorists?

It made the U.S. wake the heck up and realize that Al Qaeda doesn’t have to be large in numbers to be successful. And it made the US and UK realize that Yemen is a stronger haven for a powerful Al Qaeda than what they have currently given focus and manpower on.

This is why I laugh when Obama says we will ‘disrupt, dismantle and defeat Al Qaeda’. That would require we are ahead of them already. But we aren’t.

We can’t ‘disrupt, dismantle and defeat Al Qaeda’ without them helping us. And Al Qaeda ‘helping us’ means they are always closer to being more successful than before.

And then the cycle continues….we react, send more troops….etc etc etc.

5 Blackwater Guards go Free – Iraq Infuriated

Oh boy. Just when we thought things were steady and okay with Iraq and US relations, the recent U.S. District Judge’s ruling on New Years Eve day to allow the 5 Blackwater guards to go free  - is just asking for serious problems.

I forsee the Taliban and extremist groups trying to make their way back into Iraq and gather up all those angry Iraqi civilians and say “hey, you mad enough at America now?, come join us in our fight against America” I wouldn’t be surprised if they got new recruits from this.

Round 2 in Iraq with the Taliban…so much for troop withdraw there.

I am aware a judge does not need to make his ruling with geopolitical considerations in mind, and I would never want a judge to rule on anything but the facts and the law, but also be sensitive to our current 21st century and global community (ie: technology, terrorist situation, etc).

So, perhaps due to the delicacy of this situation, U.S. District Judge Ricardo Urbina might have let some White House Administration members know his ruling before he issued it, so they could do some damage control before this went globally viral on the news. I am sure this ‘tip’ could have happened – this is D.C. afterall.

The biggest problem with this court ruling is that Iraq’s claim/perception (”America is above the law”) will dominate  - as the truth (prosecutors messed up) gets muddled, reduced to one line in small print, and glossed over very easily, depending on who will be reporting it.

But as a criminal justice major and a former paralegal, and from the information reported about why the judge  ruled the way he did, the judge ruled correctly.  The fact we all know these Blackwater guards committed murder freely and openly is another story, and the judge didn’t deny that. But his final ruling is based on the U.S. Constitutional Law, and on evidence.

The event: These Blackwater chaps allegedly opened fire during the day in September 2007 in Nisoor Square, in Baghdad on innocent Iraqi civilians without provocation as the roads were being cleared by Iraqi police for Blackwater’s convoy to pass through (a usual routine) as they were guarding the State Department. They killed 17  Iraqi’s and wounded dozens of others.

So these 5 Blackwater guards aren’t going free because they didn’t commit this atrocity on innocent civilians in Iraq, but on a technicality that the federal prosecutors messed up on.  So the prosecutors are at fault, not the judge, or America.

Here is why. The federal prosecutors had originally promised these guards that their information/testimony wouldn’t be used in court, but it was necessary for part of the internal inquiry.

But because the prosecutors didn’t have their own sufficient evidence to hold all 5 men accountable for this crime, they used these testimonials from which to build their case upon and gather information.

So, in essence, when they tried to use these testimonials, they were thrown out. Subsequently, anything that was related to these testimonials as evidence became null and void.

Since the prosecutor’s case was too weak to prove evidence was sufficient beyond a reasonable doubt without this, the judge ruled there was lack of evidence and dropped the charges on 12/31/09.

The judge did his job and did his job appropriately. The federal prosecutors did not, because they went back on their word. Now, most likely, America will pay dearly for this.

I restate: I doubt many will understand or accept this fine point -the validity behind this ruling – as the majority of the public globally likes to focus on the negative or on incorrect information to help justify their rage. So the rage of  ”America thinks they are above the law” will build powerfully day after day as we start off a new year.

A new hatred has just formed against America – and it’s not just by the civilians, it is by the Iraqi officials as well, and this one will be powerful.

It’s power will stem from 3 primary reasons:

1. The crime and ruling being more current (2007 & 2009),

2. The recently surfaced information of how significantly horrendous the Bush W Administration for 8 years justified and orchestrated America’s actions overall, but more specifically, in terms of the Iraq war

3. The global community – even many Americans like myself, believe these 5 Blackwater Guards should be found guilty for these senseless and brutal murders. But most likely, the bandwagon rage will surface from other countries

This is a contagious new hatred. All facets of American power (US Military, White House Administration, Congress, The Federal Reserve, Wall Street) need to pay attention to to this seriously, as the trickling effect will happen quicker than America will be prepared for it. I surmise it’s already happened.

