Al Qaeda, the Taliban, Afghanistan and Obama

Obama seems to be working toward his campaign promise to move the focus away from Iraq and onto Afghanistan. But this one could turn into another Vietnam if he isn't careful.

There's a great recent analysis of the Afghan, Taliban and Al Qaeda situation at Stratfor Global Intelligence. I'm using it for this post. Click Here to read the complete report.

Afghanistan is not Iraq. There are a lot of reasons that's true, but bottom line, the country and it's people are as different from Iraq as Mexico is from the US. And, like Vietnam, unless we have clear, reasonably attainable goals along with an exit strategy, we could end up mired in an un-winable conflict. And Obama could waste thousands of American lives and a lot of political capital for nothing.

Like the Viet Cong, the Taliban are excellent counterinsurgents. It's their turf, they have the support of enough of the people, and none of them expect the US to have the power, time and fortitude to do what it'd take to eliminate them. So they're just going to outlast us. And they have the ability to do it.

Al Qaeda, on the other hand, has been pretty devastated by our continuous, all-encompassing, mainly covert, campaigns against them. It's taken a toll on them, their videos and chest-thumping announcements notwithstanding. But they have the support of the Taliban and while not the force they once were, they continue to be hard to eradicate. They are fairly impotent right now, but can rebuild quickly if we lower our guard.

So where does that leave us? What should our actions and goals be in Afghanistan? Certainly we don't have the manpower and ability to mount an all-out campaign. Nor can we realistically expect to completely defeat the Taliban. And that isn't a good goal anyway. The Taliban are localized. It's Al Qaeda that drives the international terror actions, not the Taliban.

The Stratfor Group suggests, and it make sense to me, that a reasonable goal, as part of our War on Terror, would be to not concentrate so much on the defeat of the Taliban, but instead ensure that we maintain the ability to continue our covert efforts against Al Qaeda. So that means that we do what is necessary to support and defend a friendly Afghan government that will allow our CIA and covert military the access it needs to keep plucking away at Al Qaeda.

Anything else is a recipe for for reliving the devastation of Vietnam all over again.

Sheriff Joe

Here's a refreshing story about someone who gets it, who isn't afraid about being politically correct and giving in to the threats from the ACLU.

Good ol' Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa, AZ. Doing his job, doing it well and getting elected over and over again, with huge margins!

He's the one that created the ' Tent City Jail':

• He has jail meals down to 40 cents a serving and charges the inmates for them.


• He stopped smoking and porno magazines in the jails.


• Took away their weights Cut off all but 'G' movies.


• He started chain gangs so the inmates could do free work on county and city projects. Then He Started Chain Gangs For Women So He Wouldn't Get Sued For Discrimination.


• He took away cable TV Until he found out there was A Federal Court Order that Required Cable TV For Jails So He Hooked Up The Cable TV Again Only Let In The Disney Channel And The Weather Channel. When asked why the weather channel He Replied, So They Will Know How Hot It's Gonna Be While They Are Working ON My Chain Gangs.


• He Cut Off Coffee Since It Has Zero Nutritional Value. When the inmates complained, he told them, 'This Isn't The Ritz/Carlton... If You Don't Like It, Don't Come Back.'


• He bought Newt Gingrich's lecture series on videotape that he pipes into the jails. When asked by a reporter if he had any lecture series by a Democrat, he replied that a democratic lecture series might explain why a lot of the inmates were in his jails in the first place.


• With Temperatures Being Even Hotter Than Usual In Phoenix (116 Degrees Just Set A New Record), the Associated Press Reports: About 2,000 Inmates Living In A Barbed-Wire-Surrounded Tent Encampment At The Maricopa County Jail Have Been Given Permission To Strip Down To Their Government-Issued Pink Boxer Shorts. 'It Feels Like We Are In A Furnace,' Said James Zanzot, An Inmate Who Has Lived In The TENTS for 1 year. 'It's Inhumane.' Joe Arpaio, the tough-guy sheriff who created the tent city and long ago started making his prisoners wear pink, and eat bologna sandwiches, is not one bit sympathetic. He said Wednesday that he told all of the inmates: 'It's 120 Degrees In Iraq And Our Soldiers Are Living In Tents Too, And They Have To Wear Full Battle Gear, But They Didn't Commit Any Crimes, So Shut Your Mouths!'

I Wish Him Well

I wish our 44th President well and God speed. I really do.


As much as I personally distrust the man, his motives and politics, he's now this country's leader and as such has my respect and best wishes. I'm proud of America for electing the first black President. That speaks volumes about our country and the opportunity for anyone to rise above history and prejudices. Soon, I imagine, we'll be saying the same about our first female president.


But for now, I wish President Obama the best. He needs it and we need it. His Inaugural speech was one of the best and I believe spoke clearly about the attitudes and actions we as a country must have to pull out of the times we are facing. Now, we need to see if he can deliver.


The biggest test I see is if he can turn around the rancorous partisan politics. It's rough on both sides, but is seen at it's worst on the Democrat side. Without the taming and quieting of the viscous gotcha politics, he's doomed to fail. And we can't afford a failure.


So here's the best to you President Obama. I pray you prove my doubting heart wrong and deliver on your promises of today. I'm rooting for you.

You Gotta Read This!

Man, Camille Paglia hits another one out of the park! God I love this woman! It is so refreshing in this period of hyper Political Correctness and uber sameness in the media to read such interesting and well-thought and expressed views. I don't agree with all she says but I do so enjoy her style.

