De Oppresso Liber

"de Oppresso Liber" xlated from the antique Roman -- accurately describes Great Satan's efforts in AFPAKland -- "free the oppressed."

More than a motto -- it's also the raison d'etre for Great Satan's Special Forces -- the Green Berets -- being inscribed on their patches and unit crests.

From the exploits of WWII OSS/ Jedburgh/Sussex Teams operating behind the lines in France. Colonel Aaron Bank, papa of Army's Special Forces, and his teams enabled the French Resistance to grow and oppose German Wehrmacht.

The unconventional warfare tactics of Colonel Bank differed from the conventional warfare tactics of the rest of the Army in that they included clandestine support for one side of an existing conflict and that they were subversive to the Nazi forces in power.

Often called snake eaters in the new millennium, these cats are truly elite and honestly don't seem to mind showing up at unexpected hours -- kidnapping or killing every enemy in the A.O. and splitting way before flies start walking on the eyeballs of their prey.

Like al Zarqawi.

Obviously -- they take their gig seriously.

Within 24 hours of the leak of the AFPAK assessment to WaPo, General Stanley McChrystal's team shot off a 2nd warning shot for 44's seemingly lathargic inactivity stupor and probably at a few of 44's non military advisors (rumour has it -- many wouldn't know the diff between "Front" and "Back" of a claymore mine in broad daylight).

McClatchy Mctells that military cats with General McChrystal hint he may be prepared to resign if required troops sufficient for the mission are denied.

Or delayed?

"In the last two weeks, top administration leaders have suggested that more American troops will be sent to Afghanistan, and then called that suggestion "premature." Earlier this month, Adm. Michael Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that "time is not on our side"; on Thursday, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates urged the public "to take a deep breath."

"Within days of taking office, it gave Bruce Riedel, a senior fellow at The Brookings Institution, 60 days to craft an Afghanistan strategy. He outlined a policy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, which officials now refer to as "AfPak," and called for the United States to "disrupt, dismantle and defeat" al Qaida.

"Dithering is just as destructive as 10 car bombs. They have seen us leave before. They are really good at picking the right side to ally with."

This is significant.

As 44 is currently reeling from the feeling of being told no - often loudly, rudely and shrewdly by allies and opposition on both fronts -- foreign and domestic -- taking the reins for AFPAK and staying the course he himself championed not so long ago, may be his only chance for victory for something.

Health care overhaul, financial regulatory revisions, energy policies and halting wicked Little Satan's apartment building boom in West Bank may be dead ends.

And not to put too fine a point on it - a possible future face of GOP (who knows better than most what the heck she is talking about) offered a gentle reminder that AFPAK is deadly serious:

"The last time we left Afghanistan, and we abandoned Pakistan, that territory became the very territory on which Al Qaeda trained and attacked us on September 11th.

"So our national security interests are very much tied up in not letting Afghanistan fail again and become a safe haven for terrorists.

"It's that simple, if you want another terrorist attack in the U.S., abandon Afghanistan."

art - "imperiti docendi"