I am sure President Obama and his team will do all they can to reassure Iraq that we should keep good relations, etc. but it was our US Government that dictated terms of allowing  immunity for Blackwater guards to not be tried in Iraq for any crime they commit, and it is our US Constitution that just dictated their freedom. If Obama puts himself in Iraq’s shoes, he might realize a lot of smooth talk won’t really work in this situation.

So now Iraqi officials are determined these Blackwater guards will be held accountable in Iraq. I don’t blame them. If the situation were reversed, you better believe America would be doing the same.

I am not sure how Iraq is going to do this without declaring war on America or something like that – unless Obama and his government counterparts do some quick inking and allow these 5 men to be tried in Iraq.

To me, this wouldn’t be such a tough a decision – logically. Make 5 men who are a member of a mercanary style organization take accountablity for their actions and face court in Iraq, or put millions of Americans (and any others on America soil) and our US troops in Iraq in serious and imminent danger relatively immediately.

Remember, the Taliban still exists in Iraq and can pull together quite quick for retaliation on Americans. Although at this point, the rage is so strong, I don’t even think you need the Taliban to do anything, there are so many Iraqi civilians right now that probably want to shoot Americans and American soldiers dead. I think the civilians would be willing to pick up a gun and do it themselves.  They might even call themselves a new insurgent group: “Blackwater Revenge”.  Boy, this is a mess.

But wait, I said logic & Obama (US Government). So most likely that means it won’t happen.

There will be all these political ties and secret threats and special requests from so many and from a million different angles that Obama will be pushed into a very tight corner.

The only saving grace Obama has is if the Justice Department appeals the ruling or goes for different indictments which is what is on the agenda it seems.  I imagine if they don’t do this, some in the Justice Department will be looking for a new job soon. Obama will almost demand it. It’s his America that is on the line, (aka: it’s his ratings).

The global world will be watching how America handles this delicate situation as we begin a new year.

*Suggestion: If you are an American or other country citizen and are unfamiliar with this event, and/or are questioning in your mind whose story you believe (Iraqi’s or 5 Blackwater guards), please read” Blackwater” by Jeremy Scahill. It was an international best seller.

*Notation: Since this event in 2007, Blackwater changed its management team and changed it’s name to Xe.

Best Kept Secret for 13 Years

This new announcement the Osama bin Laden tried to assassinate former President Bill Clinton when he was at the APEC meeting in the Phillippines in 1996 is just oh so appropriate…as this week, the troop increasement officially begins with the first 1,000 US Marines heading to Afghanistan with a less than favorable support from the American public.

Sounds like Obama is getting a bit more heat than anticipated and they need to pull out all the tricks they can now to gain support of this insurgency in Afghanistan. No better than to show this ace card!

The event: The terrorists were actually minutes away from success as Clinton’s motorcade was set to go over a bridge in Manila that had explosives on it, when Secret Service got a quick message from intelligence sources saying ‘bridge’ and ‘wedding’ — wedding is the terrorist code word for assassination.  They quickly rerouted. American intelligence sources later found explosive devices under that bridge. It wasn’t Osama bin Laden himself of course, it was one of his affiliates in Al Qaeda acting on his behalf.

Now, Bill Clinton at the time of his presidency chose to keep this assassination attempt quiet. I am sure he had his reasons.

Key Secret Service and Intelligence officials in many agencies knew and seemed to be good to keep this quiet for 13 years.

All of a sudden, it’s worthy to be known.

So what do you think changed everyone’s mind, all of a sudden?

Do you think it’s just because Professor Gromley’s book is set to release? He’s the one who writes about this.

I doubt it.

My theory – Obama needed this edge to remind people of how important it is to spend our taxpayer money to get good ole bin Laden and to stop his globally conglomerative organization.

Obama’s justifications for this insurgency  - or what he calls reasoning – are weak, if at best, and he and his Administration believe this piece of information might relate to more people.

Big chance to take – hoping people will be sucked into this one because they liked Clinton – and now all of a sudden will be okay with our taxpayer dollars funding this almost 9 year ridiculous war.

Gotta hand it to our crafty govy folks – this one’s a goody to pull out of the bag!

For one second, they almost got me even (as I liked Clinton).

