THERE'S GOLD IN THEM THERE HILLS!

Recently geologists from the United States determined there are vast mineral deposits in Afghanistan, estimated to be valued at $1 Trillion Dollars.  The deposits include iron, copper, gold, lithium and other valuable metals.  Yes, the impoverished country of Afghanistan could very well become the "Saudi Arabia of lithium" and other minerals. At first this sounds great, but upon reflection I think not so fast!  Sooner or later we will leave that nation and I have little doubt that forces unfriendly to us will fill the vacuum and those new sources of revenue will in the end be used against us.  We found the goodies, but the "GOLD IN THEM THERE HILLS" will at some future date buy the bombs used to kill Americans.

AFGHANISTAN: NO WAY OUT

AFGHANISTAN: NO WAY OUT!

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Release Pfc. Bowe Bergdahl - Prisoner Swap?

The Taliban have recently released a video of a captured American soldier, Pfc. Bowe Bergdahl. Pfc. Bergdahl was captured this past June in Afghanistan after straying from his unit there. He is now being used by the Taliban for propaganda purposes. The release of this video at Christmas is despicable and shows the depths of depravity that the enemy will sink too. I'm sure that American commanders are using all means to find and secure the release of this young soldier. The question I would now pose is this: should we attempt some type of prisoner exchange to obtain the release of this young soldier? I have mixed feelings on this issue and would welcome your input. The government of the United States has done this in the past, notably in the early years of the War Between the States, but it was later discontinued when the government realized this program was benefiting the south more than the north. The government of Israel also does prisoner exchanges. Like I said before, I see benefits and dangers on this issue.
KABUL — In a Christmas Day move, the Taliban on Friday released a video of an American soldier captured in Afghanistan, showing him apparently healthy but spouting criticism about the U.S. military operation. In Idaho, Pfc. Bowe Bergdahl's family pleaded for his release and urged him to "stay strong."

Bergdahl disappeared June 30 while based in eastern Afghanistan and is the only known American serviceman in captivity. The Taliban claimed his capture in a video released in mid-July that showed the young Idaho soldier appearing downcast and frightened. He hadn't been heard from until Friday's video, in which he looks well and speaks clearly.

The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force confirmed hours later that the man in the video was Bergdahl, but denounced both its timing and content.

"This is a horrible act which exploits a young soldier, who was clearly compelled to read a prepared statement," said a statement from U.S. Navy Rear Admiral Gregory Smith, ISAF's spokesman. "To release this video on Christmas Day is an affront to the deeply concerned family and friends of Bowe Bergdahl, demonstrating contempt for religious traditions and the teachings of Islam." read more from FOX News

Al Qaeda's Numbers Down Since Obama's Election?

SHOCKING, just as the numbers of homeless people sleeping under bridges always spikes during a Republican administration and then suddenly shrinks to almost nothing the day a Democrat moves into the Oval Office, the same thing in now happening to Al Qaeda, before the election last year we were hearing about the growing threat of Al Qaeda and its resurgence in Afghanistan, but now that Obama is in the White House amazingly the numbers have shrunk to a measly 100 fighters. It appears that the mere threat of "Obama the Terrible" has caused the cowardly Al Qaeda members to flee. Where do these insane numbers come from? And what is the purpose? Hell you already know the answer. We live in a age of spin and counter-spin and the truth takes a back seat to whatever reality is out there. The one undisputed truth about Afghanistan is that American soldiers are dying and the Command-in-Chief seems more interested in other things at this point in time.

30,000 U.S. Troops Not Fighting 100 Al Qaeda Terrorists, Officials Insist

Intelligence officials on Wednesday disputed suggestions that President Obama is sending 30,000 more troops just to fight 100 Al Qaeda operatives estimated to be remaining in Afghanistan, arguing that their influence with the Taliban makes them far more harmful than their numbers would indicate.

Intelligence officials on Wednesday disputed suggestions that President Obama is sending 30,000 more troops just to fight 100 Al Qaeda operatives estimated to be remaining in Afghanistan, arguing that their influence with the thousands-strong Taliban makes them far more harmful than their numbers would indicate.

The officials responded after an ABC News story referred to the intelligence community estimate on the number of Al Qaeda operatives in Afghanistan as "Obama's secret," and something he deliberately omitted mentioning in his speech Tuesday night.

Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., invoked the 100 figure in her response to Obama's Afghanistan strategy speech Tuesday night.

