Judging Bowe Bergdahl

There is so much about this Bowe Bergdahl story that we don't yet know, yet even so, it is disturbing.  There are several ways to look at the story at this point, all of which will probably end up a useless dalliance once all the facts come out.  I have to look at this story through the lens of what I already know about the Obama administration.  This administration cares nothing for our laws and believes itself to be above all laws (see:  Fast and Furious).

Obama promised from day one that he would empty and shutter Gitmo.  No surprises there.  In this Bergdhal swap, Obama has furthered his endeavor to do just so.

A quick look at the five released:

Mohammad Fazi:  According to Human Rights Watch, he presided over the mass killing of Shiite Muslims in Afghanistan in 2000 and 2001; he served as deputy defense minister under the Taliban regime and was briefly chief of staff of the Taliban army in 2001.

Khairullah Khairkhwa helped found the Taliban in 1994 and served as interior minister and governor of Herat province in Afghanistan which continues to be violent and unsettled as an Indian aid worker was just abducted there; just last week the Indian consulate was attacked.  Khairkhwa was a close associate of Osama bin Laden and Mullah Omar and was a major opium drug lord.

Next up is Mullah Norullah Noori who who was a Taliban military commander in 2001 and is implicated in the murder of thousands of Afghan Shiites who opposed the Taliban.

Mohammed Nabi was a chief security officer for the Taliban and later worked in their communications office as a radio operator.

Abdul Haq Wasiq was a deputy minister of intelligence for the Taliban.

Clearly these are all bad, violent criminals.  In the swap, these guys are released to Qatar where supposedly there is a "no travel" restriction on them for one year.

The five Taliban detainees at Guantánamo, including two senior militant commanders said to be linked to operations that killed American and allied troops as well as implicated in murdering thousands of Shiites in Afghanistan, were flown from Cuba in the custody of officials from Qatar, who will accompany them back to that Persian Gulf state. They will be subject to security restrictions there, including a one-year travel ban.

Put that into perspective.  How would you feel if we let Charles Manson out of prison and told him no tickets to Cozumel this year?  "Got to stay right here in good ol' Cali this year, Charlie!"

As far as Bowe Bergdahl goes, we must all realize that Obama cares nothing for the fact that the law requires him to notify Congress thirty days before such an agreement.  The fact that the administration has been "in talks" for three years in this "negotiation for peace" with the Taliban is just semantics.  Politics.

Obama is hoping that we forget about this before the mid-term elections and that the blow back won't hurt Democrat candidates too badly and with our complacent media that is probably a safe bet on his part.

Susan Rice (as if anyone would believe anything she says anymore) claims that Bergdahl was "captured on the battlefield."    In her mind that might be the same thing as putting down your weapon and deserting your post.  Semantics.  He did happen to be in Afghanistan.  There are indeed battlefields there.  You have to contort yourself around a bit to see her perspective but I guess it can be done.

In truth, we don't really know how Bergdahl ended up in captivity and the truth remains that he is an American and thus should be brought home.  From a mother's perspective, I am full of empathy for this boy's parents.  The pictures of the gaunt, sobbing young man pleading to come home are heart wrenching.  I won't judge them or him.

That being said, he should be judged: there is a right time and place for that.  The military has procedures for that and it should be done.  The answers should be discovered and politics should have no part in that.  If this soldier did in fact desert his post and put his fellow soldiers in harms way then he needs to answer for that.  I am disturbed by the anonymous Defense official who says no punishment should be sought:  "Five years is enough," he said.

 Jake Tapper's article this morning indicates that at least six American lives were lost looking for Bergdahl.

According to firsthand accounts from soldiers in his platoon, Bergdahl, while on guard duty, shed his weapons and walked off the observation post with nothing more than a compass, a knife, water, a digital camera and a diary

At least six soldiers were killed in subsequent searches for Bergdahl, and many soldiers in his platoon said attacks seemed to increase against the United States in Paktika province in the days and weeks following his disappearance.

To that anonymous Defense official, I would suggest that those lives counted for something, too.

