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 Greetings! You are reading an article from The Mudville Gazette. To reach the front page, with all the latest news and views, click the logo above or "main" below. Thanks for stopping by! October 7, 2009 Tales of Mystery and ImaginationBy Greyhawk "Imagine that." Some years ago I was stationed with a guy who would use those two words as a response to just about anything you might tell him. I thought it was a pointless statement, but obviously a good political animal could certainly use it to great advantage - a mysterious two-word expression of interest, disinterest, or whatever the receiver wanted to hear. The art of writing the headline - of painting a picture with words. Many are crafted to catch the eye (and hopefully sell newspapers) - and perhaps even create a buzz that could lead to more headlines. Truth and accuracy become disposable to that end, and even if some decision is made later to restore some degree of either, the damage done (and noted in Kabul, even) can't really be undone. (Was the descent into the maelstrom the landing in London or the return flight to war?) But not every headline writer has to sell papers - though generally they do need to market ideas. Yesterday a Defense press release headlined Gates: Withdrawal from Afghanistan Would Embolden Radicals caught my eye like a message found in a bottle. But perhaps among all the things the secretary had said that was nothing more than a random selection... And then there's today's headline in the New York Times, topping a story about the president's meeting with congressional leaders: Obama Rules Out Large Reduction in Afghan Force. He let them know "he would not substantially reduce American forces in Afghanistan or shift the mission to just hunting terrorists there," we learn in paragraph one. And in the final moments of the meeting, Mr. Obama sought to put to rest suspicions of friction with General McChrystal. "I'm the one who hired him," Mr. Obama said, according to participants. "I put him there to give me a frank assessment." And much of the sewage that's flowed in the form of news lately was squeegeed back, ironically with disclaimers like "...said one administration official, who, like others quoted in this article, requested anonymity to discuss the closed-door meeting" as all the assignation we should ever expect. For instance, "they" tell us the "Biden plan" "...would increase the use of such surgical strikes while leaving the overall size of the American force in Afghanistan roughly at the 68,000 troops currently authorized." "Suspicions of friction..." - a great line, that.  Soldiers from Bravo Troop, 1st Squadron, 91st Cavalry Regiment (Airborne), patrol outside of Forward Operating Base Keating in Nuristan province, Afghanistan, March 1, 2008. FOB Keating is the most North-Eastern forward operating base actively used by coalition forces. (Photo by Staff Sgt. Brandon Aird, 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team Public Affairs.) "A more detailed battlefield assessment following the Oct. 3 attack in Nuristan has determined that enemy forces suffered more than 100 dead during the well-coordinated defense -- significantly higher losses than originally thought," the International Security Assistance Force announced yesterday from Kabul - in a press release titled simply "Update: ANSF, ISAF Repel Insurgent Attack in Eastern Afghanistan".
Imagine that.
The DoD has thus far uncharacteristically failed to post a press release giving the names of soldiers killed in last weekend's battle in Nuristan. But as the first group of flag-draped coffins arrived at Dover Air Force Base "the quiet ceremony was punctuated only by the sound of a crying child" - perhaps drowning out the click of a shutter as an AP photographer captured images of each oblong box. On the topic of photos, I'm awestruck by the beauty in those I've seen of the place that became last weekend's Rue Morgue.  A paratrooper from Bravo Troop, 1st Squadron, 91st Cavalry Regiment (Airborne), pulls security during a patrol near Forward Operating Base Keating in Nuristan Province, Afghanistan, March 1, 2008. (Photo by Staff Sgt. Brandon Aird, 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team Public Affairs.) It's the sort of place that in America would draw Hollywood stars and others desiring weekend retreats where they can get away from it all, and find respite from the grueling pace of whatever industry it is that has made them wealthy enough that they can afford to live there (or at least jet there for a day or two, in season).
And a glance at maps reveals the strategic significance of tiny and remote Nuristan - or lack thereof. It depends on your strategy, of course. And the enemy strategy, too. Wuts up?" a soldier there emailed home shortly before he died, leaving us a look at some passages in the life of a lion. "I'm good maintainin' we bout 2 move outta here & go 2 our main fob pretty soon. It's alot safer there & im tryn 2 stay there da rest of my deployment lol." Strategy. Not the "I need votes in Nevada and you need 'em from San Francisco"-kind of strategy, but the military type. If your goal is killing terrorists and you have sufficient troops Nuristan a good place to put them. That mountainous stretch of the border with Pakistan is an infiltration route for bad guys. Put enough troops there to seal that up and they'll be left with no option but to cross somewhere else. President Obama told Congressional leaders on Tuesday that he would not substantially reduce American forces in Afghanistan or shift the mission to just hunting terrorists there, but he indicated that he remained undecided about the major troop buildup proposed by his commanding general. On the other hand, if your goal is making Afghanistan the sort of place where terrorists aren't welcome, then your initial focus should be elsewhere - where the bulk of the people are - and exactly how that works is dependent on how many troops have you got? So with questions unanswered you get comments like this: The American soldiers from this outpost were scheduled to depart the area as part of the new U.S. strategy to focus on securing areas with larger populations. Capt. Mathias said the soldiers at the outpost were not expected to leave this month and had not yet begun to prepare for their departure when they came under attack. Smith, who did not specify the number of American soldiers at the outpost, said such isolated bases at times have only "limited impact" against the insurgents. Foot dragging, some might call that. Or "hurry up and wait." There's all sorts of waiting going on, and no denying the tell-tale heart. "I do not believe that SGT Daddy was one of the 8 (i would have heard by now), I haven't heard from him yet either since the attack. In these types of situations, there is usually a communication blackout..." "I don't think we have the luxury of going so fast we make the wrong decision," said General McChrystal, as part of a talk that led to the headline that opened this post.
