AFGHANISTAN
As with much of the Mid–East, the turmoil continues. Insider attacks have thrown things into disarray and slowed exit progress.
From the Independent UK
“Kim Sengupta reports on a chaotic 24 hours that saw the Allies in disarray, the exit strategy seemingly in tatters and a dozen killed by a suicide bomb.”
Read more here
Reuters has more on it.
“NATO’s decision to scale back joint operations with Afghan forces may protect the lives of Western troops increasingly targeted by “insider attacks,” but it raises troubling new questions about President Barack Obama’s strategy to stabilize Afghanistan.
After ramping up Afghan security forces at a breakneck rate to allow for a drawdown of Western troops, NATO is coming to grips with a rash of deadly assaults by Afghan recruits who turn their guns on Western allies. Muslim rage over a film insulting the Prophet Mohammad has further stoked the risk.”
More here
Even some allies are now questioning the strategy.
From the Guardian
“For months, if not years, Britain’s defence chiefs have made it clear they are desperate to get out of Afghanistan. They have clung to the increasingly implausible claim that training and mentoring Afghan security forces was going well, indeed better than expected.
That claim has been shattered by Nato‘s decision, taken at the behest of the US, to suspend joint Nato-Afghan ground operations. The decision strikes at the heart of Nato and British strategy.”
Read more here
Which is why I find this troubling as well.
The fear of spillover into Afghanistan is a very real possibility.
From the LATimes.
“Pakistan continued to seethe Wednesday over the release in the U.S. of a movie trailer mocking Islam, as legions of protesters rallied in several large cities for a sixth day and the government signaled its own discontent by declaring Friday as a national day “of peaceful protest.””
Let’s hope it stays peaceful. More here
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Update on Lybian Embassy attack:
How is this even considered security?
Via Breitbart,
“In her daily press briefing on Tuesday, State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland admitted that she provided false information Friday about the State Department’s hiring of private security firms for the American mission in Benghazi attacked on September 11th:”
Read more here
“The State Department selected a private British firm to provide security at the American mission in Benghazi, Libya in part because it was willing to accept the “no bullets” rules of engagement signed by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Breitbart News has learned.
On Thursday, McClatchy News reported that security on the external perimeter of the Benghazi mission was limited to a party of eight Libyan nationals, five of whom were hired by a British private security firm, three of whom were hold over revolutionary militia “now considered part of Libya’s military””
and here
Update II
From Fox News Insider
“Catherine Herridge reported that it’s believed Libyan man Sufyan Ben Qumu was likely involved in the attack, and even may have led the attack on the Consulate. Qumu was previously being held at Guantanamo Bay, but was released in 2007, when he was to be taken back to his native Libya and kept in prison. However, he wasn’t detained in the country.”
“He was released by the Qaddafi regime as part of its reconciliation effort with Islamists in 2008.”
That didn’t work out well obviously. More here
Wandering Views 
The Afghanistan stituation is not good. I am reminded of when Little Bush finally admitted that a change was needed at DoD and advocated The Surge to try to bring some stability to Iraq. I will be interested to see if there is any strategy change in Afghanistan. I have seen no evidence that Obama’s expansion of the Afghan War has done any good.
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Breitbart News reported on Tuesday, Blue Mountain Group is a British security firm hired by the State Department to provide security at the American mission in Benghazi. Blue Mountain Group was chosen by State, in part, because it was willing to accept the State Department Rules of Engagement for Libya that prohibited security guards at Benghazi from carrying weapons that contained bullets.
The State Department has refused to release the document that describes the State Department Rules of Engagement for Libya to Breitbart News. On Friday, Breitbart News filed a Freedom of Information Act request to obtain the document.
Tuesday, I transmitted information I had received that “Marines” were not allowed to carry ammunition. This says “Libyan guards”. I hope they can find out what happened. It doesn’t make sense that guards would not carry loaded weapons.
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Amazing the things we wouldn’t know except for Breitbart.
We can’t depend on the MSM.
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Chas
Breitbart’s piece is compiled from regular media sources. Long citations to the work of actual journalists.
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Coyote Blue, I meant to let you know yesterday that I appreciate your participation on this blog. This might well turn into a “I hate Obama more than you do” echo chamber without your input.
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Max Boot in a Commentary piece, On Afghanistan, Obama Must Speak Up, writes that Obama has essentially gone AWOL from the American people. He writes:
You would think that under those circumstances it would be
all the more important for Obama, the commander-in-chief, to go on television so that he can explain what is happening to the American (and Afghan) people and reassure them that his plan for Afghanistan remains on track—or else to explain what modifications in his plans he is making to deal with the present situation. If the suspension of partnered operations is only temporary, he should make that clear so that the Taliban cannot claim that they are chasing us out. If the suspension is to be more long-lasting, he must explain what impact this will have on his exit strategy.
