Just who in the Bush Administration served in ground combat in the latter years of the Viet Nam War? Had any of them done so, this story would be familiar and predictable.
US troops in Iraq want out
AFP Mar 19 07:43 PM US/Eastern
For US troops from 9th Cavalry Regiment bumping around the dangerous streets of Baghdad in Humvees after dark on Monday, news that their deployment in Iraq could be extended fell like a hammer blow.
Their commanders had cautioned that their second one-year tour due to end in October could be prolonged while US President George W. Bush later warned troops it was too soon to "pack up and go home."
The expletives during the four-hour night patrol turned the air in the Humvee, already thick with cigarette smoke, a dark shade of blue.
"We just want to get out of here as soon as possible," said one vehicle commander in one of his few printable comments.
"It's because the Iraqi army is so scared that we have to come here to die," he added, asking not to be named.
"Ninety-five percent of Iraqis are good but five percent are bad. But the 95 percent are too weak to stand up to the five percent."
"Bush should send all the Death Row prisoners here and they can be killed fighting the terrorists. We've had enough," said another soldier, as the Humvee accelerated past a roadside car in case it exploded.
Added yet another, "Bush can come fight here. He can take my 1,000 dollars a month and I'll go home."
Commander of the night operation, Lieutenant Brian Long, said the anger was understandable.
"One of the men has five children, another has three. Another has a boy aged four -- he's missed two of those years. He'll never get them back," said Long.
"It is like the movie 'Groundhog Day'. Each day is the same and nothing ever changes," he added, referring to the 1993 movie in which the principal character is doomed to repeat the same day endlessly.
"It's tough. Everyone just wants to get home to their families," said the officer.
Bush, after speaking to Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and the top US military commander in Iraq, said in Washington that his new plan to pacify war-wracked Iraq would take months.
"It could be tempting to look at the challenges in Iraq and conclude our best option is to pack up and go home," Bush said, four years to the day after he announced that American troops were fighting to depose Saddam Hussein.
"That may be satisfying in the short run, but I believe the consequences for American security would be devastating," Bush said, warning that a US departure would spark chaos in Iraq which would engulf the region.
Platoon commander of the 9th Cavalry Regiment, Captain Christopher Dawson, said he understood the need for troops to stay in Iraq.
"We are starting to make a difference," he said. "The violence is dropping. We are training Iraqis to take over responsibility for their own security. We are helping them see their future ahead of them. It is in their hands."
But the lower ranks were in rebellious mood, especially after publication of a poll on Monday, commissioned by the BBC, ABC News, ARD German TV and USA Today, which showed only 18 percent of those questioned had confidence in US and coalition troops, while 78 percent opposed their presence.
"If no one wants us here we are quite ready to get out tomorrow," said the outspoken vehicle commander.
One of the few Iraqis the troops met during their night patrol -- most stay indoors once the 8pm curfew kicks in -- said he feared the day the US forces pulled out.
"They can stay for 100 years if they want," said Salam Ahmed, a security guard at a shoe warehouse on the outskirts of the city. "If they go, the bad guys will certainly come for me."
The tipping point in Viet Nam was when former supporters started questioning the goals and conduct of the war. It was probably a function of time grinding down support. The cummullative effect of continuing casualties, protest and the loss of elite support worked its way down the food chain to the grunt in the field.
ReplyDeleteThe officer corps in the present military has made a wide distinction between the present volunteer army and the past conscripts. We are entering the time frame when the theory will be tested. This is not a test we would have chosen to make.
Bush 41 knew that Americans can't abide Long Wars. Bush 43 sold the 2003 war as a short sharp "war of necessity" to get Saddam, find the WMDs, and let the Iraqis jump-start their democracy. Four years later we're spending double per month than we did in March 2003, and the body bags are coming home in a steady stream. Republicans who actually want to keep their seats in 2008 are running away from the President and his war.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteIt is, trish, a World Wide Mohammedan War, or it is a Police chase after those dirty dogs that planned 9-11.
ReplyDeleteWe call it a World Wide War, then conduct a Police Chase where entire neighborhoods are prohibited from Policing or Patrol.
Then blame Dan Rather when people ask,
"Huh?, what's goin on?"
