Syria And The Sense Of Deja Vu

 As I watch the agonizing over should we or should we not do something in Syria it brings back memories of George W. Bush and his build up for Iraq.  I was furious with him and never could get past it in my opinion of him as President.  Americans don't start wars.  But we did.  And what a mess has evolved.

President Obama does not want to do anything in Syria. You can see it as plain as day. For that I applaud him.  It isn't our war.  I know, there are the humanitarian considerations, but the time to help the civilians has long since passed. What we're doing is looking at committing an act of war in a region where no one likes us nor are likely to - ever.  They don't even like each other, quite evident in the way they're behaving amongst themselves.

Our President has gotten caught up in his rhetoric before.  His 'red line' statement caught his staffers off guard. But wouldn't we all, meaning the region and ourselves and our allies,  be better off if he apologized for a bad choice of words and explained why it's prudent to do nothing?  I hate to see him get forced into making a bad decision to make him seem like a man of his word.  The plans that are leaking out are unlikely to accomplish that in any case. He looks feckless no matter which direction he goes but he could save untold lives.

We would all live to see another day.  The Russians could gloat but they're doing that anyway. China doesn't care particularly.  They just thrive on being spoilers.  So those two eliminate UN approval which isn't worth anything anyway. More importantly Israel would survive one more time because Syria has already said retaliation would be taken out on them.

True, the Iranians would go back to their bomb building and Syria would continue massacring it's people.  The thing is we can't sort out any of it for them.  Sure we'd like to see stability in that region of the world and yes we have legitimate interests there but lobbing those few missiles would be like a fly landing on their arm.  They'd flick it off and go on with their battle among themselves.  We shouldn't forget the conflicts continuing in Egypt and Afghanistan and the increase of violence once again in Iraq. Not only is the fight among secularists and radical Muslims like the Taliban and al Qaeda, but also the Sunnis against the Shiites.  It's just not our fight.

I might be more inclined to ease my stance if Muslims living outside the region were having something to say in opposition to how their brothers are carrying on but all I hear is silence.  It's deafening.

Mr. President, stand your ground.  On this one I think the entire country is with you.  It's one more war we cannot win. You'll have other opportunities to act in a timely manner rather than dragging your feet until it's too late.  Please, consider doing that.  It's what that word that's so foreign to you, leadership, is all about.

When Mad Men Rule

Kim Jong Un was on the news last night examining his armaments.  I commented to Hub that I wondered if he was really dumb enough to do something stupid. His response was you never know.  That's about the least comforting answer that could be given.

North Korea loves to rattle it's sabres.  Those who tell us they are in the know also tell us he wouldn't.  He just likes to jerk our chain.  Personally, I don't much trust people in the know these days.  They more often are not.

North Korea has warned us.  They have cut off the last link of communications with the south because war could break out at any moment.  We have of course condemned this latest development but that means nothing.  All our adversaries are sure we will do nothing should it actually happen. They've seen nothing to make them think otherwise as we sit back bickering about Gay marriage while regions around the world are imploding.

It's one reason why we need to keep our nukes. They just might serve as a deterrent but it's hard to tell. Four powerful nations, other than us, are know to have nukes.  Two are allies, two are iffy.  China, France, Russia and the U.K. They are the least likely to use them.  While we may not like their leaders, they are not mad men.

Then there is India, Israel, North Korea and Pakistan.  None are a sure bet to use discretion.  Pakistan is becoming more belligerent by the minute and they both fear and hate India. The feeling is mutual.  Israel has it's own problems but if pushed and feeling abandoned, I don't doubt they'd do what they feel is necessary. North Korea is of course the one doing the threatening and the most wild of cards.

Then there are those with ambitions.  Syria and Iran.  Iran is getting close and they will supply Syria if there is a Syria left to supply.  These two, along with North Korea who would deal with either or both are the nut cases.  Three of them.  Yet you only need one.

Whether or not Syria has actually used chemical weapons against it's own people is still being investigated.  Merely moving them was to be a game changer for the U.S.  That has happened yet what?  Nothing unless distancing ourselves even further is the game.

I have no doubt Iran will succeed.  That too will be a game changer like let's make a deal to keep them from using them on us.

North Korea is the one I most fear.  They seem so inept.  Think of the propaganda videos they've put out.  They are just as bad as the one the IRS put out as a training film parodying Star Trek.  It was awful.  Then there is the one with Hillary denying our involvement in the video that supposedly, since proven wrong, caused the attack in Benghazi.  It too was awful.

It's the ineptness though, paired with madness that worries me.  If we take comfort in the idea of them being bellicose yet impotent and someone slips on a banana peel and hits the wrong button everything goes bang. At that point it doesn't matter if it was intentional or not.

If the other countries are like us and over react to everything like we have with the sequester or Sandy Hook nukes will start falling like rain and countries like dominoes in the rush for dominance. Not that there would be anything left to dominate.

Funny, he seemed like such an innocuous little guy.  Who thought he'd actually do anything?  Well, he did warn us.

