The End of Counter Insurgency Operations? Don't Bet on It!

Now that a politically survivable solution has been accepted to end the current conflict in Afghanistan, the discussion of COIN (Counter Insurgency ) doctrinal viability has begun.  Even though the debate over this doctrine has raged since it's inception, this last ten year ordeal is forcing the visionaries and philosophes to re-engage in the discussion of strategy.  

On June 5th, Stratfor issued a prequel to what promises to be a long, arduous, soul searching event where the differences between one view point and another will be measured perceptions established after gleaning after action reports and US foreign policy philosophy.  While AA reports and Foreign Policy statements reveal information relevant to understanding the outcome of specific engagements, neither after action reports nor the political establishment's vision will answer why the overall strategy succeeded or failed.  In order for there to be any substantive knowledge gained from these discussions, those involved will have to look a lot further back to find the real reasons the desired outcome may not have been achieved.

Revisiting those original meetings and discussions that filled out the analysis that was used to write the Op Order and plan the strategy will require honest introspection.   It is absolutely vital that those involved in these post operation discussions be as transparent and honest about what wasn't done and what was ignored as they are about what transpired on the battlefield because this is where the legitimate answers lie. 

Of course the intent of these following discussions is to determine how best to engage enemies in the future because it is becoming more apparent by the day that our involvement in this region of the world is far from over.

It is almost ironic that Stratfor should break ground for these discussions on this day because the same morning, the Syrian government expelled all Western diplomats.  This move would normally be seen as just another step in a third world diplomatic process that is replete with these kinds of retaliatory acts had the United States, Britain, Canada, Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Bulgaria and the Netherlands not already expelled Syrian diplomats several days earlier.  Western nations have been trying to decide what course of action to take to staunch the bleeding in this latest chapter in the saga of the Arab Spring while simultaneously trying to convince the Syrian government and their President Bashar Al-Assad to, essentially, surrender. 

My question remains the same; why do we care?  In every single similar episode in this Arab Spring "adventure", the combatants have had a shared ideology, shared culture and have been just as brutal to their fellows as the opposition. Neither side has any particular love for the non-conforming, infidel western world. The outcome of these poor excuses for elections has certainly not lived up to the hopes and expectations of the cheering section on this side of the big pond and one would argue has done little more than energize a people already belligerent to our very right to exist.  Given our incredibly poor batting average to date, why do we insist on supporting one side or the other when in reality, they are the same?

What is certain in Syria is that Al-Assad is unlikely to bend to the whims of the largely western infidel hand-wringers and, the rebel force facing off with Al-Assad's military is unlikely to back down.  This leaves the western diplomatic visionaries with few options and if a military strike is chosen, the likelihood of an air offensive a-la-Libya only, is slim.  This suggests the possibility of our witnessing US and Western forces making yet one more incursion into one more predominant Islamic nation. 

Not likely you say?  When we were looking at Libya, many believed "reason would prevail" and our visionaries would simply sit back and advise. They didn't and I don't believe there is anyone left who truly believes Libya will have improved their vision of the infidel world or that Libyans are likely to lead a better life because of the revolt or our support of it.  Remember the desecration of British World War II graves?  Does someone really want to defend that act as the reasonable response to the unintentional burning of books?  Is this how normal, moral, peaceful, recently freed people respond to those who helped them?

At this stage in history, the prospect of sending more US troops into yet another Islamic regime operating within the same COIN paradigm should give pause to every red blooded American.  If anything has been proven to date it is that the proponents of COIN are far more interested in the success of their vision than they are the outcome of combat action. 

America's War Fighters deserve better than that!  They are trained not simply to follow orders but to apply the skill and tenacity infused in their very being by years of very specific training intended to allow them to deliver victory to the nation they are serving! 

COIN does not envision victory. COIN envisions low kinetic peacekeeping operations in the midst of a "reasonable people" beset by an outside, unwanted, destructive asymmetric force that neither the reasonable people nor their government can dislodge without help.  It is not much different than the way law enforcement operates in bad sections of town overrun by gang violence.  However, unlike these domestic law enforcement operations, conducting operations within the sovereign space of another nation creates a tension between the general population and the foreign counter insurgency force in the best of situations.  Infidel western forces working in the midst of an overwhelming Islamic culture however is far from ideal and the likelihood of confrontation is a given; and this is where the COIN proponents failed.  Absolutely no consideration was given to the probability of unresolvable tension between the people of Afghanistan and ISAF's largely western, non-Islamic force due to the doctrines of Islam and the dedication of it's adherents. 