Told to move on and buy another toaster at Wal-Mart, the US populous, does get the drift of things, eventually.
When my boy told me there was no way he'd ever go back, that fools and idiots ran the show, that even when they took incoming fire it could not be returned, I knew the jig was comin' up.
They dangle what seem big cash incentives to impoverished young families, to get them to stay another round. That, peer pressure and the fear of being "Called Back", with no bonus at all motivates many to reup.
An interview with Walid Phares:
ReplyDeleteThis is how you should prepare the nation to face future Jihadism, not by avoiding a national debate on the real issue under the pretext that Jihadism is some sort of theological matter. Precisely, the enemy wants you to believe that Jihadism (the enemy's profound nature) is just a matter of academic and theological debate. It would be the equivalent of having the propagandists of the IIIrd Reich convincing the Allies, that Nazism is a cultural issue. The West cannot avoid future Jihad unless it rises to a level of an advanced understanding of the enemy's ideology and tactics. And unless that new well-prepared international society equips itself with all the necessary tools, including education and outreach to fellow resisters in the East, the clash with future Jihadists is unavoidable and will last longer.
Desert Rat: When my boy told me there was no way he'd ever go back, that fools and idiots ran the show, that even when they took incoming fire it could not be returned, I knew the jig was comin' up.
ReplyDelete"The Iraqi government has also lifted restrictions that once prevented Iraqi and coalition forces from going into areas like Sadr City." Bush, 19MAR07
That says it all.
Another gem, fom westhawk
ReplyDelete"... Mr. Gordon’s article reveals two important points. First, by al Qaeda’s own words, it was the action of Shi’ite militias and not the U.S. Army that disrupted al Qaeda’s plan to cleanse western Baghdad of Shi’ites. Interestingly, al Qaeda’s own assessment of the forces on the battlefield closely matches that prepared by the U.S. Director of National Intelligence, which Westhawk discussed in this post: the U.S. force in Iraq is too small, and its rules of engagement too meek, to be much more than a bystander in Iraq. Change in Iraq is really effected by locally organized forces that are intimately familiar with the terrain and the population, can persist in areas long enough to change behaviors, and most important will be ruthless enough to intimidate the residents of a large area. On these measures, the U.S. military force in Iraq is not a significant player.
Second, Mr. Gordon’s report makes it clear that the Sunni extremists have adapted to the U.S. surge in Baghdad by greatly expanding the dimensions of the battlefield. The Sunni fighters are avoiding the climactic engagement the Americans seek by multiplying the area the Americans must now search and control. The Battle for Baghdad now is a battle for Baghdad, Diyala, Salahuddin, and Anbar provinces, an area far too vast and populated to be controlled by 20 American brigades, perhaps 70,000 maneuvering U.S. soldiers and Marines. ..."
1:40 is the ratio of force to people that Saddamed secured Basra with. The Brits "succeeded" with 1:370. Why would the US need more?
a quick google puts Baghdad's population at six million, let's just use that figure. The US capacity, 70,000 maneuvering U.S. soldiers and Marines is half or what we need.
Funny thing, just when the Shia Militias were winning the fight against aQ, the US targets those militias.
As westhawk closes his piece
"... For example, America can easily wipe away the problem of al Qaeda in Iraq by giving a green light to Iraq’s Shi’ite and Kurdish majority to cleanse the country of the Sunni enclaves where al Qaeda hides. The U.S. can prevent the establishment of al Qaeda sanctuaries in Somalia by encouraging civil war inside Somalia, supporting friendly tribes and factions, and occasionally backing an Ethiopian invasion when necessary. “Divide and conquer” has a successful pedigree extending back thousands of years. Statesmen have found it to be a low-cost and sustainable technique.
Can America find a technique that is low-cost and sustainable? It surely must. But America’s citizens will learn in the years ahead that the answer to its security problems is neither technical nor tactical. The question is a moral one and the answer is the responsibility of every citizen."
may as cover all my bases... China and Panama
ReplyDeleteRufus is correct about that, but it does amuse me when politicians say that the men on the ground want to finish the mission. They obviously never carried a "short chain."
ReplyDeleteAdd to these factors the increased Chicom influence. HB gaining documents, in Venezuela, to facilitate US entry, the MS-13 and its' 5,000 listed operatives, names that ICE has data entried in the US, all swimming in a sea of 20 million people that are afraid to speak to the Police.
