#1
An excerpt: On Sept. 11, the 10th anniversary of the infamous attack on the U.S., I visited another unit in Kunar province, this one near the town of Asmar. I talked with the local official who served as the cultural adviser to the U.S. commander. Heres how the conversation went:
Davis: Here you have many units of the Afghan National Security Forces [ANSF]. Will they be able to hold out against the Taliban when U.S. troops leave this area?
Adviser: No. They are definitely not capable. Already all across this region [many elements of] the security forces have made deals with the Taliban. [The ANSF] wont shoot at the Taliban, and the Taliban wont shoot them.
Also, when a Taliban member is arrested, he is soon released with no action taken against him. So when the Taliban returns [after the Americans leave in 2014], so too go the jobs, especially for everyone like me who has worked with the coalition.
Recently, I got a cellphone call from a Talib who had captured a friend of mine. While I could hear, he began to beat him, telling me Id better quit working for the Americans. I could hear my friend crying out in pain. [The Talib] said the next time they would kidnap my sons and do the same to them. Because of the direct threats, Ive had to take my children out of school just to keep them safe.
#2
This shall be at the forefront of the Afghanistan conflict. The CINC does not take it serious and the mission is sketchy. Logistics thin. It deserves to be looked at seriously.
#3
The domestication of the Dendroaspis polylepis (black Mamba) would be a more realistic and attainable goal. Afghanistan is, as the author indicates, pure folly. Anyone who says differently is motivated by something other than reality.
#5
Rebuilding what was never built to begin with is folly. Ultimately the only way to beat these savages is to be savage with them, and simply kill them, families and all, in large enough numbers to exterminate the culture. If the US are not willing to salt the earth, the US should not be there other than as directly to kill specific targets, whether they are in Afghanistan or in Pakistan. When will the US learn that Pakistan is not and ever will be a friend? They are a mentally ill nation.
#6
If Al-Qaida does move it's operations to Yemen, it should be much cheaper to operate against them.
AQ has a presence in Yemen. It would be much easier to operate against AQ for many reasons: geography, logistics, access, people who are somewhat more like allies than Afghanistan and Pakistan...
#7
If i was AlQ why move when you are looked after by Iran and Pakistan
Posted by: Paul D ||
02/07/2012 18:17 Comments ||
Top||
#8
Rebuilding what was never built to begin with is folly. Ultimately the only way to beat these savages is to be savage with them, and simply kill them, families and all, in large enough numbers to exterminate the culture. If the US are not willing to salt the earth, the US should not be there other than as directly to kill specific targets, whether they are in Afghanistan or in Pakistan. When will the US learn that Pakistan is not and ever will be a friend? They are a mentally ill nation.
The best post i have read in ages.Ask any Indian about Pakistan and they all tell you the same!
Posted by: Paul D ||
02/07/2012 18:20 Comments ||
Top||
#9
Ultimately the only way to beat these savages is to be savage with them,
You beat them with their own kind. You grind down the main trouble makers and then you pick a tribe and empower them with the necessary means and abilities and let them keep the far nastier ones on the run and down. It's a method that has worked before.
[Tripoli Post] To Degaddafinate is; to physically remove Qadaffy from Libya, a term invented by Libyans on Twitter. Libyans and the world made the unreasonable assumption that as soon as Qadaffy is removed from the country, it would immediately and automatically change gears from an armed rebellion into the building and construction mode; unfortunately this is not the case.
The transfer from a conflict zone into a productive trouble-free environment is in itself a challenging process because during the last year the country came to a screeching halt. So many issues need to be resolved to have everything back to working order.
The reasons for these delays are many. But I think that the largest obstacle is, that Libya is completely devoid of any governing mechanisms or civic institutions that can run the country. The tyrannical, one-band show tactics, that Qadaffy employed to run Libya, meant that once the country was degaddafinated, a large gaping power vacuum was created.
Though, the country is degaddafinated from Qadaffy's presence, the mindset that he saddled the country with still lives on. The Libyan people have suffered many horrendous injustices under Qadaffy's rule, which has made them very distrustful of any sort of authority. That is why they are not fully cooperating with the transitional authorities as much as they should, which is making life more difficult than it really is. It is proving counterproductive at a time when cooperation is desperately needed to keep the country on the right track.