To date there has been absolutely nothing to suggest that either the politicians in this country or the martial architects of either the Iraq or Afghan campaigns have been willing to revisit their conscious and politically motivated decision to ignore the "elephant in the battle space"; the Islamic religion.

In a world that has no stomach for conflict, those entrusted with the safety and security of nations have decided that big wars are avoided by smaller wars which are essentially best handled without fighting per COIN doctrine.  In this brave new world, the Small Wars Manual of 1940 is not just another tool in the magic bag of war planners it has become the holy grail of conflict resolution.

COIN isn't going anywhere and our War Fighting community will have to come to accept that the heady days of vanquishing the enemy, his capability, his morale, his will to fight and forcing him to take a knee are relinquished to old dusty volumes sitting atop rotting stacks in forgotten libraries.

Such is the "vision" of our morally bankrupt Politicians and their General Grade minions.

Semper Fidelis;

John Bernard

Afghanistan; America's Willful Deception

American Thinker, John Bernard 16 May 2012

The battlefield is as fluid as diplomatic efforts to shape the outcome are convoluted.  While diplomacy during peacetime can be described as the efforts between two national representatives to overcome obstacles to a good, healthy and mutually productive relationship, diplomacy during hostilities cannot.  “Diplomatic efforts” during an ongoing conflict are at best an oxymoron.  The failure of two parties to work out problems with one another is what leads to war and if war is the ultimate outcome of a failure of diplomacy then it stands to reason that the successful outcome of the war can only be defined when one warring nation capitulates to the battle field prowess of the other.

Our current struggles in Afghanistan have been defined and redefined so many times that it is little wonder that civilian support for the effort here in the United States has waned.  What is truly amazing is that the level of morale in the ranks of our War Fighting community has remained as high as it has.  High morale is not however an accurate indicator of how our military views our successes on this battlefield especially at this point in history.  The reason it does not is because this is one of the only times in our history when a draft has not been used to maintain numbers in the ranks.  Those who have served both in Iraq and Afghanistan have done so willingly and their overall perception of time served is generally more positive than that of conscripts.

Americans have grown accustomed to hearing reports emanating from government officials that do not line up with reports coming in from the battlefield through media outlets and from other sources with boots on the ground.  Every piece of information delivered to the American public flows through a government filter to insure consistency with the narrative.  In addition the administration’s proxy, the Pentagon has decided that elements of certain kinds of information should be sequestered to insure the state narrative continues untarnished by pesky details.

Even the lexicon has morphed to reflect the changing opinions of the current “visionary”.  While success on the battlefield has historically been defined as victory, even the word battlefield has been carefully expunged from the public dialogue.  Success has been coopted by “compromise” and victory remanded to the dustbin of unacceptable words and phrases. Enemy Prisoners of War (EPW) are now future leaders in the new coalition government envisioned by the luminaries in DC. General Grade Officers have been carefully selected for their willingness to capture the vision and then translate it into conduct on the battlefield that reflects the intent of their Commander in Chief.

The American population has been exposed to military jargon they don’t understand, historically incorrect details about Afghan society and Islam and have been force-fed these carefully manicured stories of successful encounters with Afghan society for at least eight years.  I say eight years because it took time for the government to begin to transit from high tempo combat to a low kinetic, COIN-centric operational philosophy.  This slow slide into the insane world of peace keeping operations took time.  The move to COIN fantasy began to take root at precisely the same rate as our moral outrage and desire for retribution for the acts perpetrated against us on September 11, 2001 began to fade. One of the great problems with COIN operations is that it’s historical success rate is abysmal.  In fact there has only ever been one successful attempt and Afghanistan isn’t it.  And just to keep the record straight, Iraq wasn’t it either!

If things are going so very well for us in Afghanistan right now, then reporting should reflect that but there are very few stories to corroborate what we are being told.  In the past two weeks alone, we have seen more evidence of the growing trend of Afghan Nationals turning their weapons on American, and NATO/ISAF forces.  Even as stories like these continue to roll in, we have had further confirmation of an ongoing effort by US representatives to reconcile with the incalcitrant Taliban and to release battle hardened Taliban fighters back to Afghan society.  While we have chosen to abandon the battlefield in a quest for a magic potion to make the Taliban like us, they, are doing their level best to ‘explain’ to us that they have no interest in peace, an example of which is the killing an Afghan “peace negotiator”.  They are also exploiting our weakness on the battlefield due to our apparent unwillingness to bring the fight to them!

