McCain Destroys Barbara Boxer: Boxer Never Supported Victory Video

Barbara Boxer is the most bitterly partisan, most anti-defense Senator in the U.S. Senate today. How does John McCain know this? He tells you in the video.

John McCain Destroys Barbara Boxer

Posted by Maggie @ Maggie's Notebook

Afghan Women Self-Immolation Growing

Among the most hopeless people on the face of the earth are Muslim woman - everywhere. And one of the countries plagued by self-immolation or suicide by fire, is Afghanistan, where women are killing themselves in record numbers, or at least trying...women who cannot deal with divorce because they lose their children. Death is sometimes better.

Dr. Sayed Naim Alemi, director of the regional hospital in Herat, said that there have been 85 cases of attempted suicide at his hospital alone over the past six months, double the number from previous years. Of those, 57 women succeeded in taking their own lives.

Their marriages are arranged and the father's treat their daughters like a puppy litter, but with less benevolence. On weekends here in Tulsa, I see dog breeders on the side of our busy 71st Street with a little fenced area on the grass, full of puppies. We can stop and pick out our puppy. Some are giveaways. Some we pay for. Same with Muslim fathers in Islamic countries: Who wants my daughters? And which one do you want? Please, if you are a Muslim man, don't bother explaining the sacred Muslim marriage to me.

Holger Awakens recently posted following story from RAWA (Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan), which is generally hyper-critical of the U.S., but doesn't shy from the issue of women abused and murdered by their husbands and fathers:  RAWA condemns the U.S:

“Neither the occupiers! Nor the bestial Taliban and the criminal Northern Alliance; long live a free and democratic Afghanistan!”

I don't think there anything on the RAWA site explaining how these women will bring about a "free and democratic Afghanistan." Allah certainly isn't helping.

• Every 30 minutes, an Afghan woman dies during childbirth
• 87 percent of Afghan women are illiterate
• 30 percent of girls have access to education in Afghanistan
• 1 in every 3 Afghan women experience physical, psychological or sexual violence
• 44 years is the average life expectancy rate for women in Afghanistan
• 70 to 80 percent of women face forced marriages in Afghanistan

Source: AfghanistanOnline

Poverty and illiteracy add to the hopelessness of domestic violence meted out by father's, brothers, uncles and husbands. For Afghan women, there is little to no education. Often they are no allowed to work outside the home.

 Support the women of Islam by knowing the truth. Sometimes being set on fire comes not from your own hand, but by your husband's. See this teenager who attempted suicide after thinking she broke her husband's television; and this 20 year old who lived but lost her eyelids, and Aisha whose husband sliced off her nose and ears.

*****

Afghan Muslim Women Hit the Wall of Abuse, 67 Cases of Setting Themselves on Fire Just This Year
Holger Awakens, originally published October 9, 2010

This article, from RAWA News, details a horrific trend in Afghanistan where 67 muslim women have seen such abuse and hopelessness in their lives that they have tried to commit suicide by setting themselves on fire.

From the article:

"I was crazy angry at that time. I wanted to kill myself and I thought that it would be a quick death," said the 20-year-old who has been a second wife for five years. "But it wasn't."

As shocking and gruesome as the practice is, self-immolation is not unusual among young women in Afghanistan, where women are often seen and treated as the property of men.

Some experts, such as Dibi Hareer of the small German-based charity Medicale Mondiale, say the phenomenon is growing, the reasons embedded in "Afghan customs and traditions that are stronger than laws".

"She was found 15 days after setting herself alight. She was found by accident by a human rights group. Her brother-in-law and father-in-law had raped her, so she wanted to kill herself," Jalalai said.

Many of the women who do make it to hospital discharge themselves after a few days, he said, inviting infection that probably kills them later.

The misery, the death, the destruction and the horror of islam just keeps churning away across this world ...ironically at the same time that there is the big push here in the West for "understanding" and "tolerance" and "building bridges."

We have a man such as Geert Wilders who has simply brought the message of truth about Islam to the Western world - he has simply tried to warn us, show us the types of things this article shows and at this very moment, Wilders is fighting to keep himself out of prison in his home country of the Netherlands.

I've said it before...if you are a muslim woman in childbirth and at that moment your child enters the world and you discover that you have a daughter...you must begin to weep....not in joy but in fear of what your newborn baby girl will endure here on Earth.

Desperation drives abused Afghan women to death by fire
HERAT, Afghanistan — In the refined, cultured and historic Afghan city of Herat, 67 young women have been admitted to the main hospital this year after setting themselves on fire.

Halima is the most recent. She arrived earlier this month with third-degree burns to 30 percent of her body after dousing herself in diesel oil and setting it alight during a family argument.

Her torso and one of her arms -- the one that did not pour the oil -- are swaddled in thick bandages, the charred and blackened fingers on her right hand poking through. Every now and then she winces in pain.

It had been a furious row, she said, with her husband's first wife, whom she accused of supplying him with opium.

"I was crazy angry at that time. I wanted to kill myself and I thought that it would be a quick death," said the 20-year-old who has been a second wife for five years. "But it wasn't."

As shocking and gruesome as the practice is, self-immolation is not unusual among young women in Afghanistan, where women are often seen and treated as the property of men.

Some experts, such as Dibi Hareer of the small German-based charity Medicale Mondiale, say the phenomenon is growing, the reasons embedded in "Afghan customs and traditions that are stronger than laws".

