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Thursday, August 23, 2012
US Commander Uses Ramadan As Excuse For Afghan Murders Of Our Troops
I can still barely believe this one, even after hearing it with my own ears.
The U.S. commander in Afghanistan, General John Allen was queried about the huge increase in U.S. troops being murdered by their supposed Afghan 'allies.'
He actually blamed the spike in the murders of U.S. troops on the stress of fasting and in his words, sacrifice associated with Ramadan!
It's not the stress of fasting, which normally promotes inactivity. For many jihadis, Ramadan is the prime time for holy war against the infidels and the enemies of Allah.General Allen surely knows that, but instead makes up this...this nonsense. And I'm being polite.
And it's not the first time General Allen has spouted this kind of dhimmified, cringing attempt to cover for what we're really facing in AfPak and elsewhere.
General Allen is far from a stupid man. So he's obviously decided to follow orders from above and kow tow to jihad in an effort to pretend Islam's inherent violence is not a factor in what we're fighting.
This is an absolute disgrace.
You're right this is an absolute disgrace. Now with that said, are you sure he is a smart man? Maybe he really is this stupid. In any event, no wonder the morale among our warriors is so low. When leaders are unable or unwilling to stand up to the truth and act accordingly, this affects all levels of an organization. The US military is broken, it equipment is technolgocailly inferior, its tactics, and its training is outdated and inferior to our enemies and potential enemies. The military accross all branches of the armed forces needs to be rebuilt essentially from the ground up in order to be a relevant force in the 21st century. When trying to turn around a failing organization, often one of the first things that are done is the immediate dismissal of the organization's top management. I've long suspected every general above a two star needs to be saced immediately. A good place to start would be with General Allen. I know it sounds harsh but we are facing desparate times and we need desparate action. Often times getting rid of the "dead weight" is what a failing organization needs. Mr. Allen and the other top military leaders are dead weight and need to go. By sacking them, we can begin to reform our military. Also, redeploy all of our forces from Afghanistan, the Middle East, and elsewhere in the world to positions along our borders and off of our coasts that are consistent with our national security interests. In other words, give our brave warriors a fighting chance to defend our country which is most of them likely signed up to do in the first place!! This should increase morale among the troops and it would likely help with troop retention and troop enlistments. As stated earlier we essentially need to build from the ground up a military force that can be relevant for 21st century combat. We have to try and do this under the realization that we are essentially bankrupt as a nation at the present time. For starters, this will mean a greater reliance on nuclear weapons than what our current strategy is. Given the shortage of technical expertise available to America relative to what other nations have, I wonder if we have any allies who can help us build, equip, and train a modern fighting force? We sure need to start tring to cultivate them!! As long as we remain the most universially despised nation on the planet, this is going to be problematic to put it mildly!!
ReplyDeleteHello Poster,
ReplyDelete*sigh*
Yes, I am sure he's not a stupid man. All you need to do is look at his record.
Do you really think someone achieves this kind of rank, graduates from Annapolis, Georgetown and the War College with advanced degrees and attains this level of command if they're an idiot?
You also - for the umpteenth time - sadly underestimate the capabilities of the US military.I absolutely can't understand that attitude, to be blunt about it, but it corresponds with no known facts whatsoever. You're certainly entitled,but it's at the point where I refuse to even argue the matter with you anymore.
The only thing 'broken' about our military is the political leadership in Washington and that is frankly dysfunctional. As far as I'm concerned, that has been true for the last 3 administrations.
IMO, none of the last three 'commanders-in-chief' had any intention of actually fighting and winning the war we're engaged in.That's why it's still going on.
Did you know that if an Afghan fires at our troops and then merely puts his weapon to the ground so he's no longer holding it or runs away, our troops are forbidden to fire on him?
Our military has actually carried out all of the missions they've been given within the restrictions and handcuffs that have been placed on them. It isn't their fault that those restrictions have made many of the missions they were given inconclusive and have not led to victory.
Especially when they are forbidden to even name and label the enemy properly.Or attack his ideology, which is where the real war is being fought.
We also disagree on your notion of 'Fortress America' , and that's another point that frequently comes up in your comments Poster.
That kind of defensive warfare sounds good, but fortresses started going out, for the most part, in the 15th century when artillery became common. Modern attempts have almost always met with failure.A defensive war simply leads to the slow bleed of attrition - which is exactly what's going on in Afghanistan now.
General Douglas MacArthur was hurriedly ordered by the Truman Administration to pick up the pieces after the war they caused in Korea by inattention to basic strategic principles exploded.
Right before Inchon, he was asked by a reporter for a definition of defensive war. You know what his one word answer was?
"Defeat".
Think about it.
Regards,
Rob
"Do you really think anyone achieves this kind of rank...." and all of the other accomplishments you mention. In the American government and often in large private organizations rank can be achieved by telling the right person what they want to hear. Also, powerful officials in these organizations often promote those who think like them. In other words, often times idiot promotes idiot so idiot can reinforce idiot. In the private sector, such tendencies are generally kept in check by the need to make a profit or go out of business!! Within the government and some large corporate conglomerates where profits are currently guaranteed, there is no check to act on these tendencies.
ReplyDeleteThe general may simply be a "yes" man aying what he thinks his boss wants to hear. He may simply be an idiot, perhaps like his boss. Also, he may simply be ideologically blind. I think this is likely the case, as it likely is with his boss. Its been said that ideology makes smart people dumb!! Regardless this is not good!! A good CEO would sack this man immediately!! As long as men like him are in charge, our warriors are in a horrible position. Morale is low among our warriors. This no doubt has alot to do with it.
I'm fully aware of the asinine and ridiculous rules of engagement. These rules of engagement place our warriors in even more peril than they are already are. They are to precious to be wasted in this manner. I suppose its not hard to understand why so many of them have committed suicide. Futher leading to depleted morale and lack of troop retention. We need these people. Their lives need to stop being wasting by their lives to prove political pointts!!
I'm also aware of the ideological nature of the enemy. As Sun Tsu said to roughly paraphrapse, "if you know your enemy and you know yourself, you will never be defeated. If you know yourself but not your enemy, for every battle you win, you will lose a battle. If you know neither your enemy nor yourself, you will lose ever battle you engage in." As evidenced by the statements of General Allen and other evidence, it seems clear that US leaders neitehr understand themselves nor the enemy. As such, its no wonder we are losing!! I agree the last three administrations have been atrocious!! This has played a big part in why we are still fighting this war. I should remind you this enemy is far more dangerous than either Nazi Germany or Imperial Japan ever were or ever could have been. While they are more dangerous, they are not the same as the enemies of the early 1940s. Furhtermore America today is not the same country it was in the early 1940s. As such, the strategies we will need to use to defeat this enemy will likely be very different than the ones we used to win WWII.
I may be underestimating our military capabilities. Very respectfully you are over estimating htem and that, in my considered opinion, is even more dangerous, as it may tend to lead to reckless decisions.
As for what you refer to as "fortress America" this is not a defensive war. What I'm suggesting is a smarter war that gives us a chance of victory. I think I've described the strategies and the tactics that would be needed on these pages before. It goes beyond talking points of either the "left" or the "right." As such, its hard to get it to fit in the character limit on these threads.
Suffice it to say for now, simply develop all of our own oil and gas reserves, build more refineries, and closely monitor the mosques and get more for our economic interests, national security interest, and the underminng of Islamic Jihad than any thign we are currently doing.