Defining the Enemy

Lt. Col. Allen West (US Army retired)

THE
REAL
DEAL,
R

Because It Doesn’t Fit…

…in one of Long War Journals little comment boxes…

===

Nissonic – “Does the U.S have authorization to attack any country they see fit? Are there no restrictions?”

R – No. There are restrictions. Far too many in fact.

Nissonic – “Al Queada and other islamic insurgent groups can hide anywhere in the arabic world…its not restricted to only Afghanistan. How can America fight the entire muslim world? What do you hope to gain?”

R – They aren’t restricted to the “Arabic” or otherwise Islamic world either. They hide in North and South America, Europe (including Sweden), and other parts of Asia as well. Al-Qaeda apologists go to great pains to point out that extremist Islamic terrorist’s and their sympathizers are only a tiny percentage of the “Muslim” world. But if we have to fight the entire Muslim Umma, then we shall. Victory over religious tyranny seems like a good start.

=

Nissonic – “I cant answer all of you who replied to me individually.”

Render – I’ll bet…

Nissonic – “I know that the U.S have been playing the world police for good and bad…for half a century now.”

Render – Only 50 years? Guess you missed that whole Teddy Roosevelt era in your studies, huh? Too bad so much of the rest of the world has no interest in policing itself or helping us clean up the neighborhood.

Nissonic – “You did neutralize some foes like Saddam Hussein and I think that the world at the moment is better off with people like them offline.”

Render – We did do that, didn’t we? “Neutralize” Now there’s a cool word. I prefer to refer to it as “We let the Iraqi’s string the evil bastard up like the meat puppet he was.”

Nissonic – “However when is it time to stop interveining in other countries buisnesses?”

Render – When they stop sheltering and giving aid to those who attacked us. Pretty simple, huh?

Nissonic – “I understand the pursuite of terrorist world wide and the hunt for Al qaeda and other islamic insurgents.”

Render – That’s good. But I don’t think you truly understand it at all, any of it.

Nissonic – “I do know that Al qaeda and the some of the more extreme talibans are vicious.”

Render – I was right, you do not understand any of it. All Taliban are “vicious.”

Nissonic – “However look at it this way. During WW2 the germans and the japanese were the foes.”

Render – No, the individual German and Japanese civilians were not “the foes.” Their governments were.

Nissonic – “Two important countries wich population was brainwashed by two extreme ideologies.”

Render – Note that the Nazi and Imperialistic Japanese governments claimed the same of the American and British populations.

Nissonic – “What differs the combattants of those with the same vicious mind to those recruited into Al Qaeda?”

Render – Uniforms and technological capabilities for starters.

Nissonic – “Is it some poor farmer in Afghanistan that have created Al Qaeda?”

Render – Was it some poor French, Polish, or Chinese farmer that created the Nazi’s or the Empire of the Rising Sun?

Nissonic – “Who is the mastermind behind the Al Qaeda operations? Whats his name?”

Render – Those cannot be serious questions at this point in time. Allow me to invite you to scroll back through the archives of this very (Long War Journal) blog. I’m quite certain you will find numerous names that answer those descriptions.

Nissonic – “Does he have anything in common with Adolf Hitler or Tojo?”

Render – There is that extreme hatred of Jews…

Nissonic – “What differs Al Qaeda from other extreme groups like the nazis? It has a strong leader and without it it will fall apart.”

Render – al-Q isn’t a nation, or a government. According to jihadi sympathizers the death or capture of OBL and/or Doctor Z will not harm or reduce al-Q’s abilities. I’m quite prepared to test that theory…

Nissonic – “Will there be a lecture about the rules of engagement and other moralic values in times of war?”

Render – Do you feel you need a lecture? Will you question the rules of engagement of al-Q and the Taliban?

Nissonic – “What are those moralic values when America faught against a superior army as the British during the war of independece or the so called justified war in vietnam.”

