Auld Lang WoW

Wow! 2010!

CMOH SSG Giunta!

Lt Srinivasan, a platoon leader in Kandahar does it best. "...He is not just a hero, he is the hero of a whole generation of twenty year old kids — my soldiers — who go under-appreciated each day of their lives." 

September totally rocked!   More than 21 Drones Gone Wild! events in Land of the Pure in dang near as many days Officially nom d'guerre  September as 'Drone Month" - annihilating nearly 150 enemies - with (wait for it) no mention of innocent civies!

 The diplopolitary scene was off the chain y'all - and 2011 looks to sprout up even way more crunk and disorderliness 

If y'all go out and party tonight - carebeful! Make sure to travel in packs and deploy a Royal Taster

Council Winners

• *First place with 3 votes! – The Glittering Eye --Domestic sitrep
• Second place *t* with 2 votes –Joshuapundit- Standing Upright
• Second place *t* with 2 vote – Right Truth – When Illusion Meets Reality
• Third place *t* with 2/3 votes -The Colossus of Rhodey- Latest “torture”: hard blankets
• Third place *t* with 2/3 votes -The Razor- Because 27 Year Old Aspiring Models Drop Dead All the Time
• Third place *t* with 2/3 votes -GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD- FM 3-24 – v2.0

Non-Council Winners

• First place with 2 2/3 votes! – Discriminations- Journalistic History Lessons (Or Not) submitted by The Colossus of Rhodey
• Second place with 1 2/3 votes – Glen Greenwald – The worsening journalistic disgrace at Wired submitted by The Glittering Eye
• Third Place with 1 1/3 vote – Doug Ross – So The Democrats Finally Want Fiscal Responsibility? Great.Let’s End Their Disastrous War On Poverty submitted by Joshuapundit
• Fourth place *t* with 1 vote -The Propagandist – On The Twelve Evils Of Christmas submitted by Simply Jews
• Fourth place *t* with 2/3 votes - Big Lizards -The Turn of a Friendly Card submitted by Rhymes With Right
• Fifth place with 2/3 vote - al Hayat – President Obama’s First Two Years in the Middle East submitted by GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD
• Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote Planck’s Constant- - Muslims Persecuting Christians As Usual submitted by Right Truth
• Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote Planck’s Constant- -How Can a Liberal Defend Israel submitted by VA Right

See you next year!

Gitmyth

Oh! It's true bay bee!

Those wild wack rumours about that terrible konzentrationslager located at Great Satan's Naval/Teufel Hunden protuberance in sunny, sunny Guantanamo have been annihilated as surely as hot gossip against dramatic lift.  

As best understood -- 44 featured two points about closing Guantanamo:

Gitmo diminishes Great Satan's standing in world opinion and serves as a magnet for Great Satan haters to pick up an AK and join the Haj.

That's it.

"And Guantanamo is probably the number one recruitment tool that is used by these jihadist organizations.  And we see it in the websites that they put up.  We see it in the messages that they're delivering.

And that is significant. Especially so since most Americans don't really give a flying flip and 44's 2 year Epic Fail quest to degitmoise overseas contingency ops has flopped faster than now repentant droneophobes that previously worried about the wrong thing

Americans know we are at war. They don’t want Gitmo alum on holy turf and have nary a care in the world 'bout those magical 4 Ever Detentions. They aren’t embarrassed by Great Satan, by her soldiers in the field, or by their public servants striving to keep them safe.

Super savvy historian and all around super fly smart guy Arthur Herman has the best Gitmo Myth Deconstruction piece out there - essential reading -- that shows how the myth of Great Satan tormenting hapless innocents and bikini waxing herself (and friends) with their hot innocent blood as a globalized policy - became accepted narrative. 

Only now - thanks to those daemoneoconic Nat'l Secperts - the accepted narrative gets all hot and bothered! 

"...If Gitmo is such a hot! recruiting tool, then why cause al Qaeda’s leaders rarely mention it?

"...Instead, al Qaeda’s leaders repeatedly focus on a narrative that has dominated their propaganda for the better part of two decades. According to bin Laden, Zawahiri, and other al Qaeda chieftains, there is a Zionist-Crusader conspiracy against m"Hammedists. Relying on this deeply paranoid and conspiratorial worldview, al Qaeda routinely calls upon m"Hammedists to take up arms against Jews and Christians, as well as any kindred rulers who refuse to fight this imaginary coalition.


"...This theme forms the backbone of al Qaeda’s messaging – not Guantanamo.


"...To illustrate this point, consider the results of some basic keyword searches. Guantanamo is mentioned a mere 7 times in the 34 messages reviewed. (Again, all 7 of those references appear in just 3 of 34 messages.)


"...By way of comparison, all of the following keywords are mentioned far more frequently: Israel/Israeli/Israelis (98 mentions), Jew/Jews (129), Zionist(s) (94), Palestine/Palestinian (200), Gaza (131), and Crusader(s) (322) (Note: Zioneoconazi chicanery is often hooked up with Crusaderism in aQspeak).


Natch, aQ cats tend to fo fo focus on the wars in AfPAK (333 mentions) and Iraq (157). Land of the Pure (331), which is home to the j!hadist hydra, is prominently prominent, too. aQ has the hots on all 3 of these partic nation/states and pleads for voltiguerres to fight Great Satan and her posse there. Keywords related to other 7th Century shadow of the blade theatres also feature way more prominently than Gitmo, like Somaliland (67 mentions), Yemen (18) and Chechnya (15).


"...Simply put, there is no evidence in the messages reviewed that al Qaeda’s leaders are using Guantanamo as a recruiting tool.

Whoa! Despite some clever pretzel logic - the Gitmo gotcha guys fail to truly appreciate any of that.

Fact is - more journalists have been waterboarded than real live terrorists have.