At Herat General Hospital's burns unit, Dr Aref Jalali has been keeping statistics on self-immolation since about 2002, and said he admits eight to ten cases of self-immolation a month. In June, he said, there were 20.

"Of the 67 cases so far this year, 33 died, 15 discharged themselves from the hospital and never came back, and the others are fine," he told AFP while standing at Halima's bedside.

"It might be that there are five to 10 cases a month of young women setting themselves on fire that we never see, they are a long way from the city and so they cannot get here in time to get life-saving treatment.

"Or it could be that they are not helped by their families, they are just left to die," he said, relating the case of one young woman who was found locked in a barn weeks after attempting self-immolation.

"She was found 15 days after setting herself alight. She was found by accident by a human rights group. Her brother-in-law and father-in-law had raped her, so she wanted to kill herself," Jalalai said.

Many of the women who do make it to hospital discharge themselves after a few days, he said, inviting infection that probably kills them later.

Since 2007, Jalali has seen between 50 and 95 cases of self-immolation a year, but numbers are up 40 percent this year, he said, adding: "I believe the real number is much higher than the cases we see but there is no strategy for dealing with this phenomenon."

Jalali has set up a research foundation called Nejat, meaning rescue in Dari, which he hopes will gather enough information to be able to help put a stop to what he calls a "horrifying trend".

-- Traditions stronger than laws --

Afghanistan's lack of social development is blamed for the way women are treated, with much of the horror attributed to tradition and religion.

The Muslim country is pious and conservative and the spread of the Taliban's hardline Islamist insurgency has seen more women retreat behind all-enveloping burqas amid objections to plans by President Hamid Karzai to open peace talks.

There has been little improvement in the lot of women in rural areas despite the introduction of constitutional rights after the Taliban's brutal regime was overthrown in late 2001.

Afghanistan remains a society mired in misogyny, with most women confined to their homes, unsocialised and uneducated, with no control over their lives.

"Forced marriages lead to problems, young women married to old men, sold, swapped for sheep or even opium. Sometimes girls are engaged as babies to baby boys -- this is common outside the cities and it leads to some of the problems of the women who come in here," Jalali said.

"Women are seen as chattels, they are treated as animals, when they are at home they face constant discrimination and when they are forced into underage marriages nothing changes.

"They feel more pressure from their abusive husbands and equally from women, mainly mothers-in-law. They sometimes go to mullahs and community councils to ask for help, but even there they face humiliation and abuse," he said.

"They finally set themselves on fire in an act of utter desperation."

The vast majority of the women he sees are aged between 15 and 25 years old, he said, up to 85 percent of them impoverished, illiterate and "unable to deal with problems within their families".

Their desperate cry for help rarely results in any improvement in their lives and if they survive can lead to even more problems, Jalali said.

"They have terrible scarring, the situation at home rarely changes, police investigate and they don't tell the truth, saying their burns are from an accident."

Sometimes, the women will appeal to the village elders, whose councils are called "shuras," for mediation, but tradition rules and little changes.

"The shuras often tell them to go back to their homes, which doesn't deal with, let alone overcome any of the problems that led to this situation in the first place," Jalali said.

In an effort at least to draw attention to the issue, Afghanistan's public health ministry has declared October 10 Self-Immolation Day.

Ghulam Sakhi Kargar Noor Ogholi, ministry spokesman, said the idea was to involve schools and mosques in a public information campaign to stop the practice that "takes the lives of hundreds of women".

For Jalali, education is the key to change.

"No forced marriages," he said emphatically.

"We must start in the schools, we must use the media and the mullahs at the mosques to get the message across. We need to set up centres that focus on young women, helping them learn how to deal with and solve their problems.

"I come across many women who want to burn themselves, which means they have already reached the very extreme of what they can tolerate," he said.

"Here, we give them counselling on how to deal with their problems. So tolerance and awareness are the biggest factor in improving their lives when they leave here, because very little else is going to change."

Aisha's Surgery After Afghan Husband Mutilates Her

You will probably remember the startling magazine cover of the beautiful young Afghan woman, Aisha, looking into the camera with a large portion of her nose missing. Another tragic story of a woman's life as a Muslim wife in an Islamic country. See a video below.

Aisha

The TIME magazine cover was shocking but this lovely and courageous woman of only 19-years-old  wanted the world to know about her plight...to see what happened to her as she tried to escape from her marriage to a Taliban thug who sliced her nose and ears off.

"When they cut off my nose and ears, I passed out," she told CNN. "In the middle of the night it felt like there was cold water in my nose. I opened my eyes and I couldn't even see because of all the blood."

After being left for dead in the mountains, she crawled to her grandfather's house and was taken to an American medical facility.

Following time time at a shelter in Kabul, she was flown to the US by the Grossman Burn Foundation in August and stayed with an American family.

This month, she had a prosthetic nose fitted at the West Hills Hospital. Dr Peter H Grossman said they hoped to give Aisha a more "permanent solution".

This might involve rebuilding her nose and ears using bone, tissue and cartilage from other parts of her body.

What happens now to Aisha? Can she stay in the U.S.? Does she want to? How many Aisha's are out there? Aisha's TIME cover asks: What Happens If We Leave Afghanistan? A good follow-up statement to that question is, God Bless America as America continues to bless the World with courage and compassion.