An extra umph to this strategy –  this now helps Secretary of State Hillary Clinton justify her support of Obama’s plan even more so.

Afterall, this is her husband, our former US President for 8 years, who outside his sex scandal, did a phenomenal job, and a man who is continuing to make significant contributions globally through his non profit, The Bill Clinton Foundation.

I am sure Hillary knew of this assassination attempt right after it happened, but still, this ‘news flash’ gives her umph in her position today even more so, as to why she stands behinds Obama’s decision.

Keep in mind, Obama’s polling rates dropped a lot since the beginning of December on multiple issues, the war being one.

Indeed, his team needed to think of something quite clever to have these numbers move back up before 2010 rolled in.

Outside those 3 working weeks in December, there wasn’t much time, as the President is on vacation in Hawaii for the holidays, so he wouldn’t be doing much ‘heroic’ presidencing between Christmas and the New Year.

If this works, one would say it’s perfect timing —-and everyone knows timing is everything in politics and war.

Savvy authors and publishers won’t release a book until a certain time when they know a subject matter will be hotter than any other time of the year to increase a higher chance of sales quicker in a shorter amount of time.

The government invented this strategy years ago (as a way to manipulate the American citizens).

Our elected officials and those in our government agencies not only invented this strategy, but over the years, they have perfected it. They are quite slick  - always picking the ‘appropriate times’ to release classified information to the American citizens and/or global world.

Believe me, they don’t just wake up one day and say, “hey, how about we release xx info today to give the media something to write about in case it’s slow for them”.

This ace…this best kept secret for 13 years…well, there is a heck of a lot of political, military and presidential strategy behind this one – and I am sure there is more about this strategy than just this war and Obama’s ratings. More will be revealed in 2010, no doubt.

I surmise numerous interviews with Bill Clinton will be first. Bill obviously knew once this book was released and this precious secret was revealed, that interviews would be requested.

Perhaps there is a bigger Democratic reason why Bill Clinton needs to be in the spotlight more so now than he already is.

Poor Hillary, overshadowed by her husband, yet again.

I am very glad Bill Clinton wasn’t assassinated, but this doesn’t change my opinion at all. No matter what way you color it or state it, I don’t support this AfPak war. So this didn’t work on me. How about you?

0% proof – A Better Plan for our Troops

We are sending more troops to Afghanistan to stop the Taliban and the Al Qaeda network.

In the Fall, Zazi had a planned terrorist attack in NYC on their transportation system on the 8 year anniversary of 9/11.

Today, December 25th, Christmas, a Nigerian with Al Qeada connections boarded a blane headed for Detroit and attempted to set off his bomb that was strapped to his body shortly before landing. He was only partially successful thankfully. The device came from Yemen.

I have blogged about this before, but I hate venting without offering a solution. I have given this more thought and have increased my solution suggestion based upon the events that have unfolded these past few months.

To restate, we can send thousands upon thousands of troops forever to Afghanistan and we will never ‘deter’ or ‘dismantle’ or ’stop’ these terrorists like Obama claims we can.

There is 0% proof sending more troops to this country will make even the slightest dent in this organization or make the US or global world safer from these extremists. When you look at it from these situations, there really is 0% proof.

No one has really challenged Obama (or McChrystal) , on the percentage of proof. They have challenged him on the strategy, on the dollars spent, but not the proof that his belief/wish can realistically happen.

A strategy always sounds good and can make asking authorities loose focus of the proof. A strategy also always sounds great – until someone comes up with a better one. It’s not too late for my better one.

The locations I am reading about that affect me, an advocate for the US Military, both in voice and donations and as an American citizen are: Colorado, NYC, Detroit, Pakistan,Yemen & Africa.

Right here, right now – that’s real. What almost happened a few months ago and almost happened today is my reality. NOT what is happening in a country that is thousands of miles away and one we will never be able to ‘clean up’ to achieve the objective Obama wants.

No where in all of 2009 have I read that Afghanistan is the actual, truest, most  immeninet and serious threat to unarmed civilians in the U.S. Please note the extreme difference I am bringing to the forefront here when I am making my point.

I am not saying an overall threat.  I am saying the threat that all us unarmed civilians care about each and every day – the threat that is very serious and very immeninet. The threats that are taking place in the US. The attacks that are almost happening, more too close for comfort than I prefer these past few months.