Of course many questions are raised by all of this but none as important as the one; why did we ever let this government convince us that rebuilding Afghanistan was somehow better for the United States?  This question is important simply because there are those of us who are serving in that part of the world who have been led to believe they are there for the security of the United States.  Regardless of the apparent inanity of the mission, the overwhelming evidence of IED placement, VBIED traffic, the obvious lack of measurable support from the local population and the incessant stories of moral and ethical failure in the Kabul government, these War Fighters press on.  The government that has compelled them to serve in a hostile environment owes them at least the ability to defend themselves when fired upon.  The ROE however denies them use of the basic tools of the trade; artillery, close air support, use of organic weapons systems like the 60mm mortar and even small arms fire if their proximity to civilians cannot absolutely guarantee safety for the civilians.

As the ‘combat’ mission begins to morph into one of training and support, logic would dictate that under normal conditions the environment will become more dangerous for our War Fighting community.  But the conditions in Afghanistan are hardly normal and no matter how much the General Grade Officers and their counterparts in DC want Afghanistan and Afghans to reflect their vision for them, it isn't going to happen.  One thing is certain, as the number of service members in Afghanistan is drawn down, the real threat to our War Fighter community will grow – exponentially.  The ROE will grow incredibly tighter for that is another expectation within the COIN paradigm; as the operation ages, so grows the support from the civilian population decreasing the need for armed force.

Does anyone want to bargain their lives or those of their loved ones on that premise, in this part of the world?  Maybe the President or our silent Congressional representatives should stand in the gap and give our War Fighters a break. 

The truth is, in spite of the narrative, the actual evidence suggests things in Afghanistan are turning in favor of the Taliban.  The danger to our forces will not only continue but will grow in intensity as more, and more control of the battle space is handed to the Taliban.  And this giving over of control is a direct consequence of our having chosen not to hold the Taliban accountable on the battle field; a battle field created by a failure on the part of Al Qaida, the Taliban and other like-minded Islamic cells to choose peaceful co-existence with the rest of the world.  It is also a complete failure of the remainder of the so-called peaceful Muslim Ummah to denounce the violence perpetrated by these groups.

Those in the highest levels of governance in this country and appointed to highest echelons of authority in the DOD have willingly rendered their consciences and their minds incapable of considering the threat, the motivation for the threat, the determination of this enemy and the proper response to the threat.  Instead, they have done what too many men in this age have done. They have been seduced by a lie that allows their weakened character to take the less painful road rather than the road that would have led to victory.

And in so doing, they have purposefully deceived a nation and a nation’s most valuable asset: it’s War Fighting community.

Semper Fidelis

John Bernard

This Year We Choose the Best of the Least

People who ‘rise to the occasion’ are generally no different than the people from whom they emerge. If the people are focused on good character, sound leadership, selfless service, a sense of personal responsibility for the good of the nation, an understanding of good and responsible nationalistic spirit, then those who are chosen to represent them will display these qualities.

However, what we have seen happen far too often are men who are missing an innate understanding of what should be moral eligibility for the positions they seek. I for one am astounded that anyone could not feel inadequate or disqualified for federal political office having not served, in some capacity, in the Armed Forces of this nation. What kind of arrogance is it that allows a man to consider himself – or herself eligible for a position of service that bears the authority to send others to their deaths having first exempted themselves from that heavy responsibility when it was their time?

While the US Constitution does not require Military service as a prerequisite for holding the position of President of the United States, the voter certainly can demand it simply by refusing to consider men who don’t have this essential experience in their resume. This irresponsible voter oversight creates an opportunity for the kind of degenerate decisions that continue to endanger better men on the battlefield. It is this kind of selfish, self-centered, sociopathic vision that allows unqualified men to rise to the highest levels of authority in this country. And make no mistake, ‘we the people’ have not only ignored this missing qualifier in too many of our candidates, we have encouraged people who should have disqualified themselves to run in the first place.  

This is not a complicated issue it is in fact a stance that we all take every, single, day. As business owners, we regularly fire people who do not display a minimum of talent or the character necessary for the jobs we offer. Truly successful corporations typically hire men for leadership positions who have an innate understanding of the industry they will be leaders in. Even Churches glean resumes, interview candidates and listen to the sermons given by men who apply for positions as Pastors of Congregations. Law Enforcement personnel suffer a gauntlet of interviews, academy training and lengthy probationary periods before being put on the permanent rolls. We all spend a significant amount of time with contractors, service personnel, mechanics and babysitters before hiring someone to perform any one of their services in our homes or on our equipment. And yet the process of choosing someone for the position of President of the United States is run more like a popularity contest than a period of deeply considerate vetting.

