Yossi Gestetner » Afghanistan

U.S. ‘10 Afghan Death Toll Third Worst Sine 2001

Yossi Gestetner — Tue, 11 May 2010 16:30:50 +0000

While everyone’s eyes are on the Market Boards on Wall St. and on the new Supreme Court pick, I checked up where the US stands in Afghanistan.

In terms of the death toll, the USA lost this year 118 soldiers, which is less than the 316 of last year, and the 155 of Bush’s last year, but it is more than any other year since this operation started at the end of 2001. Worse, the current colander year is only in its first half.

It makes me sad thinking what the next six-plus months 0f 2010 may hold for the US forces in Afghanistan.

The Might of the US Military

Yossi Gestetner — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 15:26:20 +0000

I am not discussing here the military might of the US Armed Forces. I am focusing here on its political might; its power to force a democratic-elected President to follow its lead.

Few out there believe that President Obama is sending more troops to Afghanistan because this is what he really wants. The President dragged his feet as much possible, and then announced that the build-up will start coming down just a few months later. For a President who is “in command” of his team, one would wonder why he is sending more troops in the first place.

The answer is General Stanley McChrystal, the top US and NATO commander in Afghanistan. Months ago, he made public his request for more troops, and a short while later he gave a widely publicized speech in England laying out – forcefully – his plan. Following this, President Obama had two options. 1) fire McChrystal as the Bush Administration did with a general who “went rogue.” 2) follow McCrystal’s lead.

Both options had political perils with the President’s voting base. Therefore, Obama took a so-called middle way, i e. following General McChrystal’s request, yet only with one foot. If not for the military’s political might, Obama would have sided with his left base and Vice President who claim that small, fast-attack military teams can do the job to finish the Taliban.

My Thoughts on the Speech

Yossi Gestetner — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 01:50:55 +0000

Minutes ago, a friend of mine sent me an IM saying “Obama finished strong.” I asked him to read what I wrote earlier today. Namely, that the speech is irrelevant to the facts on the ground, and therefore I will not even listen to it.

So it was. I didn’t listen to it, and I am sure I didn’t miss anything. The Left will probably say that this is “one of the best speeches.” Those on the Right will say otherwise. I am saying what I said in the morning: it makes NO difference on the ground. All what matters is America’s will to defeat the enemy once and for all. Anything beyond that is just political claptrap.

The Afghanistan Speech

Yossi Gestetner — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 14:43:11 +0000

Later today, President Obama will lay out to the American people his plans for Afghanistan.

Much is being made of the words Obama will or will not use, i.e. if he will use the term “exit strategy,” etc. The fact however is that his speeches become more irrelevant by the day in the face of new facts. For example, does anyone, besides a few pundits, remember what the President did or didn’t say months ago in his Health Care speech to Congress? Does anyone remember what Obama said a week after the Ft. Hood Shootings?

The answer is no. More than most people do not remember. Instead, what counts and will count, are the successes on the ground. Therefore, listening to the speech might be a waste of time. Instead, I will continue to follow the news from Afghanistan. I hope that on this front, President Obama does not fail. However, I don’t have much confidence that his plan to add troops on a slow pace will do the job.

How to Pay for the Afghan War

Yossi Gestetner — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 23:47:21 +0000

The Pelosi-Reid controlled Capitol Hill who had no worries how to cover an Omnibus Spending Bill earlier this year despite it being $32 billion larger than a year before; the Democrats who didn’t think twice about cost when debating the $787 billion Stimulus Bill, are now very concerned of how to pay for the war in Afghanistan, despite that it is according to them “a war of necessity.”

Well, here is how to cover the war: The Democrats claim that health care reform pays for itself by more people having insurance, thus more have access to preventative medicine. In turn, billions of would-be health expenses that the nation has now due to an uninsured population, would vanish in coming years. Using this thinking, Afghanistan pays for itself. How? By crushing the Taliban and the terrorists, the United States will prevent a lot of instability in the region and terror attacks worldwide, thus sparing the Treasury billions in future war costs, in addition to the fact the in times of peace and stability, world economies can grow strong, thus bringing in more money to the Treasury.

Bingo!

Funny Stuff in Afghanistan

Yossi Gestetner — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 01:00:13 +0000

I don’t have military experience, but the little I do understand about warfare, I don’t “get” the Obama Plan on Afghanistan

The leading U.S. General asked for an additional 40,000 troops to quell violence, but the Obama Team is pulling their legs due mainly to two overt reasons.

One, the Obama-appointed ambassador wrote recently that he has reservations about more troops being sent into that country. In other words, a political appointee on a diplomatic post has more weight than does a general which was by the way appointed as Afghan’s top military man by President Obama. However, the General is apparently too independent in his thinking. Therefore, Obama opts, as of now, to his Ambassador’s opinion. Funny.

Two, Team Obama wants to first see a more viable government in Afghanistan before committing more troops to the mission. Such an excuse is totally off the wall, because in a war torn country you need first a strong military presence with a good mission at hand, and only after that you wary about the political stability of the government. Heck, once the government is strong enough to do its own business, it is time for the foreign military to stand down, instead of stepping up its work.

Obviously, these two official reasons are just lame excuses for an administration that cannot bring itself, for whatever REAL reasons, to send more troops into that country.