We all know that 1000 US Marines leave next week for Afghanistan as the start of the 30,000 troop increasement. And the remainder military surge from US military and our allies troops will be there in the Spring 2010.

So, do you feel any safer today knowing that? Ask someone from NYC. Ask someone from Detroit. Even if not from those cities, ask anyone.

Do you think that what they do over in Afghanistan will really affect the terrorist attacks – that as I mentioned in a previous blog, are already planned and the sleeper cells just waiting for orders?

If you ask me, the taxpayer footing Obama’s wish, I could care less about trying to stop this organization that can never be stopped. I am smart with my money and this is not a wise investment. I am also a realist, and know his mission is lacking 100% proof and is filled with campaign ideology.

What I do care about is the threat of me getting on a plane or the threat of me getting on a subway system, etc.

Where is Obama’s 100% proof that he can protect me today in America, when just these past 4 months, 2 attacks almost happened under his leadership? Why isn’t he spending my tax payer dollars more on Homeland Security than on something he knows, if he looks in the mirror hard enough, can’t be achieved in Afghanistan.

No one’s polled me to ask me how I want my taxpayer dollars spent. That’s not right either, as it’s my money.  So I am stating clearly,  that’s what I want my taxpayer dollars to go to supporting. I would rally behind Obama if he took those military troops and stationed more of them in locations such as Africa or Pakistan, or in the predominant cities of the US in the primary target locations – transportation, infamous buildings, etc. Your average security people who patrol these are just not trained like the military to spot the terrorists. We could use more military presence in these locations.

And it is clear the source of origin is just as powerful in Yemen as it is in Afghanistan. And it is just as powerful in parts of Africa as it is in Afghanistan. Ditto for Pakistan. Yet we are not sending any more troops to these locations than are already there.  Why?

If Obama really wants to make a dent in ‘detering and dismantling and stopping the Taliban’ and Al Qaeda, frankly he needs to do an insurgency in many locations simultaneously as a massive kick in the butt to the terrorists.

Otherwise, we just move the terrorists out of one location and into another country. You attack with more power in Afghanistan, they will just move more over to Pakistan and Yemen and Africa. They travel quick and easy.

And then the cycle repeats itself – they will grow faster in numbers in those locations before in a few years, we decide it’s time to do an insurgency in them too. 10 year war. Wag the dog. Chase the tail. Reactive not proactive. They are always ahead of us. Someone will one day write the book of history on the military in the 21st Century, and it won’t be pretty.

Government decisions really aren’t that hard. You don’t need to be a genius or have a law degree to figure these ‘decisions’ out. Some common sense, logic and maybe some business savviness is all you need – and you would come up with a much more public acceptance, doable, realistic, less costly solution.

You must hit all the places the Taliban and Al Qaeda thrive all at once. It’s the only way to attack efficiently. That is, if Obama really wants to do this – and he isn’t doing it just to look good.

This is simple sports 101 or business 102. A business owner wouldn’t send out a marketing message to only one country if the business was international. The business person would hit all countries so the competition couldn’t get a chance to get ahead. A basketball team wouldn’t block just one player, they would block the whole team.

You can not single out one country to surge in on when the Taliban is massive in numbers in more than one country, and their power is just as efficient and just as powerful in those other countries as it is in the original source country where they were formed out of.

I think my reasoning makes more sense than Obama’s. And I would support this plan and be glad my taxpayer dollars are finally being put to logical and efficient use. So Obama  is more than welcome to take my idea – I am almost begging him to.

0% proof or a better plan of attack?

Senseless lives lost and wasteful money spent, or better use of our taxpayer dollars and a stronger, more strategic way to keep us all safe right now, today on our homeland soils (and maybe even actually make that dent that Obama wants to ‘deter, dismantle and stop the Taliban and Al Qaeda extremists’).

You choose.

There is still time for your voice to be heard, before the 29,000 more are deployed.

Happy Holidays!

Wishing everyone a festive holiday season and a magnificent New Year!

May we all be champions for transparency back to our global governments, agencies and people who work in them  - much louder, firmer and demand more or better in 2010!

Thank you for supporting TOWP, a venue to expand minds globally.

Be safe, happy holidays and Cheers to 2010!

Abbey

Can we win the war in AfPak?

Obama’s recent announcement to send 30,000 more US troops to Afghanistan disgusts me.

