Back In Afghanistan/Pakistan/Washington

The Times covers the meetings in Washington amongst the leaders of Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the US:

WASHINGTON — Confronting a deteriorating situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan, President Obama said Wednesday that the United States was deeply committed to helping the two countries defeat Al Qaeda and its extremist partners, and in helping democracy endure and flourish.

“No matter what happens, we will not be deterred,” Mr. Obama said during an appearance in the White House grand foyer after meeting with President Asif Ali Zardari of Pakistan and President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan. “Every day we see evidence of the future that Al Qaeda and its allies offer. It’s a future filled with violence and despair.”

Two bits of bad news.  First, civilian casualties are an ongoing problem:

Mr. Obama’s remarks came as the deaths of dozens of Afghan civilians in western Afghanistan, from what Afghan officials and villagers said were American airstrikes, served as a reminder that deep problems in the region extended beyond Pakistan, the most recent American focus.

More on that here, including the possibility that the Taliban staged, or amplified, the incident.  Let's add that the core of Gen. Petraeus' counterinsurgency plan in Iraq was to protect the civilian population.  However, my unprofessional guess is that we don't have nearly enough troops to muster that sort of counterinsurgency in Afghanistan, so we really on air power, with the sort of consequences described.  Well, Petraeus has got Afghanistan now, and good luck.

The second bit of news concerns the capabilities of the Pakistani military:

Pakistani officials told their American counterparts this week that they were moving large numbers of troops toward the border with Afghanistan, which American officials described as encouraging.

But it remains a question whether these troop movements are real or token, and some of Mr. Obama’s senior aides caution that Pakistan’s military is ill suited to carry out the kind of counterinsurgency operations needed to end the Taliban fighters’ control of Swat, in the North-West Frontier Province, and to keep them from infiltrating again or shifting to another region.

“They’re fundamentally not organized, trained or equipped for what they’ve been asked to do,” said a senior administration official who is closely following the Pakistani military operations in Swat, and who spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid offending the visiting Pakistani leaders. “They will displace the Taliban for a while. But there will also be a lot of displaced persons and a lot of collateral damage. And they won’t be able to sustain those effects or extend the gains geographically.”

Protecting the civilian population is probably not the strong point or organizing principal of the Pakistani Army.  So we are fighting counterinsurgencies in two countries the wrong way and probably lack the resources to do it the right way.

This brief history of the Afgan/Pakistan relationship from 2003 is interesting but not encouraging.

Comments

[bad]

Some of the same lefties who agonized over every death during the Bush years are now referring to civilian damage as "to be expected collateral damage."

[clarice]

“No matter what happens, we will not be deterred,” Mr. Obama said during an appearance in the White House grand foyer after meeting with President Asif Ali Zardari of Pakistan and President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan.
Words that should strike fear in the hearts of Zardari and Karzai.

Their best shot is to declare war on America --then Obama will apologize and run to their aid with everything at his disposal to appease them.

[ben]

“No matter what happens, we will not be deterred,”

Translation: I have no idea what will happen and I when it happens I have no idea how to deal with it.

[narciso]

We're are so screwed, "we really dodged a bullet there"

[Fresh Air]

How long before Zero declares we won't use our ground troops? That was Gen. Clinton's best military strategy, and it unfolded beautifully in the Balkans. Then again, maybe he needs to be consulting Winnie the Pooh.

[Merrily we row our boat.]

There has been an error in transcription. Correctly it is: "No matter what happens, we will not be disturbed".

[ben]

"Obama Court Decision Shaped By Experience, Wife's Advice - Bloomberg News"

Lest any of you were worried.....

[Whitehall]

The cynic in me speculates that our Afghanstan policy is a viable way to defeat and humiliate a foe.

Of course, I'm not talking about the Taliban or AQ but about General Petraeus. He's an enemy that the Obama Administration fears and means to crush.

Starving the mission of troops, allies, and supplies are subtle methods not likely to be reported in the MSM. The loss of our base in Central Asia (Kazafackastan?) was an early setback that Obama did little to protest or turnaround.

Or am I being too cynical?

[narciso]

No, Whitehall, you can never be cynical enough when it comes to this crew.

[PeterUK]

"That was Gen. Clinton's best military strategy, and it unfolded beautifully in the Balkans."

Which was,to protect the Muslim communities.How did that work out for brownie points?

[narciso]

Yeah, Al Midhar and Al Hazmi and Moussaoui and Zawahiri liked it so much, that they declared war on us, not long after.

[Fresh Air]

PUK--

Yeah, we protected them and got no credit for it anyway.