Instead, of course, we are treated to more radio silence from the White House over this forgotten war. Little wonder that public support for the war effort continues to crater: When there is no alternative narrative to counterbalance the gloomy reports in the news, the public naturally believes that all is lost. I don’t think that’s the case, based on what I have seen during my own visits to Afghanistan. But the battle for hearts and minds on the home front is certainly being lost—or rather not contested by a White House that clearly has other priorities.
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Not to mention his ‘not having time’ for Netanyahu, but having plenty of time for Letterman, golf and a host of other campaign type stuff…
We know what the priorities are.
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Amen to Photoguy. Just yesterday CB taught me what a Hefeheissen was. Before that I thought a Hefeweissen was a piece of mobile artillery used on the Eastern Front.
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Sails, You make excellent points. The press is giving Obama a complete pass on Afghanistan. I had the following thought this morning: We are in Afghanistan to prevent Al Qaeda from having a place to establish a base. It now looks like Al Qaeda can establish bases in Libya, Syria and maybe Egypt. We really need to rethink our Middle East policy. Unfortunately, the President has very little knowledge or experience and the VP is literally Bozo the Clown.
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We need to LEAVE the Middle East.
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We need to leave the president in the middle east….
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There is no safety in withdrawal. Radical Islam has declared war on the Great Satan and they have, and will come to us. Read the World article by Mindy Belz about the mosque in Murfreesboro, Tn.
“Abdon Kath, vice president of the center has suggested the county school board become compliant with Sharia, or Islamic law.”
“A pamphlet he sent to the board advised school adminitstrators to provide space for Muslim students to pray during the day (and warns that they may not answer a teacher
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-couldn’t contnue: during prayer times.) It warns against serving food containing vanilla extract or Dijon mustard because they contain alcohol. And it encourages school bords to employ “qualified Muslim educators: in the textbook selection process”……….
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?????????? There is a thing that happens when posting. If you click on something off the screen, you lose your courser and can’t get it back.
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Oh no you didn’t, MakeItMan! LOL!
Chas, there’s nothing about threats to our legal system that putting good American men out for slaughter in a hopeless cause will solve. What we haven’t learned is that we’re *exacerbating* the war that Radical Islamists have declared on us when we attempt to intervene over there, and inevitably do so clumsily.
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Where is the ACLU in all this?
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I know it, Chas. I get weird behavior here, too. It’s amazing how klunky these wordpress pages are, what with modern technology and all. You’d think the code would be pretty simple for a forum like this.
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Solar, one thing I have wanted from the beginning. You would think the code would be simple:
A system where the courser would highlight only that portion of text that you cross. i.e. not anticipate that you want the entire sentence or page highlighted.
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This is what happens when you have a weak President Like Barry Soetoro aka Obama.
question why did he change his name to a Muslim Name?
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On yesterday’s discussion of liberal domination of journalism, Donna brought up speculation that liberals find journalism more attractive. I found this article which argues that conservatives tend to pursue more “practical” careers while liberals pursue careers in the liberal arts.
Quite surprisingly, whatever impact college might have on students’ academic ambitions, left-leaning first-year students begin their education with a far greater interest in eventually pursuing a doctoral degree than their conservative counterparts. Whereas liberal and conservative students have very similar grades and nearly identical levels of satisfaction with their overall college experience, right-leaning students are far more likely to select “practical” majors that are less likely to lead to advanced degrees. Their emphasis on vocational fields such as business and criminal justice permits them to move directly into the workforce.
In contrast, left-leaning students are more apt to pursue majors in the liberal arts, such as sociology and philosophy, which, absent additional graduate training, provide fewer career opportunities immediately on graduation. Even within a major like political science, college seniors of different political leanings have different expectations with regard to their forthcoming careers. Whereas students on both the left and the right place a premium on securing a comfortable salary and having the time to raise a family, conservative students consistently rate these priorities as more important than do liberal students. In addition, while neither liberal nor conservative students are particularly drawn to writing original works or making a contribution to science, liberal students tend to rate these priorities as more important to their future career. In every instance where students’ career expectations might encourage them to enter a doctoral program, liberal students enjoyed an advantage over conservative students.
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Interesting article Matt.
There are so many examples of this throughout society. The difference in worldviews is quite stark. You can see those social differences played out in numerous subjects. Abortion, family values, foriegn affairs, economical issues, and how they rule the govt. Very far apart and obvious differences.
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This is what concerns me in Pakistan. Looks like peaceful is out of the question.
http://dawn.com/2012/09/20/students-protest-against-anti-islam-film-in-islamabad/
“At least 11 people were injured Thursday as police fired live rounds and tear gas to break up a large crowd of over 1,000 students, many armed with wooden clubs.
The enraged students clashed with law enforcement agencies, pelting them with stones. Several protestors were eventually able to enter the high security Red Zone.
Islamabad’s heavily-guarded diplomatic enclave is home to most Western embassies, including the US, British and French missions.”
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Thanks photoguy, I’ll tell you a secret – I’m not the President’s biggest fan but neither do I think he’s what the most conservative websites make him out to be.
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