The President claims it’s ‘to help our existing troops fight there’ and it’s the only way we can ‘deter, dismantle and stop the Taliban’ and the terrorists that constantly want to and plan to kill us.

But this war isn’t even our war anymore.  What are we truly fighting? Our troops should have been brought home years ago. We are never going to win this AfPak war.

Why? Because we are always chasing them, and never ahead of them.

Logic tells me the one that is chasing is always at the disadvantage/always behind, and will always loose more than gain or even win at all.

The only way we will win this war is if we know where all the roadside bombs are, know where all the next attacks (for at least another 5 decades) on the US will be and how they will be orchestrated, know every single Taliban member so we can recognize them before they kill us, etc etc. So you see, this is simply not a reaslistic situation, there is no real win.

Indeed, it doesn’t even make a difference if we find Osama bin Laden – as he isn’t even leading anymore. His ‘image’ really isn’t making or breaking the strength in recruiting people to join the Taliban. It helps, but it certainly isn’t the breaking point.

This is all irrelevant anyway, as so many sub groups of insurgencies have formed that even if the Taliban was halted, these other serious terrorists who hate the US and our western ways and are powerful enough to do damage. This will go on for centuries.

So, it’s just  not worth it anymore for the less than 1% chance we could actually accomplish Obama’s mission in our lifetime or within this century. It’s not worth the lives or the billions of taxpayer dollars we are spending on this.

I am not a quitter. And this by no means in my eyes or in the eyes of many against this war is saying the US and our allies are giving up – this is simply being smart. Business smart, street smart – whatever you want to categorize it as – it’s just smart.

But the government has always lacked in that area. The government doesn’t know how to be smart, they know how to follow the leader. We fought hard for 8 years already, that is not quitting.  Time to be smart. Time to be done.

Troops can return home victorious because we are basically sending a stronger message to the terrorists:

Message: That we are smart. And we won’t spend our time, money or precious lives on them anymore. You terrorists aren’t worth it.

Meaning behind the message: That essentially tells them they hold no power over us.

The one who truly wins the war is the one that takes the high road and the one that takes control. By us not waisting our time on this anymore, we do those 2 things. That’s a dignity and a respect that is insurmountable and will overcome all naysayers.

But the more we stay their to fight them, the more power they do hold over us. The more we play into their game, the more they keep playing us.

That reverts back to the statement before, remember, they have the advantage (they are planting the IED’s, they are moving around countries quicker than we can get there to stop them, etc).

Terrorists are part of the organized crime world. I have yet to hear President Obama make a speech to the American Citizens or in front of Congress saying he is going to deter, dismantle and stop Organized Crime.

Why? Because he knows he can’t. These families and chains are so tight, so closely integrated, and so predominant for centuries, globally, that no military, no amount of fighting or technology and certainly no president can even remotely touch this organization enough to make this type of change he wants to have.

So again, Obama’s goals are unrealistic. In order to stop the Taliban, to win this war, he needs to stop organized crime too.

Even if you remove the fact of organized crime from this assessment of winning the war, realistically, we all know the Taliban will never stop. The Al Qaeda network won’t either. C’mon, really think about this for a moment.

For every one we kill today, there are hundreds if not thousands more already trained, ready to jump in and fight or kill us. They want us Westerners dead. That is a very strong motivating factor and gains power in numbers.

Anyone who truly believes Obama – that we can ‘deter, dismantle and stop the Taliban’ and Al Qaeda is an idealist. I am not faulting Obama or you for being that idealist -it’s great!

But this is an exorbiant amount of our taxpayer dollars and this is numerous young soldiers lives being lost. You have to really ask the hard question of the benchmark measure between the costs and deaths vs what we really can achieve there, and if we can really win this war. And Obama’s goal is just off the charts in realism.

We can’t afford to have a president making these kind of idealistic decisions at the expense of the global troops’ lives and the higher tax costs to the citizens.

And our soldiers and our allies soldiers just don’t need to shed blood or die for this ridiculous war anymore. Again, it’s not even our war anymore. The US just likes to tell the global world it is.

We can’t see our enemy at all times, so it doesn’t make a difference what we do in Afghanistan, when there are terrorists sitting here in America, in Canada, all throughout Europe and Africa in sleeper cells just waiting.

We saw this clearly with attack that almost was pulled off from the terrorist in Colorado in Fall 2009 on the NYC public transportation system with the planned date on the 8 year anniversary of 9/11!