In the Mail: Afghanistan On the Bounce

There have been many books and memoirs written about the Iraq and Afghanistan war but I've not seen anything like Afghanistan:  On the Bounce by Robert L. Cunningham.  Cunningham was assisted by Steven Hartov, a best-selling writer currently serving on active duty.

Afghanistan:  On the Bounce is a visually stunning book filled cover to cover with beautiful and moving photographs compiled from the author's 55,000 photographs acquired while embedded with U. S. troops in 2011 and 2012 in Afghanistan.  Cunningham was embedded for 132 missions and captured the moments both on and off duty to show not only what our soldiers do while in battle but also in their down time.

Cunningham's photographs take you from Tears on the Tarmac to Hell's Box Office; there's Mission Essential Gear and the Iron Horses.  He talks to the chaplains and pays tribute at The Hero Ramp.

Of The Hero Ramp, Cunningham writes:

We are told with cynicism that we are born alone and we will die alone  But from the moment of his very last breath, no American hero is alone out here.  The word is relayed in whispers.  There's a Hero Ramp ceremony today.  And they begin to gather, from all over the base.  Soldiers, airmen, marines, nondescript civilians from other government agencies, contractors and cooks and drivers.  No one needs to tell them where to stand, how to form up, what to do.  They know this, and they swirl into a silent cordon of respect, lining that final path from the hospital to the pair of Black Hawk helicopters, one of which will serve as his riderless horse. 

Encased in a rubber cocoon, draped in the American flag, escorted in silence on a wheeled gurney, he is never without guiding hands, prayers, salutes.  This is a moment of secrets kept, for only this solider's warrior brothers and sisters know that he is gone.  It will be some time until his wife gasps with the news.  His parents and children haven't yet been informed.  Only later will they know that two hundred souls wept here with him and served as his most devoted bearers to that final flight.  When it's over, and the helicopters have faded away into that perfect sky, the mourners will disperse in absolute silence.  He has given his last full measure, and their comfort is in knowing that should their time come, they will also be delivered by a brace of angels.

These somber moments are incredible.  Cunningham says photographing the "hero ramp" "is one of the hardest things I have ever done...It is a somber duty to document these private moments.  The responsibility is not one I take lightly."

There are also moments of downtime: soldiers reading, hanging out with stray dogs, skateboarding, or watching movies.

And then there is the beauty of the country from the lush green landscape to the dry, dusty mountains.

Cunningham honors our military and pays tribute to their work:"I am the luckiest man alive," he says.  "I am not a soldier, but I've had the privilege of living with our men and women at arms and witnessing their courage and dedication."

Afghanistan:  On the Bounce is a beautifully crafted book with heavy slick pages and gorgeous glossy photographs.  It's a very nice addition to the collection of books and memoirs we now have about the war in Afghanistan and Iraq.

(Photos courtesy of Robert Cunningham and Insight Editions Publishing)

Terrible News from Afghanistan

This is terrible news:

An American soldier wandered outside his base in a remote southern Afghan village shortly before dawn Sunday and allegedly opened fire on civilians inside homes, killing at least 16, Afghan and U.S. officials said.

From around the web:

Ed Morrissey:

If this is true, this will make the Koran burnings look like an Occupy protest.  Atrocities happen in every war even if they aren’t policy, but they can inflame the populace and make it impossible to constrain them.  That may happen even if the shooter turns out to be someone else, a possibility that looks fairly unlikely at the moment anyway...

Bill Roggio:

Predictably, the Taliban have jumped all over this incident to score a propaganda coup, calling the killings "genocide" and claiming it was an intentional act by US troops and backed by the Afghan National Army.

Phineas at Sister Toldjah:

These are first reports and we can expect some part of them to turn out wrong, of course, but one has to wonder why a soldier who had “suffered a breakdown” was still in Afghanistan or even allowed a weapon.

Regardless, while doing all it can to quell the almost-inevitable furor, the Administration should resist any demands to turn him over to Afghan authorities for “justice.” He should be tried and, if found guilty, punished as dictated by Article 118 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

Michael Yon:

Important Message from Afghanistan

A source close to the action says that friends/relatives of the murder victims want to bring the bodies to the Kandahar Provincial Reconstruction Team (one of our small bases) and lay them out front. Officials think this will cause violence and are trying to talk them out of it.

