Shooting Wars

Afghanistan where the President has decided to end our combat role next year something that I think if we get an adult President in office they will change for good or ill.  Allowing the Taliban to go to the negotiating table under no duress is a mistake.  Even in Vietnam it was bombing that forced the North to the table.  Not having any bases to launch drone strikes in the the tribal areas of Pakistan is going to hurt US counter-terrorism efforts.  This will be a main negotiating point for the Taliban, one has to remember the birthplace of AQ and its related groups is the tribal area.  Leaving them unmolested is going to cause difficulties for Pakistan, Afghanistan, the region as a whole, and the West in general.

Yemen AQAP al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula in addition to fighting the Yemeni government the Shia rebels and plotting to hit western targets has been under pressure from both manned and un-manned US air strikes.  At times the Yemeni government takes credit for the attacks especially the manned ones to give the US cover.  Since May 2011 the US is know to have launched 11 air strikes in Yemen.  Also Yemen was hit right after 9/11 when a known AQ leaders was spotted by a drone. The two most famous at least to Americans are the two US citizen killed Samir Khan the person behind AQAP Inspire magazine was killed along with Anwar Alwalki.  The Long War Journal as always has excellent coverage of the drone strikes in Yemen.  As in Pakistan the leadership of AQAP has been hit hard but always seems to recover, however there is something to be said for them to always have to have their heads on a swivel. 

Somalia has been the on again off again target for everything from SEAL teams, AC130 gunships, Predator drones, and Navy Fighter bombers since 9/11.  In 2009 a daylight raid carried out by helicopter gunships and a SOCOM ground team (allegedly SEALs) finished the destruction of the convoy and removed the bodies.  Their target was Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan who was involved in the Embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania as well as a 2002 attack in Mombasa, Kenya against a hotel and an airliner.  Last week a SEAL team rescued two hostages held by Somali pirates

U.S. to Change Role in 2013

Defense Sec Panetta today announced the U.S. will end its combat mission in Afghanistan in 2012 and transition to a training role only.  If the current administration stays in place it will be followed very shortly by a complete withdrawal and within a year the Taliban will be back in power. 

Something that has been public knowledge for some time and has been extensively written about by myself and others is an intelligence estimate was leaked stating that the Taliban and Al Qaeda is still supported by all levels of the Pakistani government.  Well no kidding so we prop up the Pakistani government so they can fund the very people that want to kill us...

Chew on that one a bit.

2 minute Fire fight

Infidels

In Clash of Civilizations a Muslim military officer says "the West has all kinds of great stuff we can use, weapons, technology, computers, but it is your culture we do not want."  Apparently this was brought up again after the Gulf War.  East is East and West is West and never the twain shall meet (Kipling).  One should read a lot of Kipling he delves a great deal into Britain's imperialism and writes at length about Afghanistan.

The sooner we learn that most of the Arab/Muslim world views us as infidels no matter what we have done for them the better off both sides will be.

A big thanks to the Daily Caller for that article.

Personal information

I have been diagnosed with a liver and blood disease called Porphyria. Normally it is a genetic disease but it is also be caused by other things such as sickness or trauma.  The good news is that it is controllable.  The bad news is there is no cure.  It is controlled with diet, medication, and blood withdrawl. 

95% of the time I am going to be just fine.  The other 5% is at times going to suck but oh well what can one do.  I am calling the doc in the morning to see if I can get blood drawn at the clinic instead of the ER it is cheaper there.

AC130 footage

I have a special place in my heart for AC130 Gunships.  I was out cruising the Marine Corps Website and came across this little gem of video footage.  Let me tell you for the Marines to be hosting AC130 footage on their site is pretty cool.  I could not get the video on my site so here is the link thingy