Which may deconstruct another myth - that Enhanced Interrogation Techs are torture.

Never heard of any journalists volunteering to have their fingernails ripped out or have irons bungee corded to their bodies. 



Pic - "Why Should i Care?" with Avril

Cote d’Ivoire

Most likely - the most delish invention ever since free, fair, transparent periodic elections is chocolate.

And when both hook up - look out mein shockolade shreken!

Ivory Coast's recent electile dysfunction is a significant reminder that democrazy has to be protected. Cats cannot be allowed to get all elected, dismantle free choice institutions and then extend their mandates by fiat, whims and desires (hey! Pres Abbas/Mazen - - talking to you too). 

After losing fair and square in the recent runoff election, Cote d'Ivoire President Laurent Gbagbo - who has been in power since 2000 and is well on his way to becoming President For Life - mooching his overstayed mandate by five years when the long-delayed presidential election were finally held in October, with the runoff in November. 

This 'lection was to heal and rehookup a nation divy'd by 2002-2003 civil war into a rebel-controlled north and a loyalist south. 

'Cept Pres Ghagbo doesn't wanna turn over legit control to the winners - specifically to Pres Elect Alassane Ouattara.

"...African leaders must learn to accept defeat with equanimity and put national interest and continental prosperity above selfish quest for power. Africa must for once confirm to the world that we can get it right. The Cote d’Ivoire logjam must not be allowed to degenerate to war." 

Intervention by the 15-nation regional bloc ECOWAS (a mix of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Ivory Coast, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo) is mobilizing to intervene.

"It's not a bluff - The soldiers are coming much faster than anyone thinks."
 

ECOWAS has intervened in past electile chicanery - blitzing Sierra Leone in the last millennium (1998 for those that collect such intell) and forced military coup d'taters to split while restoring an elected president's to return to power. ECOWAS also intervened in Liberia in 1990 and hung out militarily for years, and has sent troops to Guinea-Bissau.

Pic - "War For Chocolate"

...And Carry A Big 'Stache

Caucus!

The Season of Electile Dysfunction is nigh upon us, as a certain political partay begins to manuever for their party primaries. As best 'membered - the event starts off with tons of straw polls, appearances, books and pre primary debatery - nearly a year or more in advance of the 1st caucus, or primary.

Aside from all the 1st tier cats - many who ran before, governors au courant and a few elderly statesmen that may hop in, one name seems like an awful dark horse.

Ambassador John Bolton.

Oh, it's true! The avuncular PNAC cat - who tactily approves of Great Satan's hyper puissance in any endeavor - benign or malign - would inject a healthy dose of FoPo into the race for determing a possible 45 to replace 44 - if things swing that way


"...Foreign policy is not a particularly strong area for most of the field -- including Romney, Huckabee, Palin and Pawlenty. While Gingrich has more of a background than those other candidates, he does not have Bolton’s expertise, while Ron Paul would stand against Bolton on a number of issues."

While the coolest stash ever ( j'ever notice he looks an awful lot like the "I Am The Walrus" guy with those goo goo ga joob granny glasses?) may appear to have zero chance to snatch FoPo into the drivers seat with all the jank about domestic issues - his stats could change if he scores cash.

"...If Bolton, who is now a senior fellow with the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, runs and is able to raise enough money to survive into Iowa and New Hampshire, he will have the opportunity to pull most of the Republican candidates his way on international issues   

The N'ork City Great Satan Fans at NRO  recently did a mega spread about Boltonmania in their print version (shout out to the Post American President Lady at Shrugs) and an interesting slant on what could be the 1st cat since 27 to get all inaugurated with a 'stache of mythic proportions. 

"... The North Korean government paid him the high compliment of labeling him the “envoy of evil.” His admirers call him dynamic, principled, and bracing—a welcome splash of cold water. In my experience, he has a ready laugh, and no end of enthusiasm, no end of vigor. He seems like the kind of person who bounds out of bed every morning, itching to get at the work and challenges of the day. He reads everything, and is informed to the gills. 

"...He is almost freakishly articulate. Ask him any question—even one out of left field—and he spits out several paragraphs, as though he has been preparing the answer for days..." 

“I’ve heard over and over that people don’t vote on the basis of foreign policy.” 

Maybe. So what? Despite an amazingly faux pas prediction that failed to come to pass ala Little Satan's latest last chance to engage in enrichment interruptus in Persia's new clear chicanery - l'Stache' grand ignites two killer points though - nat'l sec has long been way more hot in GOP partiary than in the Donkie Party. And two, all the cool kids look at FoPo and nat'l Sec stuff 

"...to find out what qualities a candidate may have— qualities such as leadership, judgment, and perseverance. Foreign policy is a window into character. If you can trust a candidate with foreign policy, you can trust him with a lot..."

Pic - "Speak Boldly And Carry A Big 'Stache"

Two Sudans

What could be better than one, gigantic Sudan?  

Why, two Sudans of course!

"...Under the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, the 2005 deal that ended the lengthy civil war between the north and the south of Sudan, voters in the south are supposed to vote on January 9, 2011, to decide whether their region should secede and form the world's newest country. 

"...The civil war, which lasted 22 years and during which an estimated 2.5 million southerners died, was fought over several issues: 

A) The central government's long-standing neglect of Sudan's periphery; the excessive concentration of jobs, wealth, and public services in the region known as the Arab triangle, along the northern part of the Nile River valley; 

B) The government's brutal attempts to impose Arab culture and Islam on the south, where Christianity and traditional religions prevail; 

C) The gov's persistent refusal to grant the south any autonomy (except for a brief period in the 1970s); and its exploitation of the south's resources, particularly its oil, to fill government coffers.

Not to mention the incredible unhappy fact that Sudan's despot au courant - Field Marshal President For Life Omar Bashir - is the only sitting head of state indicted for war crimes and crimes against humanity in world history. 