Jodi Bieber - Portraits of the Women of Afghanistan (video)
Posted by Maggie@Maggie's Notebook

Warlords, Iranian Spies Hired to Guard US Troops in Afghanistan

Barack Obama refused to send the Afghanistan command the full measure of troops asked for. Is this why "Iranian spies," "Warlords" "thugs," AND "TALIBAN COMMANDERS" are hired to protect our troops? Why can't our troops protect themselves?

U.S. Army Sgt. Sharanjit Dhaliwal helps one of his soldiers across a narrow path during a presence patrol in Zabul province, Afghanistan, Sept. 18, 2010. Dhaliwal is assigned to the 1st Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Joshua Grenietalion, 4th Infantry Regiment. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Joshua Grenier

The report, published by the Senate Armed Services Committee, says lax oversight and "systemic failures" have led to "grave risks' to US forces, including instances where contractors have employed Afghan subcontractors who were "linked to murder, kidnapping and bribery, as well as Taliban and anti-coalition activities." The chairman of the committee, Sen. Carl Levin, D.-Michigan, said the report was evidence that the US needs to reduce its reliance on contractors. "We need to shut off the spigot of US dollars flowing into the pockets of warlords and power brokers who act contrary to our interests," said Sen. Levin.

The chaotic system left US facilities and personnel vulnerable to attack. The report found that some Afghan security guards simply walked off their posts at remote forward operating bases. 

Well, shout out to Senator Levin: do what the Generals have asked of you, and send them the troops needed to be safe in their own compounds.

Who can even conceive of Taliban commanders and Iranian spies standing guard over American military facilities?

Dove Koran Burning Back On: Koran Burning Protestor Dead in Afghanistan

Dove's Pastor Jones says his Koran-burning event is back on. A Muslim man in Afghanistan was shot dead by Nato troops during a protest of the U.S. Koran-burning, which has not yet happened.

 Terry Jones - Koran-Burning Back On

Thousands poured into the streets from mosques, after prayers, with as many as many as 10,000, hurling rocks. Yeah, well, we haven't burned any Korans so far, but these moderate, mosque-going Muslims got off their knees after prayer and attacked anyway. Were any of them praying for peace? Were any of them praying for peace for the U.S.? Were any of them praying for a peaceful countenance for their fellow extremists? Were any of them praying for the attraction of jihad to leave the Muslim communities world-wide? Were any of them praying for those who died on September 11, 2001? I don't think so.

In London thousands of people gathered at the Ahmadiyya Muslim mosque, in Morden, to hear Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, the world head of the community, denounce the US pastor.

"Religious extremism, be it Christian extremism, Muslim extremism, or any other kind is never a true reflection of the religion" he said.

Demonstrations against the desecration of Islam's holy book prompted threats of attacks on US bases elsewhere in Afghanistan. Protests were held in Kabul and near the Pakistan border.

"If they do this, we will attack American bases and close the highway used by convoys supplying American troops," a cleric called Zahidullah told the Reuters news agency.

Pastor Terry Jones said yesterday he has cancelled the book burning, believing the Ground Zero mosque developers promised they would move the mosque. That turned out to be untrue, so now Jones, who apparently has protested the funerals of our Military with the vile Westboro Baptist Church, says he is rethinking the situation and for now, the burning is back on his calendar.

Speaking outside his Dove World Outreach Centre church in Gainesville, Jones said: "As of right now, we are not cancelling the event, but we are suspending it." 

By the way, Jones has been dismissed from the board of a church he founded in Germany, not for the threat of burning Korans, but for "mistreating his followers." And they want no part of the Koran burning. This reminds me of Jim Jones of the People's Temple in Guyana who convinced more than 900 members of his church in exile to drink poisoned Kool-Aid, which they did, and they all died.

John Bolton Presidential Bid?

Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton, was asked three times in an interview if he will consider a run for the presidency. Three times Bolton did not say 'no,' but he also did not say 'yes.' The  usually straight-talking Bolton alluded to not being electable, but said his candidacy would raise the profile of national security - and that would be a good thing.

John Bolton

In an interview with the Daily Caller's Jamie Weinstein, Bolton answered the first question of a possible presidential run by saying he was honored that anyone would even ask the question. Acknowledging that the economy is first on everyone's mind, he astutely reminds us that "our adversaries overseas are not going to wait for us to get our economic house in order."

Asked again, DC says Bolton "seemed to suggest" that his presence in the race would escalate the national security conversation.

Asked a third time, he said he would not do "anything foolish" because he understands how the media works and that understanding would be a part of any decision he makes.

Bolton is a constant critic of the Obama administration. Everything Obama has done in Afghanistan, Bolton believes he was forced to do, and he believes Obama will never strike Iran. He is equally as critical of Obama's domestic agenda.

Asked if he gives any credit at all to the president for increasing drone attacks against terrorists in Pakistan and elsewhere, and tripling  troop levels in Afghanistan – both moves that have upset his left flank – Bolton said they were moves the president was forced to take.

“Well, certainly he has done things that have been unexpected in Afghanistan and certain aspects of the Terrorism. I think those are steps he has taken because it has been impossible – even for him – to avoid taking them,” Bolton proffered. “For example, much of what he has done in terms of interrogation or Guantanamo Bay or aspects of the War on Terrorism are things that are driven either by the imperative of defending executive branch prerogatives under the Constitution or because he has come to realize that the Bush administration looked at a lot of alternatives and couldn’t find any. So it is not that he has done these things happily or willingly.”

