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