ReplyDeleteHugo is having the Chinese build Canal capable oil tankers, since the west to east flow in the transcontinental pipeline has maxed out its' capacity.
That pipeline depends on the Panamanian Army for its' defense.
In other words, it's not well defended.
The politicos are all like Dukakis in a tank. Even Bush on the Carrier, eyewash and play acting.
ReplyDeleteCheney never carried shit but a deferment in his pocket, he had better things to do.
Then he shoots his friend in the face, after downing a couple of beers with lunch. Must have missed the NRA weapons safety class, as well.
Run like little pussy girls... (no offense to little people, pussies (both feline and vaginal) and girls)
ReplyDeleteOr stand like free MEN and fight...
If we run like little whinny pussy girls we will give the signal to the butchers that MURDERED THEIR OWN that we cannot stand for anything and we will INVITE blood in our streets, thus causing a genocide when we wake up and then go BACK AND FIGHT because we will have no choice.
Now does that sound extreme?
maybe...
but is it extreme to cut and run?
to allow the MOST disfunctional peoples on the globe freedom of choice to create or destroy the world's economy?
because we are talking about that are we not?
If iraq was palestine, we could allow them to off each other and who would care?
after all NOTHING of any value to any human has ever been created by the fake nationalist group that calls it'sself "palestine"
but this is iraq, and OIL lives there... and it's next to other major OIL producers....
and we cannot allow a bunch of mass murderering, skull drilling, people feeding woodchippering, nazi wannabe's to dictate to the world the SUPPLY (not cost) of OIL.
After Mr Carter abandoned the US position in Panama, the US moved air operations to Manta Ecuador, spending over $70 million USD to improve the facility. The lease is about up.
ReplyDeleteSince Correa’s election, Washington has been worried about losing Ecuador to the Venezuelan sphere of influence. Whether or not Correa falls in step with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, analysts believe he will be reminded of his campaign promise to close the Manta base, and has already publicly considered using the base as an international airport to link South America with Asia.
The Chinese, our friends in Latin America, but our enemy in the Formosa Straits, right.
Somehow the logic of that escapes me.
"o" that may all be true, but we are not "standing and fighting" now, in Iraq.
ReplyDeleteWe are reconciliating.
When we begin to "stand and fight, like MEN", well then give a shout out. That certainly is not what the US has been about, in Iraq.
Just look at the success we've had in Basra. Small footprint, no shooting, lot's of locals in charge of looting and property redistribution.
It's great down there, in Basra. A model of success for all of Iraq.
Mr Bush, Mr Cheney, and Ms Rice all agree, wholeheartedly. They do know best, they and the Generals.
To disagree is symtematic of the Syndrome.
where are the supply lines that feed the bad guys in iraq...
ReplyDeletei r a n
time to fight like men and destroy the supply lines and THOSE that pay for the trouble in iraq
Without Biggie, hiphop had a vacuum, in NY and throughout US. That Nas and Jay-z preferred their beefs to game, they not only dissed the philosophy of B-I Frank White but proved themselves straight up bustaz.
ReplyDeleteNow they tour with the dirty south, a rabble of suitors uniformly unworthy of Biggie's mantle.
Each aspiring inheritor thinks themselves re-inventors, when instead they're witnesses to the end of an era, the Age of the MC. But we've got plenty of production to back it up! Go Bandar - I mean Timbaland!
barry, Ms T, or what ever moniker you're using today...
ReplyDeleteHow funny if off meassage.
Go back to your own avatar, if you would.
"o" MOST of the Insurgent support flows from Syria, not Iran. But some small trickle does pass that way.
No, the Insurgents in Iraq are mostly supported by the Sauds, through their many proxies, and by the Baathist infrastructure in Syria.
Iran gots its' initial ante into the Game, when the US bailed on the Iraqi Shia in 1999. When Mr Maliki and company moved under Tehran's protective security umbrella.
To believe wethawk, the Shia militias had aQ Iraq on the run, but had to stop due to US pressure. To much violence, we say.
re: They dangle what seem big cash incentives to impoverished young families, to get them to stay another round. That, peer pressure and the fear of being "Called Back", with no bonus at all motivates many to reup.