Render – The Redcoats and their Indian allies committed far more “atrocities” during the American Revolution then the Americans and their Indian allies did. However, the Geneva Convention hadn’t been thought of yet, so that’s all quite irrelevant. In 1964 there was ample justification for US involvement in Vietnam; by 1968 any and all justifications were lost in the confusion of coup, counter-coup, and rampant corruption.

Nissonic – Whos doing the autrocities? The leader who commands or the footsoldier in the field?”

Render – Both.

Nissonic – “Who massacrated poor villagers in Vietnam and who harrassed prisoners of war in Iraq? They were as innocent as the people you still morn at the world trade center towers.”

Render- The North Vietnamese and their Viet Cong allies massacred at least as many “poor villagers” as the Americans and their allies had, the difference between the two being quite obvious. The North Vietnamese and VC committed their massacres intentionally, with malice and forethought. You probably should reconsider this line of morale equivalence you’re following…

Nissonic – “Al qaeda makes autrocities…so do the Americans.”

Render – No. al-Q plans, designs, and commits atrocities as a matter of intention. That’s why they’re called terrorists.

Nissonic – “The leaders command and leave the lower underlings to do the autrocities for them.”

Render – Nothing new in any of that. Congratulations, you’ve graduated from the Pink Floyd School of international relations…

Nissonic – “There should be no restrictions where to strike then. Go and bomb any country you see fit because there you will find the “bad guys” a threat to the american people.”

Render – Bomb or arrest, whichever it takes, wherever they are. Even in Sweden.

Nissonic – “As the poor farmers of Afghanistan are a serious threat to the americans in the U.S so was the poor farmers of Vietnam that performed numerous terrorist acts on american soil. Go to Vietnam and kill them all as a pay back.”

Render – The poor farmers of Afghanistan have three choices. Support the US in defeating the Taliban, support the Taliban in being seventh century thugs and terrorists, or ignore the whole thing and go on growing their drug crops for brain addled Pink Floyd fans. The US reimburses those farmers whose property and lives have been lost or damaged. The Taliban does not. American sympathizers of the North Vietnamese did in fact perform terrorist acts on US soil during the Vietnam War era. We’ve since elected their students into power. Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.

Nissonic – “I hope I got the point clear.”

Render – Our current President says, “Let me be perfectly clear” a lot. He rarely is, either.

Nissonic – “Underlings fighting underlings in the name of autrocity. Al Qaeda like any other group from the past has one leader or leadership that brainwashed the others to join their “cause”.

Render – So nobody ever volunteers for such a cause? An awful lot of Swedes volunteered themselves to the Waffen SS during WW2, were they all brainwashed as well?

Nissonic – “It could be any as it has nothing to do with religion or Islam.”

Render – You might want to check with al-Q and the Talib about that misconception of yours. They are quite convinced that it has everything to do with Islam.

Nissonic – “Some might have as living in an ascetic manner like some rules of the Taliban.”

Render – Or they might not.

Nissonic – “However bombing civilians is nothing related to religion. They use it as an excuse to wage their war. Hitler used some excuses to make his ideology and spread it to others.”

Render – Again, you’re more then welcome to attempt to convince the combined al-Q and Taliban leadership that none of this has anything to do with their twisted interpretation of religion. We, on the other hand, do not need an excuse. We already have a valid reason.

Nissonic – “Go find the leaders responsible for the acts made by their servants, not them themselves. Search for Osama Bin Laden.”

Render – We’re working on that. Would you like to help, or just whine about it?

Nissonic – “My best bet is that hes hiding in the East Turkestan region of China. Hes not stupid enough to hang around in Afghanistan or Pakistan.”

Render – On second thought, stick to the whining part if that’s the best you’ve got.

Nissonic – “Also look out for Somalia. With the islamic insurgents advancing rapidly it could be the new haven for islamic extremists or jihadists. It could be the new Taliban ruled Afghanistan on a comfortable distance to the arabic world…”

Render – Gee, ya think? We’ll get right on that…right after we finish making the rubble bounce in Afghanistan.