Ladies and gentlemen, we don’t need to go to Afghanistan to deter, dismantle, stop (fight) the Taliban, they are right here in the US, and are a much graver and more immeninet threat to all of us unarmed citizens than anything happening overseas! Military voluntarily signs up to fight, possibly die for their country. American citizens don’t sign up to possibly be blown up one day on a NYC subway.

Yet 2 months later, President Obama still makes this announcement of troop increase overseas. Where is the logic?

More of our soldiers are dying from roadside bombs and IED’s than actually being killed in shootouts. So it’s not like this is a ‘fair’ gun to gun battle and the increase in troops will even out the score.

Sending more troops just means more will be killed by these roadside bombs, untrustworthy Afghanistan police that turn their guns on the US soldiers that trained them one day, etc. All we are doing is increasing the number of injuries or deaths that will occur, and we won’t be accomplishing much more at the end of the day.

Wait and see. July 2011  starts the beginning of the troop withdraw (of course, they set no numbers for how many, and that is IF Obama keeps his word)

So, let’s see what the report is for their accountablity and measurement. Let’s see what we really achieved, let’s see if we even won or are closer to winning, let’s see if another attack happens on US soil before or after that, and lets see how many soldiers were mamed or died for nothing,  and don’t forget to look at your paycheck to realize it’s lower because you paid for all this.

I’d rather have Obama take these troops that are already in Afghanistan and bring them home and/or take these 30,000 troops ordered to go, and strategically place them in the cities that we know have the sleeper cells and start taking care of the problem right here in the USA!

Now that I would support and would not mind my taxpayer dollars being spent on. To me, that is smart.

But again…”smart”, “logic”, “makes sense” — all words unfamiliar with the underpinnings of government, congress and the president.

I believe we can’t win this war in AfPak. I say stop the troops going over and bring the ones there home earlier.  The world will rally around all those that fought this war, for all the bravery they displayed and all the hardships and suffering they endured for 8 years. There are more of us against this war than for it and we want our troops home and will thank them loudly.

My prayers go out to all the troops – including our allies troops – being sent to Afghanistan in December 2009 and Spring 2010.

30,000 more troops being sent to the wrong country

President Obama has decided that an insurgency in Afghanistan -akin to the one done in Iraq – would at this point, be the best way to ‘deter, dismantle and stop’ the Taliban and the Al Qaeda network that still significantly threatens the US and the global world.

I disagree 100%.  This is lacks any common sense. It’s completely senseless in cost, and more importantly, senseless in the lives that will be lost to fight this long, drawn out, going on 9 year war.

The Taliban is more predominant in the Pakistan area and that is where Osama bin Laden is reportedly hiding – along the border of Pakistan and Afghanistan.

So why would he send 30,000 more troops on top of the 68,000 that were sent when he first came into office in January 09 to Afghanistan, if that is not the country where the bigger problems really are?

I would think that if you are going to try to make sure a terrorist group doesn’t take over a country, it would be the one with nuclear arms.

Not with the country that we train their men to fight USA style and they turn around and shoot and kill 2 of our own USA soldiers for no reason at all while they are patrolling along with them. You can not trust these Afghanistans. They turn on us in an instant – they have no loyalty to us, so we can’t expect anything but distrust.

I would also think it would be the country where this powerful and growing terrorist group is more heavily infiltrated. The terrorists are not stupid, the more you move into Afghanistan, the more they just simply move into Pakistan and gain even more leverage than they already have there.

But that’s just me talking logic -and the government doesn’t work on logic, they work to support their own agendas…except Vice President Biden.

Biden seems to be the only smart one in the national security team pack. He has repeatedly stated he does not agree with this Obama/General McCrystal strategy. Biden’s solution (unmanned drones and special ops) is much smarter in terms of dollars, efficiency and less lives lost. And Biden thinks if we are sending any troops over, it should be to Pakistan.

Finally, a refreshing thought in government and one that is logical!

Extra prayers are sent to these 30,000 troops that will be sent to Afghanistan: 1000 Marines last week in December 2009 and the remaining during the Spring 2010.

The Disgrace to a US Marine – His Photo in Afghanistan

This ought to help military recruitment for the near future….(sarcastic)

Publish a photo of a soldier’s leg blown off, and the other one badly maimed from a Rocket Propelled Grenade (RPG) in the Helmand Province of Afghanistan on the eve of August 14, 2009.  The Marine was Lance Corporal Joshua M. Bernard, 21 of New Portland, Maine. He died later that night.

