via Hot Air
----------------
The defeatist rhetoric on Iraq has just about been discredited, and its cousin — that we’re losing in Afghanistan — may be just as endangered. The Telegraph reports that the aggressive counterinsurgency tactics adopted by NATO have “decapitated” Taliban leadership, and that cross-border attacks have taken the fight out of the rebels.
...
In the winter of 2007, American commanders decided on a much more aggressive policy, using NATO’s advantage in close air support. The military no longer just defended against Taliban attacks, but used air power to chase down and destroy Taliban forces once they withdrew. NATO also significantly increased the attacks across the border in Pakistan, and has increased them more in 2008.
Tuesday, June 03, 2008
We Will Remember
A mother's quote at her son's Medal of Honor ceremony (via. Hot Air)
“I guess about the only thing you’re really going to remember about my son is that he did the right thing at the right time.”
“I guess about the only thing you’re really going to remember about my son is that he did the right thing at the right time.”
Friday, May 30, 2008
The Beginning of the End
An excellent summary and status of our pending victory in Iraq. There are no promises that Iraq will live 200 years as a democracy, but it will be for many years to come. More importantly, it won't be a safehaven and sponsor of the enemy who has inflicted harm on us. From: The Strategy Page
---------------
May 30, 2008: The U.S. is beginning its withdrawal from Iraq. U.S. troops strength is expected to decline from 170,000 to 140,000 by the end of the Summer. The reduction is made possible by the growing number of Iraqi army and police units that can do the job.
...in the last year, many Iraqi army and police units have revealed their capabilities through their performance.
The attitude towards the U.S. troops had also changed. For five years, the American troops consistently demonstrated their superior combat ability, while also observing strict ROE...
When the security forces went after the Shia militias earlier this year, the militiamen were dismayed. It was widely known that the Iraqi army and police were defeating al Qaeda, and a few hold-out Sunni Arab militias. Now these forces were moving into Shia Mahdi Army strongholds, and the Mahdi gunmen quickly discovered they could not hold out against these Iraqi troops who dressed like American troops, and fought a lot like them as well.
---------------
May 30, 2008: The U.S. is beginning its withdrawal from Iraq. U.S. troops strength is expected to decline from 170,000 to 140,000 by the end of the Summer. The reduction is made possible by the growing number of Iraqi army and police units that can do the job.
...in the last year, many Iraqi army and police units have revealed their capabilities through their performance.
The attitude towards the U.S. troops had also changed. For five years, the American troops consistently demonstrated their superior combat ability, while also observing strict ROE...
When the security forces went after the Shia militias earlier this year, the militiamen were dismayed. It was widely known that the Iraqi army and police were defeating al Qaeda, and a few hold-out Sunni Arab militias. Now these forces were moving into Shia Mahdi Army strongholds, and the Mahdi gunmen quickly discovered they could not hold out against these Iraqi troops who dressed like American troops, and fought a lot like them as well.
It's Raining Peace
This is the western border of Pakistan where the Taliban stage assaults on Afghanistan. It's sure it wil hole this time... From: The Long War Journal
---------------
With peace agreements signed between the Taliban in Swat, Bajaur, and Mohmand, and talks under way in South Waziristan, the government is pushing forward with negotiations in northwestern Pakistan. The Pakistani government is currently in talks with the Taliban in the settled district of Kohat in the Northwest Frontier Province, where heavy fighting has taken place this year.
---------------
With peace agreements signed between the Taliban in Swat, Bajaur, and Mohmand, and talks under way in South Waziristan, the government is pushing forward with negotiations in northwestern Pakistan. The Pakistani government is currently in talks with the Taliban in the settled district of Kohat in the Northwest Frontier Province, where heavy fighting has taken place this year.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
More Steps Towards Victory
Via Hot Air:
-------------
ABC News... reports with enthusiasm on the effects on Sadr City from Nouri al-Maliki’s imposition of central government authority. Commerce has returned to this poverty-stricken area of the capital, and deaths and injuries from fighting have all but disappeared. Maliki has brought normalcy to Sadr City just as he did to Basra, and the people have begun to trust that it will stay
-------------
ABC News... reports with enthusiasm on the effects on Sadr City from Nouri al-Maliki’s imposition of central government authority. Commerce has returned to this poverty-stricken area of the capital, and deaths and injuries from fighting have all but disappeared. Maliki has brought normalcy to Sadr City just as he did to Basra, and the people have begun to trust that it will stay
Monday, May 26, 2008
Progress 4
Didn't hear much about this, cuz we're winning and the war is progressing towards an end and we will be victorious. Wouldn't want to report on that, now would we?
-----------
There wasn't much coverage of General Petraeus when he appeared before the Senate Armed Services Committee last Thursday. Even C-SPAN didn't show it live. Petraeus reported that violence is at a 4-year low and that he will likely reduce troop levels this September after the 45-day pause. His comments were more upbeat than six weeks ago, when the Basra offensive was in full flux, but he is still cautionary about the political situation. Here is what he said about al-Sadr and Basra.
-----------
There wasn't much coverage of General Petraeus when he appeared before the Senate Armed Services Committee last Thursday. Even C-SPAN didn't show it live. Petraeus reported that violence is at a 4-year low and that he will likely reduce troop levels this September after the 45-day pause. His comments were more upbeat than six weeks ago, when the Basra offensive was in full flux, but he is still cautionary about the political situation. Here is what he said about al-Sadr and Basra.