Bolton has been the lone voice crying-out in the wilderness, and echoing you and me, national security before all else - or else it will be too late, and that the United Nations is deceitful and wholly corrupt - and wholly against Israel. I would welcome John Bolton into the race for president. It is a sad commentary on our nation that a brilliant man who ultimately supports peace through strength would be lynched and worse by the media. Oh, Ran at Si Vis Pacem asks: ...but what if he ran as Sarah's Veep?

Tom Little America Optometrist Killed in Afghanistan

An American optometrist is among the dead medical workers in Afghanistan. He has worked in Afghanistan for 30 years.

Dr. Tom Little and Libby Little 

BBC:

Team leader Tom Little spent more than three decades in the country, a leading member of the IAM team working with the Noor Eye Institute. One of his students was former Afghan foreign minister Dr Abdullah Abdullah who told us: "Dr Little travelled the length and breadth of Afghanistan, treating thousands and thousands of Afghans."

From the Bethlehem Times Union, Dr. Little lived in Delmar, Pennsylvania NewYork, but:

...has a Delmar home but, with his wife, Libby, has spent most of the past three decades in Afghanistan, is believed among the dead. One of the local churches that supports the Littles’ work, First Presbyterian in Schenectady, put out word to its congregation on Friday that Tom Little had been killed. 

In his 30 years in Afghanistan, Dr. Little cared for and operated on thousands of Afghan men, women and children. It’s quite possible he cured the eyesight of the Taliban man who shot him to death.

This report says the group was murdered by Taliban in the Badakhshan Province, although earlier reports have named the Nuristan Province. Information seems to be somewhat confusing on where the Americans were shot down. For now I'll leave this report and the three linked herein, and perhaps we'll know the truth before long.

Taliban Kills 6 American Civilians in Afghanistan

A British doctor and 6 Americans were lined-up, robbed and shot on Friday, August 6th. The first reports say they were doing mission work with International Assistance Mission (IAM). A total of ten are dead, including Afghans.

Nuristan, Afghanistan - American Troops

The Taliban complaint against the group is that they were teaching Christianity and spying for America. Just my opinion here, but there is an abundance of need in non-Islamic countries. I wish our good-hearted Christians would use their energy for good works in those safer, but worthy area.

Zabihullah Mujahed, a Taliban spokesman said "They were Christian missionaries and we killed them all." The British physician, Dr. Karen Woo worked in an eye clinic in the remote Nuristan province. Her convoy was attacked as the group returned to Kabul. A shepherd reportedly found the bodies with passports missing.

Two Afghans with the group escaped, one said he recited passages from the Koran. This report says the local villagers warned the group of the danger of the area they were passing through.

The director of the International Assistance Mission charity, Dirk Frans, said the group's medical team was last heard from Wednesday as the aid workers were returning to Kabul from an eye clinic in Nuristan.

Their bullet-riddled bodies were discovered Friday in Badakhshan, where the team was traveling through believing it to be safer. 

The Taliban has claimed responsibility for killing the group, which also included a German, a Briton and two Afghans. 

The names of the dead found with Dr. Woo in Afghanistan have not been released.

Rush Limbaugh on Obama's Victory in Iraq Video

Speaking to a group of Veterans this week, Obama said there were patriots for the war, and patriots against the war, but there has been no daylight between either side on the support of the troops. Limbaugh sets the record straight.

"Watch Rush on video-cam as he goes back in time and exposes Obama's hypocrisy. Read more at The Daily Caller.


Limbaugh on Obama's Victory in Iraq (video)

Julian Assange Arrest Warning from White House? Bradley Manning Held in Secret Kuwait Jail?

Julian Assange, the Wikileaks editor-in-chief, says he has been warned by sources inside the U.S. government that he may be detained or arrested if he returns to the U.S.  The Drudge Report headline saying the source is from the White House is taken from a Telegraph headline - but there is nothing in the Telegraph article claiming the White House is involved. PFC Bradley Manning, a U.S. Army intelligence analyst, is under arrest for funneling the classified information to Wikileaks. Assange also says the U.S. is trying to "hide" Manning from effective civil representation in a secret Kuwait jail which is "a second Guantanamo Bay."

Julian Assange - Wikileaks

Assange says his government sources say he will be charged as a co-conspirator to espionage if he returns to the U.S. Wikileaks leaked 92,000 pages of classified military document about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, with more to come. He claims he gave the information to the White House weeks before he posted the documents online, and he asked if there was anything the White House wanted redacted, but received no response. The White House basically said Assange was lying and they knew nothing about the documents.

The 39 year-old told journalists at the Frontline Club last night that US government insiders had informed him about discussions to charge him as a co-conspirator to espionage.

An Australian, Julian Assange, takes classified intelligence documents from a disgruntled member of the U.S. Military and is warned by our own government that he should not enter the U.S. I have to ask what is happening to our Military? They can't keep a PFC in line? Why did a PFC have access to classified documents, or at least the ability to retrieve them? And what is the real story? Are White House sources in touch with Assange or the State Department...what's up the Telegraph's headline?

Mullah Omar in Pakistan Custody?

Some Taliban believe the leader of their jihad, Mullah Mohammed Omar, may be in the custody of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). With more proof this week that Pakistan plays it both ways with the U.S. and Afghanistan, perhaps we should ask if Omar, known as the One-Eyed Sheikh, is being hosted by Pakistan. This Newsweek article takes a look at the dynamics depending on Pakistan to root out Taliban, while providing the U.S. questionable intelligence.