If you are unembedded in Kandahar -- prepare for battle.

The Jawa Report:

10 Years slogging along there pretending that "Afghanistan can win." is hard on soldiers. But I don't think we should do as Michael Yon says and " pull out our main battle force."

No not quite. We should prosecute this man. But those who might show up to take arms against us are no friends of ours for the most part. They are enemies of the United States. Doesn't really matter how they got that way? We should protect our forces by reinforcing our "main battle force" and take some time to let the enemies of the United States die in lawful warfare.

 Newt says it's time to get out:

"I reached a conclusion frankly about the entire region that is much more pessimistic than Washington's official position," Gingrich said on Fox News Sunday. "I think it's going to get substantially worse, not better. And I think that we are risking of young men and women in a mission that may frankly not be doable."

Obama's statement:

I am deeply saddened by the reported killing and wounding of Afghan civilians. I offer my condolences to the families and loved ones of those who lost their lives, and to the people of Afghanistan, who have endured too much violence and suffering. This incident is tragic and shocking, and does not represent the exceptional character of our military and the respect that the United States has for the people of Afghanistan. I fully support Secretary Panetta’s and General Allen’s commitment to get the facts as quickly as possible and to hold accountable anyone responsible.

More at Fox News and BBC.  Aggregation at Memeorandum.


Updates to follow. 


Remember, there is much we do not know yet. 




Photo:  REUTERS/Ahmad Nadeem

Obama Prepares to Surrender Afghanistan

Andrew McCarthy is sounding the alarm:  Obama is preparing to surrender Afghanistan back to the Taliban:

The surrender is complete now. The Hindu reports that the Obama administration has turned to Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, the Muslim Brotherhood’s leading jurist, to mediate secret negotiations between the United States and the Taliban.

ABC News reported yesterday that the Taliban is preparing to open its first official office in Qatar:

The office is expected to open as early as the next few months in Qatar, the officials told ABC News, and facilitate negotiations with the Taliban that will include unprecedented local ceasefires in Afghanistan and the transfer of Afghan prisoners from American prisons — even though they are labeled “high risk” to the U.S. and associated with the death of a CIA officer in 2001.

John Hinderaker at PowerLine points out that it would be a real "coup" for Obama to run for re-election on the boast that he's ended two wars, especially as unpopular as the Afghanistan incursion has been.

According to the Hindu report:

Earlier this month, the sources said, Mr. al-Qaradawi helped draw a road map for a deal between the Taliban and the United States, aimed at giving the superpower a face-saving political settlement ahead of its planned withdrawal from Afghanistan which is due to begin in 2014. 

In return for the release of prisoners still held by the United States at Guantanamo Bay, the lifting of United Nations sanctions on its leadership and its recognition as a legitimate political group, the Taliban was expected to agree to sever its links to transnational organisations like al-Qaeda, end violence and eventually share power with the Afghan government.

Yet for Team Obama to recruit Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi is stunning.  McCarthy has much more on him, referring to him as the "most influential Sunni Islamist in the world."  McCarthy also points out that in 2003 he issued a fatwa calling for the killing of American troops in Iraq.

Is this the best guy we can find to support American interests in the region? 

McCarthy has much more on Qaradawi:

I wrote about Qaradawi at length in The Grand Jihad and, here at NRO, have regularly catalogued his activities (see, e.g., here, here, here, here, and here; see also Andrew Bostom’s “Qaradawi’s Odious Vision”).

Debra Burlingame linked to this video in her Facebook feed of Qaradawi spewing vile antisemitism and vowing to kill Jews "even if in a wheelchair."  He is bent on the destruction of Israel.

This is who Obama calls upon to bring peace to the region?

McCarthy sums it up best:

After thousands of young Americans have laid down their lives to protect the United States from jihadist terror, President Obama apparently seeks to end the war by asking Qaradawi, a jihad-stoking enemy of the United States, to help him strike a deal that will install our Taliban enemies as part of the sharia state we have been building in Afghanistan. If the Hindu report is accurate, the price tag will include the release of Taliban prisoners from Gitmo — an element of the deal Reuters has also reported. The administration will also agree to the lifting of U.N. sanctions against the Taliban, and recognition of the Taliban as a legitimate political party (yes, just like the Muslim Brotherhood!). In return, the Taliban will pretend to forswear violence, to sever ties with al-Qaeda, and to cooperate with the rival Karzai regime.