CHAINSAW
ETIQUETTE,
R

Focus

There are no political issues more important then this one…

It’s not about the Health Care Scam (yes, it is a scam). It’s not about the Global Warming Scam (yes, it is a scam).

It’s not about the national debt (that’s my money you’re giving away). It’s not about the economy (the “elected” foxes are now guarding an empty henhouse).

It’s about American men and women, in a little piece of hell, as far from home as they can get and still be on the planet. It’s about American men and women fighting against the very same people that committed 9/11 (yes, they did). It’s about a wartime American President who refuses to use the word “victory” in relation to the war of his term in office. It’s about a war that will still be going on after American forces are withdrawn from combat without victory. It’s about a war that will still be going on after this American President has left office, for whatever reason.

WELCOME TO
HELL MAN D,
R

ModernWarfailed

A little wub note from Outcast1Bravo on the Infinity Ward forums…

“Thanks so much for this rotting piece of garbage that is this MP experience, IW. I can’t believe you devs are so completely lazy and money hungry that you would totally screw the PC community that made your series so popular. What is even worse, is that I, and everyone else for that matter, cannot even enjoy a LAN game, which is a must when deployed given our horrid internet connectivity over here. That alone is a game killer for me. After a long day of patrolling, getting shot at with small arms fire, RPGs, being IED’, and RKG-3′d to death, literally… we can’t blow off a little steam and relax with some CoD. Thanks gents, thanks a lot.

We took a little time during our patrol at a IP station to say thanks.”

Yes, it is a real picture. No photoshop, no BS.

And what was Infinity Wards sole response? They banned the American soldier from their forums. While leaving little Leftist trolls like “Irish Drunk” to bad mouth America and its military non-stop.

MW2 – Not balanced for the real military either.

A quick shout out to Da King of the Innernets for picking up on this too…

ROBERT
402
BOWLING
LIED,
R

Holy Documents

John Moses Browning made all men equal.

PLACE
HOLDER,
R

Eight Days

Happy Hanukkah…

WE’RE
STILL
HERE,
R

Son of DarkStar

The same week, Air Force officials revealed that a stealthy, all-jet RQ-170 remotely piloted aircraft had flown in Afghanistan, and its top intelligence officer said his number one priority was a larger, longer-range strike-reconnaissance aircraft.

The Beast of Kandahar has arrived

The US Airforce has confirmed that it has a stealth drone operating in Southern Afghanistan.

She is sleek, sexy and stealthy…The blogger, not the plane.

The RQ-170 Sentinel, a flying wing developed by Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works.

===

Unarmed, for now. No visible hardpoints. Clearly Darkstar was not retired, only classified for further development. It’s all George W. Bush’s fault…

WHAT YOU
DON’T SEE,
R

Now Zad – Again

Free fire zones. Relieve any perceived pressure on 5th Stryker to the East?

…,
R

After Eleven Months of Review…

That’s it?

That’s the great “strategy” we’ve all been waiting for? You’re going to “surge” 30,000 more troops into Afghanistan, only to withdraw them all within months (weeks? days?) of their arrival (and just in time for your re-election bid)?

You told the enemy exactly when you’re going to quit, right down to the month?

Brilliant.

=

“Then, in early 2003, the decision was made to wage a second war in Iraq. The wrenching debate over the Iraq War is well-known and need not be repeated here. It is enough to say that for the next six years, the Iraq War drew the dominant share of our troops, our resources, our diplomacy, and our national attention — and that the decision to go into Iraq caused substantial rifts between America and much of the world.”

Mr. Present, it is not a “second” war. It is the exact same war, different front. Mr. Present, do you know what “logistics” is, and how it effects war planning? Ask (ret) General Jew-hate Jones, I’m sure he can fill you in. No doubt he has all the logistics for his proposed invasion of the West Bank all figured out already.

“We will remove our combat brigades from Iraq by the end of next summer, and all of our troops by the end of 2011.”

And everything in Iraq will be cookies and unicorns forever after? You do know the enemy is listening to this speech, right?

