There
is barely a day that passes without the drone-like reminder that the world we
now live in is riddled with the carnage left by the blood lusting and
demonically influenced hordes in our midst. One would think that after 10 years
of studying and fighting this enemy, we might actually have a firm understanding of him and have determined
how best to defeat him.
We
certainly should have been able to determine what doesn't work.
Instead,
we unilaterally placed a "governor" on our force projection which
presumed to increase trust and goodwill amongst the Afghan population by
reducing civilian casualties. In so doing, we necessarily extended the need for
US forces there into perpetuity. And we did this based on a faulty presumption;
that the average Afghan did not agree - to greater degree, with the Taliban. It
also almost by necessity assumes then that the average Afghan does not see us as
anything other than good people coming to the rescue.
Both
of these assumptions are wrong and have been proven wrong, over and over again.
All COIN has left us with is a river of blood - American blood. It is needless
and will prove to have been for naught because without a discernable victory,
there can be no definable end.
We
have been so sure of our perception of this enemy that we have extended it to
other countries where he resides and other situations. From the rise of the
Muslim Brotherhood and their venomous propaganda in Egypt to revelations that
Al Qaeda agents are "guiding" the NTC in Libya, we are reminded,
daily, that this administration and this government in general, has chosen to
blind itself to this self-defined enemy and has recklessly endangered our
Warriors in the process.
This
is fruit of what I believe to be a deliberate effort to ignore the low
probability of a trustworthy cooperation between not only the Afghan government
and us, but certainly, the Pakistani government and us as well. If suggesting
you can massage a snake long enough to safely extract venom without eventually
getting bit is risky business then blindfolding yourself in the process is foolish.
The argument
that the killing of civilians during combat operations or even the night raids
which were all but halted by the ROE, drives "innocent civilians" into
the arms of the Taliban, further exposes the lie that the average Afghan hates
the Taliban. Herschel Smith did an excellent analysis of the story by
the Christian Science Monitor. And while this article
dares to suggest that night raids have continued, they have largely been conducted
by Afghan forces. Our involvement was curtailed by a decision made over 2 years
ago.
The
follow on argument deals with the conduct of open combat operations against the
Taliban. As the argument goes; "You can't kill your way to Victory".
I beg to differ. You will have to explain that to the men who fought in the last
war this country actually won and, I might add, in two different theaters of
operation and against uniformed armies no less determined. The suggestion that
there is no limit to the number of recruits the Taliban can raise ignores one
main point; even the devout wince at pain!
Of
course, you have to be willing to deliver the pain.
Even
while "the fight" against the Taliban continues in Afghanistan, the United States has facilitated the opening of a
Taliban "office" in Qatar by "blessing" it.
And even though the Haqqani network
along the Afghan Pakistani border, saw fit to launch an attack against the US
Embassy in Kabul, last week, we are still reaching out to them.
The "open channel" was buffered by remonstrations by Hillary Clinton
who demanded the Pakistan government attend to the situation, but it is
certainly made hollow by the universal knowledge that this administration sees
conflict resolution as sharing tea and goat meat at a "peace table"
with all elements of the Taliban, Kabul and the US present rather than
punishing those who aided in an assault against the Embassy or these shores.
For
those who can't follow the logic; let me help you: Reaching out to the Haqqani
Network, right now, after so brazen an attack in Kabul, against Sovereign US
territory, would be akin to reaching out to Al Qaeda one week after the Trade
Towers were blown back to the earth.
The
thing that is most troubling is that while the Pakistani government is
pressuring the US to end the war in Afghanistan, they are simultaneously
demanding that it be done in a way that "meets their needs". Of
course, they also want assurances we will support their security needs along
their border with India.
Now
why in the world, would anyone side with someone proven untrustworthy who is at
war against a nation we have a good, healthy relationship with?
The
audacity of Pakistan in all of this could only be missed by the completely
ignorant or naive. We have had problems with cross border raids from Pakistan
since we first invaded Afghanistan and attacks on logistic trains which run
north from Karachi and through the Khyber Pass have been allowed to continue,
unabated for as long. Their entire intelligence apparatus is so corrupt that
even Islamabad can't tell you who they actually trust.
Cooperation
has been a one way street and none of this should have been or should be a
surprise for if the Pakistani government, the Afghan government or the Afghan
or Pakistani population can be depended on for anything, it is treachery; at
least where dealing with us is concerned.
After
all, they still have far more in common with each other than they ever will
with us, and they have a shared religious ideology that in the end, trumps all
it's presumed ties.
Semper
Fidelis;
John
Bernard