Great Satan's AFRICOM needs a new hood to HQ on the African mommieland - and they don't get any bigger than Sudan! 

Cutting a deal with a brand new Republic of Southern Sudan could include the democrazy protection/projection command of AFRICOM - Offering easy, super fast real time access to 9 diff African nation states - Pyramidland, Khadaffyville, Ethiopia, Kenya, Congo, Etricea, Uganda, Central African Republic, Chad and Ethiopia.


Pic "...Cos they don't know the secret!!..."

Boxing Day WoW

 Council Winners

• *First place with 2 1/3 votes! – The Razor --Michael Vick and redemption
• Second place *t* with 1 2/3 votes – Simply Jews-Wikileaks As A Zionist Tool
• Second place *t* with 1 2/3 votes GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD- Imperial! By Design
• Third place with 1 1/3 vote -Colossus of Rhodey- Heinleinian wisdom
• Fourth place *t* with 1 vote – Bookworm Room – It takes a bureaucracy to kill a bureaucracy

 

 

Non-Council Winners

• First place with 2 2/3 votes!–Seraphic Secrets- Harry Potter Actress Beaten and Branded a Prostitute by Her Family After Dating a Non-Muslim…submitted byThe Watcher
• Second place with 1 2/3 votes – Via Meadia/Walter Russel Mead – Give The People What They Want submitted by The Glittering Eye
• Third Place with 1 1/3 votes – Atlas Shrugs – Bolton 2012 submitted by GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD
• Fourth place *t* with 1 vote –Culture and Media Institute – Christmas Without Christ submitted by The Colossus of Rhodey
• Fourth place *t* with 1 vote - Jim Quinn, Minyanville – Any Talk Of recovery is False submitted by The Razor
• Fifth place *t* with 2/3 votes - The Pagan Temple -Bow Ye Infidels To The Goddess Of Chocolate submitted by The Watcher
• Fifth place *t* with 2/3 votes Christopher Hitchens- -Are we committed to Afghanistan or to Hamid Karzai’s government? submitted by Rhymes With Right

Rest ye merry gentlemen - See you next week!

Killing Our Enemies On Christmas Day Since 1776

"...You, the officers and men of this American Army must remember that you are free men fighting for the blessings of liberty. 


"...At this fateful hour the eyes of all our countrymen are now upon us. The eyes of the world are watching. Let us show them all that a freeman contending for Liberty is superior to any slavish mercenary on earth.

"...And when the hour is upon us fight for all that you are worth and all that you cherish and love. The fate of unborn millions will now depend, under God, on the courage and conduct that you show."

Pic - "It is a great stake we are playing for."

Self Inflicted II

Tis the season!

Oh - not for peace and love and all the cool stuff - but threats of war.

 As previously previewed, blood sworn creepy girthy overtly robust Body Part Collector General of the rocket rich rejectionist 'Resistance' clique of Hiz'B'Allah (seemingly way more adept at 'resisting' the legit gov of Lebanon than rocking up 'Divine Victories') is getting squished in a bind of his own design via UN's Hariri Tribunal.

"...I tell you that the conspiracy of the international tribunal will blow away with the wind, just like all the past conspiracies..."

So the saith the most proficient killers and serial tormentors of Americans from Cold War time til 911 time and beyond.

K. How exactly?

"...The question here is that if Hiz'B'Allah knows now that nothing will change the indictment, why is it still going in the direction that will backfire on the party, the Shia community and Lebanon as a country?

"...Hiz'B'Allah is cornered, and the indictment is not the only issue that is causing the party’s confusion and indecision. The other, and probably the more significant issue, is Little Satan’s thirst to launch another and stronger war on Hiz'B'Allah and Lebanon and might use the indictment to do that. And this time, Hiz'B'Allah will be alone in the face of Little Satan.

"...In 2006, Hiz'B'Allah was on the southern front fighting Little Satan, but the Lebanese government and many Arab states fought on the diplomatic level. Moreover, the Lebanese people were more than happy to receive and help the Shia refugees who fled the South during the war.

"...However, Hiz'B'Allah decided since then to alienate everyone in Lebanon, and never skipped an occasion to accuse its opponents of treason and corruption. The war it carried internally against many in the Lebanese government and the March 14 camp has left little space for support for the resistance in any future war.

"...Logic says that if they’re worried Little Satan wants to launch another war, they need to protect themselves by cooperating with everyone in Lebanon and drop the aggressive rhetoric. But instead, Hiz'B'Allah has chosen a course of action that will only expose it to Little Satan's attacks.

"...The only explanation to this suicidal approach is that they do not have the means to take any initiative. If Iran wants them to go in this direction, they have to do it, no matter how weak and fragile this might make them.

 
Pic - "Very, Very Soon!"

FM 3-24 - v2.0

Perhaps the most charming charm Great Satan's hyper puissance sexhibits since way back in the last millennium, is her fully crunk super penchant to adapt, overcome and upgrade her comte d'guerre ensembe to hook up in any combatty environs.

Reviving the ancient dark arts of Surgin' is a great example - on it's release 4 years ago today, FM 3-24 sha'hab'd straight up the best seller list - with over 1.5 million plus downloads in it's 1st week! It totally xformed Great Satan's collective of psychic Combat Rock Stars into celebs and estabb'd the tricked out initialised 'COIN' into a safeword that won a close run thing.

Fast forward Surge's success in Iraq to AFPAK au courant:

"...Far from the generals in the Pentagon and Kabul, America’s front-line troops entrust their lives to junior officers officers in their 20s and early 30s who do much more than lead soldiers into combat. They must be coaches and therapists one minute, diplomats and dignitaries the next. They are asked to comprehend the machinations of Afghan allies even as they parry the attacks of Taliban foes."  