How else do we wind up with one man whose entire personal experience is summed up by college and a position as a community organizer on the one hand while on the other, a business man who never grew anything, built anything or created any substantive thing. And I know, in some cases both of their efforts probably allowed for the creation of some jobs but their efforts certainly contributed more to personal aggrandizement and personal wealth than the former. In any case, that nagging, desire to serve others with your very life seems to have been lacking in both – at least as it pertained to military service. President Obama simply chose not to serve while Mitt Romney sought a deferment for school. Please keep in mind that this is no small matter for as President of the United States because they hold the authority to press others into service and harm’s way even through selective service if necessary.

The last election cycle reaped a man with no military experience and personal prejudices for a specific religious institution. The men whom he has appointed to positions of authority within the DOD and military circles have shared his historically incorrect and skewed view of this religion and it’s worshippers. Our Marines, Sailors, Soldiers, Airmen and Coastguardsmen continue to bear the devastating consequences of that election, the appointees and the strategy they chose. Their price is measured in thousands of deaths, tens of thousands of life altering injuries and a prohibition to hold the enemy accountable on the battlefield.

The greatest sin however is that this country squandered the greatest gift that can be bestowed upon man for if the 1% of this generation can truly be said to be gifted by God, called by God to selflessly serve their country in the uniformed forces of this nation then it can also be said that those in whose hands they placed their lives and their gifts, betrayed them. They betrayed them by dangling the aura of pure service in the fires of combat in front of their faces and exchanged it for senseless death and mutilation void of a righteous fight with the enemy or even righteous retribution. By denying the Warrior ‘his day’ they have emboldened the enemy, moved the Afghan population toward the Taliban, made this country less secure as a result and mystified the thinkers in this nation!

Short of Divine intervention, our last hope is for a last minute, life altering personal epiphany on the part of at least one of these candidates. However, if these two men truly represent the heart of this nation a policy changing personal epiphany is unlikely. Their ‘epiphany’ would have to be inspired by the heart of the people from whom they come and there is little evidence that a plurality of the electorate understands either the significance of their responsibility or the effect it will have on those who are compelled to function within the constraints of COIN fantasy.

An additional cost that is more difficult to measure is the loss of respect for all current leadership in this country. Even if the White House can be blamed for its vision and it’s appointments, and Congress for its lack of oversight, the ultimate blame for the devastating decisions on the battlefield lays at the feet of the General Grade Officers who bear the final responsibility to decry what they know to be wrong.

I am reminded of one of the tenets of good counseling and that is to never leave a counseling session without an uplifting note or a piece of sage advice; while the outcome of this election is likely sealed, the responsibility of the electorate is not. We face election cycles every 2, 4 and 6 years nationally and more at local levels. As long as we are American citizens and as long as the US Constitution remains a viable cornerstone of jurisprudence and a declaration of personal freedom, we will have elections. And as long as we have elections, we have a responsibility to choose from among us the best to represent our interests rather than the least of the bad.

Now is the time to become educated on all of those issues that affect us as a nation, as individuals and most certainly those among us who have chosen to place their lives and their posterity in the hands of those we will elect to the highest positions of authority in the land. It is time for the uneducated, the insufferable idealists, the pessimists and the optimists to lay aside their uneducated opinions, their personal prejudices and that bowl of cherry blossoms.

It is time to become a responsible citizen who recognizes they hold the lives of Warriors in their hands at the polling booth!

SF

jb

Double Standards of Compassion from our American Leaders!

Much has been written about the ongoing “war against terrorism”. We have all heard the phrase, the clash of civilizations and have been spoon fed the idealistic expectations of the architects of these two campaigns, one in Iraq and the other in Afghanistan for ten years. Periodic sit-reps (situation reports) have been delivered by Politicians and General Grade Officers alike and even the retired community of hopeful sycophantic, legacy building idealists have not been able to contain their zeal to delve into the world of fantasy and declare our misadventures as humane.

The supporters of these misguided and unconstitutional nation building schemes are so invested in their own tripe that they cannot bring themselves to accept the glaring truth. To add insult to injury, they see the world through the eyes of the enemy and the enemy’s familial environment rather than through the eyes of the American population without whom they would not have jobs.

The stories allowed to come out of Afghanistan are largely tainted if not fabricated these days with the sole intent of keeping an increasingly frustrated American public from a full scale revolt.

Not fabricated you say? Case in point; L/Cpl Edward J. Dycus USMC who was murdered by an Afghan “partner” while standing guard. The problem is, this young Marine’s death was not first reported as another act of treachery by our “noble” Afghan partners, but was attributed to death during combat operations in Afghanistan. What acceptable reason can there be for withholding this kind of information from the American public? In fact, who could possibly justify lying about any of the deaths of our Warriors at the hands of the unscrupulous, blood-lusting 7^th century hordes of that forsaken land unless it is to present a picture of that culture and this military operation there as something other than what it is; an unmitigated disaster!