A Hardened People

As I watch the developments in Syria I worry.  I worry about the loss of innocent life all for the ambitions of a failing dictator.  Especially for the children who are always the hope of nations.  The question is, what kind of hope?

I've noted that we've given our usual stern warning and I expect nothing more to follow.  We have a President who has little taste for engagement in anything close to war.  I'm curious to where his stance has come from.  I'm not criticising it.  I wish all world leaders shared his distaste for it. I'd like to hear him articulate why he has such an aversion.  I think it may be different than mine but as long as it's an aversion,  perhaps it's enough.

I fear, however, world peace is an oxymoron.  We will never see it because there is always someone who sees the grass greener and won't hesitate to go to war to get it. It is a human failing.

While skimming articles from a variety of sources regarding Syria's potential use of chemical weapons I find few think there is any threat to the rest of the world.  I would think that would be determined by how many they actually have, how good their delivery systems are and whether or not their supply would be decimated by use on their own people.  That being said, let's assume it's true.  Especially for us, being as far away as we are.

Then I started reading the comments on the various articles.  I was stunned.  That we are war weary came as no surprise.  What did surprise me was the amount of venom directed at the people who would be affected.  Civilians.  And children.  The prevailing attitude seemed to be, so what?  They're all Arabs.  Consider that a catch all category for the region as a whole.

I look at things differently.  I think of the humanity or lack of it in any war.  The ethnicity of the people involved has really never entered my mind. War is war.  People die.

I understand though.  You look at their inhumanity toward one another.  You look at a Karzai constantly finding fault with our efforts on his behalf while he squirrels away millions of our dollars.  You look at Iran and their indifference toward the suffering of their own people by virtue of crippling embargoes all so they can develop nuclear capability. You look at a leader who no sooner became such because we made elections in his country possible grab unabated power as soon as he could.

You look at people who hate us so much they'll fly planes into our buildings, torpedo our ships and kill our diplomats. You look at an ally who harbors the mastermind of such attacks and provides safe haven to terrorists of all stripes including those who would shoot a fourteen year old girl for wanting an education.

Feel sorry for them?  Feel sorry for them because while they may be civilians, given half a chance they would probably turn their wrath on us?

I understand the anger and yes, the hate. They're the ones who taught us how deeply seated it can be.  As for the children, I can't help but wonder which is worse,  dying now or dying later. That's harsh. But then so is the idea that they too are being taught how to hate.  The only variance seems to be when time is taken out to rid themselves of a dictator.  Then it's turned right back at us.

I understand how those commenters feel.  I don't like it, but I understand.  As my readers often remind me, there are no winners in war.  Too bad our President's distaste for it isn't universal. 

Panetta - It's About Time

Finally, for all of you who think I am totally one sided, I'm going to say something positive about a member of the Obama administration.  Leon Panetta for finally poking back at Karzai.

We all know how much respect I have for Afghanistan's President.  Zip.  Zero.  He has made a career out of siphoning off  millions of U.S. tax payer dollars.  Along with that affront his avocation seems to be complaining about our efforts on his behalf. Building roads, rebuilding towns, trying to befriend his people and keeping the Taliban at bay, training his police and army so they can protect their own country after our withdrawal.

The complaining never seems to stop.  Now he's criticizing us for not pursuing militants in Pakistan and spending too much time on those in Afghanistan.

For one thing, Pakistan is  a sovereign nation itself and we cannot go about crossing into their territory willy nilly.  We've asked Pakistan for help in containing these militants and have gotten nothing.  Of course the fact we sacrificed a doctor, who literally pin pointed bin Laden for us, to Pakistani justice doesn't do much to encourage the average Joe to step forward.

Then there are the Afghans themselves who take great delight in killing the very men who are training them.  We shouldn't concentrate on that?  Sorry Mr. Karzai.  Good luck to you when we're gone.

Mr. Panetta finally had it.  Maybe he was tired.  Who knows.  His reaction was hardly the norm for this administration but he did step up to the plate and suggest that just maybe Mr. Karzai should say thank you now and then.  To all the allied forces who's young men are fighting and dying for Afghanistan, whatever it is other than a hodgepodge of warlords, Islamist extremists and Karzai himself heading it's corrupt government.

He has even gone so far as to complain they are not getting the weapons they need and hinting he may have to go elsewhere.  China or Russia.  I don't know about China, but I have my doubts.  They'd want something in return but I can't think what they might get other than opium.  Russia?  Again, I don't know.  They were struck by lightning once, would they return and chance it again?

Tensions between the two countries are high, mostly because of Karzai's attitude.  Maybe it's time for one of our drones to malfunction and hit one more target.  If  lucky, Mr. Karzai then would no longer be around to complain.

How 'bout it Mr. President?  Next time you and the boys are playing with your wish list and picking the death of the day by drone maybe it could get the 'stans mixed up.  After all, Karzai himself thinks we should concentrate on the safe havens.

2000 and counting American service personnel would be singing praises from on high.  And a whole lot of us down here.

Pure Evil

The world has gone mad, completely mad and both Christians and Israel are sitting in the cross hairs of the manifestation of hatred and evil beyond belief.