In prep for difficult assignments, junior officers today ref Army’s FM 3-24 Counterinsurgency, a document which is weighted heavily towards preparing Great Satan's voltigueres to role play the role “Primary Counterinsurgent.”

Army Major Michael Few, veteran Surge actualizer and editor of Small Wars Journal, recently hit up several fellow field grader fellow alums of Great Satan's Warcraft Academy - Majors Joshua Thiel, Bryan Martin, William Marm, Christopher O’Gwin, Christopher Young, Gabriel Szody  - along with Montana's exbear hunter/ Defense Analysis Professor Douglas Borer  - for upgrading FM 3-24 to reflect hard won expertise, in the deadliest high stakes ever attempted. 

Major Few graciously consented to exclusively consort (again!) with GsGf about reduxing COIN's holy text.

"...Courtney, FM 3-24 was born out of necessity.  GEN Petraeus brought together a team of experts to provide the US military some desperately needed help while Iraq was spiraling out of control.  The majority of the text covers the wisdom of David Galula, the godfather of population-centric counterinsurgency.   It was a good start.  Galula was smart, had a lot of experience, and could write, but, it was only a start.  There are other ways to go about intervening.

"...The more that I study small wars, it becomes clear that rebellion, revolt, and secession are deeply nested into the fabric of human nature and history.

"...Fast forward several thousand years, the American story is a long line of internal small wars- revolt from the British Empire, Civil War and Reconstruction, Indian Wars, Civil Rights movement, drug wars, etc.  Moreover, over the past three decades, sparked initially by the Cold War, increased after the fall of the Berlin Wall, and further agitated by the attacks of 9/11, the United States thrust itself into an era of persistent conflict. 

"...While the bulk of the fighting occurred in Iraq and Afghanistan, military advisory efforts quietly expanded globally to include Colombia, Guatemala, Mexico, Haiti, Bosnia, Kosovo, Philippines, Horn of Africa, and Yemen.  Officially, by 2007, United States military personnel operate in over 150 countries throughout the world.  

"...Simultaneously, hundreds of other personnel from the U.S. State Department, Non-Governmental Organizations, and Humanitarian Assistance Groups work tirelessly throughout the world to spread democracy, promote better governance, cure diseases, and enhance education.  

"... Simply put, United States foreign policy, waxing and waning between neoliberalism and neoconservative thought, has been and is in the business of intervention as preventive medicine for the problems of genocide, terrorism, insurgencies, and drug wars. 

"...In truth, we’ve been intervening in others affairs for quite a long time with mixed results.  Outside the utility and the debates over the righteousness of such efforts, I felt that it was time to ask a series of questions concerning the people engaged in these small wars in order to see what they have to add to the collective body of knowledge.  


Pic - "Drop everything, cross that river, help your brothers."

Charge Of The Light Brigay'd

"Lame Duck!"

Least it's catchier than "That's so gay" as a future battle cry.

"...When can their glory fade? Oh, the wild charge they made!"


Kinda like the DA/DT repeal.


While unit cohesion is certainly a concern, the real 500lb device in the room that no one dares to EOD out loud, is the fire and effect such egalitarian tolerantarianism detonates. 

The myth of Gitmo is still around, could Great Satan's remarkable laissez faire tolerance create another?

Consider - it's fairly Catherine obvious that certain elements located in many of CENTCOM's AO's are not so fond of politically erect memes au courant.  And, if it's true that Great Satan must take into account time traveling 7th century mindsets in determining mission requirements, could such flaming audacity result in damage to America's voltiguers and her mission?


Pic -"C'est magnifique, mais ce n'est pas la guerre."

Imperial! By Design

Got a hat?

Better hang on to it!

One of academia's academics - the caboose end of the über risible  yet unhelpfully hurtful Waltsheimer's Affliction, charter member of Little Satan Hating Posse infamy (and spiritual creator of the totally correct risque repartee' RE: "Wehrmacht Protuberance Envy") fires up a blunt grand strategy review, that shamefully takes up where the F. B. I told you so guy left off.

This partic suspect piece is essentially yet another (yay) realpolitik salespitch for "Offshore Balancing" - fully crunk with fakebelieve you know what's - to counter Great Satan's internat'l diplopolititary couture, her smashin' fashion avec l' hyper puissance:

"...Global dominance has two broad objectives: maintaining American primacy, which means making sure that the United States remains the most powerful state in the international system; and spreading democracy across the globe, in effect, making the world over in America’s image. The underlying belief is that new liberal democracies will be peacefully inclined and pro-American, so the more the better." 

Then it gets all bipolar, preaching an isolationistic dream:


"...Instead, return to the grand strategy of offshore balancing, which has served this country well for most of its history and offers the best formula for dealing with the threats facing America—whether it be terrorism, nuclear proliferation or a traditional great-power rival. 

While embracing the very same vulcan enabled ancient PNAC vision of Great Satan that it just dissed:


"...In general terms, the United States should concentrate on making sure that no state dominates Northeast Asia, Europe or the Persian Gulf, and that it remains the world’s only regional hegemon. This is the best way to ensure American primacy. We should build a robust military to intervene in those areas, but it should be stationed offshore or back in the United States.

After loling about Surge, terrorists with WMD (carebeful! Academia's idea of plausible deniability may not be as freewheeling as the Revolutionary Guard's), and how occupations create suicide bombers (quick - what's the Swedish term for that?) DR M incredibly exposes the Myth of Offshore Balancing: 

"...In the event a potential hegemon comes on the scene in one of those regions, Washington should rely on local forces to counter it and only come onshore to join the fight when it appears that they cannot do the job themselves. Once the potential hegemon is checked, American troops should go back over the horizon.

Oh really?

