Bipartisan and Allied outrage!

Poles, Czechs: US missile defense shift a betrayal
By Vanessa Gera
Associated PressSep 18,2009

WARSAW, Poland – Poles and Czechs voiced deep concern Friday at President Barack Obama’s decision to scrap a Bush-era missile defense shield planned for their countries.

“Betrayal! The U.S. sold us to Russia and stabbed us in the back,” the Polish tabloid Fakt declared on its front page.

Polish President Lech Kaczynski said he was concerned that Obama’s new strategy leaves Poland in a dangerous “gray zone” between Western Europe and the old Soviet sphere.

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The Bush administration’s plan would have been “a major step in preventing various disturbing trends in our region of the world,” Kaczynski said in a guest editorial in the daily Fakt and also carried on his presidential Web site.

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An editorial in Hospodarske Novine, a respected pro-business Czech newspaper, said: “an ally we rely on has betrayed us, and exchanged us for its own, better relations with Russia, of which we are rightly afraid.”

The move has raised fears in the two nations they are being marginalized by Washington even as a resurgent Russia leaves them longing for added American protection.

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“No Radar. Russia won,” the largest Czech daily, Mlada Fronta Dnes, declared in a front-page headline.

Bipartisan opposition in U.S. Senate

Remember how then candidate Obama said we need not fear his foreign policy views because he had people like Indiana Senator Dick Lugar by his side? Here’s what Sen. Lugar had to say about this decision:
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It was back on Sept 5th that I posted about the Taliban vow of revenge for the Kundiz province bombing. During that time, New York Times journalist, Steven Farrell and his 34 year old interpreter, Sultan Munadi, were captured by Taliban.

In a daring and successful raid, British NATO commandos rescued the journalist. The price for Farrell’s freedom was heavy… PM Gordon Brown heaped solemn praise on one, as of yet unnamed British soldier who gave his life in the rescue, and Munadi died in bullets crossfire, just feet from cover and freedom.

According to Farrell’s account in the Times, the captors moved the two men several times and eventually put them in a tiny room. On the third day, some new fighters, apparently more senior Taliban figures from elsewhere in Afghanistan, arrived and discussed moving their hostages out of the Kunduz area.

Afghan officials believed the two Times journalists were originally held by a Mullah Qadir, but were handed off to a commander Mullah Salaam and held in the village of Ghor Tepa, said Lt. Gen. Mirza Mohammad Yarmand, an Afghan army investigator sent to Kunduz by President Hamid Karzai to look into the case.

The Times reported that the militants taunted Munadi, reminding him of the case in 2007 when kidnappers released Italian journalist Daniele Mastrogiacomo but beheaded his translator and another Afghan colleague.

Farrell, an experienced reporter who was once held captive in Iraq, thought the atmosphere turned menacing.

Before dawn on Wednesday, they could hear helicopters approaching.

Read the rest of this entry »

Four Marines died yesterday in Afghanistan when the Taliban laid a trap:

Four U.S. Marines died Tuesday when they walked into a well-laid ambush by insurgents in Afghanistan’s eastern Kunar province. Seven Afghan troops and an interpreter for the Marine commander also died in the ambush and the subsequent battle, which lasted seven hours.

Three American service members and 14 Afghan security force members were wounded.

It was the largest number of American military trainers to die in a single incident since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion.

The battle took place around the remote hamlet of Gangigal, in a valley about six miles from the Pakistani border, after local elders invited the U.S. and Afghan forces for a meeting.

American officers said there was no doubt that they’d walked into a trap, as the insurgents were dug in at the village, and had preset their weapons and their fields of fire.

It was a trap alright….but one they could of extradited themselves out of if not for the rules of engagement laid out by Obama’s General, General Stanley McChrystal: Read the rest of this entry »

ISAF/NATO Commander, General Stanley McChrystal, has his hands full these days. Within hours of forwarding a strategic analysis of the situation in Afghanistan – describing it as “…serious, but success is achievable…” – to U.S. Central Command, General David Petraeus, and the Commander, Joint Force Command Brunssum, General Egon Ramms, the German NATO troops called for NATO back up air support after the theft of two fuel tankers by the Taliban, and the beheading of the drivers.

NATO fighter-bombers attacked two fuel trucks after the Taliban hijacked the vehicles in Kunduz province and beheaded the drivers. The trucks stalled while crossing a riverbed in the Taliban-controlled Ali Abad district and were reportedly hit just as local villagers swarmed the tankers to siphon fuel. The Taliban reportedly encouraged the villagers to take the fuel just before the airstrike.

Casualty reports on the number of Taliban and civilians killed have varied, but 93 people have been reported killed. Kunduz Governor Engineer Mohammad Omar claimed 45 Taliban fighters as well as their commander, Mullah Abdul Rahman, were killed during the attack. Razaq Yaqoobi, the provincial chief of police, said 65 Taliban fighters were among those killed.

