And surprise! It’s not Senator Feingold, or W or even Kos.
No.
It’s the real enemy, as identified by a guy that ought to know: General John Abizaid (I just call him, “General” – we’re not that tight), CENTCOM commander -
Al Qaida and ideologically-linked groups such as Ansar al Islam, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, al Ittihad al Islami, Jemaah Islamiyah, and Ansar al Sunna represent the main enemy to long-term peace and stability in the CENTCOM AOR, promoting and thriving on instability and violence. They challenge our partners in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia. They attack our friends in Jordan, Egypt, Turkey, Morocco, Madrid, and London. Although we have not experienced another attack on our homeland, the enemy that brought us 9/11 continues to represent a clear and unambiguous threat to our country.
And what are we to do, in the armed services? His advice to the Senate is admirably clear -
Militarily, we will continue to kill and capture al Qaida leaders, shut down training camps, destroy operational cells, and prevent al Qaida and associated movements from exploiting ungoverned spaces.
As is his realization that force of coalition arms alone will not be sufficient to defeat this threat – read the rest: It’s a good, balanced and straightforward take on where we are in the “Long War.”
The war we’re actually in, that is.
Hot Mic