One of the many survival tactics adopted by Libyans is a cloud of pessimism that completely envelopes them. That's because when you have low or no expectations there can be no disappointments.
Libyans briefly expelled their gloomy clouds during the revolution to experience a happiness that most of them have never before felt. But the many unfulfilled promises by the National Transitional Council, NTC, and the government, are causing these clouds of pessimism in the hearts and minds of Libyans.
Since the liberation of Libya, the NTC has taken the brunt of criticism from Libyans on a wide range of issues. The NTC may have made some errors, and tit is by no means perfect.
While some of the criticism is constructively valid and needs to be taken seriously, a large part of it is the backlash, of the Libyan people exercising the civil liberties they have regained after 42 year s of hijacking by Qadaffy and his cronies, a degaddafination after product.
The NTC should be regarded as a legislative vehicle to transport Libya from anarchy to democracy as part of a road map in a specified time frame. Therefore, and its performance should only be evaluated in performing that duty.
The Libyan people need to acknowledge that the NTC does not possess a magic wand to vanquish away their many troubles. It needs to assume its duties and refrain from interfering with other matters that fall into the jurisdiction of the government. Since the degaddafination, patience is hard to come by in Libya.
It's worth mentioning, that though El Keeb's is not an elected government, the Libyan people have great confidence in it's ability to run Libya until an elected government can take over.
During the Qadaffy era, Libya was suffering from a high unemployment rate particularly among young people. This is very peculiar in a country with such a low population. It was intentional, in order to demoralise the Libyan youth and prompt them, either to leave the country in search of a better life or stay in Libya and self-destruct.
Little did Qadaffy know that, it is these same youths who would degaddafinate Libya and hammer in the final nails in his coffin. The government is now providing these youths with several employment opportunities according to their qualifications and their wishes in order to reward them for their efforts and sacrifices, and also to keep them out of trouble and integrate them back into society.
Great strides have also been made by the interim government to put in place the foundations required for the country to start the the rebuilding stage, because the country has for far too long been deprived of the vital infrastructure.
Very few high level roads exist in the country, even in the capital, Tripoli, which is supposedly the most developed part of Libya. A recent survey revealed that only 40% of Tripoli has surfaced roads, and these few were constructed in a haphazard way below the required standards, most often lacking the lighting or gutters.
It is indeed shocking that a country with the resources that Libya has, could have been left in such a state of neglect.
The hospitals in Libya are also in a very dilapidated state. The nursing institution that is the spine of the medical profession does not even exist, which is indeed sad. I am confident that if a high level nursing college was to be set up in Libya many young men and women would be happy to enrol in it.
They would be most happy to support the brilliant Libyan doctors who are keen to serve their country but find themselves helpless, because all they can offer is a diagnosis as they don't have the equipment nor the nursing to help their patience. As such, they find themselves unwillingly having to refer their patients to hospitals outside of Libya.
Schools and universities are also in urgent need of an upgrade. This is year 2012, the era of the computer, yet most Libyan schools lack enough computers. If any, the ones they have are old and have been collecting dust in some corner. They are just dusted for exhibition purposes.
This means that teachers are denied the use of a great teaching tool. Students too are deprived the chance of becoming proficient in the use of a tool that is necessary for them to survive in this day and age.
Qadaffy spent dirhams on Libya but pocketed billions of dinars in oil revenue. What one of his sons would spend on a birthday bash by flying in international stars to perform on his private yacht is bigger than the whole country's budget for a year.
It was the norm in Libya, that in most government sectors workers' salaries were paid late, which is outrageous, especially when one considers the price of a barrel of oil and the millions of barrels that are sold every day.
But such delays were no surprise to Libyans if one recalls what one of the former dictator's sons, Muatassim once audaciously said, that is, that "what is below the ground, (in reference to Libya's oil) belongs to my father; and what is on the ground belongs to us'" referring to the various economical activities that were divided between himself and his siblings.
I hasten to add that I notice that the Libyan people were not included in that very unbalanced equation.
Due to lack of spending, the whole country's institutions have suffered, are in very bad shape and in urgent need of replacement or repair. You name it, it needs repair, whether it is schools, universities or government office buildings.