Omar infamously brought back the Pashtun tribal practices of unkempt beards for men, no education for women, no music, no photos or drawings...even no kite flying. This article is an interesting look at Mullah Omar, the illusive warlord.

Jarod Newlove 2nd Navy Sailor Found Dead in Afghanistan

If you've been following the story of the two Navy sailors missing in Afghanistan, sad news today that a second body has been found, that of Petty Officer 3rd Class Jarod Newlove.

Petty Officer 2nd Class Jarod Newlove

The two men are believed to have driven into a hostile area after visiting a local market in Logar. The Taliban said one man was dead, and Petty Officer 2nd Class Justin McNeley's body was found this week. McNeley was from Wheatridge, Colorado, 30-years-old and the father of two small children.

It was believed Newlove was captured and held by the terrorists for a prisoner exchange. More as details become available.

Missing US Navy: One Dead One Captured by Taliban

Sad news this morning. An Afghan official says one of the two missing US Navy members is dead and the other held captive by the Taliban. The terrorist organization is offering to exchange the body of the dead American and the captive for the release of imprisoned insurgents in US custody. Ongoing updates as available. See an important update below.

Missing U.S. Navy in Afghanistan

US Army ABC is reporting:

...the two men ignored warnings and set out on their own from the base into a known Taliban-held area, and after an exchange of gunfire the two were captured.

 The CSMonitor says the two men were seen in their armed Toyota Land Cruiser. There are reports that the local police tried to flag them down before they got to the insurgents area. Taliban saw the men in the market, watched them drive toward danger and "warned fellow militants down the road to prepare an ambush."

 The graphics above are the leaflets distributed by the U.S. Military to Afghan civilians as they searched for the missing US Navy men. More when available.

Update 7-27-10
The remains of one of the sailors has been found in Eastern Afghanistan. The search is still on for the second missing man.

Bill Kristol Calls for Michael Steele's Resignation: Steele Tries to Recover

The Weekly Standard's Bill Kristol asked Michael Steele to resign his position as Chairman of the Republican party, after saying Afghanistan is a "war of Obama's choosing."

Michael Steele

Steele's exact words:

"Keep in mind again, federal candidates, this was a war of Obama's choosing. This was not something that the United States had actively prosecuted or wanted to engage in." And, "if [Obama] is such a student of history, has he not understood that you know that's the one thing you don't do, is engage in a land war in Afghanistan?"

What was Steele thinking? He has had some gaffes in the past but this one shows a blatant ignorance of the war in Afghanistan.

Kristol's retort:

Needless to say, the war in Afghanistan was not "a war of Obama’s choosing." It has been prosecuted by the United States under Presidents Bush and Obama. Republicans have consistently supported the effort. Indeed, as the DNC Communications Director (of all people) has said, your statement "puts [you] at odds with about 100 percent of the Republican Party."

Steele has tried to answer. The Weekly Standard has printed a new statement, time-stamped 4:10 p.m. EDT July 2, 2010. Read it here. It answers nothing, but does make clear there is no way Steele could 'splain himself.

Petraeus Adjusts Rules of Engagement in Afghanistan

Fox is just announcing General David Petraeus will "adjust" or "modify" the Rules of Engagement for the War in Afghanistan. The current method used is far too restrictive. More as details become available.

From Fox News:

A military source close to Gen. David Petraeus told Fox News that one of the first things the general will do when he takes over in Afghanistan is to modify the rules of engagement to make it easier for U.S. troops to engage in combat with the enemy, though a Petraeus spokesman pushed back on the claim.

Troops on the ground and some military commanders have said the strict rules -- aimed at preventing civilian casualties -- have effectively forced the troops to fight with one hand tied behind their backs. The military source who has talked with Petraeus said the general will make those changes. Other sources were not so sure, but said they wouldn't be surprised to see that happen once Petraeus takes command.

From MarineTimes:

Troops in Afghanistan have frequently complained they are hindered - and sometimes put at risk - by the overly restrictive rules of engagement, which have limited night operations as well as air and artillery support.

The change of command from Gen. Stanley McChrystal to Gen. David Petraeus provides an opportunity to re-think the rules of engagement. 

"The president has established strategy," [Secretary of Defense] Gates said. "But from my perspective, Gen. Petraeus will have the flexibility to look at the campaign plan and the approach and all manner of things."

From ArmyTimes on McChrystal:

Gates saying that if it hadn’t been for the magazine’s portrayal of McChrystal and his staff as generally disdainful of aspects of U.S. policy in Afghanistan and disrespectful of senior government civilians, “Gen. McChrystal would still be there, and executing … the strategy the president decided on and the campaign plan that McChrystal developed.”

Slightly Hilarious: McChrystal Bans Fox News

Didn't we think the exemplary rock-solid, magnificent warrior, General Stanley McChrystal was surely a conservative? Before the Rolling Stone article, did you assume the General was not happy with the COIN strategy of insurgency, largely meaning "winning the hearts and minds of the Afghan people?" Wouldn't you think the mighty General commanding the Afghanistan war would want his troops to have a supportive view from back home of the war they are fighting? Did you know that around McChrystal's headquarters, he banned Fox News? Apparently, Chris Matthews, Keith Olbermann, Katie Couric, Diane Sawyer, and maybe - Christiane Amanpour are his kind of war reporters.