ReplyDeleteI would ask for proof, but why bother?
So, Arkin was right, hey: the troops are nothing but mercenaries; obviously, they not very bright ones, given the pay of professional mercenaries.
One would say "Shame", but that would be the stupidist thing ever heard.
All round losers with a capital "L".
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteAllen: re: They dangle what seem big cash incentives to impoverished young families, to get them to stay another round. That, peer pressure and the fear of being "Called Back", with no bonus at all motivates many to reup.
ReplyDeleteIf this is an existential struggle for civilization itself, don't you think we ought to get more guys into the fight besides sending the same 50,000 or so back three or four times?
"... Islamic Hamas militants and a Western-backed Palestinian president have formed a new shared government coalition in hopes of ending an international aid boycott.
ReplyDeleteBut the coalition's political platform announced Saturday stops short of meeting the terms of international donors and would-be peacemakers that Palestinian leaders renounce violence, accept Israel's right to exist and abide by previous agreements the Palestinians made with Israel and others.
The platform makes some rhetorical bows toward satisfying the demands, but also refers to resistance "in all forms" to Israeli occupation. Israeli officials read that as a coded endorsement of suicide bombings or other violence.
"I'm not going to try to interpret what the right of resistance means," Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Monday after a meeting with European diplomats. "But I'll tell you it doesn't sound very good to me when one talks about 'all forms' of resistance."
...
Rice said Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh should explain the reference.
"Do you mean the right of resistance by violence?" Rice asked. "And let's get an answer"
Of course they mean violence, and the "Right of Preemption" as well.
Why not?
Just look at the force discrepencies, the Israeli could squash the Palis like bugs, so per US policy in the Region, the Palis can strike first if they percieve an existential threat.
The lack of Israeli funding for the Palistinian Jihad, through tax revenue dispersals, is proof of Israeli intentions, ipso facto.
What's not to understand?
That the Palistinians consider Israel to be occupied lands says it all. That is what would have to be renounce, for any meaningful reconciliation to occur, not just that the Palistinian claims of Soveriegnty will not be backed by violence, that's not nearly enough. Not to reach the "root causes" of violence and dispair in the Levant.
WiO:
ReplyDeletewhere are the supply lines that feed the bad guys in iraq...i r a n
time to fight like men and destroy the supply lines and THOSE that pay for the trouble in iraq
The only ones paying for the trouble in iraq is the American taxpayer.
No, dear Ms T, for they are "Professionals", but not in it for the money.
ReplyDeleteOr perhaps the troops are more attune to "Tradesmen" and not really "Professionals" as defined by Wiki.
Tradesmen not requiring the levels of mental and administrative skills that Professionals must wield.
Sometimes the professional status of an activity is controversial, for example there is debate as to whether or not professionals should be allowed to compete in the Olympic Games. The motivation for money (either in rewards, salaries or advertising revenue) is sometimes seen as a corrupting influence, tainting an activity.
It has been suggested that the crude, all or nothing categories, of professional or amateur should be reconsidered.
The Military, a Career they say, marketed that way on TV. Not a short term of amateur Patriotic service, no a long term committment tied to Income & Education benefits and future opportunities. Why deny that, when it is so obviously the case.
Even the Military makes the case for the need of reenlistment bonuses to retain the troops.
Upwards of $40,000 USD for some specialties. They offered Jr. $10,000, with the threat of recall added in.
It's a cash & carry world.
Desert Rat,
ReplyDeleteMany of your criticisms are valid but I'm not quite sure where you stand on the way forward. Are you suggesting that the glorious leadership declare war on the Mohammedians and then ramp up the military attacks razing all whom display any opposition forcing our will upon all or are you suggesting we abandon the military option and try a different approach?
If the "West" is engaged in an existential war, then across the board, US, England, Austrailia, Canada, EU & Russia must step up, arm up and destroy the existential threat.
ReplyDeleteBut under the command of Mr Bush and Mr Blair and Mr Howard we continue as we have, their very actions prove that there is no existential threat. Just so much rhetoric.
There is no War with Islam, per Mr Bush.
The War in Iraq is not existential to US, it is a local conflict, by Law. The Congress rejected approval of the US engaging in a Regional MidEast War, back when the current Iraq Authorization was passed.
