Posted on 10/27/2015 2:21:31 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
They already have engaged them, of course, per the otherwise successful raid to liberate an ISIS prison in Iraq last week that ended with one American soldier being killed. That sounds suspiciously like combat, and if there’s one thing Barack Obama stands for, it’s that the era of combat in Iraq is over.
How can combat not be combat? Easy. Just call it something else. It wouldn’t be the first Orwellian euphemism this White House has used to reassure progressives that they may be at war but they’re not at war-war.
Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook had been blunter on Thursday: “Our mission in Iraq is the train, advise and assist mission. This was a unique circumstance. … This was a support mission in which they were providing support to the Kurdistan Regional Government. U.S. forces are not in an active combat mission in Iraq.”
But before Carter left the podium on Friday, he offered this explanation for why he couldn’t reveal more details of Wheeler’s actions: “This is combat. Things are complicated.”
Indeed.
The rules of the official advise-and-assist mission meant the Americans were to “stay behind the last covered and concealed position,” but when the fighters they were supporting began taking fire and casualties, they stepped in and acted. As Pentagon spokesman Colonel Steve Warren noted from Baghdad, “In the chaos of combat, when you see your friends being hit, I would submit to you that you’re under somewhat of a moral obligation.” Again, combat.
“Combat,” in theory, refers to engagement with the enemy in the course of an indefinite foreign occupation involving many thousands of troops. Barack Obama certainly doesn’t support that, except in Afghanistan, where he only kind of supports it and only because his haste in ending combat in Iraq has turned out to be a catastrophe. What the U.S. did last week in that ISIS prison, as Carter explains below, was a “raid.” A raid is a time-limited pinprick strike involving a few dozen soldiers with a very specific purpose. We won’t engage ISIS in “combat” but we’ll “raid” the sh*t out of them. Just like we wouldn’t “bomb” Libya, we’d participate in “kinetic military action” there. Just like Russia’s invasion of Crimea, which the White House didn’t want to respond to, wasn’t an “invasion” but an “uncontested arrival.” Just like the attack on the consulate in Benghazi wasn’t terrorism, it was a “spontaneous protest” by a mob incensed at a YouTube video critical of Islam.
Carter can put as much perfume on his BS as he likes but what he’s telling Congress, and you, here is to prepare yourselves for more American casualties in Iraq as U.S. special forces wade more deeply into the fight. And of course, the task of announcing this falls to him, not to the commander-in-chief, because Obama doesn’t want to have to symbolically face his base after promising them the Iraq mess is in America’s rearview mirror. The question to ask yourself is: Why now? Why, after umpteen thousand ISIS atrocities, has the White House decided to risk the lives of America’s most elite troops for operations like freeing prisoners in Iraq? The obvious answer, I think, is that it’s a small bit of muscle-flexing in response to Russia’s much more significant incursion across the border in Syria. Our Middle Eastern Sunni “allies” can’t help but notice lately that, when you’re in a pinch, it may be more useful to have Vladimir Putin as a friend than Barack Obama. So here’s Obama making a show of helping the Iraqi government in rescuing prisoners with American boots on the ground in support to demonstrate his own good faith. More of this to come, no doubt.
also been there, done that with the “Slow Reflexes” award. And with our then abundant dark, if not gallows, humor, and no disrespect, we referred to the award as a “Heart”, “George” or a “losers badge”. The latter name from being “tagged” during the game.
My battalion was known for Purple Heart awards. That fact and being somewhat atypical of my shipmates increased my awareness of the honor.
First time in just over 48-years that I’ve related my tale of friend “George”.
Semper Fidelis and Guns UP!
LOL!
Why do we want Assad out?
Why do we want to weaken Russia ? It seems to me we would want a strong mostly non-Muslim country in the region.
Well, many people high up in Establishment circles believe that Russia is a major threat (if not THE major threat) to US interests around the world. You will recall that Romney, in one of the Presidential debates, said that Russia is the main threat that the US faces.
John Kerry, in his Presidential run, actually said that Al Qaeda is a nuisance, not a strategic threat. I regularly hear from liberal speakers that US citizens need to become more “resilient,” like Israel, in the face of terrorist attacks. So, Islamic terrorists are a “nuisance” but Russia is the real strategic threat.
One nightmare that US policy-makers have is that there should be some sort of rapprochement between Russia and Europe, giving Russia much influence over the entire Eurasian continent - this would threaten the US in terms of industrial capacity, military capacity, markets, etc.
What are the Rules of Engagement?
Anything short of “kick their asses and WIN at any cost” will be useless.
Us old vets know exactly what is going to happen.
Back in high school while I was in the 12th grade (1965), we heard how we were sending “Advisors” into Vietnam to train and do non-combat activities.
One thing led to another and another and shortly we were in full war mode.
When I graduated we had 2 choices: 1, if daddy was rich or powerful you got a rating better than a 1A. If you were a poor guy like me you got a 1A and had to either join the service or be drafted....and back then the local draft board selected draftees. Guess who was on the draft board.....the rich and powerful of the community.
The gullible idiots today have forgotten how we got into Vietnam and here we go again and they are like lemmings, following one another over the cliff.
What’s that old saying: “Those who do not know history are doomed to repeat it again.”
For all of you Democrats and liberals out there I hope that you smile when you wave your grown children on the troop buss to fight those who hate us....just like the vietnamese did back then.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.