September 15, 2011 - 3:15 pm
My American source who has worked in the U.S. Government in Kabul has this to say about the lack of safety in the U.S. Embassy zone, a massive highly fortified compound. It is allegedly one of the most secure locations in all of Kabul:
“The lesson there is that no place, and I mean no place in Kabul issafe any longer. Two RPGs landed onto three houses from the compound. It is the very first time our staff had to retreat to the compound’s “safe” rooms. And, the fact that the bad guys stockpiled weapons in the building being constructed over several days shows that security at all levels failed. Then, the bad guys also took control of “Swimming Pool Hill,” just behind my house. That is also a very bad sign as that is s very strategic point. The fact that those guys escaped from that high ground is also an indicator that “security” was complicit.
Richard, a person has to read your post pretty d*mn carefully to appreciate that it does *not* say the quoted “source” was in Kabul at the time of the attack … or even had been there recently.
That gap is why own war-news preference is for named, on-the-record sources.
Michael Yon is a good start. And for a steady diet of war news, Small Wars Journal.
Reporters like Michael Yon and news sources like SWJ are treasures, because nowadays, neither the mainstream media (MSM) nor the ideology-first media (IFM) can be trusted to tell the whole truth about America’s long, tough, grinding war, eh?
That untrustworthiness is America’s national shame, and a disservice to America’s brave troops.
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The Elusive Kandahar Cougar & Murphy’s Laws of Combat
URL: http://www.michaelyon-online.com/the-elusive-kandahar-cougar-murphys-laws-of-combat.htm
Perhaps there’s not much interest in the war among PJM/Tatler readers, but in the even that there ais *some* interest, please let me commend Roger Simon’s recent post 9/11 Art: The Joe Bonham Project (link below).
Otherwise, folks can resume parroting the usual slogans.
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9/11 Art: The Joe Bonham Project
URL: http://pajamasmedia.com/tatler/2011/09/09/911-art-the-joe-bonham-project/
It’s war in a zone that is not controllable. To expect anything else is folly…
Yon see that we’re winning … if we keep it up.
That depends more on us at home, than on America’s Marines and Soldiers.
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Afghanistan is making undeniable progress, but it could all unravel
URL: http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/2011/06/19/2011-06-19_battlefield_reporter_says_afghanistan_is_making_undeniable_progress_but_it_could.html
“Yon says we are winning”
In the linked NYDN article he doesn’t quite say that.
In any case, Afghan government is a mess. If Yon or anyone else says we are “winning” I would like to read their analysis of the status and prospect of the Afghan security/justice system: ANP, prosecutros, NDS, etc. I served two tours in Iraq and am on month nine in Afghanistan (RC-E) working on Rule of Law issues. It is a morass.
MarchH, your front of the war is very poorly covered by *any* of the media, whether MSM or IFM … and yet it is absolutely vital. Especially if you are working with Gen.&ngsp;McMaster, then definitely I respect your goals, and your service, and wish you godspeed.
As for “what victory looks like”, in the long run it looks like Istanbul or Indonesia. But definitely we are pretty far from any victory like that.
Bosnia looks good; Iraq is evolving in the right direction; Afghanistan is (as you say) a complex morass, and what will happen in Libya & Syria & Palestine (etc.) remains to be seen.
I follow Diana West and she has nicely articulated how the war has been given away by the pentagon and white house.
time to roll up the carpet and bug out.
We should have invaded Mexico. At least, the poor people of Mexico want to work, and help build their country.
Does anyone else find it strange when moon god worshipers fight against the global government they are militants, but when they fight with the global government they are rebels. The whole thing from Iraq to Afganistan to Libya, and Egypt is FUBAR.
None of these believers in the god of the Kaaba what freedom. They want Islamic law.