As President Obama dithers with the decision as to whether to increase troop levels, recommended by General McChrystal, Afghanistan and Pakistan are spiraling out of control. After five meetings with his war council, Obama is still said to be weeks away from making a final decision in regards to his war strategy. President Obama is beginning to resemble President Clinton and his failed leadership during the Mogadishu
ambush that saw 18 dead and 77 wounded American soldiers. At that time, it was becoming clear that the situation on the ground was deteriorating and Gen. Thomas Montgomery was requesting reinforcements, air support and armored vehicles which was denied by then Sec. of Defense Les Aspin. The resulting carnage saw the images of dead American soldiers being dragged through Somali streets.
President Obama needs to do more than make a decision of sending forty thousand additional troops, he must change the rules of engagement that are preventing our soldiers from obtaining victory on the ground. Some of these new rules require our troops to break away from fights with militants hiding among villagers and obtain permission of homeowners to search for terrorists that may be hiding in their homes. Reading the Miranda Warning to terrorists on the battlefield will not make a us a safer country and does not help our troops.
Taliban attacks in Pakistan are increasing at an alarming rate and are coinciding with the threatened Pakistan offensive on the Waziristan region. This Pakistani offensive must take place to disrupt Taliban and Al Qaeda forces from cross border raids into Afghanistan against NATO troops. In a perfect world, this offensive would coincide with the additional American forces pushing towards the Pakistani border to eliminate the retreating Jihadists from the Waziristan region. This multi assault would do more to ensure victory for American and Pakistan forces than anything else. Would it end the war that is currently raging on both sides of the border. No it would not, but it would severely damage the offensive capabilities of the enemy and most likely kill or capture the brain trust of the terrorists.
As we wait for President Obama’s grandiose new war plan, NATO troops are losing their lives at an increasing rate and the Taliban are in control of even more territory within Afghanistan. Unless Mr. Obama decides to let the Generals run the war and do what is necessary to win, he will increasingly begin to look like President Clinton and his failure in Somalia. That defeat and others overseen by the Clinton Administration is what emboldened Osama Bin Laden to launch his global jihad against a perceived weakened United States. I don’t have much faith in Obama and his civilian war council, but I pray that they do the right thing and try to win this war. If he is unwilling or unable to allow our military to win this battle and give them the tools to accomplish their mission, I surmise that we should leave the field of battle. Another defeat for America and more terrorist attacks on a perceived weakened nation will surely come if Obama fails to lead.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Afghanistan could be Obama's Mogadishu.
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Hurry up Obama. Send more troops to Afghanistan
ReplyDeleteI know, our man Bush started the war there...put the Taliban on the run...cornered the lot of them in Tora Bora...and then
Abandoned everything to the local army and headed off to Iraq, ...ostensibly to find those weapons of mass destruction.
When no weapons were found he decided we needed to continue fighting to bring freedom and democracy to Iraq.
Never mind that the Taliban in Afghanistan were regaining their foothold.
Never mind that Osama was hiding out somewhere along the border there.
Never mind that military commanders in Afghanistan were calling for more help...to no avail.
Now Republicans, who ignored Afghanistan for 7 years, are acting all hot and bothered ..."We have to send in the troops now...before it's too late."
NOW? TOO LATE?? Where in the heck have you guys been for the past 7years?
Hello!!! You were suppose to send in those troops 7 years ago when you had the Taliban on the ropes.
What kind of strategy is it that says "We'll beat the Taliban with the help of the Northern Alliance..then pull out and give the Tailban 7 years to regroup, retrain, rearm and retake lost territory..THEN we'll send in the troops back in!!
Hey Republicans, if this is how you run a war....good thing you aren't running our economy.
Oh, that's right. You drove that to the brink of disaster too.
Here there be trolls. We've been seeing more and more of them lately.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, my first reaction to this was to remember how LBJ took an active role in selecting bombing targets during Vietnam. That, of course, failed miserably. Obama seems to be wanting failure here. I just don't see him taking the time to micromanage it. Perhaps he'll have a minion do that.
Trolls is right. His minion is probably Biden and that is scary as hell. We will know soon if Obama is going to treat this as a political hot potato or truly lead and try to win this thing as he promised in the election. Of course his pre-election promises are not bearing fruit right now.
ReplyDeleteYeah and here's what Osama bin Laden took from that lesson (his own words):
ReplyDeleteFew days ago the news agencies had reported that the Defence Secretary of the Crusading Americans had said that “the explosion at Riyadh and Al-Khobar had taught him one lesson: that is not to withdraw when attacked by coward terrorists“.
We say to the Defence Secretary that his talk can induce a grieving mother to laughter! and shows the fears that had enshrined you all. Where was this false courage of yours when the explosion in Beirut took place on 1983 AD (1403 A.H). You were turned into scattered pits and pieces at that time; 241 mainly marines solders were killed. And where was this courage of yours when two explosions made you to leave Aden in lees than twenty four hours!
But your most disgraceful case was in Somalia; where- after vigorous propaganda about the power of the USA and its post cold war leadership of the new world order- you moved tens of thousands of international force, including twenty eight thousands American solders into Somalia. However, when tens of your solders were killed in minor battles and one American Pilot was dragged in the streets of Mogadishu you left the area carrying disappointment, humiliation, defeat and your dead with you. Clinton appeared in front of the whole world threatening and promising revenge , but these threats were merely a preparation for withdrawal. You have been disgraced by Allah and you withdrew; the extent of your impotence and weaknesses became very clear. It was a pleasure for the “heart” of every Muslim and a remedy to the “chests” of believing nations to see you defeated in the three Islamic cities of Beirut , Aden and Mogadishu.
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/terrorism/international/fatwa_1996.html
Why don't you, conservatives, shut up for once!! And give the liberals in the Obama team bring peace to these foreign countries. You already had your chance, you noisy conservatives!! Look what you've brought to the U.S. of A? You've just invited and brought closer to your homeland the war. The twin towers were just a few of the horrifying proof of your folly!! So, please..please...give the new breed of diplomats wage their kind of war...where bullets never fly and bodies never fall!!
ReplyDelete