February 12, 2015
"The official war for the Americans — the part of the war that you could go see — that’s over."
"It’s only the secret war that’s still going. But it’s going hard." Says an unnamed "former Afghan security official," quoted in a NYT piece titled "Data From Seized Computer Fuels a Surge in U.S. Raids on Al Qaeda."
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Yeah, these days we get into a war it never really ends for us. It's not so much "you break it, you buy it" as it is "you break it, you pay rent on it in perpetuity".
@Brando:
It does not help that there is a large contingent in this country (including a big chunk of elite opinion makers) who have somehow become convinced that the only way to protect ourselves from terrorism is to deploy US military personnel to the other side of the globe in order to police civil wars in countries on the other side of the globe with histories of sectarianism and tribal-based politics, weak to non-functioning central governments, and corrupt leadership with degrees of dubious legitimacy.
How will we know when this war is over? When every conservative Islamist is dead? How do we tell the good guys from the bad guys? Who will sign the peace treaty? How is turning failed and failing states into permanent US military welfare cases in our strategic self-interest?
Who the fuck is leaking this shit? We found shit like this all of the time. Now that we have a democrat in the white house we hear about these operations in the NYTs as if Obama wasn't doing everything in his power to undermine us. Not to mention the fact he took our best sosources of Intel and turned them on the American public.
Anyone who supports this administration is an enemy of our country. It is no wonder he is so universally despised by the veteran community.
US has 30,000 troops in S. Korea, 50,000 in Japan and 40,000 in Germany. Preserving the peace and promoting democracy and our interests around the globe. So why all the uproar about 10,000 in Afghanistan and 3000 in Iraq?
Brando said...
"Yeah, these days we get into a war it never really ends for us. It's not so much "you break it, you buy it" as it is "you break it, you pay rent on it in perpetuity"."
For the historically illiterate it takes a few generations. See Korea or Japan or Germany.
You can discuss whether or not you think it is our responsibility or to our benefit to bring freedom and civilization. But the results are there if we commit.
We only fail when we choose to. See Iraq and Vietnam. When I say "we" in this context it means the leftist fucks who should move out and stop living in a country protected by people they hate and deride.
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 10Feb14:
"United Nations experts say the Afghan Taliban are increasingly acting more like gangsters than a would-be government.
"A report by a panel of experts monitoring sanctions against the Taliban says the Islamic fundamentalist group, which ruled Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001, seems to be stepping up its criminal activities, which include narcotics trafficking, illicit mining, extortion for using roads, and kidnapping for ransom.
"The report to the UN Security Council circulated on February 9 said 'the scale and depth' of Taliban cooperation with criminal networks in Afghanistan is new and builds on decades of interaction with other criminal groups.
"The paper said this trend has 'real consequences' for peace and security in Afghanistan because it encourages those Taliban members who stand to profit most from the criminal activities to oppose any meaningful reconciliation with the new government."
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I supported America's invasion of Afghanistan. I considered America's invasion of Iraq a bad move. However, I will give George W. Bush credit for one thing: He took the fight from the streets of New York and sent it back to the part of the world where it belongs. And Barack Obama has kept it there.
- DEC (Jungle Trader)
P.S. Make the date of the Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty article 10Feb15, not 10Feb14.
Obama believes that once the USA has completely surrendered to an Iranian Islamic hegemony, the Muslims will overnight become that Great Religion of Peace of his father's dreams.
Of course once the Jews and Christians are all dead or enslaved as cleaners of Muslim latrines, why would the Muslims possibly want to keep stealing from them and killing them.
So the NY Times publishes classified information about our troops at war, even stating in the article that they have been told it's classified. This no doubt aids and comforts the enemy.
There is a term for that concept, and it is defined in the constitution.
They should be hanged from lampposts.
Remember, during those heady days of grabbing credit for the killing of bin Laden, when politicians outed the guy who helped us find him?
That was another high mark of US honor. Nobody cares that the guy right now is in a Pakistani prison.
tim in vermont said...
"Remember, during those heady days of grabbing credit for the killing of bin Laden, when politicians outed the guy who helped us find him?
That was another high mark of US honor. Nobody cares that the guy right now is in a Pakistani prison."
Some of us do. People think these transgressions will slide. They are wrong.
I suppose we really should not care about how tribes treat each other or to what extent some fanatical regime treats its citizens like it 900AD but I'm not cool on them letting people like OBL hang out in preparation for attacking us. Other than that, who gives a shit.
Hey, Farmer....
>>When every conservative Islamist is dead?
Conservative Islamists? You mean the jihadis in favor of limited government, low taxes, and individual liberty?
Or do you mean "conservative" as "the side your not supposed to like" ?
@DanTheMan:
"Conservative Islamists? You mean the jihadis in favor of limited government, low taxes, and individual liberty?
Or do you mean "conservative" as 'the side your not supposed to like' ?
The word "conservative" actually has a specific definition beyond the way it is narrowly used in modern American political discourse. The trio of political goals you mentioned are also sometimes called classically liberal. But I see your point. Given the way that words like "liberal" and "conservative" have become all but meaningless in our country, a more simple rhetorical approach would have been better. Therefore, does the war end once all the violent, radical jihadists are dead? If so, how will we know when that has occurred?
@Steve uhr:
"US has 30,000 troops in S. Korea, 50,000 in Japan and 40,000 in Germany. Preserving the peace and promoting democracy and our interests around the globe. So why all the uproar about 10,000 in Afghanistan and 3000 in Iraq?"
Because Afghanistan and Iraq are vastly different countries and situations than post-WWII Germany or Japan and post-Korean War South Korea. I, for one, don't think we need forces in Germany or Japan. South Korea is a slightly different matter given the nature of the armistice, but I imagine I could be talked into allowing South Korea to police their own border.
@Achilles:
"You can discuss whether or not you think it is our responsibility or to our benefit to bring freedom and civilization. But the results are there if we commit."
So through shear force of will, we can accomplish with a few thousand soldiers what the Iraqis and Afghans themselves don't want? That is, to turn their tribal, pseudo-nations into federal pluralistic republics? The Iraqi parliament that we spent thousands of American lives and a trillion dollars to prop up is in the process of passing a law to lower the marriage age to nine and legally protect marital rape. Freedom and civilization, right.
@traditionalguy:
"Obama believes that once the USA has completely surrendered to an Iranian Islamic hegemony, the Muslims will overnight become that Great Religion of Peace of his father's dreams."
Our military adventurism in the Middle East post-9/11 has been to the great benefit of Iran. We removed two hostile regimes, Hussein and the Taliban, from their borders. Of course, we only really removed the Taliban from their nominal capital in Kabul. In areas like Helmand province, the locals say that the Taliban are more powerful than they were pre-9/11. The Kabul government, that our forces are supposedly there to support and protect, are in the process of trying to reach a negotiated settlement with the Taliban.
"We only fail when we choose to. See Iraq and Vietnam. When I say "we" in this context it means the leftist fucks who should move out and stop living in a country protected by people they hate and deride."
We haven't fought a single war since WWII that can be said to have served to "protect" us.
The Afghan war was a special force war for most of Bush's terms. The Big Army came in and fucked it up some but it was not until Obama that it got out of control with more casualties than Iraq. Now, maybe it is getting back to an SF front.
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