It would mark one of the most shameful chapters in American history.

It nauseates me.

Loss of Navy SEALS Hits Home

The loss of 30 Americans in Afghanistan today in the Wardak province hits us all hard.  Two Shreveport families are hit especially hard.  Via The Shreveport Times:

Chief Petty Officer Robert James Reeves and Lt. Commander Jonas Kelsall were both killed today when a U.S. Chinook helicopter crashed in Wardak province...Reeves and Kelsall were both graduates of Caddo Magnet High School where they played soccer together, according to John Kelsall, Jonas Kelsall’s father. Both would join the military after graduation, though Reeves spent a year at LSU first, his father Jim Reeves, said.

Reeves became a SEAL in 1999, his father said, and served on SEAL Team 6. He was deployed many times in his career and earned four bronze stars among other achievments [sic], his father said.

Kelsall was one of the first members of SEAL Team 7, his father said, and received most of his training in San Diego. He attended the University of Texas right out of Basic Underwater Demolition training where he met his wife Victoria Jennings, John Kelsall said. They were married for three years.

Prayers to the families of all those lost today.

Added:  The AP story.

Michael Garcia Returns Home

Shreveport/Bossier brought home one of their own today as SSgt Michael Garcia's body arrived at Shreveport Regional Airport this morning from Dover AFB.

Airline Drive was lined with people holding flags as Garcia's body was escorted to Boone Funeral Home by Patriot Guard Riders.

Michael Garcia graduated from Bossier High School in 2001, the semester before I got there.  He was a popular kid at school and well thought of by his teachers and administrators.  Steve was there when Michael was and remembers him fondly.

SSgt Garcia was killed in Afghanistan on July 4 as an IED exploded near his unit in Logar province.

A roundup of coverage:

The Shreveport Times:

He served with the 705th Explosive Ordnance Disposal Company, which supported the 2/4 Infantry Battalion’s Task Force Warrior, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division. He was on his third war deployment and had been due back in the fall.Garcia was the recipient of three Purple Hearts, the last posthumously, and had been awarded the Bronze Star twice, once with a combat “V” for valor.

Bossier Press:

A Bossier City soldier was killed in Afghanistan Monday. According to the Department of Defense, Staff Sgt. Michael J. Garcia, 27, died July 4 in Logar province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked his unit using an improvised explosive device. He was assigned to the 63rd Ordnance Battalion, 52nd Ordnance Group (Explosive Ordnance Disposal), 20th Support Command (CBRNE), Fort Polk.

KSLA News:

The Patriot Guard Riders have announced that they will be escorting the body of fallen soldier Staff Sergeant Michael Garcia. His body will arrive home to the TAC Air terminal Monday morning. Garcia was killed in action while supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.
Garcia will be escorted by the riders from the airport who will be taking the I-220 route to Boone Funeral Home on Airline Drive.

There's also a slide show at the KSLA link.

KTBS News has video.

Friends and family remember Garcia.  (Shreveport Times).

RIP Michael Garcia Facebook page.

My Bossier blog.

Shreveport Times photo gallery.

The Prophetic Michael Yon

Add war correspondent Michael Yon to those calling for the firing of General McChrystal as a result of the Rolling Stone article.  Yon has a copy of the article and has been posting excerpts to his Facebook page, including this one:

"By midnight at Kitty O'Shea's, much of Team America is completely shitfaced.  Two officers do an Irish jig, mixed with steps from a traditional Afghan wedding dance, while McChrystal's top advisers lock arms and sing a slurred song of their own invention.  "Afghanistan!"  they bellow.  "Afghanistan!"  They call it their Afghanistan song."

McChrystal steps away from the circle observing his team.  "All these men," he tells me, "I'd die for them.  And they'd die for me."

Yon reports that this drunk-fest was also the same week he was de-embedded.