I could not believe this headline when I read it, Arab Spring Run Amok: 'Brotherhood' Starts Crucifixions.  Crucifixions?  Are you kidding? No. According to WND radical Muslims have begun crucifying those opposed to Egyptian President Muhammad Morsi. Naked.  On trees in front of the presidential palace.

I could not believe what I was seeing so I searched about a bit and found other articles reporting the same news. Apparently the victims can be anyone with extra brutality reserved for Christians.

Well, here we go again.  Savagery in the name of religion.  It seems it's not only a normal part of Islamic doctrine but obligatory according to the Quran.  Therefore the Muslim brotherhood is obliged to include it in their legal code in order to comply with Shariah.

We've long known the Muslims are bound to wage war against Christians who in many instances are synonymous with the west.  Us.  Are we not a 'Christian' nation?

Israel is in trouble because they thwarted an attack by Hamas trying to cross into Gaza.  Morsi used this as an excuse to purge the top ranks of the military, those who were fighting to preserve some degree of sanity.

We sit here taking no stand on the slaughter that continues in Syria.  We have taken a back seat to the entire theater of war that has been going on in the middle east for years, giving thumbs up to dictators who we declare redeemable but who never are.  Mubarak.  Ghadafi.  Al Assad.  Karzi.  Now Morsi.  We only give the thumbs down when it's apparent they can't extract themselves from the destruction they reigned down upon themselves.  Why is this?

I know the country is tired of war.  We get into them for all the wrong reasons and stay out of them for the same. Our foreign policy is floundering if indeed we have any.  Leading from behind is not a policy.  Or is it?  That makes it even worse.

Morsi is instituting a reign of terror to consolidate his power.  He will be attending a summit in Iran this month.  That does not bode well. He has an invitation to visit the White House in September.  They will try to convince us he is a moderate.  One more monster we wanted to see in power.

All I can do is ask why?  What are we thinking?  Al Assad is slaughtering his own people by the tens of thousands.  Morsi is having his opposition crucified.  This is pure evil.  Period. Yet we neither hear it, see it nor speak it.

We give Israel the cold shoulder, leaving them to fend for themselves.  We welcome these governments with open arms.  Something is drastically wrong.  We are the west.  We are mostly Christian.  We are targeted. Don't ever think we're not.  Just look at the number of our soldiers being murdered by the Afghans who we're training and providing with the very weapons they use.

Somehow, in the grand scheme of things, I could care less what Mitt Romney paid in taxes the last ten years or whether or not he releases that information.  You want something taxing to worry about?  Consider the future as the countries of the middle east fall like dominoes to the Islamic radicals.  Consider too, these monsters are beginning to be put into office by their own people.

What will we be putting into office?  Better yet, what have we put into office?

A Job To Die For

The political focus, for the time being,  has shifted to Paul Ryan, his thoughts on monetary policy, the President's stash of beer on his bus and Biden's claim the Republicans are going to put us back in chains.  Ah, how uplifting.

Meanwhile back to the wars.  Syria's death toll in its civil war is now over 20, 000.  I find it interesting how a single word can have such different meanings.  On one hand a civil war means it involves everyday citizens of the same country.  On the other hand, if you take it as meaning courteous and polite, there is nothing 'civil' about it!  About any war.

However, the middle east remains drenched in blood.  Fourteen suicide bombers killed 46 people in Afghanistan today alone.  If there is an upside, Karzai can't blame us for the deaths.  Unless he decides we're not training his people well enough.  But then they're so busy killing us it's a difficult task at best.

It's hard to keep track of who's doing the most damage - the Taliban or al Qaeda.  All we know for sure the various religious factions don't like each other any better than they like us.

If you think it's something we don't have to take seriously as long as we're pulling out in two years, think again.  First, two more years and how many more fatalities? Even one more American is too many.  It is said Paul Ryan wants to stay and finish the job.  Well, basically it is finished.  We aren't going to win it.  They are determined to get us out of the way so they can have at one another unobstructed.  Obviously they're tired of waiting.

Consider this.   The Times of Israel reports al Qaeda has run an ad for suicide bombers.  Honest.  If that isn't taking their mission seriously I don't know what is.  Basically takers will be self-employed after having been given proper training.  They will be given the freedom to plan the attack against  a pre-selected target.  They won't have to give their real name, just a few details on languages they speak and passports they hold.  Little stuff.

Openings seem to be just about everywhere.  The ad states the area of activity is the planet earth.  Could that include us?  Don't discount it!

It doesn't mention salary but than most want ads don't.  They do usually claim to be competitive.  I'll bet!  One last assurance for the would be recruit is the promise of 'a very slight chance of being caught'. Or ever getting a raise.

I know jobs are in short supply these days and it's a big issue in this country.  I, however, wouldn't be caught dead even considering this line of work.  There's no career path.  No future.

In all seriousness though.  We can't afford to overlook foreign policy.  This is world wide recruitment, make no mistake.  Planet earth.  Where will the next 46 deaths be?

Karzai Has A Point

Now there's thought I never thought I'd have!  After listening to the stories on the news at noon about the numbers of children being tortured, yes, tortured, and killed in Syria, it brought to mind Karzai and his demands.