Stanley McChrystal

Not only is the hearing of free speech denied, but junk food as well - although I want to make it clear that pizza must not...cannot, be defined as "junk food," and to do so is heresy:

General Stanley McChrystal, the former commander of Special Forces in Iraq, who runs eight miles a day, eats one meal and sleeps for only four hours a night, has given orders to close the junk food concessions on Nato bases.

No longer will the fighter pilots at Bagram or Kandahar airfields be able to ring Pizza Hut to deliver. Once General McChrystal has his way, the Whoppers will be off the menu: Burger Kings at both locations are to close. Even the newly opened TGI Friday’s on the boardwalk in Kandahar is to close its doors once its contract expires.

So, our "other" valiant warriors, out there fighting a deadly war to protect the locals, at the expense of their own lives, cannot decide on their own nourishment. If the mess hall is providing nourishing meals, why not give the troops the choice of food and news? Ah...the answer: a Liberal General thinks them incapable.

Marc Ambinder confirms that General McChrystal's vote for the president helped bring this dreadful administration to the White House:

Even more about McChrystal: now it can be told. The story about him voting for Obama is not contrived. He is a political liberal. He is a social liberal. He banned Fox News from the television sets in his headquarters. Yes, really. This puts to rest another false rumor: that McChrystal deliberately precipitated his firing because he wants to run for President.

When the Rolling Stone article broke, I expressed dismay that this fine General could approve of this version of COIN. As I began researching the Rules of Engagement for Afghanistan, who wrote them, and who supported them, I could not eliminate McChrystal from the column of enthusiastic supporters. Today we know that he and Obama were joined at the hip. The Lonely Conservative has more.

Obama Transcript on Resignation and Attempted Humiliation of General Stanley McChrystal

The following are snippets of Obama's statement on the resignation of General Stanley McChrystal. The POTUS teleprompter went well until he decided he would not miss this opportunity to humiliate the General:

Barack Obama

Today I accepted General Stanley McChrystal's resignation as commander of the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan. I did so with considerable regret, but also with certainty that it is the right thing for our mission in Afghanistan, for our military, and for our country. 

I'm also pleased to nominate General David Petraeus to take command in Afghanistan, which will allow us to maintain the momentum and leadership that we need to succeed. 

I don't make this decision based on any difference in policy with General McChrystal, as we are in full agreement about our strategy. Nor do I make this decision out of any sense of personal insult. Stan McChrystal has always shown great courtesy and carried out my orders faithfully. I've got great admiration for him and for his long record of service in uniform. 

Over the last nine years, with America fighting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, he has earned a reputation as one of our nation's finest soldiers. That reputation is founded upon his extraordinary dedication, his deep intelligence and his love of country. 

I've relied on his service, particularly in helping to design and lead our new strategy in Afghanistan. 

So all Americans should be grateful for General McChrystal's remarkable career in uniform. 

But war is bigger than any one man or woman, whether a private, a general or a president. And as difficult as it is to lose General McChrystal, I believe that it is the right decision for our national security. 

Praise for the General and then wield the petty presidential saber quickly. Obama had to attempt to humilitate:

The conduct represented in the recently published article does not meet the standard that should be set by a commanding general. 

It undermines the civilian control of the military that is at the core of our democratic system. And it erodes the trust that's necessary for our team to work together to achieve our objectives in Afghanistan....

I've just told my national security team that now is the time for all of us to come together. Doing so is not an option but an obligation. I welcome debate among my team, but I won't tolerate division...

How many times have we heard our monarchial president use the word "tolerate?" Here are a few:

1) About the Bush policy on perceived "torture." The U.S. will not tolerate torture...

2) Setting Executive Pay Limits: For top executives to award themselves these kinds of compensation packages in the midst of this economic crisis isn't just bad taste -- it's a bad strategy -- and I will not tolerate it.

3) About the Christmas Day Underpant Bomber, Obama said: While there will be a tendency for finger pointing, I will not tolerate it.

4) Connecting the dots on the Christmas Day bomber: Intelligence failing to connect the dots, Obama called it unacceptable: I will not tolerate it.

5) About Israel: We must never tolerate the hateful stereotypes and prejudice against the Jewish people... (...but in fact we know, that he simply cannot tolerate Israel).

6) About the BP oil spill, speaking about BP and Transocean - the "ridiculous spectacle" of the two companies blaming each other, and their cozy relationship: "I will not tolerate more finger pointing or irresponsibility

Obama went on to talk about his unwavering support for our Military and announced the nomination of General David Petraeus for Commander of the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan.


Read the entire article here.


Linked by The Lonely Conservative - thanks Karen!

McChrystal Leaves White House Without Attending Obama's National Security Meeting

Obama and General Stanley McChrystal met for about 30 minutes this morning. McChrystal left the White House after the meeting, rather than staying for  the President's monthly National Security meeting, beginning at 11 a.m. EDT.  Fox is watching this closely and there are no reports that the General came back to the White House. Surely, the General would not have missed that meeting. Assuming McChrystal is no longer in charge of Afghanistan, I hope he showed up with his resignation in hand.

US Pays Afghan Warlords Taliban for Protection: Troop Supplies Delivered by Warlords

In a U.S. House report titled Extortion and Corruption Along the U.S. Supply Chain in Afghanistan, we learn the U.S. pays warlords for "protection. Worse, they have complete access to the supplies delivered to our troops in battle. It is another story of unintended consequences. See a video below.

