Cassi Creek:
So much for operational security. In Afghanistan,
we have just signed over any hope of operational security to the Afghans. They have demanded that night raids designed
to capture &/or kill Taliban and other insurgents be placed under the
control of Afghan authorities and Afghan law.
In order to
run a night raid in a suspect village, the U.S. must secure the approval of
local Afghan army officers and local civilian officials. A civil warrant must be obtained in order to
carry out a capture/kill mission. Afghan
troops must carry out/lead the mission.
Only Afghan troops may enter the houses where suspects are believed to
be.
It is easy to
predict what will happen now. The
suspects will be warned of the plan to detain them. U.S. troops will meet with many more
ambushes. Essentially, this agreement
abandons any hope of operational security for U.S. and NATO troops. The porosity of the Afghan army and government
is comparable only to that of the former South Vietnamese army and government.
There is no
longer any justification for maintaining any U.S. armed forces in the AFPaK Theater
of operations. Every bit of security has
been compromised. Either bring those
troops home now or admit that we no longer value their lives or their
service. When we can’t trust our allies,
we should not sacrifice our troops or expend our hardware. There is no military force, no government we
can trust in Afghanistan or Pakistan.
Write or call your legislators now.
Bring the troops home!
Below, I have
excerpted material from another Washington Post column by George Masters of
South Carolina. Mr. Masters has written
concerning another matter that I find highly disturbing. He lets his thoughts and memories be brought
to the surface, taking him back to his time as a Marine in Vietnam. The trigger mechanism is a display of the
magnetized plastic “ribbons” sold at Wal-Mart and other retailers to
purportedly “Support Our Troops.”
Mr. Masters
lays out in exacting detail what it is like to be part of an infantry
patrol. He doesn’t’ have to carry those
thoughts to the point of contact, as anyone who’s been on such a patrol knows
the preparation, the moment when all hope for an unopposed excursion falls
apart as the tree-line or the paddy dike, or some feature of the landscape
bursts into small arms and explosion, and the fear that the best of training
still can’t erase.
Masters knows
that it doesn’t matter how many “ribbons” someone plasters on his or her
car. The retailers have no intention of “supporting
the troops” at any level beyond the impulse racks at their cash registers.
He delves
into the lack of support for returning men and women. He makes the point that the only way to “support
the troops” is to stop becoming involved in foreign wars that lack an endpoint,
a measure of success, and that load the burden for fighting the war on a very
small percentage of our populace rather than on the corporations that stand to
benefit in one manner or another from our involvement.
I have often
said that there is no one who is more opposed to war than the men and women
taking fire in the field. Not all the
“yellow ribbons” in the world will provide one iota of comfort or logistical
support to a single trooper. But a
bumper sticker that reads, “Bring them home now!” reminds them that someone
cares enough to express an opinion that may be outside the idiocy expressed on
Fox News or by teavangelists who equate Afghanistan with another round of
Crusades.
Please read both the columns linked below. Then call your legislators and the White
House and ask them to abandon the folly that is Afghanistan and bring our
troops home now.
U.S.,
Afghanistan reach 'night raids' deal
By Nick Paton Walsh,
CNN
updated 7:41 AM EDT,
Sun April 8, 2012
“Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) -- The United States and Afghanistan say they have
reached a landmark deal to be signed Sunday that affords Afghan authorities an
effective veto over controversial special operations raids.
“A bid to end
visceral Afghan anger over raids on private residences, the deal prevents
NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) troops from conducting
such operations without the explicit permission of Afghan officials, said a
senior NATO official.
“An Afghan review
group would have to authorize an operation before it goes ahead, the official
said.
Special operations forces would operate under Afghan law, said a
statement from the presidential palace.
“The agreement
was to go into effect at a signing Sunday afternoon, said Afghan presidential
spokesman Aimal Faizi. ISAF commander, Gen. John Allen, and Afghan Defense
Minister Gen. Abdul Rahim Wardak were scheduled to take part in the signing.
“The key deal
comes after months of angry recriminations against special operations raids,
particularly at night, that deeply offend Afghans as they involve foreigners
entering their homes. U.S. officials say the raids are vital to NATO's
operation against insurgents.
“The complex
system would fully "Afghanize" the operations, putting Afghan
commandos in the lead and giving American special forces a "training and
support role," a senior Afghan official said.
The senior Afghan official said the deal would involve a joint
committee of U.S. and Afghan officials reviewing U.S. intelligence on a target
before a raid.
“If that target were
approved, a warrant would then be issued by Afghan authorities for the raid to
occur, the official said.
It remained unclear how or when the warrant would be issued.
“One western
official confirmed the committee mechanism but would not comment on any warrant
procedure.
Afghan officials have insisted the raids be conducted in
compliance with Afghan law, meaning any warrant or legal authority for a raid
would have to occur before the operation.”
Support our troops? Then bring them home.
By ,
“ The car in front of us wears two Support Our Troops ribbons. One is
yellow; the other red, white and blue. Both are made in China. On the rear
bumper is a faded black MIA sticker. That driver probably means well, but by
now I’ve seen too many ribbons. While the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq kill and
maim, I think of how they are also shaping the future of returning veterans.
Many of these men and women will come home and go missing, and you won’t even
know it. Returning from a war is more than getting off an airplane and putting
on civvies. Combat changes a person. It changed me…”
“ want to support our troops? Give the man some space when he gets home.
Give the woman a job. Don’t say how you would have been there if you could have
and reel off excuses why you weren’t. He may be quieter than you’re used to and
kind of keep to himself. She might be missing an arm; he could be in a
wheelchair, knowing he’ll never again chase his kids down a beach. Both may
drink a bit. She may smoke pot, dress wild and date around. She might play
music loud. He could go to the movies for hours, come home, and cry for no
reason you can see. Don’t lecture them. Don’t tell them to forget about the war
— they can’t. Don’t try to tell her how she’s escaping reality. She’s had all
the reality she can stomach. He may carry what you call an attitude. She might
have a low tolerance for shenanigans and a quirky sense of humor. If you touch
her when she doesn’t want to be touched, she could very well turn around and
bust you in your chops.
“If you’ve never hunted humans, if
you’ve never been hunted, if you haven’t been shot at on a regular basis, just
try to appreciate what this person has been through. Then get down on your
knees and thank your lucky stars it wasn’t you…”
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