Noted military strategist and serving Vice President Joe Biden has famously favored a counter-terrorism approach to the fight in Afghanistan over the request of the president’s hand-selected general to go heavy. As FORAC noted recently, it turns out that military planners had a difficult time framing a convincing strategy surrounding Biden’s hypothesis.
In consequence of which, Biden’s political staff wrote it up themselves.
We’re in the very best of hands.
I just cannot wait for Biden and his staff to personally implement their wonderful plan by taking charge at a remote COP in Af.
If they can hold the area for a month, I will be a convert to their way of thinking.
If they end up captured, we must remember that we do not pay ransom.
If they end up dead, we can salute their flag-draped coffins in the light of 10,000 flash cameras.
Difficult? You could see the J-5/J-7 shop heads explode.
USMC ops types shook their heads in amazement and awaited further instructions. They wanted no part in this dastardly plan.
And the Air Force peeps, particularly A3/5 (Operations, Plans & Requirements)?
Well…let’s just say that even the staunchest Predator/Reaper/Warrior/Raven advocates thought this was the most ridiculous idea since…the NWU. Or ABU. Depending on how obtuse your definition of ridiculous is.
Look at it this way. This Biden staff plan was written by the same geniuses who were responsible for plans to have Joe ride home from the Capitol building to Delaware on AMTRAK each night. Along they way they scheduled stops for a cafe that had closed 15 years ago–but at which Joe stopped and had a cuppa joe each day–and they ran a siding through Home Depot so Joe could shop there.
What’s not to like about an ops plan written by folks who could concoct such a masterpiece?
Coincides with this:
http://takenforaction.blogspot.com/2009/11/closebut-no-sigar.html
which is rumored to be taking the place of an actual surge. No 40, 60K for COIN, no, they favor rolling up USAID and the two Special Inspector Generals for Afghanistan (www.sigar.mil) and Iraq (www.sigir.mil) under a – ready for this? – brand new Cabinet agency.
I think having the QRF use mass-transit to get to the scene of forces in contact was an inspired way to cut the carbon foot-print of the USMC. Mother Earth is in the Balance.
Oh yeah, I made that up. But still…. even fake, it communicates an essential truth about Plugs and the symbiotic life form in the suit and tie from Delaware. (no I don’t know whether the suit and tie or the symbiote is from Delaware, but one has to be, right?)
The Omessiah was aware of how the Presidential succession goes down in Constitution and law. I mean, why else would he have picked that guy? Lessee, after Biden it’s Pelosi, and then Byrd, and then Hillary, and, well, this is why the Prez is safe from all rational assassins.
What I want to know is where is Flit? I mean,m who’s going to tell us how secretly brilliant Biden’s strategic hard a’lee is and how obtuse we all are for failing to see its genius???
Ah, from what I’ve seen flit is more domestic focused in his comments here. I take it as a veteran himself, he isn’t keen in seeing the troops let down either. Wholly conjectural of course, but sometimes it’s the dog that doesn’t bark.
Dust, I strongly suspect that even Flit’s imagination cannot concoct a believable scenario where Biden is brilliant. Frankly, after several minutes of thought and a not inconsiderable amount of beer spent on the effort, I’ve come to the conclusion that this administration couldn’t catch a clue if they were dancing the clue mating dance buck nekked coated in clue musk in the middle of a herd of horny clues.
– Max
My apologies for being a $#!t disturber. I was merely doing a recon by fire this evening, feeling a bit ornery and wanted to provoke some counterfire for fun. I respect Flit as a true gentleman with sincerely held views. It’s just that his cognative frame of reference seems to come from some altered universe from the one I reside in.
A very interesting article indeed with truly excellent reporting, as far as the facts on the ground go. However did anyone else detect a sadly not too surprising, knee-jerk, European analytical reaction that didn’t necessarily comport with said facts? For example disconnecting any improvement in Syrian-Western relations from Syria getting it’s a$$ handed to it for trying to buck the western world and ascribing it all to American concessions. This seems like a bit of an all carrots no stick assumption in explaining international behavoir. It seems more likely that carrots work better with some people once you’ve shown, or even hit the person with the stick first so they know the consequences and costs of non-compliance. To link with the Biden plan’s non-viability it’s the very same reason we can’t negotiate with those in Afghanistan who are fighting us who aren’t taliban. (See David Kilcullen’s book Accidental Guerilla for an outstanding analysis of the many tribal fighters who don’t support the taliban, given their druthers, but are cowed into fighting us or are trying to avoid the Taliban’s perceived worse and longer term more assured wrath.) The reason we can’t withdraw a bit and then negotiate with them is that it makes them perceive we will leave/are losing even more than they do now, and they will thus side with the taliban even more, mostly as a CYA since they think they’ll win. A surge would show them, just like many of the Sunnis in Al Anbar, that we’re in it to win. Then, once we have established the confidence with a good comibined COIN/CT effort that we can defeat the taliban, they can be negotiated with. But it also takes locals to determine who’s who. There are people fighting us who aren’t taliban and who can be negotiated with, but as bad enough as it is to call them taliban, it’s even worse to call them moderate taliban since that presumes there is such a thing. That would have been like proposing to not invade Germany during WWII and instead negotiate with the moderate Nazis. I’m sure Dornitz would have made a great chancellor of the third reich if only we could’ve gotten Hitler out of the picture. Anyway, getting pretty far off the path . . .
Also, what about the supreme confidence that Assad has good intentions despite the story just uncovered, reference to Moses declaring the Euphrates land of the Jews, seemingly in order to imply that the Israelis are land greedy and have millenial radical religious designs on the river when the radical religionists are nearly 95% on the Islamic side, and the quote about the Euphrates from Muhammed that makes it sound like he’s an environmentalist libertarian urging people to not take from the river? Did these seem odd to anyone else? I’m honestly asking to calibrate my sometimes over-developed sense of conspiracy . . .
Yikes, this above post belongs in the “Operation Orchard” thread. I’m conceding defeat to the alcohol now . . .
Schell Bock, trucked from the brewery in New Ulm, MN just last week. Good for what ails ya, and made from all natural ingredients because a host of very scientific-sounding tests indicate none of it actually fell from space.
New Ulm also happens to be a very nice town. Very orderly, quaint, Rhineland in the middle
of Minnesota. And, let’s face it, when you’re surrounded by 25000 thirsty Germans if you’re
the local brewery you probably ought to make a decent beer. As a survival trait.
That’s my excuse. What’s yours?
– Max
Hahaha, I’ll have to try that one out, sounds good. Don’t have a cool story behind mine, but liking Alaskan White a lot recently. Seems to wash down steak particularly good if you ask me. Rogue Dead Guy Ale (tad pricey) and Guinness (solid fallback) are also always welcome to the party. For the harder stuff Bombay Sapphire Gin and Tonics, and Jim Bean or Jack Daniels Black Label with Coke tend to hit the spot.
With Biden in office Obama should get a real good deal on life insurance….add in the rest of the line and he’s the safest guy in the world.