U.S. House of Representatives 

The report makes clear that millions and millions of taxpayer monies are going to the wrong side of the war in Afghanistan.  Also clear is that Congress requires the DOD to provide oversight of the Host Nation Trucking contract, and they have not done so. Not only can Congress not control their own spending, they can't control the DOD either.

From Eyeblast: The DOD signed a $2.1 billion Host Nation Trucking (HNT) contract. These trucks get the food and supplies to our troops - 200 bases in Afghanistan. The report shows 7 areas of corruption. Here are snippets:

1) Security for the U.S. Supply Chain is Principally Provided by Warlords.
The principal private security subcontractors on the HNT contract are warlords, strongmen, commanders, and militia leaders who compete with the Afghan central government for power and authority. Providing “protection” services for the U.S. supply chain empowers these warlords with money, legitimacy, and a raison d’etre for their private armies.


2) The Highway Warlords Run a Protection Racket
The HNT contractors and their trucking subcontractors in Afghanistan pay tens of millions of dollars annually to local warlords across Afghanistan in exchange for “protection” for HNT supply convoys to support U.S. troops. Although the warlords do provide guards and coordinate security, the contractors have little choice but to use them in what amounts to a vast protection racket. [If you don't pay, your convoys are under attack]


3) Protection Payments for Safe Passage Are a Significant Potential Source of Funding for the Taliban
Within the HNT contractor community, many believe that the highway warlords who provide security in turn make protection payments to insurgents to coordinate safe passage. This belief is evidenced in numerous documents, incident reports, and e-mails that refer to attempts at Taliban extortion along the road.


4) Unaccountable Supply Chain Security Contractors Fuel CorruptionHNT contractors and their private security providers report widespread corruption by Afghan officials and frequent government extortion along the road. The largest private security provider for HNT trucks complained that it had to pay $1,000 to $10,000 in monthly bribes to nearly every Afghan governor, police chief, and local military unit whose territory the company passed.


5) Unaccountable Supply Chain Security Contractors Undermine U.S. Counterinsurgency Strategy
[Outsourcing provides the DOD opportunities for focusing on the mission at hand, but has unintended consequences]


6) The Department of Defense Lacks Effective Oversight of Its Supply Chain and Private Security Contractors in Afghanistan
The Department of Defense has little to no visibility into what happens to the trucks carrying U.S. supplies between the time they leave the gate to the time they arrive at their destination. Despite serious concerns regarding operations, no military managers have ever observed truck operations on the road or met with key security providers.


[Congress requires oversight] The Department of Defense is grossly out of compliance with applicable regulations and has no visibility into the operations of the private security companies that are subcontractors on the HNT contract.


7) HNT Contractors Warned the Department of Defense About Protection Payments for Safe Passage to No Avail
DOD knows some of their contractors are being forced to pay protection] While military officials acknowledged receiving the warnings, these concerns were never appropriately addressed.

See a link to the actual report (pdf) from the Subcommittee on National Security and Foreign Affairs, Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. Rep. John F. Tierney is chair of the committee, at Eyeblast Blog.


US Pays Protection Money to Warlords and Taliban (video)

Stanley McChrystal Rolling Stone Mag: McChrystal Comes to Washington for Dress-Down or Firing

General McChrystal gave a Rolling Stone Magazine freelancer unprecedented access to the every day life of fighting the war in Afghanistan. Apparently, the writer 'came, saw, listened and wrote' and  McChrystal is now the target of Obama's wrath for some very cheeky and disrespectful remarks he and his top senior aides made. McChrystal will face his Commander-in-Chief and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates at a meeting of the administration's monthly Security Team meeting - today. By the way, Rolling Stone tells us that McChrystal voted for Barack Obama. See an important update below.

General Stanley McChrystal

The writer of the Rolling Stone piece, Michael Hastings, accompanied McChrystal to an out-post in the Kandahar area of Afghanistan. A 23-year-old soldier had just died as he entered a booby-trapped home.
Unit Commanders sought permission to blow-up the property, and that permission was denied:

One soldier at the outpost showed Hastings, who was traveling with the general, a written directive instructing troops to "patrol only in areas that you are reasonably certain that you will have to defend yourself with lethal force.

During a tense meeting with Ingram's platoon, one sergeant tells McChrystal: "Sir, some of the guys here, sir, think we're losing, sir."

This from Washington Post writers Londono and Shear (linked above):

McChrystal has championed a counterinsurgency strategy that prioritizes protecting the population as a means to marginalize and ultimately defeat the insurgency. Because new rules sharply restrict the circumstances under which air strikes and other lethal operation that have resulted in civilian casualties can be conducted, some soldiers say the strategy has left them more exposed.

So as  McChrystal let loose, and let fly, we know our troops are not fighting a war, rather they are commanded to "win the hearts and minds of the locals" and they are dying at an astonishing rate. Is this the way McChrystal wants to fight this war, or is this his best effort considering restriction placed on him by the Obama administration?

We ask what McChrystal was thinking when jokes were made about Joe Biden (who is uniquely qualified to be joked about), when he said meeting with Obama was "disappointing," the President of the United States was "unprepared," and is quoted saying National Security Adviser Jim Jones is a "clown," "stuck in 1985."

We are told McChrystal is "uniquely qualified" to lead our troops in that mean country, but is Barack Obama "uniquely qualified" to command McChrystal?

