Pentagon Delays Troop Request for Afghan War

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon has told its top commander in Afghanistan to delay submitting his request for additional troops, defense officials say, amid signs that the Obama administration is rethinking its strategy for combating a resurgent Taliban.

A senior Pentagon official says the administration has asked for the reprieve so it can complete a review of the U.S.-led war effort. “We have to make sure we have the right strategy” before looking at additional troop requests, the official said. “Things have changed on the ground fairly considerably.”

Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the U.S. commander in Afghanistan, recently completed a classified report asking for significant numbers of new American troops. Military officials familiar with the matter says the report lays out several options, including one that seeks roughly 40,000 reinforcements, which would push the U.S. military presence in Afghanistan to more than 100,000 for the first time.

But the commander has been told to delay submitting the troop request to the Pentagon at the direction of Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and other top civilian officials, according to defense officials.

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Pentagon Delays Troop Request for Afghan War

Funny… I seem to remember a time when we had Afghanistan pretty much under control, and we did it in record time. Then we traipsed off to Iraq…

This wasn’t Obama’s fault. As much as I detest Obama, this was NOT his fault, at least not in it’s inception. He truly inherited this mess, Afghanistan was a done deal and then George *Yes, I really DO have ADHD* Bush blew it ALL to hell and back.

But, NOW, you betcha, it’s Obama’s problem, even though he didn’t DO IT per se, it IS now his problem. We can’t continue to blame it ALL on Bush, even though much of it IS of his (Bush’s) doing, now it’s Obama’s turn to step up and lead, or show us what a DOUCHEBAG he really is…

Americans are divided over the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan — a key voting issue in the 2008 presidential election — according to a FOX News poll released Monday.

President Obama’s campaign was based largely on opposition to the Iraq war and support for a military strategy in Afghanistan. But just as Iraq has lost much of its political contentiousness, Afghanistan may be emerging — albeit to a lesser degree — as the “new�? Iraq.

Americans are divided on both the Afghan war itself and on its expansion, according to the latest FOX News poll.

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FOX News Poll: Americans Divided on Afghan War Effort

George W. Bush led us into Iraq, and in doing so, he cost the United States a lot more than the over 4,300 U.S. combat deaths we have suffered.

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Barack Obama and the War on Terror

If Obama were to stop some of the Dem/Libber BS with the Porkulous rhetoric, he would match up to many reasonable people in his beliefs concerning the battles in Iraq and Afghanistan, Anti-war lawmakers worry over plan for Afghanistan.

Obama appears to support the efforts in Afghanistan, “After campaigning on the promise to end one war, President Barack Obama is preparing to escalate another” and I personally know that feeling, the criticism, the being called names by the Bush Bots because of my massive disagreement with the actions we took in Iraq. Afghanistan is still a theater that needs to be pursued, but after the initial focus on Afghanistan was lost by our former POTUS, due to his obvious A.D.D. and the need to vindicate himself in *Daddy’s* eyes, Afghanistan is NOT the primary target any longer. Terror organizations have re-evaluated their operations and have diversified their theater of operations.

We are still losing troops in the War on Terror, 2 U.S. soldiers killed in Afghanistan but Afghanistan IS, well, WAS the War on Terror. Iraq had NO part in that war until George W. Bush made them a part of it. Our own Senate, Congress and Dept. of Defense, as well as the CIA and other Intelligence organizations made reports to the American people verifying the fact that Saddam and Iraq were NOT engaged in terror attacks against the USA and had NO part in the attacks of 9-11, Bush admitted that he took us to Iraq under what can only be called bad information. I have never had so much as one word to say against the efforts in Afghanistan, that WAS the right place, the right people and the right time.

There are many errors being made in this War on Terror, Bush made his fair share, Obama is well on the way to eclipsing Bush in the error department, Obama preparing order to close Gitmo. Those preparations have become orders and I am fully convinced that Obama is making one of the most critical errors of his fledgling presidency.

Obama has made NO secret of the fact that he wishes to engage in open dialog with the enemies of this nation, Biden Says US Willing to Talk to Iran. One thing I feel that must be pointed out, you negotiate from a position of strength, not desperation. Iran is directly responsible for many, if not MOST of the deaths we have suffered in Iraq, over 4,200 U.S. service personnel to date. I have a serious issue in negotiating with the powers that caused those deaths. Unless we are negotiating their unconditional surrender.