And what ever happened to Lieutenant Colonel Davis USA, who presented a scathing 84 page analysis of the Afghanistan debacle which accuses our political and military leaders of deceiving the American public about the “progress” in Afghanistan. He made news for about three days and, curiously, has not been heard from since.

How about the questionable actions of Lt Col Homiak as detailed by Diana West nearly two weeks ago? A request for an investigation into his action/non-action which jeopardized the lives of a Marine Corps Patrol on June 6^th, 2011 continues to languish in the halls of those who compelled the Marines in that patrol to be placed in harm’s way to begin with. Do you suppose those fine gentlemen and women in the Capital truly understand the ramifications of their silence for those continuing to patrol under the confining attributes of COIN doctrine?

Which leads us to the two events which have captured the attention of the world and certainly our legislative and executive branches in recent weeks; The inadvertent burning of Korans which were being used as notebooks by EPW’s to communicate with one another and the killing of Afghan civilians, Men, Women and Children allegedly by a Staff Sergeant in the Army.

The incessant apologies, the promises of prosecutorial retribution, the tolerance of Afghan rioting and accompanying murder of our American Warriors for the burning of copies of the Koran as well as our “understanding” of Afghan hatred for us, presumably because of these acts has muted the whimpers of our leadership over the 3 year campaign of murder by our Afghan “partners” of our Warriors.

This double standard would be considered unacceptable if all of the players were American, committing these acts on American soil. There would be a general outcry from the public for fairness and justice for all. The media would fill there dockets with rhetoric and anecdotal evidence of political malfeasance while insisting that one party or the other was simply playing to their electorate at the cost of another, unfortunate segment of society.

And yet, because these acts occurred on foreign soil and the participants wear uniforms, the media takes the skewed message from the political sphere and propagates it through their various venues like some kind of perverted gospel of truth.

While I certainly do not condone the killing of women and children – by anyone, in any culture, in any country, on any continent, I never-the-less do not see these murders as more reprehensible than the campaign of murder of our forces by those they are forced to train with, which has gone almost unreported.

While I accept the political sphere apologizing for the killing of women and children in Afghanistan, I repudiate the deafening silence by those same political “leaders” when it comes to the murder of our forces by the 7^th century hordes of Afghanistan – those our “leadership” insists are “our friends”.

It is important that the American public remind our politicians of something they seem to forget; the Afghan Soldier and Afghan Policeman are not constructs in a game or implants from an alien race from Alpha Centauri. They are in fact a product of their society, their culture, their family, their religious ideology, their own personal vices, their own personal prejudices and hatred. In essence, they are Afghanistan. In the same way, our Warriors are a mirror of our cultural experience.

The difference is that while the alleged actions of the United States Army Staff Sergeant, in Afghanistan are in fact a singularity, the continuing actions of the Afghans our Warriors are forced to work with, are not.

And while our government has made it clear just how reprehensible they consider the alleged actions of that Army Staff Sergeant, they have been correspondingly silent when it comes to the murder of some 70 American, ISAF and NATO Warriors.

I for one, wonder just how this Staff Sergeant is going to fair in our now untrustworthy legal system. Will he be given a fair hearing? Will the bevy of experts who will most certainly be called be trounced under foot by a politically motivated prosecutorial team of lackeys answering to their masters in DC? Will he be treated with the same tolerance shown to Major Nidal Hasan who is certainly guilty of shooting 32, killing 13, American Soldiers while screaming Allahu Akbar, an entreaty to his god, Allah while doing so? Will the Staff Sergeant, accused of killing Afghans be seen as a monster while Nidal Hasan given deference due to his particular religious proclivity?

Is there a double standard in this government; deference for our ideologically motivated enemies, zero compassion for our over-stressed, over-deployed, lied to uniformed Service Members?

Is the American public going to, once again, reward the despicable behavior of our political leadership and their minions wearing stars by casting their precious votes in November for this administration and it’s perverted staff for yet another 4 years or is this American Society finally reaching the limits of it’s patience for the silence and intolerance shown for our Warriors?

Compassion should be universal. Standards should be just and uniform. American Leaders should show due concern for their citizenry – before they show it for the rest of the world!

Semper Fidelis;

John Bernard

Afghanistan; Understandable rage or Unacceptable Behavior?