“Thanks to their courage, grit and perseverance , we have given Iraqis a chance to shape their future, and we are successfully leaving Iraq to its people.”

So going into Iraq wasn’t a bad thing after all?

“But while we have achieved hard-earned milestones in Iraq, the situation in Afghanistan has deteriorated.”

The date of that deterioration can be fixed almost exactly to the US mid-term elections of 2006 and the political rhetoric of your party Mr. Present.

“After escaping across the border into Pakistan in 2001 and 2002, al Qaeda’s leadership established a safe haven there.”

Are you threatening to invade Pakistan again Mr. Present?

“Over the last several years, the Taliban has maintained common cause with al Qaeda, as they both seek an overthrow of the Afghan government.”

No feces Mr. Present. The USMC maintains “common cause” with the US Navy. The Taliban, and all the other factions that comprise al Qaeda have much bigger plans then just Afghanistan.

“Gradually, the Taliban has begun to take control over swaths of Afghanistan, while engaging in increasingly brazen and devastating acts of terrorism against the Pakistani people.”

Rules of Engagement Mr. Present, Rules of Engagement.

“Throughout this period, our troop levels in Afghanistan remained a fraction of what they were in Iraq. When I took office, we had just over 32,000 Americans serving in Afghanistan, compared to 160,000 in Iraq at the peak of the war.”

Logistics Mr. Present, Logistics. 160,000 at the peak of the Surge (that you were against), not at the peak of the war.

“Commanders in Afghanistan repeatedly asked for support to deal with the reemergence of the Taliban, but these reinforcements did not arrive.”

The general that does not request more troops has yet to be born. Once again, logistics plays a role. Which party was responsible for reducing the number of light infantry units in the Army Mr. Present? Which party has repeatedly slashed away at the military budget Mr. Present?

“That’s why, shortly after taking office, I approved a long-standing request for more troops.”

And then you promptly fired the general who made the request.

“I set a goal that was narrowly defined as disrupting, dismantling, and defeating al Qaeda and its extremist allies…”

Don’t the Taliban qualify as “extremist allies?” You didn’t set that goal Mr. Present. George W. Bush set that goal in 2001 and then you and your party did everything in your power to disrupt, dismantle, and defeat that goal Mr. Present.

“Since then, we have made progress on some important objectives. High-ranking al Qaeda and Taliban leaders have been killed, and we have stepped up the pressure on al Qaeda world-wide.”

Is that an implication that no high-ranking al Qaeda and Taliban leaders were killed during the previous administration? Is that an implication that more has been done in the last eleven months then in the previous eight years? If those are the implications then you are lying Mr. Present. But I’ve come to expect that from you.

“In Pakistan, that nation’s Army has gone on its largest offensive in years.”

And at the same time US and Coalition forces in Afghanistan have received ever more restrictive Rules of Engagement, have been ordered to abandon border posts, and been charged with war crimes for punching al Qaeda members in the face while apprehending them.

“Afghanistan is not lost…”

It will be after 2011.

“…but for several years it has moved backwards.”

Since the 2006 US mid-terms.

“There is no imminent threat of the government being overthrown…”

Oddly enough the Taliban and al Qaeda seem to think there is. You remember them, right? They’re listening to you too.

“Al Qaeda has not reemerged in Afghanistan in the same numbers as before 9/11, but they retain their safe havens along the border.”

Al Qaeda is in fact stronger in manpower now then it has been at anytime since 2006. Wait, I thought the Pakistanis were on their largest offensive in years, yet the safe havens remain?

“Our new commander in Afghanistan — Gen. McChrystal — has reported that the security situation is more serious than he anticipated. In short: the status quo is not sustainable.”

Didn’t you just say that there is no imminent threat of the government being overthrown?

“As your commander in chief, I owe you a mission that is clearly defined, and worthy of your service. That is why, after the Afghan voting was completed, I insisted on a thorough review of our strategy.”

You were elected Commander in Chief eleven months ago. No review of war strategy should ever take that long. Especially to reach a politically based conclusion. You just told those cadets that you’re willing to sell their lives for your re-election. Spin that.