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“After ISAF [International Security Assistance Force] observed the insurgent activity and assessed civilians were not in the area, a local ISAF commander authorized an air strike,” the initial ISAF press release on the incident stated. “A large number of insurgents were reported killed or injured and the fuel trucks were destroyed in the attack.”

When US Secy of Defense, Robert Gates, hand picked McChrystal to command both the ISAF and American/NATO troops in Afghanistan in June, had stressed the reduction of civilian collateral damage as one of the highest priorities. In July, Within weeks, McChrystal issued new ROE tactical directives to all foreign forces under ISAF/NATO command, which essentially said if any civilians were present, let the enemy go and do not shoot.

Read the rest of this entry »

76 of our bravest have died in Afghanistan over the last two months:

KABUL -The U.S. military said Wednesday six American troops were killed in Afghanistan, as militants killed six election workers amid growing fears on the eve of the presidential election that insurgents would mar the vote.

Two troops were killed in gunfire in the south on Wednesday, the U.S. military said, while a third was killed in an unspecified hostile attack. The U.S. also said a roadside bomb Tuesday in the south killed two troops, while another died of noncombat-related injuries. No other details were released.

The deaths bring to at least 32 the number of American troops killed in the country this month, a record pace. Forty-four U.S. troops died in Afghanistan last month, the deadliest month of the eight-year war.

And where are is the anti-war left and their buddies in the MSM now? Bush is gone so now the casualties are no big deal as we slowly lose grip on this war: Read the rest of this entry »

The recent representation of America at the Moscow summit delivered a mutually agreed-to target for the removal of some nuclear warheads and launchers. Almost. The relationship was neither improved nor set back, and America achieved little beyond being dealt a little embarrassment at the hands of Putin. The mainstream media (MSM) is applauding the event as a job well done. What meeting could it possibly be writing about with such approval and commendation?

Getting rid of antiquated and cumbersome warheads, 2,200 down to 1,500 or so, and trimming delivery rockets from 1,600 to around 1,000, is a good thing, if it ever happens, but such reduction would have absolutely no impact on either nation’s present realities. Elimination of a few war heads, or WVMDs, (weapons of very massive destruction), leaves entrenched and siloed enough destructive power to annihilate everything living on the face of the Earth a few times over. We shall hear over the coming months whether the Administration’s claims of these reductions ever actually come to pass. The odds are not terribly favorable to the President’s claims. Any part-time student of international affairs knows that Putin will not allow any such compliance under his watch, if the U.S. proceeds with its defense shield deployment in Poland and Czech.

Did America advance ground on obtaining any cooperation whatsoever on its objective of reigning-in Iran? Not a nod. Putin is very comfortable with selling Iran anything nuclear that it wishes to put its hands on. He has to sell Iranians something, anything, since they won’t buy his cars. Iran strategically presents the most critical foreign relations pillar to potential peace in the Middle East, and for now it remains an ace in Putin’s hand.

Countries expected by Putin of remaining within the “Russian sphere of influence,” such as Ukraine and Georgia, are making efforts to slip away from the bear’s grasp through entry into NATO. While the U.S. supports their inclusion, this stance is considered a direct threat to Russian hegemony in the region, further aggravated by the U.S. ballistic missile defense system intentions. Putin is not buying the sales pitch that this deployment is intended as a deterrent against Iran, no matter how the U.S. presents it. Putin just can’t take a joke. Of course it’s intended to protect against Russian aggression, however, in reality, well, it would augment the threat looming over Moscow, … just in case. Read the rest of this entry »

The United States Marine Corps is taking it to the enemy in Afghanistan as we speak:

Thousands of US Marines stormed into the Helmand river valley under cover of night yesterday, the opening phase of Barack Obama’s new high-risk strategy in Afghanistan. In Operation Khanjar, or Strike of the Sword, hailed by one commander as a “D-Day moment”, 4,000 Marines entered the lower Helmand river valley, hoping to do in hours what British troops have failed to do in three years. It is part of a massive surge ordered by Mr Obama, doubling the number of American troops and flooding Helmand with 10,000 Marines – far in excess of the 8,000-strong British contingent stationed there since 2006. Operation Khanjar aims to capture and hold a swath of Taleban territory, opening the way for a massive influx of development aid and allowing the Afghan Government to put down roots before its presidential election on August 20. The election is a critical test for the leadership of President Karzai, once a darling of the West, now tainted by accusations of corruption and ineffectuality yet still regarded as Afghanistan’s least bad option.

And the enemy slips away:

The Marines faced little Taliban resistance as they began moving into villages in the Helmand River valley, a Taliban stronghold that is one of the world’s largest opium-producing regions. Marine commanders said Taliban fighters seemed to have melted into the surrounding countryside rather than staying to fight the large US force. “There’s been sporadic fighting, but it’s been light,” Capt. Bill Pelletier, a Marine spokesman, said in an interview from southern Afghanistan. “Our focus isn’t on going in and killing Taliban; it’s on driving those folks out of the area and keeping them from coming back.”