There have been many in the media, in politics and in the upper echelons of our military structure who have been “grappling” with this question; at least they would like you to believe that. The fact is those who seem to be trying to make sense of the events which unfolded in the wake of the revelation that certain “holy books” were treated disrespectfully, by American Service members, arrived at their “understanding” long before these events occurred.

James Carroll wrote a piece in which he appears burdened with this question and tries to relate the anger felt by the “noble” Afghan and, really, Muslims everywhere by comparing the Quran to the Consecrated Host at a Catholic Mass. He even goes as far as to suggest the Quran is seen by the Muslim in the same way Jesus is seen in the eyes of a Christian. This attempt at equating the reverence for the Quran with either was Mr. Carroll’s effort to cause us all to understand why the events we have watched intensify in the past week might in fact be justified.

Nice try!

What he failed to do in his piece is also relate what the corresponding response would be by either Catholics to the desecration of a Consecrated Host which they believe, through the process of transubstantiation, is changed in substance to the body and blood of Christ. He also failed to relate what the reasonable corresponding response would be from the rest of the ‘reformed’ Christian church. And because of this sleight of hand or unfortunate omission, his piece dares to define the actions of the “noble” Afghan or the devout Muslim as understandable.

The fact is, these kinds of violent responses are anathema to the Christian faith, Christian texts, the Bible or mainstream Christian teaching – worldwide. In fact, the kinds of responsorial actions one can expect within traditionally taught Christian circles to injustice toward the Church is corporate prayer and forgiveness.

So what have we learned from the events of the past week. First; we learned that neither the “noble” Afghan nor our American “leadership” is interested in the truth or telling the whole story. If they were, there would not have been any apologies but an explanation of why these books or papers were destroyed, that being they were desecrated by Islamic EPW’s. Our leadership would have insured that the “noble” Afghan’s “reasonable rage” response would have been directed at the EPW rather than our Service members who, frankly, destroyed these texts, unceremoniously as is recommended within Muslim circles.

They would have responded to the unhinged, barbaric, stone aged actions of the “noble” Afghan with appropriate reciprocity. Being as we are all in the European style “peacekeeping” mode, they would have sent out teams/squads/sections using proper riot control techniques rather than issuing endless Mea Culpa/ Nostrum Mendum on bended knee to any and all Muslims on the planet while buttoning up the bases and FOBs, nationwide.

What we have seen instead, is the opposite and the corresponding responses to these efforts of prostration have been more violence, 4 US troops and Officers murdered, food prepared by the “noble” Afghan for our troops, poisoned, at least one fragging of a base, a suicide VBIED, additional Afghan civilians killed and, oh yeah; a British cemetery in Libya, desecrated by more “noble” Libyans who felt it appropriate to desecrate the dead of a country who recently aided them in their efforts to secure “democracy” in that country. Remember the whole Arab Spring phenomenon that was going to revolutionize the Arab world and make the whole world a more vibrant bowl of fragrant cherry blossoms?

The fact is what we have to look forward to in our future is even less hopeful than it was a week ago and it wasn’t looking very good then. All of us watching the debacle that Afghanistan has become, have been warning that the situation there would only degrade faster as the mission changed from combat to admin and training. Once our illustrious leaders here determine Afghanistan to be stable enough to no longer consider it a combat zone (they have already arrived there mentally) and safe enough to change course, the conditions would deteriorate rapidly. Those remaining behind to train the “noble” Afghan Police, Army, Administrative Government and other interior governmental agencies would, essentially be left in the den of the wolf for disposal at his whim.

We are getting a glimpse of that right now!

Our “leadership” dares to justify the nonsensical actions of this 7^th century gaggle to the inconsequential destruction of a few books – regardless of their nature, as justifiable. This in itself tells us as Americans all we need to know about the unhinged, asymmetric, illogical and ignorant nature of the people we have entrusted with the security of this nation who presently inhabit the DC beltway!

For those happening onto this conversation late in the game know this; it is not all right, understandable, culturally difficult to understand or reasonable that men, in this late century act out as untamed animals upset over the unintentional or even intentional destruction of books that can be replaced for pennies!

For those of you who still have Sons, Daughters, Husbands, Wives, Cousins, Uncles, Brothers, Sisters, Neighbors who have been compelled by this incompetent and apparently, impotent government to serve in a land that contains not one shred of sanity, it is time for you to act – while you still have a loved one to act for!

They are not being utilized for the better of the United States or the protection of the Constitution of the United States. They are being abused by the ignorance of lesser men who no longer have the capacity to recognize their mistakes, their ignorance or their responsibilities to their country or their solemn oaths!

