Posted on 10/12/2009 7:18:01 PM PDT by Ooh-Ah
WASHINGTON -- As the Obama administration reconsiders its Afghanistan policy, White House officials are minimizing warnings from the intelligence community, the military and the State Department about the risks of adopting a limited strategy focused on al Qaida, U.S. intelligence, diplomatic and military officials told McClatchy.
Recent U.S. intelligence assessments have found that the Taliban and other Pakistan-based groups that are fighting U.S.-led forces have much closer ties to al Qaida now than they did before 9/11, would allow the terrorist network to re-establish bases in Afghanistan and would help Osama bin Laden export his radical brand of Islam to Afghanistan's neighbors and beyond, the officials said.
McClatchy interviewed more than 15 senior and mid-level U.S. intelligence, military and diplomatic officials, all of whom said they concurred with the assessments. All of them requested anonymity because the assessments are classified and the officials weren't authorized to speak publicly.
The officials said the White House is searching for an alternative to the broader counterinsurgency strategy favored by Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the U.S. military commander in Afghanistan, and Gen. David Petraeus, the head of the U.S. Central Command.
...
The intelligence assessments based their conclusions that the Taliban and related groups would back al Qaida's global agenda on the fact that the Afghan insurgents not only continue to admire bin Laden and his Arab, Central Asian and other followers, but also are indebted to them for financial, military and technical assistance.
Moreover, the Taliban and allied groups are also indebted to the jihadists in the Middle East who've helped fund their insurgency, and they remain wedded to Pashtunwali, the centuries-old Pashtun tribal code that mandates protection of fellow Muslims.
(Excerpt) Read more at mcclatchydc.com ...
Simply stated, the jOker is going to surrender in Afghanistan so that he can funnel ALL military dollars into his precious DeathCare.
Ya think?
Why doesn’t he just appoint an Afghan Czar?
During his term (hopefully his only term), The Messiah will get the U.S. involved in Somalia in a war which will never end. That’s his ticket to cranking up the military industrial complex and producing enough money to pay down some of the debt he has racked up. This will be the “just” war.
By comparison, Somalia will make Afghanistan look like kids scuffling in a sand box.
What has Obama have to offer them in exchange?
Obama has yet to publish a National Security Strategy. He is required to by the Goldwater-Nichols act.
He is leaving the US Military rudderless.
And now the pig is putting lipstick on the WOT.
Why Somalia?
“Why Somalia?”
—
It’s newsworthy, particularly with liberals, and will get The Messiah’s picture on the camera again and again. He’s a media hound and cares bupkus about any consequences.
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