Yon writes:  "From here on out I'm going to call McChrystal President McChystal until President Obama fires him or McChrystal denies this article," citing complete insubordination to the president.

Yon has been critical of McChrystal for weeks now and warning of a failed outcome in Afghanistan under current leadership there.  Most recently, Yon reported on June 12 that morale is dangerously low and McChrystal should be replaced.

Looks like Yon might have been right.

The Rolling Stone article is here.

A New Michael Yon Dispatch

Be sure you read Michael Yon's dispatch to Instapundit published yesterday. Nobody does a better job of embed reporting than Michael Yon and this particular dispatch touched me, not only because of what he writes about the soldiers, but because he writes about their dogs!

Yon's photos are fabulous as well as his reporting, and I especially liked the photo of the fat white puppy sleeping on the roof.

News Flash: No More Terrorists in Afghanistan!

Apparently Martha Coakley has the inside scoop that the terrorists have all left Afghanistan, per this from The Weekly Standard:

MODERATOR: “Do you think we should withdraw? [from Afghanistan]”

COAKLEY: “I think we should plan an exit strategy, yes.”

MODERATOR: “And how would we succeed?”

COAKLEY: “I am not sure there is a way to succeed. If the goal was and the vision in Afghanistan was to go in because we believe the Taliban was giving harbor to terrorists, we supported that, I supported that goal. They are gone, they are not there anymore, they are in apparently Yemen and Pakistan. Let’s focus our efforts on where Al Qaeda is.”

That's from last night's debate between Coakley and Scott Brown.

So is she suggesting that we invade Yemen and Pakistan? Is she saying we should pull out of Afghanistan, because there aren't anymore terrorists there, and move on out to Yemen and Pakistan?

Because if that's what she's saying, I can see completely why Scott Brown raised over a million dollars yesterday. And with lines like this one, he'll probably keep raising money:



More at Memeorandum.

No More Tolly-Bohn

I admit it - I couldn't watch Obama's speech last night. I know it was an important speech. But I just can't stand to listen to him say Tolly-Bohn anymore. Instead I went to Victor Davis Hanson's recap, which you can find here.

A Rant is Simmering

I'm fighting the urge for a huge rant. It's simmering beneath the surface and I've been squashing it for a few days. It started a few days ago when a commenter accused me of never saying anything nice about the president. That's a rant in itself, but it's all mushing into one, now.

Then Fort Hood happened.

And now Obama is saying that he doesn't like any of the suggestions offered to him so far on Afghanistan. Like the king sending food back to the kitchen: "Bring me another!"

Since there is no war on terrorism anymore, and since nobody is calling the actions at Fort Hood an act of terrorism (which it was), here is Victor Davis Hanson who has the guts to say what it is:

Every few months either an Islamic-inspired terrorist plot will be foiled, or a young Muslim male will shoot, run down, or stab someone while invoking anger at non-Muslims. In other words, the attack on Fort Hood happened on schedule. It was the rule, not the exception. And something like it will occur again — soon.

His point is, of course, that we've gone back to a pre-9/11 mindset. I'm having deja vu from the Clinton years.

Not Buying It...

Donald Douglas is NOT buying the Code Pink rehabilitation in the press. In fact, he says, "Code Pink's 'rethinking' Afghanistan is bull."

Obama Continues to Dither

I find today's news on Afghanistan, Obama, and McChrystal just stunning.

First is this piece from the Telegraph in which U.K. General David Richards said that "if Britain and Nato failed in Afghanistan the risks to the western world would be 'enormous' and 'unimaginable.'"

From The Telegraph:

He said: "If al-Qaeda and the Taliban believe they have defeated us – what next? Would they stop at Afghanistan? Pakistan is clearly a tempting target not least because of the fact that it is a nuclear-weaponed state and that is a terrifying prospect. Even if only a few of those (nuclear) weapons fell into their hands, believe me they would use them. The recent airlines plot has reminded us that there are people out there who would happily blow all of us up."

Then we have reports of Obama upbraiding General McChrystal for having an opinion on the best strategy in Afghanistan. Well, to be fair, Obama was apparently more angry that McChrystal verbalized his opinion. Again, from The Telegraph:

"People aren't sure whether McChrystal is being naïve or an upstart. To my mind he doesn't seem ready for this Washington hard-ball and is just speaking his mind too plainly."