In my opinion we should start to leave Iraq, coming to terms with the Iraqi if everyone feels a need for a "Stay Behind" force, to stay behind.
Or double the size of the US committment to Iraq if we do not start to leave.
Let the debates begin.
Show the World the true strength of a democratic Republic, as opposed an Imperial Empire.
Putin is willing to go only so far to tweak the US. He draws the line when the check bounces:
ReplyDeleteVIENNA, Austria Mar 20, 2007 (AP)— Russia is pulling out its experts from the Iranian nuclear reactor site they were helping build, U.S. and European officials said Tuesday.
"Say hello to 2164th in the freezer, and have a nice rest of your life."...now what did I do?
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteWho was Barry?
ReplyDelete2164th said: Who was Barry?
ReplyDeleteFor a week or two I tried to post here with a male identity because I thought I would fit in better, but I couldn't make it work. So I'm back to just me. If people insist on throwing my old names in my face it makes me upset and I don't feel like interacting with that person anymore.
lordy, who would want to fit in with this crowd - nothing but a bunch of drunks leaning on a dusty old bar that smells like an elephants cage.
ReplyDeleteYou both fit in better than you think.
ReplyDeletehehehe
ReplyDeleteand I mean that in the nicest possible way.
ReplyDeletenow, now, don't be afraid to insult everyone but us two ;)
ReplyDeleteThe world of internet chat is a rough an tumble one and I'm constantly surprised when people get upset and go stomping off.
The "REAL" Barry
ReplyDelete(Punahoe costs about $15,000/year I think)
Poor little Barry.
---
That Barry had a confident gait, a cheerful smile and a B average.
“He had the same exact mannerisms then as he does now,” said Eric Kusunoki, Mr. Obama’s homeroom teacher at the Punahou School. “When he walked up to give that speech at the Democratic convention, we recognized him right away by the way he walked. He was well liked by everybody, a very charismatic guy.”
And there was the other Barry, the child of a white American mother, Ann Dunham, who died in 1995, and a Kenyan father, also named Barack, who left when Mr. Obama was young and who is also dead. That Barry, described in Mr. Obama’s book, “Dreams From My Father,” was the one whose young classmate once asked him if his “father ate people,”
DR,
ReplyDeleteAssuming you ever had a son in the Corps, that proves only that a professional can have a jackoff as a father.
When you knock the troops, lost me fellows.
"If people insist on throwing my old names in my face it makes me upset and I don't feel like interacting with that person anymore."
ReplyDelete---
Sounds like Katherine!
It looks like the Senate wasn't even aware, until today, that they had given away their precious advise and consent power in the Patriot Act, and this whole Gonzales thing was just the Executive Branch trying to take their new monopoly on appointing prosecutors out for a spin around the block. But the Adminstration is sufficiently chastened that they do not intend to fight the restoration, to the Senate, of the power to approve nominees. My question for today is, if they're making six figures, why don't the politicians even read what they're voting for?
ReplyDeleteWe did do this one night
ReplyDeleteDon't worry ash, I will flame you and reduce your bark to ash at a time and place of my choosing.
ReplyDeletethe administration should already execute whatever exit plans they have. this war has been dragging on for so long already!!!! send the troops back home already! we should get out of Iraq's business. our homeland security doesn't depend on whether they did what they're supposed to do in Iraq. there's a lot more terrorist groups walking freely in some unchartered territories. it's about time we change the scenery.
ReplyDeleteIngrid: ...there's a lot more terrorist groups walking freely in some unchartered territories. it's about time we change the scenery.
ReplyDeleteYeah, Ingrid, let's change the scenery to the redwood forest, the New York island, the snow-capped mountains, the Gulf Stream waters...this land was made for you and me. The founding fathers never dreamed of an empire with bases or listening posts in almost every country.
Bobalharb's link: "The zoo must kill the bear," said spokesman Frank Albrecht. "Feeding by hand is not species-appropriate but a gross violation of animal protection laws."
ReplyDeleteSitting behind bars while humans throw peanuts at you is not species-appropirate too. I guess all zoos must kill all all animals to avoid a gross violation of animal protection laws.