The last time Great Satan intervened and failed to change an illegit regime's nature with a regime change was Desert Storm - arguably a predux for Operation Iraqi Freedom - precisely because American troops slipped right over the horizon right after the cease fire.


And what guarantees does mythical Offshoring guarantee that the regime in question could withstand a combatty hook up with Great Satan without collapsing or succumbing to an occupation or even a surge? 


Citing 40's retreat ala Offshore Balancing in Lebanon is hardly convincing:

 "...It is worth noting that the perpetrators of this act did not pursue us after we withdrew.

Yessir, mainly cause Hiz'B'Allah's patrons in Iran were literally involved in a life and death struggle with Iraq at the time, their tech levels for exporting terrorism as a force multiplier are no where near what they are today and it could be argued that withdrawal - instead of a grim determination to, oh, say, grind Hiz'B'Allah to dust in righteous wrathful retribution - actually encouraged, enhanced,  emboldened and convinced Persia's Preacher Command to expand foreign adventures - a key catalyst in Iran's hegemonic hotness au courant with new clear chicanery.

Without a doubt, the ancient corrupt cult of stability (which, funnily enough, never really did deliver stability, unlike constant deliveries of wars, oil as weaponry, terrorism and genocide) rears it's pointy misshapen little head with an amazing weirdly unAmerican  thought:

"...Washington should also get out of the business of trying to spread democracy around the globe, and more generally acting as if we have the right and the responsibility to interfere in the domestic politics of other countries. 

"...This behavior, which violates the all-important principle of self-determination, not only generates resentment toward the United States, but also gets us involved in nation building, which invariably leads to no end of trouble.


Trick statement -  failing to promote democrazy is the very same thang as promoting autocrazy.
Plus - it's an unclever attempt to inject the incorrect notion that Great Satan should be "...even handed..." in her dealings with the world - as if Libya or NoKo were the same as Australia or Denmark. 

"Interference" swings both ways - as Uncle Tony shares - the burden to prove abhorrent dictators, their machinations, connections, associations, research and development programs are all safe as milk, is NOT on the free world. It's totally on unfree autocrazies.

And it's dangerously wishful, mindnumbingly unthinking (especially for anyone in a climate controlled environment surrounded by smart people) and a sure fire way to up the pantie ante on violence that unfree states and non state actor outers traditionally project and export.

It will magically create "...a superficial stability that has encourages the growth of extremism, terrorism, and anti-Americanism. When all opposition is suppressed, the forces of change go underground -- and that is where radicalism thrives."

The "...all-important principle of self-determination..." is hardly an effective sympathy enhancement device for illegit regimes that deploy secret police, secret trials, secret prisons and secret executions. 

Think ppl are disturbed about Great Satan propping up despotries horrid or benign right now? Or 'meddling' in the innards of states that fiddle about with wmd, hang with terrorists and torment their own people and their neighbors? 

Oh, just wait'll the new enemy meme features hot! Offshore chiz about Great Satan forsaking them to their failed tyrannies with realpolitik's amoral "Do unto them as ye will"

Even more risible is the strange concern for regimes in question that hate democrazy promo, fear it and use their highly controlled medias to diss it. 

After all, any of them could star in the Ceauşescu Remix.

 If cats like slave trading Syria's Dr General President for Life or Iran's Preacher Command are freaking about Great Satan's democrazy promo -  sweet!   

We are who we are -  nicht wahr? 

By design.



Pic - "Goodness gracious! There is indeed an answer to the sirens of "Offshore Balancing," Courtney. It's called leadership"

Especial thanks and credit to Professor Steven Metz and Professor James S Robbins for their incredible insight, intellect and invaluable influence in getting this all crunked up. 

Weekend WoW

Council Winners

• *First place with 3 votes! – The Colossus of Rhodey --What makes America great …?
• Second place*t* with 1 2/3 votes – Joshuapundit-Israel Slammed For Rejecting Non-Existent Obama ‘Offer’ On Building Freeze!?!
• Second place *t* with 1 2/3 votes – The Glittering Eye – The Debate Over Higher Education (Updated)
• Third place with 1 1/3 vote – Rhymes With Right – Ill-Advised Religious Rights Suit Brought Against School District By Feds
• Fourth place with 1 vote -VA Right- Most Ridiculous Question Asked of Cuccinelli in ObamaCare Press Conference
• Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote – Right Truth – Support for Repeal of Obama-care Increases
• Fifth place *t* with 2/3 voteGrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD – – Unleashed!
• Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote – Mere Rhetoric – The Night After – London’s Parliament Square In Ruins [Photos]
• Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote – Bookworm Room – It’s no fun, being an illegal alien
• Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote – The Razor – Japan Gets Serious
• Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote – Simply Jews – Thomas L. Friedman reader – chapter one

Non-Council Winners

• First place with 3 votes! – Raymond Ibrahim/Pajamas Media- Islamists Target Christians ‘Wherever They Can Reach Them’submitted by Joshuapundit
• Second place with 2 1/3 votes – Black Five – Lt. Gen. John Kelly on the two that stood their ground submitted by Bookworm Room
• Third Place with 2 votes – Blazing Cat Fur – Finally! Mine Own Fatwa! submitted by Simply Jews
• Fourth place with 1 2/3 votes - Sultan Knish – How the Internet Destroyed American Politics submitted by The Watcher, Via Soccer Dad
• Fifth place with 1 vote Outside The Beltway -The Julian Assange Case, Consent, And Rape submitted by The Glittering Eye
• Sixth place *t* with 2/3 vote Confederate Yankee – - December 11, 2010 The Handy-Dandy, All-Purpose Entrapment Defense submitted by Rhymes With Right
• Sixth place *t* with 2/3 votes - Elder of Ziyon – Some history found, some history recovered submitted by Snapped Shot
• Sixth place *t* with 2/3 vote -Just Journalism – WikiLeaks on Iran: An analysis of newspaper coverage submitted by Mere Rhetoric

See you next week!