Once again Karzai has taken coalition forces to task for attacks on civilian enclaves.  It seems to be a weekly occurrence.  He complains so often I have to think there is something to it.  We attack and kill a targeted terrorist. Hopefully. Unfortunately the strike usually includes women and children.  Karzai complains.  We apologize.  And do it all over again.  What a way to fight a war.

I've been of the mind that war is war and there will be civilian casualties.  It's the nature of the beast.  But break down the word civilian and the whole scenario changes.  Women and children, non combatant men, the elderly.  The latest, last week, was 18. Many women.  Many children.

I don't like Mr. Karzai.  I don't believe he's an honest partner in our war against Islamic extremists and he's greedy.  On the other hand, he's tired of seeing innocent people, his people, slaughtered in the quest for often just a single individual.  So he wants all bombing of Afghan cities, towns and villages banned.  Even if coalition forces are under attack.  I see where he's coming from.  When they are shooting at us, we're all the enemy.  When we shoot at them, only scant intelligence tells us at whom we're shooting.  Sometimes the targeted person is present and sometimes not but people always get killed and it's obviously not necessarily the target.

Another argument for capturing the enemy rather than merely blowing them away.  Intelligence.  Of course a boots on the ground shooting war puts our troops in harms way and is far more difficult than using drones and other means of air attack.  It would be a good time to re-evaluate the war wouldn't it?  Are our troops and their women and children, any of their civilians, worth the end?  What is the end?  As of now it won't be victory, merely withdrawal.  If I had the money to bet, I'd bet the Taliban and al Qaeda will be out in full force before our dust has settled.

From Where Have All the Flowers Gone there's a telling verse.  "Where have all the soldiers gone?  Gone to graveyards, every one."  That's bad enough.  At least spare the children!  But then in war civilians get killed.  And that is another of the myriad of reasons I hate war.

Money May Talk But We Don't Want To Listen

I'm reading that we've put a bounty on 7  Somali terrorists.  I didn't realize we even had a State Department 'Rewards for Justice' program.  I suppose it makes sense though considering we buy allegiance and everything else in our war on terror.  Goes to show the dollar doesn't go very far doesn't it?

This program is offering $7 million for information on the location of one man.  Five million for information on four others.  Another $3 million for additional leaders.  Some awards go as high as $25 million.  Wow. You'd think there would be a lot of squeal in that pig!  To date more than $100 million has been paid out to some 70 informants. I wonder who decides the $ value of a terrorist or if they merely shuffle a deck of cards.  A seven comes up.  Okay, $7 mil.

I can't help but wonder if the Pakistani doctor who helped us pin down bin Laden before we killed him and is now rotting in a Pakistani prison for his efforts had his eye on retiring in luxury.  Oops.

I also can't help but wonder if we'd need a system such as this if we hadn't gutted our intelligence community.  $100 million would pay a heck of a lot of salaries.

I also wonder why, when we get this information, we go after the terrorists with drones rather than making the effort to capture them. Oh, I know, it's easier.   Somehow it makes sense to me that capturing one might lead to the capture of others and an accumulation of vital intelligence along with it.

It seems at odds to say enhanced interrogation is un-American while killing people in cold blood isn't.  Somehow I see our entire war strategy as skewed. We pay who for this information?  What do we know about them?  Are they allies to our ends or traitors to their own?  Both or neither or either/or?

On the flip side of the coin we turn a deaf ear to pleas from the Syrians to help level their field in the war against their resident monster because their identity isn't clear.  That's really lame.  Think how far  $100 million would go there too.  Especially since we already know where the enemy is!

More Than A Card Game

I'm beginning to wonder just exactly who is the real Barack Obama.  The empty suit on which we imagined all sorts of wondrous things,  the protocol impaired apologist who traveled the world, the aloof naive loner or a cold blooded politician lusting after the means to hold onto power.

None of the choices thrill me but most bothersome are the means being taken to achieve the latter.

An area in which Obama has always been weak is foreign policy.  You've no doubt read about how he's trying to enhance his credentials.  His taking credit for the SEAL attack on bin Laden, the security leaks happening now that have even his own party in an uproar and the drone attacks.  He is accused of doing these things for political advantage.

Let's look at the leak about the cyber attacks in Iran where he has also linked the Israelis and one of our own national labs.  It happens to be here in Idaho.  You know Idaho, often confused with Iowa or Indiana.  We've had our share of notoriety thanks to the once plentiful neo-Nazi movement that took up residence in a town neighboring mine.  They're gone now, at least underground, yet it is the one thing most people remember when you say you live in Idaho.  I wonder if the extremists have taken note and wonder if they can recruit some kindred spirits here.  I really do wonder.  I much preferred being Iowa.  Anyway, there is the prospect of unintended consequences.

Now, too, allies are thinking we can no longer be trusted in joint covert activity.  Good thought if they're going to be outed whenever a politician needs some creds!