The few roads and bridges that the country has or airports and ports are in need of maintenance. Nothing seems to work efficiently. It is a miracle how Libyans were even surviving, in such miserable conditions.
These bad living conditions were the catalyst that prompted the people to rise against Qadaffy's tyranny and corruption, and degaddafinate their lives from his unbearable presence.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
02/07/2012 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
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Top|| File under: Arab Spring
#1
This editorial makes it seem like the Libyan spring was merely a desperate explosion of people pushed to their limits (which it was).
From another context (foreclosure fraud) I lift the following quote: Aristocracies who descend into unrestrained looting of the populace while neutering the legal system get insurgency.
#2
It seems to me that there is an underlying problem with all these revolutions based on unrealistic and muddled expectations.
Once the bad guy is removed there is an upsurge of positive feeling where people are looking for individual freedom, the ability to run their own lives. BUT, they also want a central power to provide them with their every whim.
You can't have a sudden onslaught of individualism at the same time that big government is being formed to run/control/provide everything that you need/want. This conflict results in what you see in Libya, Afghan, Egypt and all the other cesspits of the world.
As Rantburgurgers are well aware, the flip-side of individual freedom is individual responsibility and self reliance and there is no room for that under a big brother government be it bad or good. Lack of practice makes it mostly impossible to develop self reliance when the facade of government control crumbles.
The people have to band together without the government help or interference to provide the basic infrastructure elements of transportation, hospitals, sewage etc. This is what keeping your freedom requires, you want it, you do it.
You want it and don't do it yourself you are easy prey for every shyster promising nirvana if you just follow the new "big man".
Former Member of Russian Joint Chiefs of Staff Col.-Gen. Leonid Ivashov: Russia Is Ready to Use Military Power to Defend Iran and Syria; Attack on Syria or Iran Is Indirect Attack on Russia; U.S. in Libya Like Hitler in Poland.
#7
..read - warm water port that is not subject to be geographically limited being blocked [something Russians regardless of political slant have longed for].
#8
Warm-water ports has always been one of the underlying reasons for Tsarist, later Soviet/Stalinist, Russia's many historical attempts to control Iran.
#9
Russia's ability to project and sustain power much beyond its borders is negligible. The US is about the only power that has that capability. France and the UK can do it small scale, and China is trying to develop that capability - but Russia is simply out of the picture.
#10
...Concur with Lone Ranger - the Soviet Union Russian Federation is a danger only to places that are within walking distance. Keep in mind too that the Russian troops of today, with the exception of a few 'elite' units, are not the do-what-you're-told-and-like it troops of Communist days, not to mention the attitude of the Russian public will HAVE to be taken into account. If the people and the troops decide they aren't defending the Mad Mullahs, they won't, no matter how loud Putin and his sock puppets yell. What they could do - and assuredly will - is cut off energy supplies. Remember that the RFSR supplies a good chunk of Europe's natural gas, and a LOT of the world's oil. They could get almost the same results with that as with a full-dress invasion.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
02/07/2012 20:56 Comments ||
Top||
#11
Russia likes to agitate things to keep oil prices up. They would find a way to back out of it if push came to shove.
* DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > DE-RETROGRESSION: CHURKIN TO BIN JASSEM: IFF YOU TALK TO ME IN THE SAME TONE AGAIN .... THERE WILL BE NO QATAR AFTER TODAY.
IIUC ARTIC > AMD. CHURKIN = all but directly says that, as far as Russia is concerned, tiny Qatar is a mere Guest on the UNSC, + must keep its place as such when talking to a much bigger Power.
Like any good Diplo-doublespeak, Churkin cannot confirm or deny he threatened Qatar, only that "making [false? = real?]threats is not his style"???
versus
* RUSSIA TODAY > WAR OF NERVES IRAN: IRANIAN WARSHIPS ARRIVE IN SAUDI ARABIA, in support of Iran future naval ambitions [Global NavOps = "Blue-Water Navy] + to counter seemingly growing international "Iranophobia".
VARIOUS NETTERS/POSTERS = opine that SHIA IRAN MUST BE LOVING THE REGIONAL CHAOS + ON-GOING WEAKNESS, DIPLOMATIC FAILURES OF THE SUNNI SAUDI-LED ARAB LEAGUE, e.g. first agz Gaddafi now Baby Assad???