It is time for you to cause those you have elected to represent you to again understand their proper place in this society.

And that place is not to better the plight of a people who hate us just because we live!

Semper Fidelis;

John Bernard

Another American Prostrates himself and his Country Before the Intolerant and Unforgiving!

In a world where every aberrant act, every self-inflicted malady and every vice is considered an epidemic, we most certainly need to add to the list the act of prostrating oneself and by extension, his country for every single assumed infraction of societal and ideological moray in every minor culture in the world!

As an American, watching senior Officers and Elected Officials continually apologizing for one piece of inanity or another has passed from bothersome to an active insult to the American people! And even if an unhealthy percentage of this population is not insulted by this most despicable of trends; many of us are! These Officers and our elected officials fail to understand they do not represent the many foreign cultures of the world and they certainly are not properly representing us by continuing to prostrate themselves and by extension, us for every little suggestion of insensitivity toward the delicate mental state of the ideologically unhinged.

This latest example was provoked by a gaggle of angry Afghan protestors who were reacting to a story that the Koran or even several copies of the Koran had been disposed of – unceremoniously. If anyone had read the actual account, they would have learned that the copies that were discarded and burned belonged to EPW’s (Enemy Prisoners of War) being held on Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan. They were confiscated when it was determined that the EPW’s were using the Koran as an illicit messaging system to communicate with one another.

For those of you who do not understand the implications of that little piece of information, allowing EPW’s access to one another overtly or covertly, increases the chances of everything from an escape attempt to violent acts against their guards. Removing the Koranic message pads, was not only good judgment, it was necessary and may have saved lives – American lives.

Varying versions of the story have indicated as few as 100 and as many as 2000 “noble” Afghan’s had “assembled” for a protest of the alleged desecration of the Koran. These “peaceful” and “noble” protestors threw rocks and firebombs at security forces in anger over the insensitive handling of their “holy” book.

Just an aside; why is it that protestors, whether on this side of the big pond, or the other, are considered sincere, peaceful and righteous when they employ actions that endanger the very lives of those around them but when someone lodges a peaceful, verbal or written complaint they are being unreasonable, hate-filled and even racist? And why is it that if someone were to burn the Bible – unceremoniously or otherwise that the same kind of reaction to that act would not also be seen as reasonable? Why is it we tolerate these acts of intolerance only from the “noble” Islamic adherent?

A video shows the American Officer in charge of ISAF expounding on the horrors of the handling of the Islamic text as he tries to assure his Afghan audience and the Muslim world in general that this whole episode was just an unfortunate accident and under investigation. His public Nostrum Mendum would have been at least a little balanced if he had also mentioned that the Korans in question had already been desecrated by the Islamic EPW’s who were the original owners and who were using them as, essentially, a combat notebook. Do you suppose the “noble” protestors would have been as incensed by that knowledge? Do you think they would have demanded those Islamic prisoners be handed over for a “proper chastisement”? Or is this episode just another indication of the intolerance of a people ensconced in a religious ideology that preaches and demands intolerance of others?

Where were those “noble” Afghan protestors when eleven (yes, 11) Afghan policemen opened fire on NATO troops two days ago? And for that matter, did this Officer or his US political “handlers” care enough about that attack and the countless other attacks that have occurred in the past three years, to denounce them publically, to the “noble” Afghan?

I can’t seem to find that video anywhere…

I was also wondering why it is so imperative that we, as a nation be “sensitive” to the intolerance of a people who would just as soon have our heads on several pikes while admonishing our very same population for not being tolerant enough of others?

This goes far beyond the discussion of double standards. We are now firmly engaged in the psychologically sick act of self-destruction. We are no longer satisfied to consider ourselves or the actions of our predecessors loathsome, we are now obsessed with ensuring our own destruction as a nation, a culture and a people. Our leadership is no longer interested in right or wrong, truth or lie, acts of desecration or accidental disposal, the survival of our nation or the perception of our strength. All that really counts is ensuring the most despicable people and cultures of this world truly believe our heartfelt apology – for existing and that we will continue to strive for the total annihilation of our culture, our society, our population.

The country I heard about, read about and was taught about as a child seems to have vaporized. The dream that was the vision of our founding fathers and that was kept alive even through the generation of my parents and a sizeable portion of my generation, has been circumvented by a sub-culture of prostrating, anti-American self-mutilators who seem to think they represent all of us.

I have sad news for you; you don’t!

Semper Fidelis;

John Bernard

Obama Seeks New Ways to Insult the American Warrior Community!