"I do not support adding more troops because there are now 200,000 American, NATO and Afghan forces fighting roughly 20,000 Taliban and less than 100 Al Qaeda," she said in a written statement.

But officials called any suggestion that the surge is meant to fight 100 terrorist operatives irresponsible.

While intelligence officials confirmed that only about 100 Al Qaeda operatives remain in Afghanistan and their "center of gravity" is in Pakistan, they said "their leadership works tightly with leaders of the Afghan Taliban."

In other words, the Taliban are taking orders from the few Al Qaeda members in the region. Between the two countries, there are only thought to be several hundred Al Qaeda members.

The Taliban follow a brutal version of strict Wahhabi Islamic law, banning all "un-Islamic" activity and committing numerous human rights violations, including restricting all freedom for women. Al Qaeda's goal to divorce all Muslim countries from foreign influence would be warmly received by a Taliban-led government in Afghanistan, as was the case in the 1990s.

Top officials on Wednesday defended Obama's surge decision, arguing that the U.S. military needs to take on the Taliban as a way to keep Afghanistan from falling into hands that Al Qaeda can exploit.

Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said the U.S. "cannot afford" to allow the Taliban to restore Al Qaeda's safe haven inside Afghanistan.

"The Taliban and Al Qaeda, while separate, are two peas in a pod," Rice told Fox News.

Top military officials have for months estimated that the actual number of Al Qaeda operatives in the region is small.

National Security Adviser Gen. James Jones said in an interview in October that Al Qaeda was "very diminished" in Afghanistan, that fewer than 100 were left, and that they were not able to launch attacks on the United States or its allies from the country. read more from FOX

Afghanistan: More Dollars and No Sense

When War was War and Not a Game!

More Dollars
The cost for each American soldier deployed to Afghanistan has now reached one million dollars per year. The cost of maintaining a Taliban soldier in the field for a similar period is somewhat difficult to estimate, but many find the figure to be under $3,000. This means the debt ratio is about 300 - 1, with the Taliban maintaining a overwhelming edge. The debt ratio is not however the only problem, but the ugly question of sanctuary is again hitting the American military in the face as it did in Korea, Vietnam, and to a certain extent in Iraq. The Taliban and their al Queda allies are more or less free to move between Pakistan and Afghanistan and we are powerless to attack them in their strongholds in the mountains of western Pakistan. Yes. we have the UAV's (unmanned aerial vehicles) with their hell-fire missiles that occasionally find an al Queda leader in a remote mud hut hidden in some mountain valley and dispatch that trusty Hell-fire against him at a cost of $100 to $200 thousand dollars each. The parts of this fallen leader are quickly gathered up and buried before sunset as is the custom in that part of the world. And a new leader is quickly named at a cost far less that the cost of sending the first on his trip to meet the many virgins. When I hear that we have killed another Taliban leader in the mountain of Pakistan, I almost laugh. Its like killing a single ant in the giant ant hill and calling that some kind of victory. This is not war, this is playing at war, this sadly has become a game with the young men of our country being the pawns in a protracted conflict we can never win with the current rules of engagement . We will lose this war without ever having lost a battle and the many young men who will never return to their families will have fallen in vain because of this great political game. The Taliban and al Queda will continue to be funded by the massive amounts of petro dollars coming from the Wahabis sects in the Gulf States and the enormous sums of money generated by the opium poppy in the mountains of Afghanistan.

No Sense
The way this war is being waged in the mountains of Afghanistan is absolute madness and insanity that is totally out of control and one that has its roots going back to the 1950's and the Korean War. In that conflict the U.S. government under the leadership of President Truman allowed a great American army to be stalemated in the mountains of Korea, and despite repeated request by the commander in the field General Douglas MacArthur for tactical nuclear weapons to be used they never were. Today we have a nuclear armed state in North Korea, a state that poses a serious threat to all of its neighbors in that region. A few years later in another part of the world French forces in Indochina faced a turning point in their struggle against a communist insurgency in what is now northern Vietnam. French forces were surrounded and outnumbered at the besieged fortress of Dien Bien Phu and after many request from the french government for tactical nukes to be used to break the siege Dien Bien Phu fell and we had the establishment of the communist state of North Vietnam and the stepping stone to the Vietnam war where tens of thousands of young American soldiers died. To this day the use tactical nuclear weapons remains off the table even though that decision has cost us tens of thousands of young Americans lives. At some point in the very near future the battle field situation will become so dire that an American President may be forced to revisit that decision and for once think about the troops in the field and not the journalist at the London Times. Even after seeing what happened in Korea and at Dien Bien Phu we entered another war where we were bound by old rules of engagement that had failed us in the past. Our enemy was allowed sanctuary---a place to regroup and rebuilt and a place from which to attack again and again. In Vietnam the American soldier never lost a major battle, but the government lost the war and Vietnam fell to the enemy. This is our current path in Afghanistan, a path we've traveled many times before and it will end in the same place--DEFEAT AND DISHONOR!

