White Wedding

Ranger Question of the Day:
Did the U.S. electorate charge Barack Obama with the mission
of forcing change on Afghani President Karzai?

Where is the love
You said you'd give to me
Soon as you were free
Will it ever be?
--Where is the Love? Roberta Flack

I'm the liberation of intoxication
The abomination of infatuation
The epitome of the enemy
Perfect agony until infinity
--Sycophant, KMFDM

Hey little sister who's your superman?
Hey little sister shot gun!
It's a nice day to start again
It's a nice day for a white wedding
--White Wedding, Billy Idol
________________

This week's The Week magazine featured a winning cover illustration: Obama and Karzai as bride and bridegroom, in a shotgun wedding with Joe Biden as flower girl.

Why is changing the smarmy m.o. of Hamid Karzai the concern of the President of the U.S.? The POTUS is not the president of the world, but should focus on his constitutional duties. Karzai is not our concern.

Why would Obama want Karzai to change on any level? Karzai was selected by the U.S. because he was and is a sycophant for U.S. interests. What's not to love? (You Can't Always Pick your Afghan Friends.)

If Mutant Teenage Ninja Turtles were running the world, things would play out the same.

Willy Pete

It was after the catastrophe,
when they shot the president and machine-gunned
the Congress and the army declared
a state of emergency.
They blamed it on the Islamic fanatics, at the time
—The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood
_______________

(A quote for Sheerahkahn.)

The Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission is concerned that the U.S. used white phosphorus as an anti-personnel weapon in violation of international agreements outlawing the use of chemical weapons.

The charge arose after suspect burns were sustained in the already contentious battle last Monday in Farah province, fighting which may have caused the largest number of Afghan civilian deaths since the 2001 U.S. invasion that ousted the Taliban.

"The American military denied using [White Phosphorus] in the battle in Farah province — which President Hamid Karzai has said killed 125 to 130 civilians — but left open the possibility that Taliban militants did" (Concerns White Phosphorus Used in Afghan Battle).

It would be very easy to deny this charge by simply releasing the Artillery Log Books, which would show what rounds were fired and when. This is SOP for firing units.

"Col. Greg Julian, the top U.S. military spokesman in Afghanistan, said the U.S. did not use white phosphorus as a weapon in last week's battle. The U.S. does use white phosphorous to illuminate the night sky, he said."

There is a little duplicity here. Illumination and White Phosphorus are two different types of munitions. WP is SQ (super quick fuse), and illumination is set with timers on the fuse and has parachute carriers for the illumination. WP does not illuminate a night sky.

Despite the protest of Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who has consistently decried civilian casualties and called for an end to airstrikes, U.S. National Security Adviser Gen. James Jones (ret'd.) refused to rule out any action because "we can't fight with one hand tied behind our back.'"

But counterinsurgency is about fighting with one hand tied behind your back.

Since Afghanistan is supposed to be a COIN operation, not a conventional battle, Ranger is confused as to the U.S.'s objectives. Either we are there to win their hearts and minds or we are there to kill them, but we cannot do both. Either it is COIN or it is not. If NSA Jones feels that two-handed fighting is the key to success, we have some muddled thinking in our national command authority.

"Afghan officials say up to 147 people may have died in the battle in Farah, though the U.S. says that number is exaggerated. " As usual, U.S. official response is rather blase about indigenous deaths. The U.S. historically accuses our enemies of not valuing human life, but statements like this discount the value of the lives, regardless of the exact number lost.

"In Kabul on Sunday, hundreds of people marched near Kabul University to protest the U.S. military's role in the deaths. Protesters carried signs denouncing the U.S. and chanted anti-American slogans."

Demonstrations in Kabul, but none in the U.S.

Ho Chi Minh City

Not many people know it,
but the Fuhrer was a terrific dancer
--The Producers (1968)

There were many wonderful people in the Taliban.
--Hamid Karzai (1998)
_________

Forget Karzai, that toady-sometime-American lackey. He's an opportunist who always plays both sides against the middle. In this primary season, we are reminded that Karzai was an earlier political rock star, with those magnificent pashamina and silk shawls and yak caps. So exotic, a la Yul Brynner's King and I mode. But the substance didn't pan out. Too bad, so sad.

There are a few noteworthy quotes in this WaPo column ("Two Myths About Afghanistan"):

"Col. Martin Schweitzer, commander of the coalition forces in six provinces in Regional Command East, told me that the ANA [Afghan National Army] has not lost an engagement with the Taliban since last April."

Similarly, the U.S. Army never lost an engagement with main force Vietcong or NVA in the Vietnam War. This bragging point, however, is irrelevant. Vietnam emerged a communist country, and by all accounts was victorious in achieving their war aims. Don't Army men like Colonel Schweitzer ever pull their head out of their fourth point of contact?

"In 2007, the Army's counterinsurgency strategy of stationing platoons in district centers and delivering quick infrastructure aid started to produce visible results for ordinary Afghans in the east. . . When Schweitzer took command early last year, 20 of the 85 districts were "green," or on the side of the Afghan government. By year-end, 58 were classified as "green."

Simply applying arbitrary designations such as "green" is totally meaningless. It is like our own beloved Homeland Security's color designations for threat levels. It is so Captain Kangaroo, and one can picture the changing velcro color badges being stuck up on the easel in the front of the room each day, to little effect.

The writer, Marlowe, says, "I saw this as an embedded reporter in Ghazni province in November. The young captain in charge of Four Corners, once the 'worst neighborhood' in Ghazni, told me that in the spring of 2007 his base had taken fire twice a week, but as of late November it hadn't been rocketed in 60 days."

The fact that rockets have not fallen for 60 days does not mean that anti-government forces are not consolidating and reorganizing. In fact, New York has not been attacked recently but we have not called off the Phony War on Terror (PWOT ©).

Fighting for democracy in Afghanistan is like screwing for virginity.

Happy Valentine's Day ♥.