The “trickle” is on!
According to the Washington Times, President Obama has decided to listen to his general and start his own “surge” in Afghanistan. But it’s less like a surge and more like a trickle;
Military officials said Obama will have choices that include a phased addition of up to 40,000 forces over some six months or more next year, based on security conditions and the decisions of NATO allies.
Several officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because the decision has not been made also said Obama’s announcement will be much broader than the mathematics of troop numbers, which have dominated the U.S. debate.
Officials said a substantial increase in troops is all but inevitable, but the precise number is less important than the message that an expansion and refocus of U.S. commitment in Afghanistan would send.
Boy, that ought to scare the be-jeebus out of those militants – knowing that the math isn’t as important as the message. The message ought to be worth a few hundred extra al Qaeda lives. The message I see is that the administration is acting real reticent about committing a sufficient number of forces to win the war in Afghanistan. It looks to me as if he’s found a way to vote present on being decisive.
A decisive commander would have all of his troops on the ground as soon as the mountain snows recede (since he couldn’t summon the fortitude to decide during this year’s fighting season), but this guy won’t even have all of his forces on the ground in the Spring. And they’ll be trickling in during a six month period. Yeah, my confidence level is high.
Category: Barack Obama/Joe Biden, Military issues, Terror War
Well, Jonn, define “win”. And it WOULD be nice to know you had an ally in the government of Afghanistan, instead of a propped-up, corrupt entity whose days might be numbered, before you bet the farm on a massive deployment. Sometimes half-measures don’t are doomed to fail, sometimes they are the least bad choice……
What kind of “win” are people hoping for in that country? I mean, really, if the governement can’t get the job after all these years, let’s throw some more people and money at it! Please, no reply about the poor Afghan people, because lets face it, no one really gives a shit about them. I wonder if people actually give a shit about Soldiers? Tax payers seem to have no problem letting their money get spent on the fight, just make sure it’s not spent on quality equipment, medical care, physical treatment after the fight, no no, we can’t have that!
I’m young, but old enough to remeber a time when advocating for Soldiers was called patriotic. Now, you are blasted and called a liberal. This half messure will onyl lead to more dead Soldiers, and not a whole lot else to show for it.
Or course, even a huge surge won’t amount to much. I know, I was in town for the other one.
So, Casey, you’re saying the surge in Iraq didn’t work? I would be interested in knowing what you base your analysis on.
As for the other assumptions you make about the public, the war, and where the money goes and how you know what the public is thinking……well, that’s your opinion and you are entitled to it.
Ummm, I was there? I know that doesn’t count for much, and given my rank at the time, Spec / Sgt. means I don’t understand the broad picture, or some would say. Perhaps not you, but others, sure. I was in a area were a large number of surge troops were placed on my second deployment. With the exception of the location, nothing really seemed to change. Talking to the locals, the same thing, they don’t like the bad guys, they don’t hate us, but they want us to leave.
We were doing the same missions for the same reasons: Not to help these people, but just to surive until the next day. Troop deaths went down, and that’s a good thing for sure. But as soon as you let off that choke-hold, it goes right back to were it was before. The other downside to that choke-hold is that the people really do not get a chance to actualy build anything up in terms of rebuilding.
I detest Carl Webb and what he says, but everybody who reads this would be just as pissed off if those actions were happening here. What we had to do survive, well, we did it, it work for the most part, but it was hell on those people.
Oh, and as far as the equipment goes, I was given the new IOTV, which was ment to detach into pieces, so you would not get trapped in the vehicle. That happen to someone in my first deployment. Funny thing is, the damn thing would come apart all by itself. The threads that held it together didn’t actually snap into anything, just got tucked into a sheeth. I mean really, how big of a fuck up can people make and not get held accountable for it? It is my understadning that they are phazing them out now, but I am not sure at what time.
As with everything, there are bound to be things that work and things that don’t. I know you were there and as you point out, you might not have been privy to the bigger picture. Almost everyone would agree that the surge worked for its intended purpose.