The article, titled “The Runaway General,” appears in the magazine later this week. It contains a number of jabs by McChrystal and his staff aimed not only at the President but at Vice President Biden, special envoy Richard Holbrooke, Karl Eikenberry, the ambassador to Afghanistan, and others.

McChrystal described his first meeting with Obama as disappointing and said that Obama was unprepared for the meeting. National Security Advisor Jim Jones is described by a McChrystal aide as a “clown” stuck in 1985. Others aides joked about Biden’s last name as sounding like “Bite me” since Biden opposed the surge

The media is calling for his head. Senator John Kerry, just minutes ago said nothing is more important than our mission in Afghanistan, and he advises everyone to stay cool and calm for at least a couple of days. In other words, he seems not to recommend an immediate firing. He is not alone in his opinion.

In a day and time when 17 Afghanistan pilots can be brought to the U.S. and allowed to disappear into the heart of America, and the administrative arm of the U.S. Air Force sees it as an "immigration" problem, I think we have a huge problem. Winning the hearts and minds of Muslims in a Muslim country centuries behind the rest of the world, who hang 7-year-old-boys is not going to happen. What was and is Stanley McChrystal thinking?

So what do you think? Will McChrystal be fired or only humiliated? Who knows, maybe McChrystal will quit. I think he is beyond frustrated. Any real soldier would be.

Update 6-22-12:55 a.m. EDT:

Generals run war according to the Rules of Engagement (ROE) written for a specific engagement. So if things are not going swell in Afghanistan, who wrote the rules of engagement? It appears that McChrystal and the Pentagon came up with winning the hearts and minds of the people, perhaps after Obama made it clear that that was his goal.

Going back to September 2009:

U.S. forces have been told to exercise extreme caution before ordering airstrikes.

By exercising so much restraint, the U.S. military may sacrifice a key firepower advantage on the battlefield and expose ground troops to more risk, some officers and analysts say.

"There is a tradeoff," said Col. Gian Gentile, a former battalion commander in Iraq who has publicly criticized counterinsurgency doctrine. "You reduce civilian casualties, but you potentially increase your own casualties."

Doug Macgregor, a retired Army colonel and military historian, says the emphasis on having conventional forces trying to win over the population is futile.

"You surrender whatever military advantage you have by compelling the U.S. conventional soldier or Marine to fight on terms that favor the enemy, not the American soldier or Marine," Macgregor said.

From George Will June 20, 2010, tells of Officers requesting permission to hit a location, and that permission being denied - Americans died:

"There were villagers laughing at the U.S. casualties" and "two suspicious individuals were seen fleeing the scene and entering a home."

U.S. forces "are no longer allowed to search homes without Afghan National Security Forces personnel present." But when his unit asked Afghan police to search the house, the police refused on the grounds that the people in the house "are good people." 

Another example from Will, when a unit asked for artillery fire on an enemy position and that request was denied, they asked for permission for a "smoke mission," firing an "illumination round" that shows an enemy position.

This request was granted -- but because of fear of collateral damage, the round was deliberately fired one kilometer off the requested site, making "the smoke mission useless and leaving us to fend for ourselves."  

Sweetness and Light posts the entire Rolling Stone article. The following seems to shed a lot of light on the "rules of engagement:

From the start, McChrystal was determined to place his personal stamp on Afghanistan, to use it as a laboratory for a controversial military strategy known as counterinsurgency. COIN, as the theory is known, is the new gospel of the Pentagon brass, a doctrine that attempts to square the military’s preference for high tech violence with the demands of fighting protracted wars in failed states. COIN calls for sending huge numbers of ground troops to not only destroy the enemy, but to live among the civilian population and slowly rebuild, or build from scratch, another nation’s government – a process that even its staunchest advocates admit requires years, if not decades, to achieve.

The theory essentially rebrands the military, expanding its authority (and its funding) to encompass the diplomatic and political sides of warfare: Think the Green Berets as an armed Peace Corps. In 2006, after Gen. David Petraeus beta-tested the theory during his “surge” in Iraq, it quickly gained a hardcore following of think-tankers, journalists, military officers and civilian officials. Nicknamed “COIN-dinistas” for their cultish zeal, this influential cadre believed the doctrine would be the perfect solution for Afghanistan. All they needed was a general with enough charisma and political savvy to implement it. As McChrystal leaned on Obama to ramp up the war, he did it with the same fearlessness he used to track down terrorists in Iraq: Figure out how your enemy operates, be faster and more ruthless than everybody else, then take the fuckers out.

And this look at McChrystal's viewpoint in September 2009:

 "What I'm really telling people is the greatest risk we can accept is to lose the support of the people here," Gen. Stanley McChrystal told CBS's "60 Minutes" in an interview aired Sunday night.

"If the people are against us, we cannot be successful. If the people view us as occupiers and the enemy, we can't be successful and our casualties will go up dramatically."

So the question is, how's that working out for you? We know how it's working out for the troops.

h/t FloppingAces

Related and Background:
Obama Repeats Mistakes in Afghanistan: Purposeless Engagement 

Marines in Afghanistan - A Death Run Every Day

Taliban Siraj Haqqani Rape Murder Tape


Linked by:
 Reaganite Republican with a round of what others are saying.

Caught Him with a Corndog has a Jeff Duntz perspective on what McChrystal did and is doing.