Lipstick!

I guess this means Mullen’s gonna get fired soon.

Thanks for this, BT, it is extremely important.

Digg is open, pups!

I don’t believe that either McCain or Palin is capable of feeling shame. I doubt Smerconish has that ability either. McCain will lie and Smerconish will return to being a Republic toady. That’s his act, after all.

You might be right. But they should be ashamed.

From the link:
“He called the recent decision by US President George W. Bush to send 4,500 troops from Iraq to Afghanistan “a good and important start” even though it fell short of commanders’ requests for three more brigades or about 10,000 troops.”

Isn’t that at the crux of it all? W broke the military so badly the troops are just not available. This will be a huge challenge for the next President: restoring the military’s morale and readiness while simultaneously addressing the complicated security concerns in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Video over at Americablog….. local reporter asking hard hitting questions and watch McSame squirm and dance…
McCain answers question

Don’t forget that by many accounts we had Bin Laden pinned down at Tora Bora but because Bush and Rummy wanted to do Afghanistan on the cheap (probably to hold back resources for eventual deployment to Iraq) he was allowed to get away.

i think obama is completely wrong also – our battle was never with the people of afghanistan. i wonder how many deaths we’ve caused with our invasion and occupation? does anyone have a clue?

Escape is just one of the benefits of being a Bush Family Crony.

The U.S. may not be winning the war against the Taliban and al Queda in Afghanistan but they sure are killing alot of Afghani civilians.

Sorry to be OT but it’s time to rebrand McCain’s campaign as the “Campaign to Nowhere” Spread the word. Let it go viral. McCain’s “Campaign to Nowhere”

Isn’t that at the crux of it all?

i don’t think so. i think a surge (escalation) in afghanistan is just as wrong as the surge in iraq was. and i don’t like having to choose between the republican war in iraq or the democrats’ war in afghanistan.

Mullen: “We cannot kill our way to victory.”

So true, but isn’t that the cowboy maverick way?

What of the Rand analysis that says this (terra) is a law issue, not military, and should be dealt with that way.

Guess when you don’t believe in law, and your cronies don’t profit as much, it is still a military issue.

US Joint Chiefs Chairman Admiral Michael Mullen has warned time was running out to defeat an intensifying insurgency in Afghanistan and said he was “not convinced we’re winning” in the country.
…
“I’m not convinced we’re winning it in Afghanistan. I am convinced we can,” he said. “… And frankly, we’re running out of time.”

What about “conditions on the ground”, McSame? The conditions suck and have sucked and you haven’t done a damn thing about it until recently when you finally started to pay attention rto the conditionsd on the ground in Afghaniistan and, came around to Obama’s long held position – - more troops. Why won’t you admit you were wrong, McSame? Why won’t anybody in the media even bring this up with him, much less break his balls like tyhey do with barack & da Surge?

What of the Rand analysis that says this (terra) is a law issue, not military, and should be dealt with that way.

excellent point. on this issue – bush, mccain and obama are all wrong.

yup. that was in december 2001. a few months after 9/11.

Immediately after the invasion of Afghanistan, we were somehow fortunate to have the militants mostly separate from the general population. I think since then the Taliban have realized it was a tactical mistake on their part which is unlikely to be repeated. At this point it seems like NATO forces might be killing more noncombatants than militants.

Thanks for that quote.

selise,I think that Mullen is focused on what needs to be done so that the Afghani people can reclaim their country. I’d love to see Mullen given the resources to implement a real reconstruction in Afghanistan so that a more normal life can be restored.

At the same time, I’d like to see the next administration allow back in all high ranking military officers who quit in disgust during the Bush years. If we want to restore the capability of our military and at the same time prevent its misuse against innocents, many of those who left need to come back.

I have very real and personal interests in seeing that that the U.S. gets out of these Middle East/Asian occupations soon. On the other hand, I don’t want to see nation states that we’ve broken become sanctuaries for future terrorists.

Having an efficient, state of the art military is essential to back up our “hard and soft” diplomacy initiatives. I agree that throwing more troops at the problem makes the problem worse. On the other hand, having well supplied and sufficient toops available to deal with armed conflict is essential.

Making these choices sucks.

Most of the cooler heads among the military brass who were pushed into early retirement have been away from the daily bureaucratic grind long enough that nothing would lure them back.