Whitehall--

That thought crossed my mind, too. But I don't think Zero is clever enough to lose a war while escaping the blame and pinning it on his top general. My cynicism for the cutthroat politics these Marxists practice is only exceeded my certitude of their stupidity and incompetence.

[Frau Jedöns]

Can we exchange Bammer for Karzai who is "way cooler" in every category - smarts, looks, education, oration, gravitas and civility to name a few.

[Whitehall]

Obama doesn't have to lose the war to discredit Gen. Petraeus. All he has to do is accept the risk of not being able to turn it around following Petraeus' dismissal.

[Extraneus]

Meanwhile, the top headline on AP is:

White House: Obama wants to cut $17B from budget

The budget asks for $3.4T. $17B is one half of one percent of that. It's the same as cutting $500 from a $100,000 budget.

Seriously, this is the big headline today. That Obama wants to cut one half of one percent of the budget he just ballooned by historical proportions.

Right now, at this point in our history, the media dwarf every enemy this country has ever had.

[PeterUK]

I question the timing I'm not the only one

A group that uses suicide and the death penalty for adultery isn't going to flinch at arranging for some casualties.

[narciso]

Right on Frau, it's kind of curious how many seem to attack Karzai because he didn't crush the Taliban, but they expect
Fahim or others to do anything different; or do they really not care about the pre 9/11 world.

[Fresh Air]

Extraneus--

Right. Never forget the Media are the enemy. They are sole reason Zero was elected, and 80-90 percent of why Americans have no understanding of economics, law, science and pretty much every thing having to do with rational thinking.

I can't wait for every last newspaper to go under.

[PeterUK]

More to the point where are the media on this? If it had been George Bush the body count would still be rising.
Breathtaking Hypocrisy.(Courtesy Jane Products)

[PaulL]

Right now, at this point in our history, the media dwarf every enemy this country has ever had.

Amen.

[Bill in AZ]

Right now, at this point in our history, the media dwarf every enemy this country has ever had.

... just had to see that one more time ...

Zero, with the help of the media, has done more damage in the last few months than most of us will ever see us recover from. Our legacy to pass on to our children and grandchildren, if we can do it, will be to destroy the unelected and unaccountable media, and the control it has over this country.

[ben]

"More to the point where are the media on this? If it had been George Bush the body count would still be rising."

Not to mention interviews with mother's distraught at the bombing of the "baby milk factory".

[ben]

"ABC News’ Rick Klein reports: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was briefed on the use of “enhanced interrogation techniques” on terrorist suspect Abu Zubaydah in September 2002, according to a report prepared by the Director of National Intelligence’s office and obtained by ABC News.

The report, submitted to the Senate Intelligence Committee and other Capitol Hill officials Wednesday, appears to contradict Pelosi’s statement last month that she was never told about the use of waterboarding or other special interrogation tactics. Instead, she has said, she was told only that the Bush administration had legal opinions that would have supported the use of such techniques.

The report details a Sept. 4, 2002 meeting between intelligence officials and Pelosi, then-House intelligence committee chairman Porter Goss, and two aides. At the time, Pelosi was the top Democrat on the House intelligence committee.

The meeting is described as a “Briefing on EITs including use of EITs on Abu Zubaydah, background on authorities, and a description of particular EITs that had been employed.”

EITs stand for “enhanced interrogation techniques,” a classification of special interrogation tactics that includes waterboarding.

Pelosi, D-Calif., sharply disputed suggestions last month that she had been told about waterboarding having taken place."

I wonder who is lying...the report or Nancy Pelosi?

[PeterUK]

On the subject of the media.Anyone notice how the NYT can find the telephone number of a one goat village in Wherethephuckistan? Not only that,they get through to the one person who speaks English and knows WTF the journo is talking about.Try it,I bet you get you get a taxi firm or a take away.

[pagar]

PeterUK, or the guy who remembers what the guy that John Kerry shot at when he went ashore on a river bank in Vietnam 40 years ago
was wearing at the time.

[matt]

we know Nancy was at one briefing she says she can't remember, so I'll guess she's lying through her teeth, sort of like when she she went on Charlie Rose and said to a national audience that's she's bipartisan. I would believe the bi part.

[sbw]

PeterUK... Live anywhere near Surrey? My wife says if you do, we're there.

She's quite taken with the scenery from Holiday, Wedding Date, and Pride and Prejudice with Colin Firth.

[Extraneus]

At least there's still Fox News.

Republicans Deride Obama's $17B Proposed Cut in Federal Spending

Sen. Judd Gregg told FOX News President Obama's $17 billion figure needs to be put in the context of his $3.4 trillion budget.

[Porchlight]

Pride and Prejudice with Colin Firth.