In London, Gen McChrystal, who heads the 68,000 US troops in Afghanistan as well as the 100,000 Nato forces, flatly rejected proposals to switch to a strategy more reliant on drone missile strikes and special forces operations against al-Qaeda.

He told the Institute of International and Strategic Studies that the formula, which is favoured by Vice-President Joe Biden, would lead to "Chaos-istan".

So why is Obama dithering so on the troop decision? It's clear that he isn't worried about public perception on the matter; his is the only perception that matters. But to the public, the soldiers in the line of fire, and the eyes of the world, he is dithering. He spares only twenty five minutes for McChrystal and that, it appears, was spent, at least partially, on whether McChrystal should keep his mouth shut or not.

We've come a long way from General Petraeus and his weekly sessions with and open access to George W. Bush.

And for another perspective, check out John Guardiano's "Leaking for National Security" at American Specatator.

Keep up with the debate on Memeorandum.

Sarkozy and Krauthammer Unload on Obama

Charles Krauthammer takes Obama to task this week for his naivete, especially with regard to Iran, the U.N. and nukes. Couple that with unfolding story of Obama and his commander in Afghanistan, General McChrystal, and Krauthammer's point couldn't be more clear.

It is, however, a point that most of us saw long ago, including Krauthammer. He isn't new to this view of Obama.

As things stand at this point, Obama is (finally) meeting with McChrystal on Air Force One at this moment. What will come of that? We shall see. It seems to me, and I'm no military strategist by any stretch of the imagination, but it just seems common sense to me that McChrystal would be the one to know what the situation is in Afghanistan. For Obama to sit upon high and override his hand picked General seems the height of arrogance to me. But, maybe he has other information that the rest of us don't know.

With regard to Obama grandstanding at the U.N., Krauthammer says this:

Confusing ends and means, the Obama administration strives mightily for shows of allied unity, good feeling, and pious concern about Iran’s nuclear program — whereas the real objective is stopping that program. This feel-good posturing is worse than useless, because all the time spent achieving gestures is precious time granted Iran to finish its race to acquire the bomb. Don’t take it from me. Take it from Sarkozy, who could not conceal his astonishment at Obama’s naïveté. On September 24, Obama ostentatiously presided over the Security Council. With 14 heads of state (or government) at the table, with an American president in the chair for the first time ever, with every news camera in the world trained on the meeting, it would garner unprecedented worldwide attention.

Unknown to the world, Obama had in his pocket explosive revelations about an illegal uranium-enrichment facility that the Iranians had been hiding near Qom. The French and the British were urging him to use this most dramatic of settings to stun the world with the revelation and to call for immediate action.

Obama refused. Not only did he say nothing about it, but, reports Le Monde, Sarkozy was forced to scrap the Qom section of his speech. Obama held the news until a day later — in Pittsburgh. I’ve got nothing against Pittsburgh (site of the G-20 summit), but a stacked-with-world-leaders Security Council chamber, it is not.

Obama knew about the second Iranian nuclear plant and held that information until he could reveal it in Pittsburgh because he didn't want to dilute his message of disarmament. As Krauthammer says, "Sarkozy could hardly contain himself." Sarkozy has been rather outspoken about it all this week, reminding Obama that we live in the real world, not a "virtual" one.

There has always been this fatal flaw of hubris in Obama; he somehow believes he knows better than anyone else without having the experience or credentials to back this up. Confidence is a good thing, but any examination of history will show you that pride goes before the fall.

I just hope he doesn't take the rest of us with him when he falls.

Obama: Military Strategist

Jennifer Rubin at Commentary puts it best on this one:

Obama, with his years of military service, decades-long foreign-policy experience, and spotless record in opposing the surge in Iraq, is “skeptical” of the military’s troop recommendations on Afghanistan. Oh wait. Hmm. Once again, it seems that resoluteness and willingness to spend what it takes to defeat America’s enemies don’t come easily to the president.