I do not believe that SGT Daddy was one of the 8 (i would have heard by now)... ...we bout 2 move outta here & go 2 our main fob pretty soon... ...the soldiers at the outpost were not expected to leave this month and had not yet begun to prepare for their departure... No man of the crowd here: Senator John Kerry, chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, said after the meeting that "it would be irresponsible" to send more troops until it became clear "what is possible in Afghanistan." (Pause for a moment of silence.) Perhaps anything's possible. Imagine that. Posted by Greyhawk / October 7, 2009 3:05 PM | Permalink 2 TrackBacksTrackBack URL: http://www.mudvillegazette.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-tb.cgi/16788 "You really saw the true spirit of the American soldier on Saturday." "I think the best moment, that told me what a great unit I was in, what great guys I was working with, was when everyone basically came together and in the midst of it all they were ... Read More Sebastian Junger:For much of 2007 and 2008, I was an embedded reporter with a platoon of airborne infantry at a remote outpost called Restrepo, which was attacked up to four times a day. Many soldiers had creases in their uniforms from bullets that had... Read More |
July 19, 2010Dawn Patrol 07/19/2010 [Greyhawk]
Welcome to the Dawn Patrol, our ongoing roundup of information on war and other topics - from the MilBlogs and other sources around the world.
Always updating - refresh for updates.
AFGHANISTANProspects for stability in Musa Qala: challenges and possible solutions -- [Bill Ardolino /Long War Journal - in Afghanistan] Exploding Culverts -- [Kandahar Diary - in Afghanistan] Arbaki -- [Free Range International - in Afghanistan] Weather -- [A Major's Perspective - in Afghanistan] Fête Nationale -- [Field Notes: One Soldier's Perspective - in Afghanistan] Goodbye "FaST" Food (and good riddance) -- [FaST Surgeon - in Afghanistan] IRAQOn The Iran, Iraq Border -- [J.D. Johannes - in Iraq] WAR ON TERROR /TERRORISMSenators Look For Smoking Gun In BP-Lockerbie Link -- [AP] No Link Between BP And Lockerbie Release: UK Envoy -- [NPR news blog] UK's Cameron: Releasing Lockerbie Bomber Was Wrong -- [AP] U.S. AND OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLDAs Cameron and Obama Meet, BP Will Be Top Issue -- [NY Times] Afghanistan tops agenda for British PM's visit -- [Washington Times] WELCOME HOMEHomecoming -- [Rajiv Srinivasan - home from Afghanistan] STRATEGY & TACTICSISAF, SCR Address Military ROE and Tactical Directives -- [ISAF] SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGYRaytheon's pain gun finally gets deployed in Afghanistan (update: recalled) -- [Engadget] Pain Ray Recalled From Afghanistan -- [Noah Shachtman/Danger Room] The Active Denial System: the weapon that's a hot topic -- [The Telegraph (UK)] World's Fastest Helicopter Boosts Battle Against Insurgents -- [ISAF]
POLITICSIs it time for a real GI Jane? -- [CNN] HUMOR/SATIRE(Need more? Dawn Patrols Archives are here.) Iraq, Afghanistan, War, Terrorism, Military, Politics, Media, MilBlogs, dawn patrol Mudville |
The Mudville Gazette is the on-line voice of an American warrior and his wife who stands by him. They prefer to see peaceful change render force of arms unnecessary. Until that day they stand fast with those who struggle for freedom, strike for reason, and pray for a better tomorrow.
 
 
 I like having visitors to my house. I hope you are entertained. I fight for your right to free speech, and am thrilled when you exercise said rights here. Comments and e-mails are welcome, but all such communication is to be assumed to be 1)the original work of any who initiate said communication and 2)the property of the Mudville Gazette, with free use granted thereto for publication in electronic or written form. If you do NOT wish to have your message posted, write "CONFIDENTIAL" in the subject line of your email. Original content copyright © 2003 - 2009 by Greyhawk. Fair, not-for-profit use of said material by others is encouraged, as long as acknowledgement and credit is given, to include the url of the original source post. Other arrangements can be made as needed. Contact: greyhawk at mudvillegazette dot com  |
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