Are Our Elected American Representatives leading us to another "Operation Frequent Wind"?

In the past few days and in the midst of the murderous jubilation expressed by the Muslim communities throughout the Middle East for their new found Arab "Sprung" freedom, insider attacks number 37 and 38 reaped the religion of peace and our government, six more ISAF and American dead, two British Soldiers killed in an attack on Camp Bastion and some $150,000,000.00 worth of equipment including six Harriers destroyed and two severely damaged.

Not a bad five day's work for Allah's "peaceful worshippers"!

Of course the single most outrageous act of the week was the pre-planned, coordinated attack on our Embassy Staff in Benghazi which yielded another four completely unnecessary American deaths; an attack this administration, as of this writing still refuses to acknowledge as a pre-planned, coordinated attack.

Some clarification is in order at this point. Let's define what elements define a "coordinated attack":

1.  The use of combined arms, ie small arms fire (rifles), rocket assisted direct fire weapons (RPG's), indirect fire weapons (Mortars).

2.  The assignment of individuals to specific elements of the attack:

            a.  Base Fire Element which provides, preparatory and suppressing fires - Mortars combined with machine guns, rockets and small arms are used to soften the target and render defenders inoperable.

            b.  A Maneuver element - a lightly armed unit(rifles, RPG's, light machine guns), whose principle responsibility is to carry the attack to the enemy and engage them, one on one.

3.  Rehearsal - Practice, Discussion, Intelligence coordination and dry runs to insure all individuals and elements understand their responsibilities and most important, the disposition of the other elements in relation to each other and the target.

Any coordinated attack that contained the two first elements would have been rehearsed for reasons that should be obvious even to a complete novice. The Base of Fire Element which is designed to soften up a target can be deadly if not coordinated with the Maneuver Element. This means a pre-designed communications/signal plan telling the Base of Fire when to cease fire, or shift to make a safe avenue of approach for the Maneuver Element.

It is important to know that it has been determined that all of the above were exhibited in the assault on our personnel in Libya. It is also noteworthy that Libyan President Magariaf, insists that this was a pre-planned, coordinated attack and not an impromptu act of a mob, displaying "righteous indignation" over insults to Mohammed and Islam in a16 minute You Tube video and that it occurred in advance of any "protest" that might have been spawned by that film.

There are only two reasons this administration would continue to deny the obvious; one, they're idiots and two, they are protecting something; in this case two "somethings".

The first, is the likelihood that someone within the State Department was derelict of duty. The very idea that an Ambassador and his Staff would be placed on foreign soil without an MSG contingent is despicable! No Embassy is complete without one and as the last few days has shown, an MSG is vital for the security of the Staff, US Sovereign Property and Operational Security issues.

The second reason is that anything that moves attention away from the ridiculous suggestion that a 16 minute video (that took most of us hours to find) could cause these people to hate us nullifies the argument for COIN in Afghanistan and our generally gentle handling of the Ummah.

It also calls into question the judgment of this sitting President, his administration and the gaggle of Representatives and Senators who giggled at the prospect of "democracy" in the midst of Islam; a suggestion that all of us who write on this subject warned was an impossibility.

It is truly remarkable that the administration and its legions of minions persists in their combined efforts to convince the American population that these kinds of murderous outbursts are somehow reasonable; when these murderous acts are manifested as some perverted form of righteous indignation against blasphemous commentary on Mohammed or Islam.

It is painfully clear that they have deemed these acts as legitimate despite their anemic attempts to dispel this characterization of their remarks.

I am wondering if the administration considers the lack of violence among Christians as a sign of spiritual degradation when we don't act similarly? Remember Andres Serrano's outrageous photograph of a Crucifix bathed in a bucket of his urine?

Insider attack # 38 however, is the single most troubling thing to happen this past week. It is troubling because of what it portends for the safety of our War Fighters operating within the damnable parameters of COIN in Afghanistan.

Look at the number of attacks, per year from the Long Wars Journal:

2008  - 2

2009  - 5

2010  - 6

2011  - 15

2012  - 38 (as of this writing)

There is a left-wing allegory that was pedaled some decades back trying to illustrate the manufactured fear of the day; over population. The story sets up a simple question; there is a tree, near a pond which drops a single leaf into the pond and on each following day the number of leaves dropped into the pond doubles. If the pond is full on the thirtieth day, on which day is the pond half full?

The answer; the Twenty Ninth Day.

We are facing a Twenty Ninth Day scenario in Afghanistan and if the events of the last week are any indication, possibly the whole world.

There is no way of knowing which attack will "inspire" a larger segment of Afghan society to join the ranks of the "true believers", but it is now clear that the day is approaching. It is also clear that when that day approaches, we will be caught unaware. While the average Marine and Soldier may bear a sense of impending disaster, there is very little indication that the leadership - military or civilian are at all aware of the possibility.

This "spiritual energizing" of the dormant Islamic soul which is fed both by guilt for having fallen from the "true faith" and a confidence in watching fellow Muslims in the act of self- destruction and murder for Allah, is a toxic and fatal combination. They are the cause and the epiphany which propel otherwise "peaceful" Muslims to suddenly and "inexplicably" turn their weapons on their "allies".

The tragedy is that the administration is so enamored with it's conjured perceptions of who the average Afghan Muslim is, that it denies them the opportunity to consider what is likely coming, and to plan for it; and our War Fighters are found caught in the middle. They are caught between the delusional "leadership" of lesser men and a burgeoning revival of the Islamic spirit which history proves to always manifest itself, violently.

This administration has chosen to use their efforts to convince the US and World population that the events of the past week are related to a simple 16 minute parody. Their efforts would be better used determining what must be laying just below the surface to cause whom they have deemed spiritual and peaceful people to act out so violently, so quickly, on so specific a target.

The final Operation of the Vietnam War, "Operation Frequent Wind", was ordered on 29 April 1975. From a political vantage point, it stands as one of the most shameful decisions any country has endured. It was the inevitable fruit of a political structure which refused to listen to it's military leadership coupled with an arrogant view of other peoples, in other countries.

It was the last gasp of another failed attempt at operating within the paradigm Counter Insurgency Doctrine and one that defiled the conscience of a nation, and left an entire generation disillusioned for twenty years.

As we consider the events of this past week and most important of all, these latest two incidents of treachery, it is becoming all to clear that this administration and those who serve at its pleasure will never accept the fact that their analysis of Afghan culture was false, their vision sullied by the delusions of one man and their efforts to choose a strategy a failure.

It is also clear that our Forces will likely again be compelled to endure the tragic consequences of the vision of an arrogant and delusional few and to revisit the politically embarrassing last days of a war that nearly destroyed us as a people, thirty seven years ago.

The real question is; how many more of America's Sons and Daughters need to be sacrificed at the altar of arrogance and political convenience before the inevitable order is given?

Semper Fidelis;

John Bernard