The Politico article to which she refers quotes Obama as saying “Until I'm satisfied that we've got the right strategy I'm not gonna be sending some young man or woman over there — beyond what we already have. I'm not interested in just being in Afghanistan for the sake of being in Afghanistan or saving face or, in some way – you know, sending a message that America is here for the duration.”

There is some debate this morning as to the request for those troops. There have been reports that Obama has asked Gen. McChrystal to hold off asking for those troops for a few weeks; the next question would be "why?" Is it because Team Obama wants to finish the health care debate first? For his part, Obama denies that rumor.

Of course he does.

Obama lamented yesterday the "strategy that had gone awry" in Afghanistan and the loss of "focus." In his great military strategist wisdom, he suggests that our "overarching strategy" should be to capture and kill bin Laden. Why didn't anyone else think of that?!

(H/T: Memeorandum)

A Soildier is Captured in Afghanistan

This is dreadful news:

A U.S. soldier missing from his base in eastern Afghanistan since Tuesday is believed to have been captured by Taliban militants, the military said Thursday...Military officials in Afghanistan, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the situation, said the missing soldier appears to have walked off his base into an unsecured area...A member of the Taliban linked to insurgent leader Sirajuddin Haqqani in Pakistan said that the soldier is in the custody of militants from the Haqqani network who are operating on the Afghan side of the border.

The Washington Post has the rest.

The BBC has this: "Another Haqqani commander, Mullah Sangeen, told Reuters the soldier would be held until Taliban fighters detained by the US were released."

The is the same group that New York Times reporter David Rohde was trying to meet with when he was kidnapped last November. Rohde escaped two weeks ago.

Say a prayer for this soldier and his family. While the media will be focusing on Michael Jackson and the motorcade to Neverland, the rest of us might take time to remember those that are truly in harm's way.

Unemployment, Health Care, Protests, and a Luau

A quick look-around of the news sites today gives me this:

On Iran: "Iranian state TV is reporting that the daughter of former President Hashemi Rafsanjani -- a senior cleric and an architect of the 1979 Islamic Revolution -- has been arrested along with four other relatives."

On Iraq: "The death toll from an attack near the Iraqui city of Kirkuk - the deadliest in Iraq for more than a year - has risen to at least 72, security officials say. About 200 people were injured in the truck bombing, which flattened dozens of mud-brick houses."

In Afghanistan: "Two U.S. soldiers were killed and six others wounded Sunday in a rocket attack inside a heavily fortified compound in Afghanistan, the military said."

On Health Care: "As Republicans stepped up attacks on Obama's ambitious health care plan, members of both parties were staggered by early cost estimates of $1 trillion or more for proposals that still left millions of people without health insurance."

On Inspector General Gerald Walpin: "Mr. Gerald Walpin was/is an Inspector General of the United States that from all outside appearances was initially fired by President Obama for doing his job, and by all accounts, apparently illegally to boot."

North Korea: "A U.S. Navy destroyer is tailing a North Korean ship suspected of carrying illicit weapons toward Myanmar in what could be the first test of new U.N. sanctions against the North over its recent nuclear test, a leading TV network said Sunday."

Palau: "The Obama administration's drive to close the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, has hit a new snag: At least some of the 13 detainees accepted for resettlement by the island nation of Palau don't want to go there."

On unemployment figures: "The unemployment picture in all but two US states deteriorated in May as the jobless rate in more than a quarter of them exceeded 10 percent."

In Washington: President Obama, a son of Hawaii, is re-branding the annual White House picnic for members of Congress and their families the "Congressional Luau." The popular South Lawn cook-out takes place this Thursday night, according to an invitation that was emailed to Hill staffers Saturday. The Congressional Luau will feature food, drink and entertainment," reads the invite. "Attire is Casual."

and "The White House hosted a cookout Friday afternoon, featuring chicken grilled with chef Bobby Flay's barbecue sauce. Flay joined Obama and other celebrities to promote fatherhood on the Friday before Father's Day. When the president appeared at the cookout in the mid-afternoon, he got some tips from Bobby Flay before sprinkling some seasoning on rib eye steaks."

Priorities.

McKiernan and the Koran

There have been some rumblings and discussion about the NYTimes article which describes Gen. David McKiernan's meeting with Afghan tribal leaders.