Now wait a darned minute! What is so bad about listening posts, especially listening posts everywhere?
ReplyDeleteDescribing Andaman and Nicobar Islands as "strategically very important" for the country, he said: "Relations with China and Pakistan in the north and west having been already on the mend, and there is a conscious effort to strengthen our presence in the southeast.
ReplyDelete"And the Andaman and Nicobar Command can play a key role towards this end," he said.
Asked to confirm reports about China building an airfield and installing listening posts at Coco Island close to the northern tip of the Andaman Islands, Tyagi dismissed them as "baseless".
China Listening to India
"The FOUNDING FATHERS...never dreamed of an ...EMPIRE... with bases or listening posts in almost every country."
ReplyDeleteAre you sure?
In his farewell letter to the Army (June 8, 1783), George Washington wrote: "The foundation of our ...Empire...was not laid in the gloomy age of Ignorance and Superstition, but at an Epocha when the rights of mankind were better understood and more clearly defined, than at any former period."
Washington also stated that
"However unimportant America may be considered at present, there will assuredly come a day, when this country will have some weight in the scale of...Empires"
Washington also referred to the United States as "an infant empire."
In January 1776, Thomas Paine inspired the Colonies with a vision of this new American Era. In Common Sense he wrote: "The cause of America is in a great measure the cause of...all mankind... 'Tis not the concern of a day, a year, or an age; posterity are virtually involved in the contest, and will be more or less affected, even to the end of time, by the proceedings now."
"Our Revolution...is an important event for the advantage of mankind in general." – Benjamin Franklin
"the administration should already execute whatever exit plans they have."
ReplyDelete...One would like to know, of those who advocate leaving Iraq, whether they are happy to abandon the control of its fabulous wealth to be parceled out between the highest or most ruthless bidders—say, al-Qaida in Anbar, the Turks in the north, and the fans of Ahmadinejad in the south? Or might it be better to have even an imperfect federal democracy that could be based not just on ideals but on an actual material footing? A country that might, over time, undercut the power currently exerted by Saudi Arabia and Iran? I only ask. And it's no good chanting "no blood for oil" at me, because oil is the lifeblood here, and everybody knows it and always has.
- Blood and Oil: Three cheers for Iraq's new hydrocarbon law(Hitchens)
"this war has been dragging on for so long already!!!! send the troops back home already! we should get out of Iraq's business. our homeland security doesn't depend on whether they did what they're supposed to do in Iraq. there's a lot more terrorist groups walking freely in some unchartered territories. it's about time we change the scenery."
...The corpus of al-Qaeda's writings on the development and application of its insurgency doctrine is too diverse and voluminous to discuss in a single article. For present purposes, it will suffice to look at some of the insurgency-related work of five of the group's strategists: the late Abu-Hajer Abd-al-Aziz al-Muqrin, Abu Ubyad al-Qurashi, Abu-Ayman al-Hilali, Abd-al-Hadi, and Sayf-al-Din al-Ansari. These writings discuss the need to conduct the political and military facets of an insurgency in tandem. They are especially worth reviewing now because of the success al-Qaeda is having in using its doctrine against U.S.-led forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, a success that has prompted U.S. Defense Secretary Rumsfeld to rename the Global War on Terror as the "Long War" and to publicly lament that al-Qaeda is beating the U.S. in the political war being fought in the media. The essays used herein to analyze al-Qaeda's insurgency doctrine were published between January 2002 and February 2004 in the al-Qaeda Internet journals al-Ansar, al-Neda, and Mu'askar al-Battar.
Al-Qaeda Doctrine in Iraq and Afghanistan: The Military
Religious obligation is the central point on which al-Qaeda's insurgency doctrine was and is grounded. Osama bin Laden and—since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq—hundreds of Islamist leaders and clerics have declared a "defensive jihad" against the United States, a form of jihad that mandates the participation of every Muslim through taking up arms, financial donations, prayer, providing safe haven, or some other form of support. This is what Abu-Hajer Abd-al-Aziz al-Muqrin called the "First Axis of Jihad," the axis that requires complete victory over the infidels, a goal that "is not subject to discussion" and which permits "no half-solutions" and "no-bargaining." In this form of jihad, however, bin Laden and al-Qaeda's strategists have firmly declared that universal participation does not mean that each Muslim acts on his or her own, but rather they act in unity with other Muslims. "A feeling of [individual] responsibility," Sayf-al-Din al-Ansari explained, "does not mean embodying jihad in scattered individual actions. The feeling needs to be deepened by striving for well-planned actions emanating from a position of collective activity."