He also seems quite high on drone attacks.  Forget our cattle.  This is really serious business. Obama has 'evolved' from thinking the terrorists should be tried in our courts with all our rights to picking a victim from a deck of cards and taking him  out along with all who may be in the path.

There is a certain detachment that comes with using drones.  Those who operate them are thousands of miles away as is the face in a deck of cards.  But the power.  The invincibility must be like an opiate.   Why else would he order deaths rather than capture for information?  We know where they are either way.

It's chilling.  There are no stories reaching me telling of how he agonizes over the decision of who and when.  Just do it. That's cold.  Detached.  Void of emotion and I wonder, reason?

This man who hadn't even warmed up to the White House before he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.  What were they thinking?  What are we thinking?  Does he even think?

What Exactly Is The "Mission" In Afghanistan?

When asked by reporters what they would do in Afghanistan, right now, if President,  Newt had the best answer.  It's time to reassess something that is unlikely doable.  Santorum said it would be wrong to leave the "mission" unfinished and Romney said it shouldn't be deterred by the actions of some crazy person.  Not one reporter asked what exactly the 'mission' was.

As for Mitt.  We know nothing of the soldier who committed the mass murders what's more what drove him to it.  All the talk about the death penalty and everything else being bandied about is premature to say the least. We owe it to him and ourselves to know all there is to know before acting as judge, jury and executioner.

Now, the mission.  Jay Carney, Obama's press secretary, said the mission is to "disrupt, dismantle and ultimately defeat" al Qaeda.  Did you know the last known death of an al Qaeda operative in Afghanistan was April 12, 2011?  And the last capture of one was in May of the same year? Bin Laden is dead.  The remnants that haven't scattered to Yemen and other such strongholds are holed up in Pakistan.  So we are in Afghanistan why?

Training their forces to protect them against who?  The Taliban.  We have no fight with the Taliban but we will if we stick around.  I believe what we're doing is called nation building.  Sure, we're building infrastructure and training police and military.  That's why Karzai hasn't thrown us out already.  He'd not like to have to dip into the funds he's already embezzled from us to do what we he's allowing us to do under nearly impossible constraints.  Yet on we march like lemmings to the sea.

I heard today that foreign policy is no where near the top of voters concerns in this Presidential election, but I would like the candidates to be able to articulate what the 'mission' of our military is in Afghanista.

I'd like, too, to hear some concern for the man who is allegedly at fault for the killings.  When you look around and all you see is death, horrible, violent death, for years on end it 's bound to have a negative effect.

Consider, we won't lift a finger to help the Syrian civilians caught up in massacre because we don't know who might follow in al Assad's footsteps.  So let them die.  Gaza is shelling Israel, Israel is bombing Gaza, the Palestinians are in an uproar and Libya is still trying to get itself straightened out.  Let them die.  Let them all die.  Just protect our re-election chances.  After all, what's most important here?

Ah, for Ron Paul. And Newt too.  Paul's theory of being nice isn't the answer, but  his and Newt's thought of getting the hell out just might be!

Politically Correct War

We've been at war in Afghanistan for better than ten years.  It has been brutal. The warfare unconventional.  Our military tested to the extreme by too many deployments without sufficient breaks.  Families torn apart because we've too few regular forces to get it done and have had to rely on reserves and national guard.  Equipment in many cases having to be jury-rigged by the soldiers.

We put in place that which is nor more than a puppet government yet it has been pulling our stings for years.  It negotiates with the enemy we are fighting.  It dictates where we can engage right down to the time of day and what equipment we can use.  They cannot account for millions of dollars.  Their police and military, which we have trained, kill our men.

They enslave their own people, deny them education, stone them to death, torture them if they refuse to become prostitutes.  They side with their neighbors against us to keep vital supplies from getting through to our troops. They scold us as if we were children.

When a small group of our Marines showed their contempt for them by urinating on their corpses,  once again we're the bad guys.  We didn't show them enough respect. In the name of whomever, they're the enemy!  Look at the numbers of our men and women they have slain or maimed for life!  Respect them? How can any sane person even ask that what's more expect it?  Don't look for it here!

What the Marines did show is exactly what we think of them.  They are not worth the death of one more soldier.  We cannot wage war and nation build at the same time. They are not compatible undertakings and should not, in any case, both be tried by the military.

The footprints won't even be filled with sand upon our departure before the Taliban is back in power and Karzai either in cushy exile somewhere or a safe haven provided by the Taliban for his help against us.  Bet on it. Living on monies he siphoned from us.

Now they're considering court martials against a handful of war weary Marines.  Nothing more should happen to them than being told that's not the way to behave, and for heavens sake don't post any thing like it to You Tube.  That's a no brainer unless you're just too exhausted to think straight.

What is it with these generals?  They become politicians  at some point rather than military men.  I wonder how politically correct they'd feel if they were in the field with their men, rather than sitting in their heavily protected headquarters.

I'm so sick of our namby-pamby ways, our bowing to the enemy, our allowing them to call the shots while we die for what is questionably called a country of questionably civilized people.

I don't particularly like the word 'pissed'.  But I can say I am 'pissed' off about the whole war and the way it has been managed by the civilians giving the orders.  Maybe the Marines chose the wrong target.