The defeat will not be of battles lost by our brave troops for none have been lost. And the dishonor will not fall on them for they are all, all honorable men. The defeat is the nations and the dishonor is ours. Ron Russell

The Judgement of Obama

Obama is about to face one of his toughest foreign policy decisions. Does he send some 30,000 plus more troops into Afghanistan or does he continue on the current path where we are in a no win situation. If he complies with General McChrystal's request he angers his base the extreme left in this country, if he continues the war with the forces that are there the outcome will be uncertain at best and could be a disaster. This will not be an easy call.

As I see it we must jump in with both feet and use all our resources and push for some type of quick victory or just get out. The latter does not seem to be a good choice in that a withdrawal would give the Taliban and al Qaeda a platform to launch future attacks against our homeland not to mention that terrorist throughout the world would declare a great victory and new recruiting posters would go up hailing their great victory over the United States. There are no good solutions to this problem and this is one where Obama will have difficulty in straddling the fence, something he usually does. I believe however, that unlike King Soloman, Obama will split the baby and the war in Afghanistan will become even a more protracted conflict and American causalities will increase to a point where the public will no longer support our effort there and in the end we will leave the field to the enemy. The world is watching and the clock is ticking!
by Ron Russell

Gen. Stanley McChrystal, who is expected to request 30,000 to 40,000 additional troops, met with Joint Chiefs Chairman Mike Mullen at Ramstein Air Base in Germany, FOX News has confirmed.

Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, received the widely anticipated troop request Friday from the top commander in Afghanistan, aides told FOX News.

Mullen, accompanied by Gen. David Petraeus and other top military officials, met at Ramstein Air Base in Germany with Gen. Stanley McChrystal, who is expected to ask for 30,000 to 40,000 additional troops. Mullen is now headed back to the U.S., FOX News has confirmed.

Mullen asked McChrystal for the meeting earlier in the week following the leak of McChrystal's strategic assessment to hear directly from his commander what resources and how many troops he will need to succeed in Afghanistan, aides told FOX News.

"He wanted to understand the request for himself before it arrives in Washington and he is asked to discuss, defend it," an aide told FOX News.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates is expected to receive the troop request Friday. But Gates will hold onto the request until the White House and Pentagon get to a "proper stage" in their assessment of the war in Afghanistan, a Pentagon spokesman said earlier this week, explaining that it is premature for the request to be considered until the assessment is fully reviewed.

Mullen hand-picked McChrystal to lead the fight in Afghanistan after firing Gen. David McKiernan in May.
FOX News

The Day After & The Butterfly Effect

Today, the day after the anniversary of 9-11 gave me the title of today's post. I was reminded of a 1983 movie. "The Day After" showing the after effects of a massive nuclear exchange with the former Soviet Union. No this post is not about nuclear war, but simply a look at where we are today following the attack on 9-11.

I recall the day in 2001 when the first bombs began to rain down on Afghanistan and the satisfaction I took as the Taliban were quickly routed and American forces went into Kubal. The morning I got the news that Saddam Hussein was rooted from his spider hole was great. And the many other events along the way, but good and bad. This post however is not one of reflection, but rather a look at where we are today.

The picture is not good. The war in Afghanistan has taken a turn for the worse at this time. The Taliban has learned well from the insurgences in Iraq and the use of the IED's is beginning to take a toll there. The improvements the Iranians have made on these devices has proved devastating to allied forces. And there seems to be little desire on the part of those in Washington to do anything about it. Support for the war effort is waning and unless progress can be shown soon this weakling we now have for a president will buckle and begin withdrawing American forces---I have little doubt of that. That said, let me say that having thousands more American troops killed and injured by these improved IED's is not acceptable to me either, and the only solution I see is to go after the factories in Iran turning out these devices. It is becoming increasingly clear that Iran, must be dealt with now and dealt with decisively. The IED's, the nuclear issue, its role in international terrorism---all these things must be stopped in order to have peace in the area. Should we abandon our efforts in Afghanistan, all the gains there will be lost as well as the gains in Iraq----the two are linked. They are linked by their common neighbor Iran and its there that victory must be won or all is lost in that region of the world. Should Afghanistan fall back under the control of the Taliban, then the way will be paved for the reemergence of Osama and his followers in that region and in that area where all this began will again be a spring board for more attacks on the homeland.