The offending part of the article seems to be the quote in which McKiernan is reported as saying '''I'm reading a very good book now about this part of the world. It's written in English, but it's all about you -- it's the Quran,' McKiernan said to applause. Moments later an Afghan man stood up and gave McKiernan a bright purple, red and green cloth in which to wrap the translated version of holy book."

Critics are comparing this to Obama's bow to the Saudi king, for example, or his passive response to North Korea's missile launch, or his basic non-response on the pirate issue. Critics are drawing comparisons between Obama's seeming weakness and McKiernan's appeal to Afghan tribal leaders.

I don't actually see it this way, believe it or not. The difference, it seems to me, is that McKiernan is actually dealing with locals in a specific area in which we are at war. He knows better than anybody right now what needs to be done there. I don't see anything wrong with him trying to gain the respect and attention of those people that could most help him with troublesome leaders and issues and to foster a bit of good will. It is still their country, after all. And at some point we're going to have to leave it to them.

I don't doubt or question McKiernan's concern for his troops and for their safety. I don't doubt his commitment to the mission and I think it is probably presumptuous of us here in the safety of our homes to question his motives.

This is a strategy that worked for us to some degree in Iraq and while Afghanistan is not Iraq, I think that to question McKiernan on this is unfair.

Brandon Friedman, a veteran who served in Afghanistan, says "...those who've served on the ground in both Iraq and Afghanistan understand that U.S. troops will never end an insurgency through the use of firepower and rigidity. And those who would suggest otherwise are uninformed, inexperienced, and dangerous. If we're ever going to leave Afghanistan in a relative peace, this type of approach is what it's going to take."

Also, at Infidels Are Cool, Jeff Emanuel weighs in with Infidelesto on the topic, saying, "A chief way to gain a man’s trust is by acknowledging his religion; trust me, I can tell you this from field experience. Gen McKiernan isn’t an idiot, and he certainly isn’t a “pansy,” as one commenter here referred to him. Further, the general looking over McKiernan’s shoulder — a fella by the name of David Petraeus — isn’t a pansy, either, and has done a bit of this whole defeating-terrorists and employing-counterinsurgency thing before."

There is enough for us to criticize without this one. I'm much more concerned with Obama's channeling Jimmy Carter with regard to the pirate situation and with North Korea's missiles, with Iran's nuclear presence, than with McKiernan addressing locals.

Michael Yon on Afghanistan

Don't miss Michael Yon's OpEd in The Washington Times about Obama's plan for Afghanistan.

Yon, who knows a thing or two about Afghanistan, believes that Obama's plan falls far short of what it should be. He says Obama's goal of 216,000 Afghan security forces by 2011 is nowhere near the 400,000 U.S. military forces say are necessary to secure Afghanistan.

When Obama's plan was announced last week, some members of the press called the plan "bold" but Yon begs to differ.

"Like Mr. Bush before him, Mr. Obama is trying to win the AfPak war on the cheap while minimizing political risks. He's playing safe, and any truly experienced combat leader will tell you that the surest way to lose a lot of people is to try to save all of them. Bold was the president who committed to putting a man on the moon before the end of that decade. Our current president has not committed to the relatively much easier and straightforward task of creating 400,000 Afghan security personnel during the course of his first term.

A truly bold plan would authorize the deployment of another 40,000 U.S. troops, and set a goal of 400,000 Afghan security force members by, say, 2013. The clock is ticking."

Yon contends that the longer the Afghanistan conflict draws out, the less support we will have. He says the Obama plan pulls us into a quagmire because it does not provide the necessary forces and plans for the security of Afghanistan; in fact, it would take 12 years at the rate Obama plans to train forces for us to reach the appropriate numbers.

Obama either needs to commit to the mission or get out. It remains to be seen how committed he is to Afghanistan. He appears to be committed for now with this current "surge" but is he in for the long haul? A secure Afghanistan is still a long way off. And he does not seem to be inclined to ask the Europeans for help.

Yon is most worried about losing the support of the Afghan people and that is certainly an important issue. To that end, the administration needs to make all efforts to follow the advice of the generals "on the ground" and close this one out.