With Friends Like These...

I was somewhat amused to watch as the President portrayed himself as a strong leader in foreign policy, claiming one war over and a dictator dead because of our help.

Not exactly, in either case.  The Iraq war is far from over, it's just being internalized with our imminent departure.  We could withdraw even more of the troops being left behind if our embassy were something other than a small city unto itself.

Iran will have a free hand to step in now that Iraq has essentially thrown us out.  I can't blame them for wanting our people to be under their jurisdiction but I also give credit to the President for refusing.  That it couldn't be negotiated to everyones satisfaction shows a weakness on our part in that area plus the fact that those left behind will still be at risk.

As far as the demise of Gaddafi is concerned, remember that Obama was literally dragged into the conflict, which was in NATO's hands, kicking and screaming.  His 'leading from behind' was not exactly bold leadership.

I will give him credit, too, for the kill order on Osama bin Laden.  Seeing these monsters, including bin Laden on a different level, fall one after another,  has more to do with the discontent of their people than with us.  As it should be.  The question remains as to whether what comes next is better, the same or worse than what has been.  We can do no more than hope for the best and prepare for the worst.

We still have adversaries in the area.  Afghanistan's Karzai is certainly one though we seem to think otherwise.  He has told Pakistan, most definitely adversarial, in a recent TV interview that should Pakistan be attacked by the U.S., Afghanistan would take Pakistan's side.

It's wise not to forget that these are tribal countries historically and those loyalties run deep.  Truces will hold for expedience and little else.  All our intentions toward democratization will fall short until the peoples of those countries come into the 21st century.  Something the power mongers are resisting.  After all, they've witnessed Tunisia, Egypt and now Libya fall to those who have been able to get their causes headlined due to their embrace of modern technology.

While it is no contest when it comes to the use of technology from iPads to drones, where we lack is understanding how to combat those who've never had it and still fight the old way.  With stealth and ferocity.  With all the modern weaponry in the world at our disposal,  it seems like we've forgotten that very basic tenent.

What Manner Of Men

It was late in the afternoon as we passed the Medical Lake entrance to I-90. A group of middle aged bikers merged into traffic. They seemed in no hurry, just fell in with the rest of us. I wondered out loud if they might be some of the honor riders who had been in town for the burial of a young Marine.

He was a good looking young man. All of 23. He was killed by an IED while on patrol. This young man who was liked by everyone who knew him and wanted some adventure in his life. Had he but chosen a different route. He joined the Marines and was promoted to corporal in record time. He dove into everything he was assigned with enthusiasm and commitment. As a reward his family was given the Purple Heart he was awarded for his service.

I wonder how much comfort that was to the young wife he left behind. The pregnant young wife. She and her yet to be born child represent a whole class of citizens left to fend for themselves while ill equipped to do so. They are basically a welfare class unto themselves. Because a soldier died too young.

Every small town newspaper in the country prints stories such as these. The loss of all these young men who have barely had time to live. To be husbands. To be fathers. Little else than soldiers. And they die.

His arrival home affected a whole plane load of people as they were asked to remain seated while his escort deplaned. They watched in reverent silence as the coffin was unloaded and placed in the hearse. I'm sure each had private thoughts about loved ones of their own.

The young Marine is one manner of man in my fantasies. Another is a young man, looking to be of a similar age, bragging about how he was going to use illegal fireworks over the Fourth. "It's America," he said, "We like to blow things up." I wonder if he ever served in the military. Then we have the Marine General who is going to take General Petraeus's place as head of the U.S. Central Command. Odd, since he has been reprimanded for loose language just as was General McChrystal! With typical Marine bravado, he once told a crowd in San Diego, "Actually it's a lot of fun to fight. You know, it's a hell of a hoot - It's fun to shoot some people. I'll be right up front with you. I like brawling." Bully for him.

I wonder, had the young man at the fireworks stand or the General been at the young Marine's funeral if they would have felt the same as taps sounded and rifles fired in salute and friends and family wept. Especially a young wife and her unborn child.

Well, Duh!

I had to laugh when I read the headline for a story in The Wall Street Journal yesterday: Corruption Suspected in Airlift Of Billions in Cash From Kabul. We are well aware that we are supporting a very corrupt government headed by Hamid Karzai. We are well aware that his brother is one of the biggest offenders with his connections to the opium trade.

So why is it that suddenly officials are surprised that the millions of U.S. dollars packed in suitcases and stacked on pallets at the airport for transfer elsewhere might just be tied to corruption? Especially when much of it is slated for banks in Dubai?

What really frosts me and seems to be forgotten by the powers that be, this is U.S. taxpayer money. Yours and mine! You know, the money sent to create the jobs we don't have here, to build the infrastructure there while ours is falling apart, schools, hospitals.

It goes into Afghanistan as aid. It goes out as bribes. It's all perfectly legal with no accountability. They are shocked, shocked that it might be due to corrupt activity!