They asked the family if they were okay with the photo being published. The father, a former Marine himself, said “No”.

Not once, but twice. He stated “no” once on the phone, and once in a follow up letter.

Secretary of Defense did the same thing. He “begged” the president and chief executive of the Associated Press, Tom Curley on the phone, and then later with a follow up later to not publish the photo.

What about the word “no” do you not understand, Mr. Curley?

What about hearing it 2 times by the family, and 2 times by the Secretary of Defense, do you not understand?

Did you have convenient loss of hearing the days prior to publishing it?

Why even ask the family if you are going to publish it anyway?

Where is the common decency behind journalism?

Does the AP think they are above anyone to do what they want?

When the Secretary of Defense phones you and then later writes you a letter requesting – actually, it was begging – you not publish photos, you oblige. It’s called respect for your superiors – the ones who are helping to run our country and keep your butt safe!

How dare you Mr. Curley!

There should be a law against defying a Cabinet Member’s direct orders.

Did the AP think this wasn’t going to have repercussions with DoD, Bernard’s family, with the American public, with others worldwide?

1. Piss of Gates – not such a hot idea, since he just granted liency to allow photos showing the soldiers coming home in coffins. You blandishly abused your privilege here –now let’s see what Gates does to restrict you more.
2. Go against the wishes of the family. Well, just plain idiotic. You just walked yourself into the hugest lawsuit! Don’t even bother trying to take a position of defense. You have none. Your explanation of why you did this is pathetic and weak. You have no chance. Mine as well just offer them hundreds of millions now, save yourself some headache and constant bad press.
3. Obama should make a strong statement against the AP, and while he is at it, he should enact a new ruling (with Gates’ suggestions) in terms of the US Military and the media and their boundaries. While he is at it, he should order Curley fired, and maybe even the photographer, Julie Jacobson, too. For her to want this photo to go to the public, knowing it was against the wishes of the family, well, she should pay the consequences as well.

Gates made his letter public to give other journalists pause for future photos and stories. But if I were Gates, I would send a stronger message to photojournalists worldwide. Immediately, everyone comes back home. All photographers off the bases overseas by end of the month. No photos are allowed any more.

In the month where US casualties in Afghanistan were at the highest they have ever been in any month since our war started over 5 years ago,  this is surely not what DoD needs, nor what the Military Recruiting Departments need.

All the people behind this – should be ordered to write Bernard’s family an apology letter. It is appalling they have not done this yet.

This isn’t about showing what is going on over there. There are about a hundred other pictures they could have chosen to depict that. This was not about them informing the American public. This was self interested – for what reason I have no clue.

The pathetic responses –

Julie Jacobson: “death is a part of life and certainly a part of war. Isn’t that why we are here?”

The American public doesn’t need to see this. We all know this. We are updated in numbers every day.  We are all well aware there are soldiers dying and being maimed daily.

She is an unprofessional that shouldn’t have the right to be there anymore. A true photographer has ethics, morals, and knows what is really right and wrong. If she couldn’t figure out that this would hurt the family tremendously, create a serious negative impact (in more ways than one) once this photo was released, than she is an infant with a camera who got lucky with a shot. Not a professional photographer.

Tom Curley:  {The A.P. decided} “to make public an image that conveys the grimness of war and the sacrifice of young men and women fighting it.”

What was this – someone trying to get ‘photo of the year’ award from national geographic or something?

Truly distasteful. Absolutely no respect to the family. Even less respect to the soldier that lost his life, LC Joshua Bernard. This is not how this soldier should have been captured and displayed on his last day alive.

The dignity of who he was as a soldier, his willingness to fight for the US, should have been represented much classier as his ‘last photo’. It should have just been the one you see an hour earlier of him that Jacobson took while he was patrolling an area, and/or the one circulating now, him posing in uniform.

As far as firing Curley and Jacobson – Obama shouldn’t worry about contributing to job loss – they would get massive offers from all the paparazzi. That is the value of what their choice represents today – so it fits accordingly. Overpaid scum with no conscious.

Didn’t anyone ever tell ya: you just don’t mess with the US Marines – and you certainly don’t disgrace them either.

~Written in honor of a young Marine, Lance Corporal Joshua M. Bernard.