While I understand that only a fraction of the population of this nation is directly affected by what you are about to read, I would never-the-less like to remind you that the remainder of the population is affected coincidentally. While the majority of the American population probably never even considered the Armed Forces as a possible career objective, there are those who never considered life without serving their country, in uniform, on a field of combat. Most of these young men and women never take the time to internalize some idealized vision of charging death for God and Country, they just have a burning desire for the call on their lives to do so and then, most importantly, they act!

President Obama, however, was apparently never burdened with that urgent call to serve others – or his country selflessly. And because the only thing he ever answered to was a call to “self-empowerment” and self-ingratiation, he has been a brutal failure as a moral leader and Commander in Chief. In addition, his unquenchable desire to “win over” that portion of the world population to whom he has sold his soul has led him to a new round of actions that should anger every red blooded American and will disgust every American who has ever donned the uniform of a United States Marine!

This week, President Obama blocked legislation that would hold Iran accountable for
the Hezbollah bombing that killed 241 U.S. Marines in 1983 . This inexplicable move hasn’t any bearing on the current crisis except for it’s ability to tilt world opinion in favor of US interests. The Obama administration’s actions to derail this legislation in Congress, then, can only be seen as an effort to bolster support for the Iranian regime which can only be understood through the prism of this sitting President’s indefatigable efforts to “reconcile” with the Islamic nations of the world.

If three plus years of his purposeful attempts to insult the country he has sworn to defend through his many prostrating speeches on Islamic soil and this latest otherwise despicable move haven’t enlightened you, then maybe this next story will help finish your education!

As of February 1^st 2012, President Obama has determined that Combat Pay for US forces will be determined by a new criteria. In general, Afghanistan has been deemed a combat zone and all US forces deployed in that region have been eligible for combat pay due to the certainty of encountering dirt-bags in firefights, ambushes, IED’s or suicide bombings. This new policy now requires having been shot at first. For those not understanding the problem with this, it now says that the US Government has effectively declared Afghanistan a “safe zone”! And this in spite of the nearly daily reports of Americans being either wounded or killed!

This newest insult is certainly an effort to bolster what will be his campaign claim to have “pacified” Afghanistan during his tenure and having kept one of his last campaign promises to bring all troops home by the end of his first term. But here again is where perception, does not align with reality. In a land where the Taliban are given new control over the country by our unwillingness to hold them accountable in combat and where discussions of “peace talks” include promises to release known murderous thugs back onto the battlefield where our troops still operate, the Taliban have made it clear they are not only not in talks but that they are not interested.

Is this the “safe” Afghanistan where Warriors are still forced to patrol daily, are wounded in daily, killed in daily, betrayed by Afghan Soldiers and Police Cadets, daily and which the Obama Administration has now effectively declared no longer a combat zone?

So once again, the health and well-being of our Warriors will suffer for political expedience. In addition, all troops fired upon, wounded or killed by our “Afghan partners” will not be viewed as combat deaths but fratricide/murder, making those incidents criminal acts. This will affect the way United States Marines, Soldiers, Airmen, Sailors and Coast Guardsmen who are wounded or killed in that polluted land are treated by this government. It will also most likely change the SGLI eligibility status from non-taxable to taxable!!

Are things clearing up now??

These latest actions by this sitting President would be curious and difficult to understand if his actions in the first months of his administration had not been so telling. When one of the first actions in a President’s term is to give a speech on foreign soil, to people who are spiritually opposed to our right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness and who we know have supported terrorist acts across the world, these newest actions can only be described as part of some subversive plan. Let’s not forget that he “apologized” for the United States in that and following speeches to yet other foreign, Islamic audiences and in at least one meeting, prostrated himself to his Muslim host which had the affect of subjugating the United States and it’s citizenry to that “host”.

It remains a mystery why no one in Congress has seen fit to decry either of these last two outrages which should give you an indication of the current condition of the heart of leadership in this country.

This election cycle certainly won’t give DC the enema it needs or deserves but it could have the affect of sending a message to all those who dare suggest they are fit for leadership on the national stage. People seeking to “serve” on the national stage need to know that their personal proclivities toward self-aggrandizement will no longer be tolerated. They need to know that the American voter will be educated and engaged in the political process and that our first concern is for the future security of this nation and that vision includes those who are actively serving in regions of the world into which they have been thrust.

The people of this nation need to realign their priorities and put Honor first; not only in their own lives but in their requirement for those they would have represent them. Our Warriors have done that by the simple act of stepping forward and raising their right hands.

They should at least be afforded the dignity of having the dangerous space they operate in continue to be declared a combat zone!

Semper Fidelis;

John Bernard