This "collective activity" is what al-Muqrin termed the "Second Axis of Jihad," the one that covers military strategy and operations, and features a doctrine that is "flexible," "depends on conditions and circumstances," and can easily "accept half-solutions." This adaptability among the mujahideen," Abu-Ubayd al-Qurashi wrote, "is done on the basis of practical experience and field results. This means that jihad military doctrine is constantly changing, thus denying America the chance to know it well or train its troops on how to confront it decisively and permanently." As important, Abu-Ayman al-Hilali wrote, the insurgents' doctrine must address all aspects of the country and society in which the war is being fought. "[W]orking in an organization dedicated to jihad," al-Hilai argued, "requires a fundamental working knowledge of planning, administration, security, psychology, sociology, history, geography, politics, strategy, law, education, preaching, and military science, not to mention religious knowledge."
In terms of fighting the U.S.-led coalitions in Iraq and Afghanistan, Muqrin spoke for each al-Qaeda strategist when he explained that Islamist forces must be prepared to fight a "long war of attrition," a struggle in which "the enemy of God will feel that it is impossible to finish off the mujahideen's military power." In both the Iraqi and Afghan "arenas of jihad," the overriding goal for mujahideen leaders should be to prepare to fight the mightiest military power on earth; the insurgent leadership, Muqrin advised, must "know the enemy it is fighting." The mujahideen chiefs must be "psychologically prepared for the worst" and, on this basis, they must build an organization "so if one link falls, whatever its organizational size is, the organization [as a whole] does not suffer lethal blows." Before widespread attacks began, Abd al-Hadi added, it was essential that leaders conduct extensive "reconnaissance and surveillance operations to find the enemies' weak points," as well as to "build a vital [dynamic?] database on each target, as well as every change in enemy movements in all regions [of the country] before taking any action."
When military operations based on this data are ready to begin, Muqrin urged the mujahideen to follow "the 1,000-wound" policy of guerrilla war with the goal of prolonging the war to "exhaust" the enemies' patience and resources, and to avoid set-piece battles and attacks on "hardened targets" that would be too costly in terms of mujahideen casualties. "We can exhaust him [the enemy]," Abd-al-Hadi wrote, "without fighting any real battles with him." Al-Qaeda's strategists believe that they could find no better foe than the Americans against which to implement this doctrine. The Americans love "fixed bases," al-Qurashi argued, and even in the field their combat forces are awkward, with troops who are "highly paid and overloaded with comfort facilities that often restrict their movements." The key to victory lies in a simple reality, Muqrin noted, American bases are "known and immovable," while those of the mujahideen are "light and movable."
Al-Qaeda Doctrine in Iraq and Afghanistan: The Media
Among the strategists referenced in this article, the Saudi al-Muqrin most thoroughly discussed the essential interconnectedness of the military and media dimensions of insurgency. Muqrin argued that the military and media campaigns must be accelerated simultaneously. While al-Qaeda's military doctrine required that the mujahideen wage war in all areas of Afghanistan and Iraq, this widespread activity was no less essential from the perspective of influencing the Muslim and Western worlds. "[There must be] no trace of doubt left on anybody's mind that they [the mujahideen] are present all over the land," Muqrin explained. "This will prove the mujahideen's power, rub the nose of the enemies in the dirt, and encourage young men to take up arms and face the enemy—Jews, Christians, and their collaborators." Such demonstrations, moreover, will stimulate donors to increase funding for the mujahideen. This is vital, Muqrin noted, because "jihad eats up enormous funds" and those funds are "the nerves of the jihad." In addition, broad and continuous mujahideen military activity will send a warning "through the language of blood or fire" to the people of nations allied with America that "their governments are getting them involved in wars and conflicts with which they have nothing to do."