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Messaage Sent
from Baseball Crank:
"...the war has been hard at times on the U.S., but it is not lost on other regimes how badly it ended for Saddam, his sons and his senior apparatchiks. Or for Zarqawi or other leaders of the foreign forces opposing us in Iraq. That's a huge distinction from how Vietnam ended for Ho's regime. Only the Iranians have really come out of this well, and only because they have not yet provoked us to the point where we would turn our guns on them directly. And if the U.S. did invade and seek to conquer Iran in the same fashion as Iraq (not that I'm suggesting this would be a good idea at any time in the foreseeable future), no matter how difficult that would be for the U.S., it would be much worse for the Iranian regime."
"...the war has been hard at times on the U.S., but it is not lost on other regimes how badly it ended for Saddam, his sons and his senior apparatchiks. Or for Zarqawi or other leaders of the foreign forces opposing us in Iraq. That's a huge distinction from how Vietnam ended for Ho's regime. Only the Iranians have really come out of this well, and only because they have not yet provoked us to the point where we would turn our guns on them directly. And if the U.S. did invade and seek to conquer Iran in the same fashion as Iraq (not that I'm suggesting this would be a good idea at any time in the foreseeable future), no matter how difficult that would be for the U.S., it would be much worse for the Iranian regime."
Welcome Back
Been gone for a while, but I'm back now. I'm going to keep my posts short. My hope is that you will find links to interesting articles here.
I have been linking to articles regularly at my del.icio.us site and will continue to do so. So if you're not getting enough here, book mark my del.icio.us site and check that out frequently.
It's good to be back. And thanks for visiting Geoffosphere.
I have been linking to articles regularly at my del.icio.us site and will continue to do so. So if you're not getting enough here, book mark my del.icio.us site and check that out frequently.
It's good to be back. And thanks for visiting Geoffosphere.
Thursday, December 13, 2007
Never Forget or Over React
I will never forget 9/11. I refuse to change the way I feel 6 years later from the way I felt when our nation was attacked. Time will not heal my wound. Unfortunately, I fear that too many have forgotten the pain of 9/11. What was OK in 2002 is not not OK because "time heals". Those that have forgotten the pain of 9/11, must look back on the feeling of 9/12 and think they are an over reaction.
(NYT via. Instapundit)
--------------------
For six years, Central Intelligence Agency officers have worried that someday the tide of post-Sept. 11 opinion would turn, and their harsh treatment of prisoners from Al Qaeda would be subjected to hostile scrutiny and possible criminal prosecution.
Now that day may have arrived, after years of shifting legal advice, searing criticism from rights groups — and no new terrorist attacks on American soil.
(NYT via. Instapundit)
--------------------
For six years, Central Intelligence Agency officers have worried that someday the tide of post-Sept. 11 opinion would turn, and their harsh treatment of prisoners from Al Qaeda would be subjected to hostile scrutiny and possible criminal prosecution.
Now that day may have arrived, after years of shifting legal advice, searing criticism from rights groups — and no new terrorist attacks on American soil.
Thursday, December 06, 2007
Torpedo Away!
As usual, the Democrat/media spin machine and a defenseless President Bush have "topedoed" any chance of stopping nukes in Iran. Let's just hope they use them on someone else, first. John Bolton on the NIE in the Washington Post.
--------------------------
...there is little substantive difference between the conclusions of the 2005 NIE on Iran's nuclear capabilities and the 2007 NIE.
...
The real differences between the NIEs are not in the hard data but in the psychological assessment of the mullahs' motives and objectives. The current NIE freely admits to having only moderate confidence that the suspension continues and says that there are significant gaps in our intelligence and that our analysts dissent from their initial judgment on suspension. This alone should give us considerable pause.
...
In a background briefing, intelligence officials said they had concluded it was "possible" but not "likely" that the new information they were relying on was deception.
...
That such a flawed product could emerge after a drawn-out bureaucratic struggle is extremely troubling. While the president and others argue that we need to maintain pressure on Iran, this "intelligence" torpedo has all but sunk those efforts, inadequate as they were. Ironically, the NIE opens the way for Iran to achieve its military nuclear ambitions in an essentially unmolested fashion, to the detriment of us all.
--------------------------
...there is little substantive difference between the conclusions of the 2005 NIE on Iran's nuclear capabilities and the 2007 NIE.
...
The real differences between the NIEs are not in the hard data but in the psychological assessment of the mullahs' motives and objectives. The current NIE freely admits to having only moderate confidence that the suspension continues and says that there are significant gaps in our intelligence and that our analysts dissent from their initial judgment on suspension. This alone should give us considerable pause.
...
In a background briefing, intelligence officials said they had concluded it was "possible" but not "likely" that the new information they were relying on was deception.
...
That such a flawed product could emerge after a drawn-out bureaucratic struggle is extremely troubling. While the president and others argue that we need to maintain pressure on Iran, this "intelligence" torpedo has all but sunk those efforts, inadequate as they were. Ironically, the NIE opens the way for Iran to achieve its military nuclear ambitions in an essentially unmolested fashion, to the detriment of us all.
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