Yeah, I know they hate the bad guys and want us to leave. That’s understandable and completely natural. When they get to the point oftheir own security being what it should be, or the government asks us to leave, we will. We are not, as some think, imperialist conquerers, that’s not what we are intending to accomplish.
As for equipment, well, Ican say that there are times when you are issued something that doesn’t work as advertised. I know, I was there, too, once upon a time and I had equipment that didn’t work as well as it should have. That’s part of the gig. Did the troops in WWII lose their minds because they didn’t have body armor? Did they have equipment that didn’t work as advertised? Were Sherman tanks bullet catchers for German 88’s?
Do we work on improving things? Of course, otherwise there wouldn’t be the advanced body armor of today. There is always room for improvement; however, do we stop doing what we’re doing until the conditions and equipment are just right? If we wait for that day, we’ll be waiting until the end of time.
Everyone wants to hold everyone else accountable for equipment that doesn’t do as advertised, or for putting them in a spot that isn’t the friendliest neighborhood on the planet. That isn’t going to solve the problems, but may make you feel better. The equipment is still all you have available, the neighborhood still needs to be patrolled. No one garaunteed a perfect hitch in the military, or perfect equipment, or safe neighborhoods to patrol, etc. If there’s something wrong with the equipment; fix it. Why wait for someone else to do it? That’s why NCOs make the big dough.
I don’t think the recent success in Iraq had a whole lot to do with a surge of troops in all reality. I mean AQ and Co are Wahhabis. Iraq is 60-65 percent Shiite. The Shiites absolutely despise the Wahhabis. At the same end, roughly half of the Sunni population of Iraq are Kurds, no friends of AQ and Co. As far as the Sunni Arab portion of Iraq goes, a large number of them are secular by Middle Eastern standards and another large portion of them are tribesman who basically want to be left alone by everyone.
Besides, certain neighbors of Iraq had a very large hand in the creation of AQI. Have we rectified that situation? I don’t think so.
Joe…I realize that it can be frustrating when people like Jonn ignore your vast wealth of knowledge in military matters…some people just don’t get it…or they are just jealous of your combat experience…don’t give up Joe, just keep plugging away, I’m pretty sure that they will eventually come around once they develope full blown dementia…just don’t quit Joe, O.K. BTW,…TSO is still waiting to hear from you on the offer we made to you the other night on the “Why is my pants leg wet?” post. Think about it Joe,it’s really a great honor…well worth changing your screen name for..just try it for a little while,thanks Joe,I knew you would understand…
Unfortunately, any surge into Afghanistan will take time due to the logistics aspects of the AO. Just getting there is a problem. There is no port or “secure” road network which can be used to move supplies. Everything has to be moved by air. It will take some time to build up the necessary life support areas required to sustain the incoming troops. The surge in Iraq took months to get into place.
Hey AHF,
No, I’m good with my current screen name – guess I don’t get the inside joke…..
As far as equipment, time and time again it isn’t just something that comes with the gig. I fixed Tanks, and I can tell you without a doubt that certain componants are desgined to fail on purpose. It’s nothing a simple house hold surge protector could fix. I even brought this up to General Dynamics reps with no luck. But there is no money in a Tank that runs right. Also, we will fry a Soldier who shows up late or does something on the job to put another Soldier in danger. Why don’t we have the same accountablility for every other level? I know things are going to be perfect, that’s a given, but damn, it’s like they are not even trying to do right by these guys.
The only reason we have more gear today is because someone can make money from it. We were needlessly issued three or four of the same thing, and not like four uniforms. But really, how many sets of eye protection do you really need? I had six pairs of boots when I left. I only used two pair. The new MRAP came to us with a recall already issued. An electrical box would catch on fire. Why? Because they didn’t screw the connectors down tight enough. What kind of people are they hiring? I want real accountablility, becasue they demand it of Soldiers. Rank and position should no excuse anyone from doing wrong.
The people of both countries want us gone, and they make that very clear. Of course their Governements are not going to give us the boot, we own their asses. We gave them those jobs. If the people don’t want you there, and they’ve been saying it, then it’s time to leave.