More: Read the rest of this entry »

90 days into his Administration, let’s take a look at President Obama’s accomplishments and challenges.
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It’s no longer the “War on Terror” but the “Overseas Contingency Operation”. Great. We went from a bad name to a worse PC-driven name.

While the anti-war pro-peace liberal progressive base are calling for an end to the war on Afghanistan, President Obama is doing just the opposite, doubling down on an old way forward by escalating the war in a manner that is consistent with, and reminiscent of, what his predecessor might have done:
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In a recent article for TIME magazine, perpetual whiner, Joe Klein asks, ‘Why Are We In Afghanistan?” He calls it, “The Aimless War.” People should be shocked-absolutely shocked to see a veteran writer go all the way to Afghanistan, talk to troops, civilians, leaders, etc., and still not understand why NATO and the United States are in Afghanistan. Of course, it is Joe Klein, and when it comes to military matters he has all the tactical and strategic understanding of a doorknob. It’s like looking to a comedian or a sportscaster for political or military insight (though it is amazing how many people go to Keith Olberman and Jon Stewart for their information).

Klein returns from his useless adventure with little more than a pimp-punditry paper on excusing isolationist policies rather than engagement of genuinely bad guys; suicidal members of death cults bent on hunting down and killing Americans by any and all means. His article whines about how hard things are over there as if the very word “Afghanistan” isn’t a historical synonym for “ass end of the world,” “land of the nearly impossible,” or at least “graveyard of empires.” Of course it’s hard over there. It’s a war zone in the worst place on the planet. It’s a place that has known little more than war going back almost 10,000 years. The people are not the sharpest knives in the drawer by western standards because building schools has never been as useful to them as building bunkers, trenches, and dugouts. Their ideas about women, human rights, etc are not western, because the west has always asked the two connecting questions: “Why are we there”+”Why not just leave?” …and then left!
Read the rest of this entry »

US, British, and Afghan forces defeated two Taliban attacks in eastern and southern Afghanistan on Sunday. Seventy Taliban were killed during the two engagements. Five were killed as they attempted to attack from inside Pakistan.

In eastern Afghanistan, US forces launched two separate artillery strikes into Pakistan after Taliban mortar teams attempted to hit a US outpost inside Afghanistan. The outpost is located in the border district of Barmal in Paktika province, a spokesman for the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) told The Long War Journal. The strikes were launched across the border into North Waziristan.

ISAF said the strikes were coordinated with the Pakistani military. US forces launched the first artillery strike after three Taliban were seen setting up a mortar tube. Pakistani forces confirmed two Taliban were killed. An hour later, a Taliban mortar team was seen setting up to hit a Pakistan Border Point. US forces launched a second volley “in defense of the Pakistani military.” Three Taliban were confirmed killed by Pakistani forces.

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Hmmm, USN surrounds the area. British send ships. NATO sends ships. Somali officials authorize the use of force from the intl community against the pirates, Russia sends ships, and-wha? All of a sudden the ship is freed? Gee, how did that happen? No, this is not the Ukrainian ship w Russian tanks on board, or the Spanish ship. It’s the Iranian ship where the pirates who were briefly exposed to “something” suddenly became sick, and 50 reportedly died. Now the ship is on the loose.

On August 21, the pirates seized the Iranian bulk carrier, carrying 42,500 tons of minerals and industrial products.

“The ship Dianat was released on Friday morning after even weeks of negotiations with Somali pirates and all 29 members of the crew are safe,” Said public relations office of the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Line (IRISL).

The ship is sailing towards international waters, IRISL added.

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There’s an interesting order of battle listed on this article that you’ll want to check out. Ironic that almost 8yrs to the day after the USS Cole was attacked in the area…the USN and NATO ships are still there, and driven to action.

NATO officials said the seven frigates from a group that were to have taken part in an exercise in the Suez Canal region would arrive off the Somali coast within two weeks in response to a request from the U.N. World Food Programme (WFP).

The decision to send the ships was taken at a meeting of defence ministers from the 26 NATO member states in Budapest, NATO spokesman James Appathurai said.

“Piracy is a serious problem for shipping in that area. It is also an immediate threat to the lives of the people in Somalia,” he said. “Substantially more than 40 percent of the population depend on the food aid being delivered by ship.”

The European Union has agreed to start planning for a joint naval force that could be ready for deployment by the end of the year.

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This article comes with a fantastic timeline of links to the recent action along the border area. VERY worth reading!

The US continues to target al Qaeda and Taliban safe houses and training camps in Pakistan’s Taliban-controlled tribal areas. The latest attack killed nine, including six “foreign militants” – a reference to al Qaeda operatives.

At least two missiles were reported to have been fired at two known Taliban safe houses in the village of Tati near the city of Miramshah. A Reuters reporter saw an unmanned US Predator aircraft flying in the area and conducting the attack.

“The attack targeted the house of a local Taliban commander named Hafiz Sahar Gul,” The News reported. Three member of Gul’s family and six al Qaeda operatives were killed in the strike, according to Pakistani sources. No senior Taliban or al Qaeda leaders have been identified as killed.

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