Hydras in Hyderabad
However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results
--Winston Churchill
My heart finally broke for the Iraqi people. I wanted to just sit down and cry while saying I'm so, so sorry for what we had done. I had the acute sense that we had failed these people.
It was at this time, and after an entire year of being deployed and well into the next deployment that I realized something. We burst into homes, frighten the hell out of families, and destroy their homes looking for an elusive enemy.
We do this out of fear of the unseen and attempt to compensate for our inability to capture insurgents by swatting mosquitoes with a sledge-hammer in glass houses.
--Army Staff Sgt. Darrell Ray Griffin, Jr. (deceased)
_________
The recent revelations of the aborted raid on al Qaida in Pakistan shows off the phony nature of this War on Terror to nice effect (U.S. Aborted Raid on al-Qaida in 2005.)
Some facts which bear on the would-be Special Operation:
- Pakistan is a sovereign nation.
- Pakistan receives large chunks of U.S. aid.
- Pakistan, passively or actively, protects elements of al Qaida and Taliban in their country.
- Pakistani government does not control the periphery.
- Conducting a unilateral military operation in Pakistan is an act of war, even if directed at rogue elements of their society.
- U.S. Special Operations Forces are top-heavy and greatly resemble non-SOF Forces in their cumbersome decision-making processes and use of pertinent intelligence. An example is this Navy Seal operation, which had grown into an "invasion" by the time of its would-be execution.
- Afghanistan is still a failed state.
"We are supposed to be standing up a fairly stable, reasonably democratic government in Baghdad, so that al Qaeda can get no foothold in Iraq, and to serve as a beacon to which Muslims everywhere can raise their suffering, tear-stained faces in hope. Yet in Pakistan, whose government is as stable and democratic as can be hoped for in that neck of the woods (they have even elected a female prime minister — twice!), al Qaeda has settled in very nicely. Nor do the world’s Muslims seem to look wistfully to Islamabad as a shining city on a hill (Means and Ends.)"
The New York Times hopefully reported, "Intelligence officials say they believe that in January 2006, an airstrike (launched from a Predator aircraft) narrowly missed killing Mr. Zawahri. . ." But close only counts in hand grenades and horseshoes.
The U.S. best beware actions in Pakistan. Al Qaida is often tagged as the destabilizing force in the region, but it is U.S. invasions that have prompted al Qaida's hydra-headed growth. Present civil unrest in Pakistan could boil over if U.S. forces push the envelope.
The Phony War on Terror dare not expand into Pakistan.
Labels: al qaida, pakistan, phony war on terror
posted by rangeragainstwar at 8:53 AM
14 Comments:
Amen, brother!
And we all know the elephant in the room is the Paki's "nuklar" (to quote GWB) arsenal.
There's a strangely skeery thought that keeps making the hair on the back of my neck stand up, tho, and that's this: if we do end up making Pakistan boil over, then the neo-crazies might have all the excuse they need to trot out the U.S. nukes and start lighting up the Middle East.
"Arc Light II: The Final Chapter."
..anon.
anon,
Like a Fourth of July celebration, only bigger, right?
For you me, that's a scary thought. For the Drudge report members, that's cause to dance in the streets.
They think bigger and more nukes means you win,
L.
Well, we don't make war on Saudi Arabia either. Tho' if the Brits are right and we completely loose what tentative control we have in Afghanistan and the slide down the slippery slope takes Pakistan along for the going-Fundamentally-to-hell ride, then we will have to fight both of those, plus Iran. And everyone we really need to grab really WILL just dash in and out of Saudi Arabia. It really IS a small world over there...especially the world between Wahabi ears, and it is shrinking the borders of safety and sanity every day that this war continues.
labrys,
The slippery-slope you envision is possible.
I do so like the imagery of the small world between Wahabbi ears. Reminiscent of the small world between GWB's two large donkey ears.
And it's a shame, really, given the ample ventilation in that chamber, that more quick-fire thinking is not transpiring.
Perhaps, Lisa, it is a spark plug problem?
labrys,
Perhaps. . .tho' methinks there might be some more vital engine parts missing.
People who claim there is something wrong with Dear Leader's spark plug are objectively pro-terrorist.
lurch,
Are good mechanics necessarily pro-terrorist?
A good mechanic would look at the spark plug, note the cracked ceramic, the burnt-out anode, and realize it will keep on misfiring until it is replaced.
Military historians write about the Unforgiving Minute -- the point in any military operation regardless of the scale at which action has to be taken; after that point it's simply too late to affect the outcome regardless of what's done.
For Iraq, the Unforgiving Minute probably occurred in Summer 2003 when Bremer disbanded the Iraqi Army and sent them all home with no money and lots of weapons. The die was cast then.
For Afghanistan, the Unforgiving Minute probably occurred in January - February 2002 when OBL, et. al., were allowed to escape from Tora Bora. Up to that point large - scale operations along the NW Frontier, besides being warranted, would have been tolerated by the Pakistanis -- we had world opinion on our side and had every justification for hunting down Al Queda.
Not any more. Even in the unlikely event that we suddenly decided to put main force units along the Afghan - Paki border now, Pakistan would almost certainly be completely destabilized and -- along with its nukes -- fall into the hands of extremists.
fbg46,
Those are the unforgiving minutes (understanding Ranger does not agree with the invasion in the first place.)
So.. .Paul Bremer's boots were just like the Top Gun landing. . .a mere photo op? Yes, some disasters in judgment occurred under his watch (as they continue to be made today.)
Ditto Tora Bora.
lurch,
Let's hope the American people are even average mechanics, and both can see the defective plug, and discern that it might be representative of the whole set (=republicans), and so elect to replace them all.
So mote it be.
And we all know the elephant in the room is the Paki's "nuklar" (to quote GWB) arsenal thanks for sharing!!
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