Take a look at this latest column of hers in Salon where she takes aim at some sacred cows -

Harry Reid - Harry Reid is a cadaverous horse's ass of mammoth proportions. How in the world did that whiny, sniveling incompetent end up as Senate majority leader? Give him the hook!

Rahm Emanuel - Rahm Emanuel, the arrogant Chicago scrapper who was reportedly a conduit to the governor, already seems like an albatross who should be thrown overboard as soon as possible. Nobody wants a dawning presidency addicted so soon to stonewalling, casuistry and the Nixonian dark arts of the modified limited hangout.

Katie Couric - .....Katie Couric was definitively the stupidest. As a guest on NBC's "Today" show during my 1992 book tour, I was astounded by Couric's small, humorless, agenda-ridden mind, still registered in that pinched, tinny monotone that makes me rush across the room to change stations whenever her banal mini-editorials blare out at 5 p.m. on the CBS radio network.

Global Warming - We should all be concerned about environmental despoliation and pollution, but the global warming crusade has become a hallucinatory cult. Until I see stronger evidence, I will continue to believe that climate change is primarily driven by solar phenomena and that it is normal for the earth to pass through major cooling and warming phases.

"Atlas Shrugged"

Stephen Moore recently had a great article in the Wall Street Journal about Ayn Rand's classic, Atlas Shrugged, and how it has gone from Fiction to Fact in only 52 years. Here's the link to it.

For those that haven't read "Atlas Shrugged", (which the Left hate by the way), it chronicles the manner in which "Politicians invariably respond to crises -- that in most cases they themselves created -- by spawning new government programs, laws and regulations. These, in turn, generate more havoc and poverty, which inspires the politicians to create more programs . . . and the downward spiral repeats itself until the productive sectors of the economy collapse under the collective weight of taxes and other burdens imposed in the name of fairness, equality and do-goodism."

Frighteningly similar to today, isn't it?

National Bankruptcy Day - Feb 10, 2009

In a classic example of the do-gooder's, thinking they are doing something positive for the world but in reality, totally screwing it up..... we now have the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 bearing down on us.

This brilliant piece of legislation, sponsored by Rep Bobby Rush D-Il, (isn't he the one that called the Senate racist because they wouldn't seat Blago's nomination to replace Obama?) is a retroactive rule mandating that all items sold for use by children under 12 must be tested by an independent party for lead and phthalates, which are chemicals used to make plastics more pliable.

All untested items, regardless of lead content, are to be declared "banned hazardous products.'' The CPSC has already determined the law applies to every children's item on shelves, not just to items made beginning Feb. 10.

The regulations could force thousands of businesses – especially smaller ones that cannot afford the cost of lead testing – to throw away truckloads of children's clothing, books, toys, furniture and other children's items and even force them to close their doors.

When are we going to get some common sense from our elected officials? When are we going to say enough is enough? Isn't it bad enough that we have a weak economy right now, but to throw this out there right now is going to close another whole wave of small businesses.

Are you mad enough about this lunacy to do something about it? Are you going to take the time to contact your legislator and let them know how you feel about this? Are you going to start turning off Entertainment Tonight and American Idol and learn a little more about what's really going on, not just what you see on YouTube? I hope so. We don't have a whole lot of time left.

Here, I'm making it easy for you. Here's the link to find and contact your Representative and your Senator. Maybe you'll finally use it.

One Pissed Off Dude!!!

Man I wish I could write like this guy.... Gary Graham, a conservative actor (an oxymoron if I ever saw one) just wrote a great post on a new blog... Big Hollywood.

His 'rightous indignation' is palpable and long overdue. He speaks with the voice millions of Americans are trying to find. We are all pissed off about what's going on and the seeming inability to do a damn thing about it.

We're looking for a voice in the wilderness to call this madness for what it is...to find a way, a person, anything to get our side's view told and listened to.

Maybe Graham can get some traction with his posts and this new blog can help get some of our views and concerns out to more people. We can only hope.

In the meantime, take a few minutes, read his post and see if you don't feel a little better now that someone has written down in words what you've been thinking for a long time.

I Don't Know Where to Begin

I know I said in an earlier post that I was accepting of Obama's election, and I guess I still am. But boy, is it going to be rough for the next few years. I mean how much can a person take!!

Al Franken as a US Senator!?! I know, I know, this it the state that elected Jessie Ventura as Governor. But really folks, this man has no more business being a US Senator than I do. He's a joke. He's a jerk and he has no class. God this is so sad to watch.

But this is exactly what you get when (as Neal Boortz so eloquently put it) the YouTube and Entertainment Tonight generation - people who have no clue in the world how our government actually works or who the key players are - turn a presidential election into a glorified version of American Idol, and now our wonderful elected officials in Washington are getting ready to vote on and pass a ONE TRILLION dollar stimulus bill without even so much as reading it.

You've maybe heard that Obama's bill will include a$300+ million Tax Cut. Do your really know what it actually is? Obama is going to give the Tax Cut to the people that don't Pay any taxes, which means they are actually going to get a Refund Check! Ain't that grand! And where are we going to get the money to pay for it? And did you know that means that we'll then have over 50% of our population not paying ANY Federal Income Tax!! So who's going to pay for it? The rest of us schmucks that are paying the bulk of the taxes. Where is that fair?

Bottom line is we're in for the most Socialistic, Big Government, anti-capitalistic crap you've ever thought possible. If that doesn't send our country and economy into a deadly tailspin we'll be damn lucky!