Posted by
Semfi on Saturday, October 31, 2009 11:41:49 AM
Talking to my neighbors and friends who are in the military and have
served in Afghanistan and Iraq, some have served 2 and 3 deployments,
one thing is very clear, moral for our military in Afghanistan is at an
all time low. It is not the mission or the thought that they could lose
this war and suffer defeat at the hands of the Taliban but rather they
are starting to feel like the politicians will repeat their cut and run
strategy of Vietnam. They are worried the President will continue to
waiver back and forth. They worry this will give the Taliban time to
consolidate their strength and numbers in all parts of Afghanistan.
They know this will make the chance for a complete victory by our
military more difficult and cost more lives.
The military cannot
speak publicly on how they feel about President Obama's indecisive way
of running the military or the preposterous idea that we can somehow
live with the Taliban controlling parts of Afghanistan. If you talk to
them one on one as a neighbor or friend you will find they do not
believe this will work.
Upon John Kerry's recent return from
Afghanistan he put forward the idea that maybe it wouldn't be so bad to
let the Taliban control some of the tribal areas around Afghanistan
while we devote or time building up the Afghan military and police.
Kerry evidently believes the Taliban will be content to run these areas
separate from the rest of Afghanistan and allow us to stay in the major
provinces building modern cities with schools and a more moderate
Islamic ideology. This is absolutely insane and our military knows it
best. Either Senator Kerry has no clue of how much hatred the Taliban
has for the United States and our allies or he knows and just doesn't
want to admit the real enemy in Afghanistan is the Taliban.
What
Senator Kerry is saying is not new. President Obama has said something
similar in the past, when he talked about "peeling away moderate
Taliban." Number one there are no moderate Taliban, either you are
Taliban or you are not. Taliban is not simply a political party like we
have in the United States. It is a Islamic theocracy that follows the
strictest form of Islam and Sharia Law. They will not tolerate any
religion, government, or laws that are in conflict with their warped
since of governance over the Afghan people. It seems Senator Kerry and
President Obama have no compassion or humanitarian concerns for the
people, especially the women and children, that they would allow the
Taliban to govern. Under this plan they are willing to stand by and
watch while the Taliban returns to its old repressive and brutal ways.
They are willing to watch while women and young girls are raped and
murdered simply because they are less important than the animals owned
by everyday Afghans. The President and Senator have forgotten that the
Taliban does not believe in or have any respect for Constitutions or
Civil Rights, they only believe in Sharia Law and their extreme
interpretation of it.
This whole idea of dealing with the
Taliban and allowing them to control and thereby govern any part of
Afghanistan is eerily reminiscent of the Biden plan in Iraq. If Senator
Biden had his way back when similar discussions were going on over
Iraq, that country would be partitioned today with the United States
acting as the peacekeeper and arbitrator over each of the warring
factions. Fortunately his idea never received any real consideration,
not because it was simply stupid but because everyone knew it was not
feasible. What Senator Kerry is proposing is not that much different
from the Biden plan for Iraq. The plan would not work in Iraq and it
will not work in Afghanistan.
Some will argue that Senator Kerry
never said that his plan was to work with the Taliban or allow them to
remain in power in some of the areas around Afghanistan. To some extent
this is true, however he did say: "Amazingly, the Taliban actually have
ombudsmen to hold their shadow government accountable to the people.
The legitimate government of Afghanistan cannot be less accountable
than the Taliban, or we cannot be successful." This sounds like praise
and it is absolutely not true. To think the Taliban could be held
"accountable to the people" is the most naive statement I have ever
heard.
Senator Kerry acts like Afghanistan is a country built
around cities with modern roads and easy access from the rural areas to
the larger towns and cities. He equates it to the United States with
local and state governments running their particular state and
providing security for it. He forgets that this is a 19th century
country with rural areas still living in the 18th century. On one hand
he says we must defeat the Taliban but on the other hand he says Al
Qaeda is the biggest threat to the United States. He says we must not
allow a return of Al Qaeda into Afghanistan but we do not need to
increase our military strength. He says we must continue training
Afghan military and allow them to gain security for Afghanistan without
increasing our military. He says we must concentrate on building up
Afghanistan cities, roads, schools and infrastructure thereby winning
over Afghan support for a Taliban free Afghanistan without expanding
the war inside Afghanistan. He says we should carry out a smaller
counter insurgency plan that is more "doable" and "is “good-enough”
governance, basic sustainable economic development and Afghan security
forces capable enough that we can draw down our forces." This sounds
like we only have to halfway win the war. I have never heard of halfway
winning a war and I'm certain none of our enemies have this type of
mentality. Either you are in a war to win or you are not. If you are
not then please don't ask our military to sacrifice their lives for a
mission that has no end.
In the end all the lofty goals that
Senator Kerry set out in his speech can never be achieved if there is
not enough security for the Afghan people. If we continue to allow the
Taliban and Al Qaeda to terrorize the population we can never win their
hearts and minds. If we do not have enough forces in place to protect
the people while we are training Afghan forces, then the Afghan forces
will find very little left to protect. Senator Kerry, like most
politicians, is talking out of both sides of his mouth and has lost all
respect of the military that have served and are now serving in
Afghanistan. Kerry, Biden and Obama were all three against the surge in
Iraq and they were proven wrong. If President Obama follows the plan of
Biden or Kerry they will be proven wrong again. The stakes are too high
to play a game out of something as serious as war. If any Commander In
Chief loses the respect and support from his military or military
commanders then he will surely lose the war. War is war and must be
left to the men and women fighting the war. Mixing politics with war
only leads to another Vietnam.
General McChrystal, and more
importantly my neighbors and friends that are fighting the war, has
said we can win this war with more troops. It is past time to stop the
politics and support our troops. Even our NATO allies have said they
support General McChrystal's plan and some are sending more troops. I
cannot understand how our President can have less faith in his own
general than our allies have in him. It is no wonder our President and
by default the United States is looking weak in the eyes of our enemies
and allies.
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