There is a new general in charge now to fight this useless war. We're told the ambassador, the special emissary and the State Department will no longer butt heads with the military and that the soldiers may again be permitted to defend themselves. That's all fine and dandy but it will be meaningless if in the end Karzai and his ilk will follow the money, our money, to their secret accounts in Dubai and elsewhere and ultimately leave the country to the Taliban.

Should that happen our entire government should be charged with aiding and abetting the enemy. After all it is our money making it all possible!

Not So McChrystal Clear

Subordination, it was said. Not as much as sheer stupidity. Having read the Rolling Stone article, I found the offensive comments to be no more than what most of the military who are frustrated with these unending conflicts might say to one another in their bull sessions. To relay it to a reporter is sheer stupidity. Or is it?

McChrystal surely marches to his own drummer just as does our President. As a military man, however, the President is his Commander-In-Chief. He is to serve. Not critique unless asked to do so. Which I'm certain he was on many occasions. Coming up on the short end of his requests, I wonder if this whole episode was designed to make public just what the upper echelons of the military think of the ambassadors, the Vice President and even the President. The whole mess. Even at the cost of a career. Never mind that he'll make millions on the lecture circuit.

McChrystal wasn't my favorite General. He was the one who decided to do away with the base fast food outlets that were such a reminder of home for the troops. It was under his command that the troops were to be awarded medals for restraint. Don't shoot unless you're sure a body is really a combatant. Come on! That's no way to fight a war. WAR!

Regardless of my opinion, McChrystal is a General of some note. The President can ill afford to be shown as weak or wrong, especially with his ratings as low as they are. He can accomplish that all by himself. It is not the General's place to do so. Discipline is essential. Chain of command is essential.

The days of Patton and Montgomery as showboating military leaders are long gone. War has been politicized to the extent, just like Obama's commission on the oil spill, that there are too many fingers with no appropriate expertise in the pie. Obama promised to listen to his generals. He may have listened but he didn't hear. The McChrystal incident shows the outcome of the thinking because of it.

For better or worse, the war is now truly Obama's. He can no longer blame any of it on Bush. The generals are his, the ambassadors are his and the strategy is his. What he now needs to do is get them on the same playing field and quit letting Karzai captain the team.

Can This War Be Won?

Does anyone remember exactly what the war in Afghanistan is all about? Is it to keep the Taliban from regaining it's leadership? Is it to dismantle al Qaeda? Is it to find the ever elusive Bin Laden?

I do know we've spent a lot of time pacifying Karzai. We've made it a fight by permission to appease his complaints about civilian deaths. We've kept his corrupt government in place and are allowing them to negotiate with the Taliban. Excuse me. Negotiate just what? I've never quite been able to figure that out.

Now I learn in this morning's paper that he's okayed a major security crackdown in Khandahar, birthplace of the Taliban! The half million people living in the region are scared it will bring more bloodshed. Bet on it. Yet he makes a public relations tour trying to get them to put aside their fears. Right.

What isn't clear to me is just who the crackdown is aimed. Insurgents. Would that be al Qaeda or Taliban? Criminals. Does that include Karzai's thugs? Wealthy power brokers. They could be just about anyone. What a impressive task they've set for themselves. I hope no civilians are harmed. I'm not sure criminals and power brokers are not civilians!

On the other side of the coin a report says Pakistan is arming and training the Taliban. Strange bedfellows for a U.S. ally. They of course deny it. Never the less, it is known that Pakistan intelligence agencies have kept contact with the Taliban just as their government supposedly denounces them. Talk about forked tongue!

Meanwhile our troops continue to be killed. Today is flag day. Ours is flying. My hope it is one day it will fly to honor those who served, past tense, rather than those who continue to serve and die. For what?

Hillary And Hamid - Here They go Again

Why, oh why, do they bother? Karzai is in this country to make nice and Hillary is patting him on the head and telling him being a bad boy doesn't mean she doesn't love him. Boy, I'm getting tired of the charade.

In fact, The Wall Street Journal tells us, these differences only showcase the strength of the relationship. Heck, he's even going to Arlington to pay his respects. You might think all is well when Karzai says, "Afghanistan is known around the world for being a country that remembers a friend - and for long." I never knew Afghanistan was known for that. It's barely even known as a country! I also question the sincerity. They may indeed remember a friend, but are we one?

On the very same day, we get to see a report issued by the International Crisis Group that spells out the escalating corruption and ethnic rivalries within the Afghan military. You know, the guys that are supposed to be training to protect their own country so we can leave.

To make matters worse NATO is proposing a Courageous Restraint Award for those who show restraint when civilians may be present. Imagine how popular that one will be when awarded posthumously!

It's no wonder our allies are taking a good hard look at us and deciding to cool the relationship. Troop levels are being reduced; there isn't much stomach for this war even though all our allies suffer the same threats of terrorism. Many have suffered far worse than threats yet they have little stomach for this war.

Is it possible they have a better way of dealing with it? Is it possible for this administration to realize that it's strategy isn't working and that listening to advice from others might be prudent?

Nah. Not this administration.

Everything Is Backwards!

One day another one of those home made bombs will go off. Timothy McVeigh proved it some years back. Those pesky bombs can indeed work.

