Very good points about Astan

http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?rn=3906861&cl=14290272&ch=4226714&src=news

The guest speaker hits the nail on the head Afghan men fight for the sheer joy of fighting. How or can a people be changed from their history? I do dispute without a bunch of money,time, and blood being spent the ease in changing the Afghans mind. Yes it can work but there is more than one account of non-Taliban affiliated Afghans joining ambushs because it would have shamed them not to.

This is very sad

The soldier I mention being captured before has been sold to about the baddest of the bad. The unidentified senior military official told CNN the Soldier, whose name was not released, was captured along with three Afghan Soldiers and then sold to a militant group led by warlord Siraj Haqqani. Haqqani has very close ties to AQ and fought the Russians, Northern Alliance, and the Pakistani government. The U.S. has targeted him in the past with Predator strikes and a couple of special operations raids.

For those that do not know the treatment of our prisoners that have been taken I will line it out for you very clearly. Unless we have rescued them they have all been killed....

Pray for this young soldier and his family.

The Marines Launched an offensive in Afghanistan

In an effort to wrest control of Helmand province from the Taliban and establish governance in what is considered the wild west even in Afghanistan. The operation named Khanjar (Strike of the Sword) is a brigade sized operation. There have been Marine casualties in some pretty fierce fighting.

There was also a U.S. soldier captured in Afghanistan today. I am hoping that ends well but since the Talib and AQ do not believe in prison camps I am fearing the worst.

Over your holiday weekend please keep these young men and women in your thoughts.

Baitullah Mehsud

For those that have paid any attention to Af-Pak will know that this guy is behind a lot of the suffering in both countries. The Pakistanis have finally had enough of him and is pushing him. Last week the U.S. missed him by a couple of hours but got a bunch of his buddies. Now he is taking kids from their homes and then has them killed. He is not winning the insurgency when the people he has relied of for support start to turn on him. The Coalition in Afghanistan and Pakistan need to run this animal to the ground and give him what he deserves.

Marines leaving Anbar

For those that may or may not know I have a vested interest in the Marine Corps. Herschel Smith of at Captain's Journal has a good write up and critique of some recent articles on the Corps pulling out of Anbar and Fallujah.
Fallujah saw some of the heaviest urban fighting the Corps and the Army has seen since Vietnam.

Gotta BHO

So it takes him days to make a mild statement about Iran and then to be told to F-off. It only takes him a day to denouce, meddle, etc in a court ordered removal of a President. It was not like the military pulled this off on their own hook

Pondering a new pistol

I am looking for a compact pistol thinking about the Taurus 9mm loaded right and if I do my part should do fine. In case anyone cares I shot 18/20 head shots this weekend with my pistol not too shabby considering I did not have my glasses.