Incoming!

The incoming week at GsGf will be hot!

World famous Surge Expert Army Major Michael Few, editor of Small Wars Journal drops in to share hot deets! and hard won lessons from Great Satan's frontline actualizers in the deadly arts of Surgin'

Realpolitik gets another stake through the heart as yours truly takes on one of the  Cult of Irrelevance's High Priests complete with tons of direct hits that totally wrecks inappropriate handwringing beyond repair.

And the WoW Weekender will satiate desires subtle and gross.

Pic - "Tonight we're going hard! Just like the world is ours!"

AFPAK So Far

Oh, it's true mein schatze!

As all the cool kids knew eons ago - the PAK part of AFPAK is truly des place de resistance - essentially - as long enemy elements can do the Durand line, rest, relax and refit for the next spring - Great Satan's most excellent adventures will continue to attrit - to manage - the violence and assorted evil doers.

44's War Review concludes that terroristic sanctuaries in Land of the Pure must be destroyed - even if they swing both ways. 

Psychic!

“There is one thing that’s a major obstacle to accomplishing success in Afghanistan by 2014, and it is significant, and that is the sanctuaries in Pakistan. Make no mistake about it, the government of Pakistan and its military are aiding and abetting those sanctuaries.” 

Currently, Great Satan is putting it on! Fully crunk Combined Ops are off the hook (AirLand Battle nicht wahr?) indeed - the level of violence unlike anything seen since Operation Lüttich or Chechnya rec'v'd the biz end of the Operational Art of War.

The NIE cats - perhaps to atone for the risible NIE 007 reportage that proved incorrect in nearly every detail - play it straight up 

"...The document says Pakistan's government pays lip service to cooperating with U.S. efforts against the militants, and still secretly backs the Taliban as a way of hedging its bets in order to influence Afghanistan after a U.S. departure from the region

Getting loud that unassing the AO ain't gon happen anytime soon is the perfectly correct signal to signal. 

Attacking certain no go areas (notice how they always seem to xform into combat areas?) in Land of the Pure proper - with or without an overt assist from Great Satan's only client new clear Army with a nation state attached - is another.


Such a role reversal of 'Strategic Depth" could also be hooked up with hot! promises of sweetly apportioning choice bits of FATA listic turf into Internat'l Rec'vership in a wonderful shrink the gap kinda way for starters. Totally dependent on PAK army's un certain quelque chose

Face saving optional - with a thin veener of fun and friendly internat'l/NATOism to buddy up with Pakistan to storm the sanctuaries of aQ, LeT, Haqqi and Talibani in sovereign free sovereign real estate as a chaser.


And it may be high time to mix up a healthy spoonful of a "I don't like the drugs (but the drugs like me)" moment

Eradicating poppy fields in extremis - or at least taking them over totally and ensuring their illicit, addictive, destructive and corruptive influence are channeled and directed into certain unhelpfully hurtful regimes would be a wicked Joker to hold close to the vest and used as Strategic Resource Weaponry - like oil or energy. 


Pic - "The war dispensation in al-Qaeda's caves in the Pakistani tribal areas is set up in such a way that if one group of insurgents is pacified, a fresh one will pop up to fill in.

Autocrazy Promotion

"There is a myth that though we love freedom, others don't; that our attachment to freedom is a product of our culture; that freedom, democracy, human rights, the rule of law are American values or Western values"

So sang Great Satan's coolest Uncle ever - the one and only Great Britain PM Tony "When in doubt - knock 'em out" Blair.

An article of faith among the faithless (that for decency's sake shall remain nameless) is essentially hot! sexyful fun and free choice are totally incompatible with certain elements in the world.

As previously previewed - abandoning democrazy promotion is the very same thang as promoting and protecting autocrazies 


"....A conservative American president had preached that Arabs did not have tyranny in their DNA, while his liberal successor, with fragments of m"Hammedism in his own personal background, proclaimed the ascendancy of realpolitik once again in America’s conduct in that Greater Middle East. 


"...For decades, it had been the norm in Arab intellectual and political circles to lament the bargain America had struck with the autocracies. For a fleeting moment, America had given freedom a try in the Arab lands. Then the political earth shifted again and the cause of democracy among the Arabs was up against the ways of the Arabs themselves—and the decision by the Americans that liberty does not grow on Arab soil.

Pic - "So long as the Middle East remains a place where freedom does not flourish, it will remain a place for stagnation, resentment, and violence for export."

Seizing Control

Control! Not unlike a Cosmo power point.

As best understood, the theory of Supreme Leader or velayat-e faqih (guardianship of the jurist) is not unlike a kinda 'führerprinzip' style autocrazy.  

Gay Free Iran's "...constitution was meant to combine theocracy with republicanism. But in practice, Iran's unelected institutions, namely the supreme leader and 12-man Guardian Council, wield far more power than elected institutions like the presidency and parliament. The Guardian Council has the authority to vet all candidates for public office and disqualify any who are not deemed sufficiently loyal to the supreme leader."
  
WikiLiquer rumors that Supreme Leader is terminally ill  may mean the internal machinations 
are off the hook y'all!

Since the mullahs got all eclipsed in the '08 M'Jilis election together with last years electile dysfunction  - Preacher Command has been trickbagged by Praetorians - the Revo Guard.

And these  Replacement Revo Guard Commanders all seem to have at least one common thread - a new generation of ex-military leaders comes to power and a new generation makes it to the top of Revo Guard leadership, all directly owing their positions and power to the Supreme Leader. 

