Afghanistan: When Voting "Present" is Not an Option

From FSOP

#1 Enemy of the Free World -- Baitullah Mehsud

Baitullah Mehsud

Remember that name! Why? Because it will soon become a household name.

From National Terror Alert --

Meet Baitullah Mehsud Pakistan’s biggest problem, and the man who has taken his country of 176 million to the center of the West’s war on terror. Once described by a Pakistani general as a “soldier of peace,” he now carries a 50 million rupee (about $615,300) bounty on his head from Pakistan and a $5 million one from the United States.

Mehsud is earning the ire of the Pakistani military and Western policymakers alike as his movement destabilizes Pakistan, and the United States has destroyed several of his hide-outs with drone strikes in recent months.

His now-famous 2008 press conference — which came almost exactly a decade after Osama bin Laden called for the killing of Americans in a similar announcement just across the border in Khost, Afghanistan — was an extraordinary piece of stagecraft even for a commander with a certain penchant for public flare.

By incautiously exposing his location to a big group of journalists, Mehsud should have facilitated his own capture; that he didn’t serves as ongoing testament to the incompetence (and perhaps lack of will) of those who purport to pursue him.

Mehsud’s growing influence is of particular concern to Western policymakers because Pakistan represents the gravest general security threat to the international community — the prospect of a nuclear-armed al Qaeda. Keeping Pakistan’s nuclear weapons out of the hands of Islamist extremists is contingent on a stable Pakistani state, and Mehsud is the one man perhaps most capable of destabilizing it.

I have previously posted about the dangers of Mehsud. Wanting to be bigger than Osama Bin Laden, Mehsud is much more dangerous and is hell bent on obtaining nuclear weapons... and he is much closer than what is being reported.

In these previous posts, you will see Mehsud is best of buddies with Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan, the Father of the Pakistan nuclear bomb. Kahn, a former spy, is responsible for selling nuclear technology to North Korea & Iran and was involved with Mehsud in the assassination of Prime Minister Benizir Bhutto.

Taliban tell Obama - "Bring It On"

For all my ranting about Obama's breaking of campaign promises and as shown by his Cabinet selections - his continued poor judgement of a persons character - he is still our President.

This being said, Obama will have no choice but to deal with the overall problems facing the Middle East and he is walking into a minefield. As our President, Obama has failed on his first foray into the Middle East - that would be his reaching out to Iran and getting bitch slapped.

Seeing that he failed his first test in our War on Terror, the Taliban leaders in Afghanistan have recently responded to Obama's increase of US troops in Afghanistan by telling him - "bring it on - we are waiting..."

In remarks broadcast on Al Jazeera on Saturday, Mullah Mohamad Rasul, a Taliban leader, said that fighters of the group were ready to take on the US troops.

"Just as they are bringing more troops, so too the Taliban will have more troops," Rasul, a former governor of Nimruz province, told Al Jazeera.

"During the Bush administration the suicide bombers were registering individually, but now they are coming in groups. The whole nation is ready for the fight," he said, referring to the administration of George Bush, Obama's predecessor.

"Every year our military power gets stronger and stronger and our forces are getting bigger and bigger and we are heading towards success," Rasul said.

I applaud Obama's continued use of unmanned Predator attacks taking out terrorist leaders in Afghanistan I also applaud Obama for his willingness and ability to recognize the problems we face in Afghanistan. But I question his ability to fully understand the big picture in our War on Terror.

I am very concerned that due to the obvious fact that there will be civilian casualties -Obama will be able to dismiss them as collateral damage and will eventually allow this to formulate his policies of engagement.

As we witnessed in Vietnam and the Iraq War - our enemies know civilian & U.S. casualties are the easiest way to turn the American public against our President. We Republicans, must stand vigilant with President Obama and not allow the peaceniks in our country to dictate the outcome in Afghanistan.

By forgiving his first mistake in Iran as a learning experience and barring policies of appeasement, President Obama must know that unlike the liberal "loyal opposition" President Bush was subject too, we will stand with him and support him in our War on Terror.