Conclusion
The insurgency doctrine used by al-Qaeda has been evolving for more than a quarter-century, and is designed to defeat conventional Western military forces. It calls for the group's fighters to be able to fight in the mountains, in desert regions, in maritime conditions, and to be able conduct what Muqrin refers to as "covert action" in urban areas. These multifaceted military operations must be matched by the mujahideen "excelling in their organized media action." Tellingly, however, al-Qaeda's insurgency doctrine pays virtually no attention to what the West would identify as "terrorist" operations. While such attacks, Muqrin wrote, are an essential contribution to the mujahideen's war effort—especially "qualitative operations" like those of 9/11—they are best left to other units of the al-Qaeda organization.
(Scheuer)
2164th said...
ReplyDeleteDon't worry ash, I will flame you and reduce your bark to ash at a time and place of my choosing
My Bark is thick and all that flame will just produce more...ash.
And for you to think, allen, that money is not important to Marines. For you to make that arguement, well what can I say ...
ReplyDeleteThat money could motivate a person, to change a personal tipping point.
That would be just to outlandish to believe, of any Marine, that they could be motivated by money, that to even mention the likelyhood of it dishonors the Corps.
Tou have to be kidding, right?
How bountiful would the renlistments be, without those Bonus monies?
If that dishonors the Marines, the mention of money, what a wierd world you must live and work in.
Here's how we live in my world, you're welcome to come play.
When the party moves to Vegas, they play a lively tune.
A real hillbilly of a good time.
It's just a little bit about money, too.
You are right, rufus, Bill Roggio did have good news
ReplyDeleteThe U.S. now estimated 12 of the 21 tribes in Ramadi actively support the government, 6 are neutral and three have sided with al-Qaeda.
Now it's the Three Enemy Tribes of Anbar, instead of six.
Turn over of the Security Mission by November, that's always been Mr Maliki's Goal, from day 1 of his Administration.
Hope he succeeds.
Hope we help him succeed.
Hope we start leaving when he does.
Basra writ large across Iraq,
sooner we get there, the better.
sorry if I was not clear enough before..
ReplyDeleteIRAN...
syria? small assignment to be doled out to israel when the USA does iran...
WiO: syria? small assignment to be doled out to israel when the USA does iran...
ReplyDeleteWiO says KICK THEIR ASS AND TAKE THEIR GAS. Ain't gonna happen. Bush just upped the Iraq ante to 30,000 troops, he doesn't even have enough riflemen left over to guard the White House Lawn Easter Egg Hunt.
DR,
ReplyDeletere: money
For whores like you the $10 for the next blow job is all important. Don't equate my Marines with your Saturday nignt blowjobbing. If you need thrills, look into the mirror, asshole. You might try Tereisia or Trish, they seem right up your poop-shot. Trish could stick a cassorle up your ass; and as for Teresta, what she sticks up your joy hole will depend on whether she is in her tarns phase or just plane, plastic strapped dike. Who knows what the "girls" will provide, but it will keep you entertained, maggot.
I understand your problem; having spent your life with vermin like yourself, it is nearly impossible for you to see beyond your own life's experience. There are men and women fighting, who do so to insure that your cock filled mouth can ooze whatever the cats dragged in. Sorry Mom and Dad abused you, but there is a real life out there. Of course, you would have to take you hand off your wee cock and divert your eyes from the monitor.
In the world you inhabit, that must be hard to understand, but honor is not dead, despite your never having encountered it. Being raped by your father was traumatic to be sure; giving head to your syphletic mother must have been tough. But trust me, old pervert, there are better men and women than you have ever known. They will protect you worthless ass, for about $1,600 per month. Cheap, I know, when you've sucked the best over a weekend for that price, but there you have it.
Pukes! Dog vomit. Maggots. Stick with your own and leave my kids out of your perversion. Hey, try Panama. Word has it that perverts can buy anything there cheap; Now, that's your ticket. By all means, you and "Junior" have found a place near and dear your 3" peckers.
Oh, why don't you tell it to the Marines, cocksucker. No, balls, I'm guessing. My friend SSgt H, who is with the Army at Bagram could kick your ass and Junior's and never scuff her nails. Pussies!
Looks like you and the rest of the girls will get plenty of help here. Salute! Dog shit eatters.
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ReplyDeleteBoy, allen, you really are a broke dick sin of a buck.
ReplyDeleteNo money, no civility
No arguement either.