Since Supreme Leader is dying - the fiery little hand picked rocketeer President may be making a play to ensure there is no follow up Supreme Leader - and xforming the - uh -'Republic' into a full blown military dictatorship as a President For Life

Like sacking Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki (wonder how how ol Fareed feels about that?) for doing his gig as Foreign Minister:


"...In the past months, Mottaki opposed a decision by Ahmadinejad to appoint his own special foreign envoys to key areas such as the Middle East, Afghanistan and the Caspian Sea region. Mottaki reportedly complained to the supreme leader, who sided with Mottaki and forced the president to moderate his position. 

Hot gossip! rumours that Ayatollah Rafsanjani is stepping up his security and bid to outmanuever the Revo Guard - possibly as either the next Supreme Leader - or at least have a controlling interest in his selection and influence.

Pic - "The guard now has a hand in every critical area, including missile development, oil resources, dam building, road construction, telecommunications and nuclear technology

Unleashed!

So, can a girl appear adorable, attainable, chaste, desirable, easy, hot!, prized, proper, sexyfull and unobtainable all at the same incredible instant?

In a way, such a quiz l'couture could be equally applied to the ancient dark arts im das Unaussprechlichen COIN Külten

As one of Great Satan's premier Teufel Hunden vets of Surgin' the living daylights out of Iraq, Colonel Alford, once shared "We get asked a lot, should we focus on killing the enemy or working with the people? The answer to that question is 'Yes!' "

One of the main points in selling the AFPAK Surge were the cool bits about getting all population centric - protecting the innocent, giving voice to the voiceless and championing those who had no champions.  'Member Marjah's Gov in a box plan?

"...The COIN strategy is balanced by a counterterrorism strategy. When we started, we probably were more aligned with counterinsurgency. The emphasis is shifting.”

Oh it's true - and as psychically predicted by Major Few - Great Satan has unleashed her all weather killers of killers

And one of the shifting shifts that magical elements of Great Satan's 30 year in the future military totally be gigging, is capturing creeps, killing killers and jamming up jerks beyond repair.


By the metric ton bay bee!


Hot gossip indicates that Taliban and assorted fellow travelers are shrinking up faster than a viagra free swim meet.

"...Think of it! The dead of winter over here and Taliban is desperate to hunker down, rest and regroup as they traditionally do. And they're getting mowed down like effing grass.

"...In a 3 month period before December 2010, SOCOM has sortee'd over 3,150 ops.  385 insurgent leaders were killed or captured, 2959 lower level insurgents were captured, and about 900 insurgents killed."

This does not include drone strikes or eventful events on the Eastern side of the Durand line either

The cost has been high - it is not easy and the cost is more than we can bear. 600 American and Allied troops have fell since Special Forces, Rangers, D Boys, Marine Recon and SEALS have let slipped and wrought havoc. 

"...We kick unholy ass(ets) 24/7/365 non-stop and all-weather. We also know that a stalemate is quite possible - unless or until we storm the sanctuaries in Land of the Pure.



Pic - "Courtney, remote area operations normally involve the use of specially trained paramilitary or irregular forces."

Responsible Transition

 

The AFPAK Review will confirm and conclude Great Satan's AFPAK Surge has totally expanded security in the south and around the K'apital of K'abul.

"Much work remains to be done" 


Intense warcrafting is happening right now - with more on the way and the glittering UnSurge of 2014 - when Surge gets reversed and troops began to split, is right around the way

 Essentially - how will Great Satan and her allies get there - and what will be Great Satan's role there afterwards?

The wonderfully crunk cadre of Great Satan's Combat Rock Stars - the cats that put the 'urge' in Surge and made COIN a safeword - unleash "Responsible Transition: Securing Great Satan's Interests in Afghanistan Beyond 2011" (pdf)


Created by former regime changer and Army General DW Barno hooked up with the delectable  (sorry girls - he's taken!) exCaptain Ex -  the good Muqawama (not to be confused with the evil Moqawama) just back all safe n sound from the Stan, 'Sponsible Xition lays it out to play it out.

CNAS will publicly D.C. debutante 'Sponsible Xition' Tuesday the 14th with General B and the Ex in the flesh along with the Watergater Wordwood guy that just penned "44@War" (13:30 to 14:45 - RSVP here) 


Spoiler Alert!

In such a crunk and disorderly hood as the Stan and surrounding actor outers (state and non state), xferring full leadership to create "...an Afghanistan that can stand on its own, that ultimately is going to be able to secure its own territory, not provide a safe haven for terrorists, not drag down the security of the entire region..." must take into account all kinda funinteneded consequences.

Crazy scary stuff, including: a terror attack on American turf originating in Land of the Pure; an adversarial Land of the Pure; a resurgent Taliban; and a complete Afghan Nat'l Sec Force failure. 


Hot spots include:

Great Satan and Friends should commit to a long-term presence in Afghanistan to safeguard vital interests beyond 2014. (GsGf Notitorial - laid out on pg 8)

• Great Satan and Friends should begin a phased transition, starting in July 2011, from a large-scale mission employing in excess of 140,000 troops to a residual force of 25,000-35,000 troops.

• American troop presence beyond 2014 would be a residual force fully reorganized into an unconventional warfare task force (UWTF) that would guide military and counterterrorism operations.  

• Great Satan and Friends should shift their direct investment in the government of Afghanistan away from Kabul and toward local governance.

• Great Satan should get kinda tough, scary, crazy and at times appear mean and decisively use more greater diplopolititary leverage over frienemies in Pakistan to drive more aggressive action against violent extremist organizations in the region.

'Sponsible X" raises an operational quiz as Sharq Awsatee's Stephen Dockery exclusively shared:  

 

"How exactly does one hold the rural areas of Afghanistan with 1/4 the U.S. force presence and rising levels of violence? Planning for things like northern redoubts: "The ultimate fallback option in the event of this development might be basing the core elements of the residual force in northern Afghanistan locations well beyond the effective reach of substantial Taliban forces." (GsGf Notitorial - pg 30)

And a significant shift in Strategic Visioneering. Instead of - to paraphrase Col Nagle's fully crunk paraphrased edict that - "...A few more years, a few more troops and a few more trained ANSF and Surge hits critical momentum and it's won."