#2
The two apparently shook hands at the end of the meeting as McCain told Zhang, I hope you didnt interpret my remarks as anything other than the advocacy that I and others hold for every nation in the world, including yours.
Western obsession with Tibet dominates all thought towards China. Tibet is not even on the frigging radar as far as the rest of China is concerned. You know, the part of China that counts and that will decide if the government goes or stays. Tibet...puh-leez.
#4
Maybe McCain should visit McDonalds in Beijing, like Jon Huntsman did. I think a lot of people in Beijing know that McDonalds is where internal security hang out. At least that's what I was told. Imagine trying to stand outside with shades on, like Huntsman did and think you can remain anomyous. Shades of Get Smart.
#6
If history is any guide, whatever happens in China will result in millions of Chinese being killed. By who or for what purpose, if any, is anyone's guess.
#2
How come it's always the "Eve of Destruction"? Couldn't we have destruction in the morning? Is there some rule that apocalyptic conflicts start after 6 pm?
I am from Llano, which is about 25 miles down the road from Mason and my family home was on the Llano River so I think I know the mind set down there. We have our share of liberals, those that went to texas university in austin, but we also have our proud conservatives that went to Texas A&M University.
So "Don't Mess with Texas" takes on a whole new meaning when you have a bizzillion cowboys and goatherders with concealed weapon permits.
Posted by: Bill Clinton ||
02/07/2012 11:16 Comments ||
Top||
#4
Bill Clinton - Concealed Weapons? In Texas?
Couple years agao an old widow lady asked me to come over to her house (a 200 acre ranch) to help her setup her email. After no less than 3-4 minutes the door bell rings. She checks who it is and then opens the door where I see a cowboy staring at me with a 30-30 rifle in his right hand (the next door neighbor just checking in to make sure the strange car in the drive way was friendly folk visting).
These guys had an uncanny tendency to ease up on strangers and be next to them before they knew anyone was around, fully armed at that in that part of ranch country.
#5
Concealed weapons? Naw, they were out in plain sight.
There were enough weapons in the parking lot at Llano High School to start a revolution. We had about 300 students, most of whom drove to school from out in the sticks, so that would be about 200 pickup trucks each with a rifle rack containing a 30-30, a 12 ga and a .22, and I almost forgot usually a .357 or .45 auto in the glove compartment. Never had a shooting at a dance or at a football game...too many weapons.
Of course, now you can be permanently expelled from a school for having a TOY pistol in your back pack or a two inch knife..when most of us carried a 4 inch case knife in our boots.
Times change...if the drug cartels want some big trouble, they should continue to screw with Texas...there are some folks in South Texas that make Comanches studder.
Posted by: Bill Clinton ||
02/07/2012 13:54 Comments ||
Top||
#6
Bill Clinton - On the same page.
When I was a kid in small town Texas, during quail or squirel season, 4 of us young teenagers walking through town with 410s and 12 gauge rifles meant to the locals we were going hunting out in the woods and pastures just outside the town (with permission "don't shoot the cows").
A group of teens walking through town now like that and you know the rest of the story. Nice chatin with you.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[Tripoli Post] To Degaddafinate is; to physically remove Qadaffy from Libya, a term invented by Libyans on Twitter. Libyans and the world made the unreasonable assumption that as soon as Qadaffy is removed from the country, it would immediately and automatically change gears from an armed rebellion into the building and construction mode; unfortunately this is not the case. 
Libyans briefly expelled their gloomy clouds during the revolution to experience a happiness that most of them have never before felt. But the many unfulfilled promises by the National Transitional Council, NTC, and the government, are causing these clouds of pessimism in the hearts and minds of Libyans.
It's worth mentioning, that though El Keeb's is not an elected government, the Libyan people have great confidence in it's ability to run Libya until an elected government can take over.
It is indeed shocking that a country with the resources that Libya has, could have been left in such a state of neglect.
But such delays were no surprise to Libyans if one recalls what one of the former dictator's sons, Muatassim once audaciously said, that is, that "what is below the ground, (in reference to Libya's oil) belongs to my father; and what is on the ground belongs to us'" referring to the various economical activities that were divided between himself and his siblings. 
