Don Bacon
- 590 comments
- 0 likes given
- 146 likes received
Bio not provided
Then let's formalize it -- throw the UN Charter, the effort of some very well-meaning people, into the dumpster. But we sgouldn't do that. "US security goals" -- or ANY country's security goals -- should not be paramount, rather the UN Charter, the law of the land, ought to prevail.
To maintain international peace and security,
# All Members shall settle their international disputes by peaceful means in such a manner that international peace and security, and justice, are not endangered.
# All Members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the Purposes of the United Nations.
Arms prided to "moderate elements" of anti-Syria forces quickly end up in non-moderate elements. Also there have been reports of whole moderate (FSA) units defecting to al-Nusrah, which is AQI.
Allen: "Afghan forces defending Afghan people and enabling the government of this country to serve its citizens. This is victory."
This Is What Winning Looks Like-- 3 videos dealing with the sordid conditions in Sangin, Helmand, Afghanistan
Part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKHPTHx0ScQ
Part 2
Part 3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8rRqRoCUsg&list=PL413299DC95044CED
This Is What Winning Looks Like
Part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKHPTHx0ScQ
Part 2
Part 3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8rRqRoCUsg&list=PL413299DC95044CED
"We all know the game's up."
public diplomacy = propaganda
The mission of American public diplomacy is to support the achievement of U.S. foreign policy goals and objectives, advance national interests, and enhance national security by informing and influencing foreign publics and by expanding and strengthening the relationship between the people and government of the United States and citizens of the rest of the world.
"The question will become how big should the Army be."
Actually, the U.S. doesn't require a standing army at present. There are no possibilities of needing one except illegally to invade some other third world country, and if there ever should be a need the reserves do just fine.
A standing army was never envisioned by the founding fathers, however a navy was.
The US Constitution. Article I, Section 8 - Powers of Congress
-To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years;
-To provide and maintain a Navy;
Susan Rice has a banking background, also, so the beat goes on. Another "national security" advisor with no background in the military nor in diplomacy. Matters can only get worse. Yes, Virginia, it's possible.
Young men in the military services, trained in violence to blow up stuff and kill people, have been forced by political correctness to admit women to their ranks, which is like dangling candy in front of an infant. What did they expect, the extinction of testosterone? Just say No to sex? That'll be the day, or night.
What did anyone expect of Donilon as National Security Advisor, given his background as a lawyer and registered lobbyist for scandal-riven Fannie Mae? The entire Obama administration is predominately crooks and amateurs, thus the failures everywhere.
In Singapore, Hagel's boarding of the USS Freedom was simplified because it was tied up to a pier, which is its customary place since as one Navy blogger noted, the LCS is "Camo Gray and Never Underway" because of propulsion problems. This is unfortunate because it would be interesting to see what the LCS with its light armament could conceivably be used for.
from Navy:
The SUW MP [Surface Warfare Mission module] provides fleet protection from small boats and other asymmetrical threats. The SUW MP augments the core LCS ship sensor and weapons capabilities with gun, missile, and aviation systems, providing a layered defense capable of rapidly detecting, tracking, and prosecuting small boat threats.//
The US is threatened by small boats in the South China Sea? I didn't know that. Anyhow, Chuck Hagel was impressed: ". . .And at the beginning of that effort -- I don't know if anyone not only would have recognized but would have predicted what this was all going to be about, and eventually how we were going to put the first new combat ship out here that represented so much, and so much new capacity."
So much new capacity -- heh - for only $440 million a copy. What a bargain.
This article really doesn't say anything. Karzai went to India, that's it. No decisions on anything.
And "trench warfare" in Afghanistan? What's that all about? I think that the hills and mountains of Afghanistan don't resemble Flanders' fields in the least. "It could conceivably even turn into trench warfare." No.
Why keep mentioning the border and the Durand Line, which Afghanistan doesn't recognize?
Karzai: "Afghanistan never accepts Durland Line as Pak-Afghan border."
"As the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (GIRoA) assumes greater control of its sovereignty,"
This failure by too many to recognize that Afghanistan is not a sovereign state has resulted in a non-friendly Afghan government.
"An unconventional problem requires an unconventional approach. . . . Instead of utilizing a top-down heavily military approach . . ."
We've been all through this with COIN, which has failed.
FM 3-24, Counterinsurgency: "In a COIN environment, it is vital for commanders to adopt appropriate and measured levels of force and apply that force precisely so that it accomplishes the mission without causing unnecessary loss of life or suffering. . . Ultimate success in COIN is gained by protecting the populace, not the COIN force."
"to fight the Taliban insurgency"
Actually the US military was the insurgent force when it overthrew the Afghan (Taliban) government. The Taliban is properly called a resistance force, which is why COIN is BS.
"the Afghan Local Police program, which is a defensively-oriented and part-time security force focused solely on protecting the community"
The Afghan Local Police program was a centerpiece of David Petraeus’ counterinsurgency (COIN) program in Afghanistan when he took over command after Stanley McChrystal was fired. The ALP, lacking police powers, was supposed to be a short-term fix. The ALP program has been plagued by such problems as Taliban infiltration, citizen abuse and insider attacks.
Other than that it's a good article. :-)
<I>broad recognition that warfare is not an especially glorious or attractive activity</I>
Actually, military service is increasingly "an especially glorious or attractive activity" judging from the adulatory media treatment, public recognition for active duty and veterans (all veterans please stand and be congratulated), and the huge, expensive PR recruiting campaigns which involve selling the military even to pre-teens.
And as for the poor engaged in it, that's no different from the society in general, with the lower economic classes doing the heavy lifting. That's life.
The "combat ship" Freedom is comfortably established at the dock in Singapore, fully engaged in public relations (which is all it's able to do). Check out its Facebook page.
https://www.facebook.com/USSFreedom
Odierno: "I see nothing on the horizon yet that tells me that we don't need ground forces."
So by this infantile reasoning the country should continue with its obscenely high military budget and hundreds of thousands of Pentagon-people because there is nothing visible that says not to do it. Perhaps military forces should be threat-based instead? But that would require Odierno to actually explain why the country needs half a million people in its army., a mental function he seems incapable of.
@Aviefar @alexdavis059 Why do you so love the government? Are you paid to do so, and comment on it?
Yeah, I hate it when teachers don't preach and instead open the floor to student input. I'd much rather be told what to think. /s
Baloney.
* Russia had nothing to do with the U.S. staying in Vietnam -- Washington gets all the credit.
* There is no "nihilistic slaughter" in Syria by the government. That's propaganda from a guy in Coventry England, a clothier who call himself: "Syrian Observatory for Human Rights" -- where the bogus statistics repeated by the MSM comes from.
* Iran isn't causing trouble anywhere in the world, except to set an example for non-aligned nations on how to resist US world hegemony.
@Eric_Strattoniii Eric! Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe we went at it on Ricks's site with the hawk-dove thing. Anyhow I think we agree on one thing, the inadvisability of females in combat arms, which among other things will inevitably lead to problems given the wide effects of the dangerous drug testosterone.