"Sponsible Xition" will mean more years and far less troops to fight The Forever War. A decidedly new phase for Great Satan ala "End of Dreams" - where multipolar players recog in certain circumstances - winning means not losing.


"...Instead the Afghanistan war in future years will be a model of the subtle battles of cunning and influence projection between asymmetric foes that has already become the norm in 21^st century conflict. The rules and lessons of these conflicts, like the unending Syrian, Iranian and Saudi influence battle in Lebanon, have yet to be internalized by the world’s super power. It is a nuanced and very old way of influence fighting (that rarely involves a warrior, at least your own) in a multi polar world.

"...In the forever war, winning is not losing. It’s realizing that a principal interest is at stake and that large amounts of resources must be sunk every year just to come out even.  A player in the forever war realizes that to invest in a conflict will only yield marginal yearly gains and losses, but it’s worth it because to not invest and leave entirely yields nothing.

"...We are coming closer to a realistic assessment about the progress that has been and can be made in Afghanistan, a heartening sign given that the U.S. long term plans for Afghanistan will be determined within the next 12 months. 

"...What comes next is using that knowledge to answer the most fundamental questions about Afghanistan. Is a principal interest at stake? Can we afford to let Afghanistan’s future be carried by the other powers competing in Afghanistan? Can our administration, military, congress and population come to terms with being at war forever?
 
Pic - "Toughing it out"  

Get Well Soon!

News that Great Satan's Especial AFPAK Envoy - Richard Holbrooke, is hospitalized in critical condition draws sincere best wishes for a full and speedy recovery. 


Foreign Affairs recently shared some hot! insight and a cool book to peruse  - reviewed by Envoy Holbrooke himself:


"...The philosopher Søren Kierkegaard once observed that "life must be understood backward. But . . . it must be lived forward." This applies to more than one's own life: what is past is more than prologue; it is essential for anyone wanting to understand how today's world was created. This is especially true of the critical region between the Mediterranean and the Himalayas. Without knowledge of its backstory, no policymaker will get the region right: history is continuous, even if, relatively speaking, Americans just tuned in.

Of the vast array of books on this region, none is more relevant than Fromkin's sweeping epic, A Peace to End All Peace. Fromkin states his theme starkly at the outset:

The European powers at that time [1914-22] believed they could change Moslem Asia in the very fundamentals of its political existence, and in their attempt to do so introduced an artificial state system into the Middle East. . . . The basis of political life in the Middle East -- religion -- was called into question by the Russians, who proposed communism, and by the British, who proposed nationalism or dynastic loyalty, in its place. . . . The French government, which in the Middle East did allow religion to be the basis of politics -- even of its own -- championed one sect against the others.

"...Today, we live with the consequences of those almost forgotten events.
Other historians have challenged Fromkin on specific details. That is to be encouraged: history is not only continuous; it also needs to be continuously reexamined. And it should never be ignored, as American policymakers have done so often in the past, at their own -- and everyone else's -- peril.


Pic - "Get Well Soon from the staff at GrEaT sAtAn"S gIrLfRiEnD"

Weekend WoW

 Hahaha! Yours truly scored 2nd place - not once but twice!

Kinda reminiscent of the ancient meme "Courtney does not apply herself."

 Congrats to The Razor and Mere Rhetoric for knocking out the top slots

Council Winners

• *First place with 3 1/3 Votes! – The Razor -- Friends Like These
• Second place with 2 1/3 votes – GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD -Righteous Hit
• Third place with 1 1/3 votes -Joshuapundit- US And Israel To Announce That The Freeze Deal Is Off The Table
• Fourth place with 1 vote -The Glittering Eye- A Ceiling on the Government’s Share
• Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote – Bookworm Room- – Israel, American Jews, American Christians and a whole bunch of other stuff too
• Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote – Mere Rhetoric – “I Will Make A Lot Of Peace In The Middle East”
• Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote – Simply Jews – Spanking Sarah Palin? Maybe, but to spank Timothy Bancroft-Hinchey?
• sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote – Snapped Shot – Searching for Th3j35t3r
• Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote – Right Truth – Tennessee Christmas

Non-Council Winners

• First place with 2 votes! – Rubin Reports- Thanks to International Aid, Gaza Is Going To Be A Well-Off Islamist Republic submitted by Mere Rhetoric
• Second place with 1 2/3 votes – Commentary/Contentions – U.S. Adopts Israeli Anti-Terror Tactics, but Waffles on Defending Israel’s Use of Them submitted by GrEaT sAtAn”S IrLfRiEnD
• Third Place *t* with 1 1/3 votes – Vox Popoli – The Brothel or the Burkah submitted by Bookworm Room
• Third place *t* with 1 1/3 votes –Yid With Lid – Helen Thomas is At it Again-Says Those Rich Jews Control America submitted by The Glittering Eye
• Third place *t* with 1 1/3 votes –Public Secrets – Restraining Leviathan: allow the states to repeal federal law? submitted by Rhymes with Right
• Fourth place *t* with 1 vote - Terry Glavin – Hey Kids! Want To Help Gaza? Good. You Can Start By Just Paying Your Damn Taxes submitted by Simply Jews
• Fourth place *t* with 1 votes Israpundit Blog – Yamit- -“Thorns In Your Side” submitted by Right Truth
• Fifth place *t* with 2/3 votes Stop The ACLU – -UN Climate Summit, Cancun, Mexico: Climate Conmen Sending You Back 100 Years submitted by The Razor
• Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote -Doug Ross – This was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow…’ submitted by The Watcher