The outlook on this "Day After" is bleak, we have an administration that will not deal with Iran forcefully and it is Iran that holds the key to final victory in Iraq and for the ultimate victory or some type of favorable outcome in Afghanistan. This president will not, and I repeat will not put the necessary pressure on Iran to secure success in either Iraq or in Afghanistan. A pivotal point is quickly approaching and this weakling in the White House may soon lose what little control he has left over the situation, there is an increasing possibility that Israel may take action against the Iranian state and that would change everything. The deck would be reshuffled and the outcome for the entire region would be any ones guess.

One lesson that history teaches is that the smallest occurrences often have a profound effect on events(a freak gust of wind, exposing an IED on a road to Kubal; or even a dung beetle pushing his tiny ball across a field). Events I dubbed the "butterfly effect" many, many year ago---but alas, a name which was stolen as my classroom lectures were not copyrighted. So predicting or simply speculating on such things is merely folly for fools like me.
by Ron Russell

PFC Robert C. Thomas, a 19 year old from Detroit was amazed as he carefully watched the two large shining beetles push the almost perfectly round ball inch after inch and foot after foot across the rocky ground going around the larger stones and over the smaller ones. This young man from the inner city had never witness such a unique act. He was perplexed and amazed at their efforts and completely oblivious to anything else for the moment. And it was at this exact moment that the enemy slipped past his sharp, but distracted eyes. A huge explosion rocked the mountain valley, un-noticed by the two dung beetles, but jarring the young soldier from his trance and in an instant 22 American soldiers lay dead. This brought the causality total for the year to over 1000, a milestone and led congress to cut funding for the war in Afghanistan---The BUTTERFLY EFFECT!

Israel Defense Forces IDF Women on Break IDF Woman with Weapon

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Captured Soldier from Idaho

Now that the missing soldier has finally been identified many unanswered questions remain. Americans will be wait for the military authorities in Afghanistan to provide some answers. Sometimes it appears that the military officials are slow in coming forth with vital information. Maybe they are constrained by their civilian bosses, but that remains to be seen in this incident. Meanwhile we are all praying for the safe release of Pfc. Bowe R. Bergdahl of Hailey, Idaho.

This video frame grab taken from a Taliban propaganda video released Saturday, July 18, 2009 shows an American soldier who went missing from his base.
HAILEY, Idaho — A soldier from Idaho who disappeared from his base in Afghanistan has been captured, the Pentagon confirmed Sunday, a day after he was seen in a Taliban video posted online.

The Defense Department released the name of Pfc. Bowe R. Bergdahl, 23, who was serving with an Alaska-based infantry regiment. The private was last seen walking away from his base near the border with Pakistan in an area known to be a Taliban stronghold.

Even before his name became public, two U.S. defense officials confirmed to The Associated Press that the man in that 28-minute video was the captured soldier. The video, in which Bergdahl said he was "scared I won't be able to go home," provided the first public glimpse of the missing American.

The Pentagon statement said Bergdahl's whereabouts became unknown on July 1 and his status was changed July 3 to missing-captured.

Bob Bergdahl, the soldier's father, told The Associated Press Saturday that the family was requesting media respect their privacy.

"We hope and pray for our son's safe return to his comrades and then to our family, and we appreciate all the support and expressions of sympathy shown to us by our family members, our friends and others across the nation," Bob Bergdahl said in a statement issued through the Department of Defense. "Thank you, and please continue to keep Bowe in your thoughts and prayers."

On the video, which was posted on a Web site pointed out by the Taliban, Bergdahl says he's from Hailey, Idaho, a town of about 7,000 people that lies 160 miles east of Boise. The Pentagon identified his hometown as Ketchum, which is about half the size of Hailey and about 12 miles north. His family says he grew up in Blaine County, closer to Hailey. Read more.... FOXNews via AP