The focus of the War on Terror needs to be re-evaluated too I believe, Yemen releases 170 al-Qaida suspects, Yemen is where the U.S.S. Cole was bombed. Yemen is the hotbed of al-Qaida activity at present, organization and planning. Yemen isn’t the only place either, al-Qaida, by many different names, is active all over the world. The men that Yemen released were freed Friday and Saturday after signing pledges not to engage in terrorism. Is there anyone that actually believes that these guys are going to honor that pledge?

When you capture a terrorist, and for some odd reason you decide to release that terrorist after a period of time, you can be nearly 100% assured that he WILL return to his former occupation, terrorism. That is something that Obama just doesn’t seem to understand. I get the feeling that Obama has some childlike TRUST in the word of these people, that he has a belief that they will abide by the words they use to obtain their freedom, or, in the recently witnessed actions in Palestine, where Hamas begged for a truce only because they needed a break to re-arm and re-supply.

There are many difficulties in the War on Terror. We don’t fight an organized army, a uniformed army. An enemy fighter is a combatant one minute, then they hide their rifle and instantly become an innocent civilian, one that has MUCH public relations value to al-Jazeera and other Pro-Arab and terrorist supporting networks if they are killed. That statement is well illustrated in this story, Afghan arrested after Guantanamo release, a case of a former detainee being re-arrested and the frustration is showing, for us as well as the Afghan people.

“We are fed up,” says Ishaq Gailani, a member of President Hamid Karzai’s government. “Bagram is full of these people who are wrongly accused. They arrest everyone — a 15-year-old boy and a 61-year-old man. They arrest them because they run away from their helicopters…I would run away too if I saw them. They don’t know who is the terrorist and who is not.”

I don’t know what the Obama administration is going to actually do, I don’t think even THEY know themselves. I do know this, TALK isn’t going to get the job done. Catch and release is great if you’re fishing but it isn’t a great way to conduct combat operations, you only end up catching the same fish, over and over again.

Once the Obama administration realizes that, perhaps they will figure out a way to prosecute the War on Terror as it MUST be done, and find a way to punish those that keep this WAR going, the Princes of The Religion of Peace, the Islamic terrorists that refuse to accept anything other than submission to them or death to their enemies, these ANIMALS of Islam that refuse to allow this world to live in peace

Georgia calls for cease-fire, Moscow says troops aren’t withdrawing

TBILISI, Georgia - Russia battled Georgian forces on land and sea, reports said late Sunday, despite a Georgian cease-fire offer and its claim to be withdrawing from South Ossetia, the separatist Georgian province battered by days of intense fighting.

Russia claimed to have sunk a Georgian boat that was trying to attack Russian vessels in the Black Sea, and Georgian officials said Russia sent tanks from South Ossetia into Georgia proper, heading toward a strategic city before being turned back.

Russian planes on Sunday twice bombed an area near the Georgian capital’s airport, officials said.

The violence appeared to show Russia’s determination to subdue diminutive, U.S.-backed Georgia, even at the risk of international reproach. Russia fended off a wave of international calls to observe Georgia’s cease-fire, saying it must first be assured that Georgian troops have indeed pulled back from South Ossetia.

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Russia expands Georgia blitz

I know that Georgia is supposed to be our ally, I know we’re supposed to back our allies and support them in any way we possibly can and I fully expect that this is what the USA will do, but there IS a valuable lesson in military tactics and strategies at work here and George W. Bush needs to pay attention.

“We have made it clear to the Russians that if the disproportionate and dangerous escalation on the Russian side continues, that this will have a significant long-term impact on U.S.-Russian relations,” U.S. deputy national security adviser Jim Jeffrey told reporters.

Significant long-term impact?? OK, that’s a good thing, but Mr. Bush needs to understand, the Russians, right or wrong, are waging war the way war was meant to be waged.

You don’t WIN a war by playing tit for tat and patty-cakes, you WIN by using disproportionate force, and by using it often. You KILL as many of the enemy as you can possibly kill and you inflict as much damage on their infrastructure as you possibly can. That is the very nature of WAR, but to know that you must 1st BE a warrior, and our current leadership is anything but warrior like!

If Mr. Bush, or any future leader of this nation doesn’t have the BALLS to wage war in that manner, they have NO business being the President of the United States. And if our leadership is not prepared to use disproportionate force the next time WE go into battle, then we, as a nation of FREE people, are done for!