Monday, November 16, 2009

“Broken Arrow” for US Troops in Afghanistan?

Obama Dithers. US Troops Die.
“Broken Arrow” for US Troops in Afghanistan?
A Commentary by J.D. Longstreet
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Pay close attention over the next few months for you are about to see how Democrats lose a war.

History will be made as the world’s only super power, led by a socialist President and a socialist controlled Congress, feed our soldiers into a meat-grinder in order to turn public opinion against the war. As soon as a sufficient percentage of Americans declare their distaste for the war in Afghanistan, Obama will declare the war cannot be won – thus -- creating an excuse to bring US troops home from Afghanistan in defeat and disgrace.

So far, Obama has rejected every single option placed before him by the military.

Think about this for a moment: Obama knows absolutely nothing about the military. He knows absolutely nothing about military tactics. If it were not for a dictionary Obama would not know what the word “counterinsurgency” means! And yet, he is the Commander-in-Chief of the most powerful military the world has even seen. How much sense does THAT make to YOU?

I have advocated, for many years, that Americans desperately need to amend the US Constitution to provide a mandatory requirement that anyone presenting himself or herself as a candidate for President must be a military veteran. The American President is the Commander-in-Chief of all US Armed Forces. He/she ought to be a veteran. They ought to have served their country in the military they will be commanding. The Military, itself, would have far greater respect for a Commander-in-Chief who actually has military experience.

Looking at Afghanistan today it is fairly easy to see what is about to happen there, barring some unforeseen event. The “Vietnam Syndrome” has already set in among the troops in theatre. Look, Obama may fool some of the people, (actually he is fooling a LOT of the people) but he is NOT, I repeat, NOT fooling the Military!

“American Warriors”, know beyond any doubt, whatsoever, that when they find themselves in a tight spot -- a call for reinforcements will be answered immediately. Usually more reinforcements are sent than were requested.

The current Commander-in-Chief received a call for 40,000 troops to reinforce the brave American warriors in Afghanistan as far back as August of 2009. It is mid November. Those reinforcements have NOT BEEN SENT as of this writing! There is no excuse, none, sufficient to excuse this lack of action on the part of the Commander-in-Chief and his Administration. We are seeing frequent reports now of low moral among American troops in Afghanistan —and why not? They are being used as “cannon fodder” while the President appears to be searching for some political goal he can announce as an acceptable “Victory in Afghanistan.” My guess is – it will have nothing to do with actually defeating the Taliban.

In other words, dear reader, Obama is playing politics with the lives of our military men and women in Afghanistan. I know of no other way to state the obvious.

Look, every military veteran will tell you that when combat troops, on the ground call for reinforcements -- you send them. To not send those reinforcements risks a “Broken Arrow” incident in which US troops are over-run by enemy forces. When a “Broken Arrow” call goes out, from a US commander on the ground, all US combat aircraft go immediately to those coordinates and begin bombing the hell out of the enemy. All US artillery within range begins lobbing salvo after salvo of artillery shells onto the enemy, which, until moments ago, was set to overrun and wipe out the US forces on the ground.

Looking at Afghanistan today, we see a resurgence of the Taliban. They are re-supplied and reinvigorated by their backers, quite likely another Middle Eastern country at odds with the US, and, most likely, old, more traditional enemies of the US -- Iran and Russia. There is no doubt that US troops are fatigued and as we said above, there are reports they are demoralized. The military brass admits they expect more suicides among US soldiers in the coming year. Sound familiar? Veterans of the Vietnam Era have seen and heard all this before.

Liberal/socialists, such as Obama, do not understand the military. They do not under stand military power and they surely do not understand the application of that power. They tend to look at the military as a pawn to be used in an international game of political chess.

Most of the liberals I come in contact with detest the military. You can see it, most vividly in our liberal politicians in Washington. The military is prepared to get its hands dirty in the defense of freedom. Liberal politicians are not. They will remain in their sanitized congressional offices and refer to the political debates, they so love, as “fighting” -- as in: “ Senator “so-and-so” is “fighting” for you. You’ve heard it. You know exactly what I mean.

Afghanistan is now Obama’s War. He has claimed it -- or it has claimed him. For better, or worse, it is now Obama’s War. Blaming George Bush is no longer an option. Obama must accept the blame for the deaths of our military men and women in Afghanistan since he took office.

Commanding troops in a “shooting war” takes guts and skill. So far, the American people, more importantly our American warriors, have not seen an obvious display of either.

J. D. Longstreet

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