Here is the link to the Rand study on Terrorism
How Terrorist Groups End

The analysis also found that

* religiously motivated terrorist groups took longer to eliminate than other groups but rarely achieved their objectives; no religiously motivated group achieved victory during the period studied.
* size significantly determined a group’s fate. Groups exceeding 10,000 members were victorious more than 25 percent of the time, while victory was rare for groups below 1,000 members.
* terrorist groups from upper-income countries are much more likely to be left-wing or nationalist and much less likely to be motivated by religion.

My my my….. the key….. legal action which they laughed at Kerry for pushing

Key to this strategy is replacing the war-on-terrorism orientation with the kind of counterterrorism approach that is employed by most governments facing significant terrorist threats today. Calling the efforts a war on terrorism raises public expectations — both in the United States and elsewhere — that there is a battlefield solution. It also tends to legitimize the terrorists’ view that they are conducting a jihad (holy war) against the United States and elevates them to the status of holy warriors. Terrorists should be perceived as criminals, not holy warriors.

link ain’t working. for me , anyway. thanks though. i’ll runit down. sounds interesting to watch.

Bush’s failed war in Afghanistan has now lasted almost as long as the US involvement in World War I, World War II and the Korean War — combined. And no victory in sight.

Excellent observation BT the worlds best army stalled by a Commander and Chief Idiot who knows better than General Eric Shinseki just how many troops we need on the ground and then years later after its to late him and McCain finally decide to Surge!

got it. what a dope. d-o-p-e

A slightly different perspective: After 9/11 the military did not have any real plan how to deal w/ Afghanistan and GWB perceived that the CIA was far ahead. We sent a couple of cargo planes full of money there for the CIA to spread amongst their friends – the out of power war lords – who in reality were every bit as bad if not worse than the Taliban. Special ops and other select forces were also sent and a turf war between the military and the CIA developed. Despite often times being in the same camps CIA operatives refused to share information with the military. They were literaly tripping over each other, running duplicitous missions and etc. The warlords hired by the CIA were guilty of outrageous atrocities.

don’t forget the air war with DU and cluster bombs.

And yet, we’re obsessing over lipstick.

We are not a serious people.

“Terrorists should be perceived as criminals, not holy warriors.”

Isn’t that how the IRA was finally defeated, and brought into the political process?

I think that Mullen is focused on what needs to be done so that the Afghani people can reclaim their country.

why do you think that? what an i missing?

These warlords remain in power.

Nowhere Man (John McCain):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHLjYBsl2zA

I like it.

We are not a sane people

fixed it for you

I agree that throwing more troops at the problem makes the problem worse. On the other hand, having well supplied and sufficient toops available to deal with armed conflict is essential.

if we weren’t “throwing more troops at the problem” i don’t think there would be any problem with having “well supplied and sufficient troops” to provide for the common defense. we spend as much as the rest of world combined – far more than enough.

Palin actually did use federal funds to pay for the “road to nowhere” – leading to the point where the “bridge to nowhere” was to be built:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQXsuAey-NE

I think we may have lost our window to “win” the war.

His admission that we can’t kill our way to a win is a huge start in the right direction.

No not with Ollie North doing the official counting

In light of the new video evidence—which has prompted the U.S. to begin yet another investigation of the incident—even if the U.S. is vindicated, it does not look good. While it’s nice of Ollie North to note that the number of dead civilians rose as more bodies were pulled from the rubble (forgetting the same dynamic applies to the U.S.-side of the narrative), this is, in short, a serious loss in the IO war. At this point, it doesn’t even matter how many died. Simply, the U.S. looks bad.

But this came via a questioning post by Christian at the Defense Tech blog. And this is actually more shocking.

Ollie North (who I do not respect as a journalist, but isn’t a bad guy personally — I’ve bumped into him on two trips to Iraq) and a pretty damned good cameraman with no Fox agenda were embeded with the MARINE special operations force on the raid.

They saw the engagement. They saw the casualties. They did not see what “witnesses,” the UN, the Afghan government or the New York Times (nice try with that BS iPhone video) saw.

http://www.registan.net/index……wait-what/

Then the Afhgan government and Un got some video and the reopened the investigation into civilian deaths.
They don’t hate us for our freedom they hate us because we bomb them. They hate us because we give Israel weapons to kill Palestinians. They hate us because we keep oppressive governments in the Middle East in power that use torture like Egypt and Saudi Arabia.

It should probably be noted that while the duration of those previous wars was comparatively brief, they were won by deploying huge numbers of conscripted troops and taking an enormous number of casualties. The upside to that is that when the entire country shares the pain, they are less likely to support leaders who would wage them needlessly.