I think the one main reason I will never again vote for a Democrat for President is because of their distaste for being prepared for war. Obama is gutting our defense much as Carter did. I'm all for nations being anti-war, too bad more of them aren't. But we really need to face facts. The world is at war with Islamic radicals. We've been lucky under Obama. The attempts on U.S. soil have so far been duds. The troublesome thing is so many are getting so close. Sure, they've been caught, but it's by their own lack of expertise rather than our intelligence working.

I just don't think we have a grasp on how wars are fought today. The enemy wears no uniform and many times live among us. We can't "profile" them for fear of offending their sensibilities. Foreign leaders who are in power thanks to us and us alone are constantly criticizing us for civilian casualties. So we try harder, putting our own at more risk to save theirs who won't turn in the culprits that would save everybody a lot of blood, sweat and tears. Everything is backwards!

Consider the administration's quest for nuclear disarmament. What do we do but tell them exactly what we have! Secretary of State Clinton tells us it's in our national security interest to be as transparent as we can about the nuclear program of the United States.

Here we are like sitting ducks for every discontented terrorist want-to-be who happens to be in the United States. They learn how to make their bombs from countries who hate us and everything we stand for. Sure it's going to get them in line by telling them everything we have and what we plan to do with it - other than shrink the stockpile. By the way, how many countries have followed suit to date?

It's all backwards. An administration that promised transparent and open government drafts and passes legislation that is the antithesis of transparent and expects us to be happy with us. They know best. We're too dumb to understand and it's for our own good.

Explain to me, please, why they are more transparent about our national security apparatus with enemies than with legislation under which we are going to be forced to live?

It's all backwards.

Foreign Policy By Appeasement And Spin

To say that this administration has a complex foreign policy would be an understatement. After months of complaining that voter fraud tainted the recent Afghanistan election, it seems now we're acquiescing to Karzai's "poor me" stance. Hillary Clinton even went so far as to call him a reliable partner !
I wonder if Ahmadinejad does too since his visit! This man who threatens to join the Taliban, whose brother is one of the major drug lords in the country and whose cabinet is chock full of corruption! So now we're going to play warm and fuzzy with this 'strong and vital American ally' because his feelings have been hurt. We're to express sympathy for the pressure he feels as commander in chief of a warring nation!

Well, he wanted the job! He threw the election once and was well on his way to a second time when his opponent withdrew. What's the adage about not standing the heat?? Heck, he wasn't even in the kitchen!

As all of this is carefully placed in the sound bite archives, Hillary comes back on stage to tell us we need fear that al Qaeda is obtaining nuclear weapons material. That's a little different than Iran seeking the big bomb. Which, by the way, we have yet to stop. You see, al Qaeda isn't even a country! Their figure head of a leader supposedly lives in a cave and their weapon of choice seems to be explosives strapped to one's body and detonated, or not, at the appropriate time!

For the sake of argument, however, let's say they get what they need for a bomb. And learn how to build it, enrich the fuel rods and explode it. Where will all this take place? My guess is they will choose a country that the U.S. has pledged no retaliation against other than with conventional weapons. I would. Heck conventional weapons haven't put them out of business yet as they blend into the populations of where ever they choose to be!

To surge or not to surge, to criticise or pacify, to fear acquisition of nuclear material by those who are capable of using it or those who are not. Talk about a spin zone. I wager even Bill O'Reilly has trouble keeping up!

The Enemy Within

If anyone still thinks the war against al Qaeda and the Taliban is winnable, think again. At least that part of it being fought within the borders of Afghanistan.

President Hamid Karzai seems to be making a career of bashing the West in it's efforts to save his sorry excuse of an administration. He's at it again, according to an article in The Wall Street Journal, with a threat that is particularly mind boggling. First he's running around telling the tribal leaders of Kandahar, where a major offensive is planned, that there won't be an operation unless they are happy about it. Happy about it? Kandahar is the birthplace and spiritual center of the Taliban! They're going to welcome a full fledged offensive with open arms?

Then there is the usual whining about the number of civilian deaths and the outrage he feels about the West objecting to his attempt to take over the elections commission. What a sweetheart of a guy. And to think he had an opponent we could have backed that would actually have supported us! Oh well, it's the Obama way to back the wrong party. It's happening here. It happened in Iran. It happened in Honduras. Is there a pattern forming?

This is all pretty much business as usual for Karzai. He must realize his rantings are beginning to be greeted with a, "ho hum, there he goes again" attitude. He's added a new wrinkle. He's said if the efforts by the West to "undermine" him aren't stopped "he, himself, would be compelled to join the other side", the Taliban, if his Parliament didn't back his actions.

You know, Obama wants to cut our nuclear arms supply to reach his goal of a nuclear free world. Never mind the rush to have nucs is escalating like topsy in the Middle East, beginning with Iran. Never-the-less, here's another politically incorrect Dogwalk solution. Drop the surplus Obama thinks he has on Afghanistan and put the whole bloody region out of it's - and our - misery!

It makes no less sense than the rest of his foreign policy. If you can call it that.