Is there any other? ;)

[Pofarmer]

That Obama wants to cut one half of one percent of the budget he just ballooned by historical proportions.

I actually heard a clip today of Barack Hussein saying "We can't continue on the deficit spending ways of the past." And, immediately, I thought, WTF???? It IS 1984.

[centralcal]

sbw: I watched Holiday again this past weekend, have always loved Pride and Prejudice and agree that Surrey looks really lovely.

PUK might tell us it is a hellhole and has been overly glorified by Hollywood, althought I'm hoping he doesn't.

[PeterUK]

Pagar,
This School Song a Journalist School.

"
He: She:
We met at nine. We met at eight.
I was on time. No, you were late.
Ah yes! I remember it well.

We dined with friends. We dined alone.
A tenor sang. A baritone.
Ah yes! I remember it well.

That dazzling April moon! There was none that night,
And the month was June.

That's right! That's right!
It warms my heart to know that
you remember still the way you do.
Ah yes! I remember it well.

How often I've thought of that Friday, Monday
night,
when we had our last rendez-vous.
And somehow I've foolishly wondered
if you might by some chance be
thinking of it too?

That carriage ride. You walked me home.
You lost a glove. I lost a comb.
Ah yes! I remember it well.

That brilliant sky. We had some rain.
Those Russian songs. From sunny Spain.
Ah yes! I remember it well.

You wore a gown of gold. I was all in blue.
Am I getting old? Oh no! Not you!
How strong you were,
how young and gay;
A prince of love in every way.
Ah yes! I remember it well.

[daddy]

Just FYI,

The China TV stations and Papers in Shanghai yesterday had plenty of coverage of the dead civilians bombed by the US in Pakistan. It was impossible to miss while cursorily flipping through their dozens of channels or speed-reading the China Daily. They are headlining it and paying attention.

On the contrary, the CNN International and BBC broadcasts I was able to stomach for a while focused on anything else. Many stories about soccer and the weather and the markets cheerily heading upward and global warming etc, but if I hadn't been channel surfing through the Chinese Stations I would have been completely ignorant about it. BBC and CNN provided plenty flattering shots of Obama giving speeches, and sitting at a table between the Pakistani and Afghani Presidents, but the context of that was simply a masterful American President acting masterfully. I have to admit though that I am so jaundiced and biased against CNN and BBC that I really have difficulty forcing myself to suffer through any of their entire broadcasts any more from start to finish, so if they slipped it in after the feature on Posh Spice's new fashion shoot I probably missed it.

[clarice]

Here are some lovely pics of Surrey.

http://www.picturesofengland.com/England/Surrey/pictures/1078788#

daddy, I never watch cnn so I can imagine how awful it would be to have to warch it or nothing.

[PeterUK]

sbw,
Sorry no.Slightly more North,much higher up and more wuthering.

[daddy]

Clarice,

Honestly, I watch almost anything else, as both the Beeb and CNNI are truly repulsive to me. I was very impressed with the ChiCom channels (CCTV) last year in actually showing the damage and outrage of the Chengdu Earthquake disaster, so now, since I am more interested in figuring out what they are listening to, I wind up watching them rather than listening to our propaganda. I also try to catch the Japanese Station that is ubiquitous throughout Asia, and sometimes RT (Russia Today). Al Jazerah I still have big problems with, but partially it's because its frequently the former talking heads of BBC or CNN interviewing Richard Armitage etc, so since I already despise them, I consider my free time too important to waste in giving them the benefit of the doubt. Mainly though I just drag along good library books, and use my free mental time on the road for that.
Except of course when the Yankee's are playing, as it's always enjoyable to watch them lose in any language!:)

[clarice]

sbw,, Dorset(Thomas Hardy land) is nearer by and very lovely, too. If your wife knits, there's a lovely woman in Guildford who's written some great knitting books for children's things and Dorset is full of people who spin, hand dye and knit. Let me know before you go and I'll give you some addresses.

[Ann]

I was at a Lacrosse game this evening talking about ACORN and the fact that nobody is covering it besides talk radio and Glenn Beck.

I got ridiculed for listening to RUSH and watching Glenn Beck. I asked everyone where they got their news and it was either the Columbus Dispatch or CNN. NOT ONE person knew that ACORN got 8 billion in stimulus money.

They don't watch Beck because he cries and the usual was said about RUSH.

Glad I didn't mention Mark Levin. They probably would have made me move to the underside of the bleachers.

[clarice]

Looks like the perfect crowd to be worked over by our dear friend Mr Puk.

[sbw]

Hey, thanks for the Surrey pix, the pointers, and the wuthering chuckle.

[Halp, John Kerry, Typhuspad is attacking!]