“Let me be clear: There has never been an option before me that called for troop deployments before 2010 — so there has been no delay or denial of resources necessary for the conduct of the war.”

Clear as mud, as usual. A quick look at the current Brigade Combat Team deployments chart and the current logistics capabilties of the US military reveals why. A persistent lack of light infantry units and transport aircraft. So the shortages of helicopters and ammunition are irrelevent to conducting modern warfare? That is indeed unprecedented.

“The 30,000 additional troops that I am announcing tonight will deploy in the first part of 2010 — the fastest pace possible — so that they can target the insurgency and secure key population centers.”

And then they will be withdrawn in 2011? The fastest pace possible for your re-election chances?

=

I’ve heard enough Mr. Present. Except for one last thing…

“Thank you, God Bless you and God Bless the United States of America.”

Religious extremist! You’re banned from Little Green Footballs! Get off of my blog!

KITE
EATING
TREE,
R

Where Are The Jews of the World?

Where are the Jews of Syria?

- Over 100,000 Jews lived in Syria in 1948. Now there are less than 1,000.

Where are the Jews of Egypt?

- Almost 80,000 Jews lived in Egypt in 1948. Now there are less than 100.

Where are the Jews of Iran?

- Prior to the Islamic Revolution in 1979, there were 80,000 Jews in Iran. Less than thirty years later there are around 20,000 Jews remaining in Iran.

Where are the Jews of Iraq?

- In 1948 there were 140,000 Jews living in Iraq. Now there are less than 100.

Where are the Jews of Morocco?

- In 1948 there were 265,000 Jews living in Morocco. Now there are less than 5,000.

Where are the Jews of Algeria?

- In 1948 there were 140,000 Jews in living in Algeria. Now there are none.

Where are the Jews of Libya?

- In 1948 there were 48,000 Jews living in Libya. Now there are none.

Where are the Jews of Lebanon?

- In 1948 there were 20,000 Jews living in Lebanon. Now there are less than 100.

Where are the Jews of Jordan?

- The number of Jews living in (Trans) Jordan prior to 1948 is unknown. What is known is that Jordan maintains a law stating that no Jew may be a Jordanian citizen.

Where are the Jews of Yemen?

- In 1948 55,000 Jews lived in Yemen. Now there are less than 200.

Where are the Jews of Tunisia?

- In 1948 there were 105,000 Jews living in Tunisia. Now there are less than 1,000.

Where are the Jews of Saudi Arabia?

- It is unknown how many Jews lived in Saudi Arabia in 1948. However Saudi Arabia maintains a law that no Jew may enter the country.

Where are the Jews of Turkey?

- In 1948 80,000 Jews lived in Turkey. Now there are less than 18,000.

Is it too much to ask the world to stop killing Jews?

===

Yes this is a reprint. The questions remain unanswered. You see it appears to be acceptable for the Moslem world to ethnically cleanse itself of its Jewish population from one end to the other and not one word is spoken about it. The vast majority of those Jews ended up in Israel, where they constitute a large percentage of Israel’s Jewish population. Yet the world screams bloody murder when those Jews, together with the Jews who were driven from Europe and Russia, build homes and cause the desert to bloom.

That’s what this entire war (Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia, al-Qaeda, the Taliban etcetc) is about. It is what this entire war has been about right from those awful early morning moments on 9/11/2001. Bin Laden, HAMAS, HizbAllah, Iran and all the other names for Islamic genocidal evil think (and say repeatedly) that only the United States stands between them and the extermination of six million more Jews.

===

Once upon a time (1973) a little American Jewish boy asked his father, “Daddy, why do they want to kill us all?” His father replied, “It doesn’t matter why, all that matters is they do.”

That little boy is all grown up now and they still want to kill us all. Nothing has changed in the last thirty five years and it still doesn’t matter why. All that matters is that they still want us all dead.

Answer the questions.

FROM THE
RED CLAY
BUNKER,
R