I agree. Whatever the solution was at the time, it is no longer open to us. We have troops there and the Taliban is apparently stronger than ever. They managed to defeat both the French and the Russians so the question remains – now what?

McCain obsesses over that I have to much respect for pigs.

Great post and points BT. And I wonder why I’m driving to the vet today with a knot, which is a constant companion these days, in my stomache. What’s the underlying discomfort, i’m asking me. What is WRONG????
WEll, THIS is what’s wrong. BT’s words, the situation, that we cannot get even one straight answer or idea from McKept and the media’s falling all over themselves touting how Obi and McStink are in a dead on tie, and Matt Damon pointing out the obvious in that vid today, that carabou barbie will have the nuclear codes (I hope that went viral, btw)! so, yeah, i have a knot in my stomach and it has nothing in the world to do with the stupid political discourse on going. It has to do with what’s getting ready to happen if the republic’s win this thing.
I happen to LIKE this planet and wanted to be passing it on to future generations. In spite of all the prophesies that say that’s isn’t likely to happen.

The military industrial complex has sold a bill of goods that these predators etc are an effective means of fighting these bad actors. Many of these things are remotely controlled here. The collateral damage is totally unacceptable. Gates admonished the AF saying he wanted more sent into the theater

Katymine, thanks for the link.

Alas, in this USA, law enforcement doesn’t sound as sexy as tough, war-talk.

We have squandered our allies’ good will, for torture, rendition and endless war. It only makes more enemies. Law enforcement on this scale will require cooperation with other nations. But, I guess that is the point of Shrub’s jihad…no more friends. It justifies the “lone hero” myth (see any cowboy movie).

Sure could have done alot of good with the $$$ for all those bombs dropped, weapon systems….here and abroad.

Yeah, lipstick is important!

Judging from history, I don’t know if we were ever likely to win a decisive, lasting victory over the “bad guys.” The question should be, how can we best enable the Afghan government to fend for itself?

Grit tv up

Alaska Knows the Real Story of the Bridge to Nowhere

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3DZZNZFxeI

Winning the war in Afghanistan involves implementing economic and social development, not bombing and killing indiscriminately as this admin has done. The chimp and McSame are utterly incapable of respecting humanity enough to “win” in Afghanistan.

Lets not forget that when everybody serves the army gets what it needs quick.
If the Bush twins were in Iraq I bet the army would have gotten bullet proof vests and armored humvees alott sooner.
I bet KBR would have lost all its army contracts after the second solder was electrocuted in the shower (how many have died that way)?
I bet when KBR lost the rape kit after that girl got raped in Iraq Bush would have kicked KBR out of all its government contracts.
Things are different when its your kids that is a fact.

Dugg.

Even if ‘everyone’ serves, the Bush family does not serve.
Viet Nam was an ‘everyone’ war. No Bush served.

I recently finished reading Three Cups of Tea, a nonfiction adventure story about a guy who established schools in Northern Pakistan and Afghanistan (highly recommended). That is very much what he believes too, except that he believes in empowering on a more local level.

Bring back the draft

I’d hope. I’m sure John McCainbelieves we can.

I think we may have lost our window to “win” the war.

i don’t think it’s a war we should have been fighting. the afghan people were not a threat. we should have gone after the criminals – not invaded and occupied a country for what looks like geostrategic purposes.

US Republics have not met the benchmarks for governance, therefore, Dems must continue to occupy the Congress and take leadership of the White House.

The question should be, how can we best enable the Afghan government to fend for itself?

step #1 – don’t install a puppet government of our choosing.

LOL!!!

I agree. But if we define win as developing a functional state that serves the needs of its people and prevents Bin Ladin from living comfortably protected by the locals, winning is possible.

have you by any chance read “overthrow” by steven kinzer?

New Christy upstairs!
More Abramoff And Ring: Tipping Point For Republican Corruption Dominoes?

Attacking Afghanistan never made sense. It’s like taking over Michigan because Timothy McVeigh trained there, if that is where he trained. Terrorism isn’t a national movement. It’s individual action. It’s not like armies with different uniforms dukeing it out. Afghanistan didn’t fly those planes into the World Trade Center. The fact terrorists trained in its hinterlands is no more a crime than terrorists training in our hinterlands.

The other fact that we in the US don’t like to hear, is the terrorists have a point. We want regime change in Iraq to bring democracy to the heathen, but we don’t push it in Saudi Arabia. We do business with dictators who see the world our way and oppose those who don’t. One, hopefully, gets away with hypocracy just so long. If that’s true, there’s nothing to worry about in November. So why am I worried?