"See? That's exactly why I want to pull out all US troops. Duh!"
Posted on 07/09/2011 8:42:50 AM PDT by Sub-Driver
Panetta Says Defeat of Al Qaeda ‘Within Reach’ By ELISABETH BUMILLER
KABUL, Afghanistan — Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta, who arrived in Kabul on Saturday, said that the United States was “within reach of strategically defeating Al Qaeda” and that the American focus had narrowed to capturing or killing 10 to 20 crucial leaders of the terrorist group in Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen.
Mr. Panetta, who took over as defense secretary from Robert M. Gates on July 1, made his comments aboard his plane before arriving on an unannounced trip to Kabul, the Afghan capital.
They were Mr. Panetta’s first public remarks as defense secretary and among the most positive from a senior American national security official about the decade-old war against the terrorist organization, founded by Osama bin Laden, which was responsible for the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
Mr. Panetta, who as director of the Central Intelligence Agency ran the American commando raid that killed Bin Laden in Pakistan on May 2, said that one of his goals was to defeat Al Qaeda.
“Obviously we made an important start with that in getting rid of Bin Laden,” Mr. Panetta said. “But I was convinced in my capacity and I’m convinced in this capacity that we’re within reach of strategically defeating Al Qaeda. And I’m hoping to be able to focus on that, working obviously with my prior agency as well.”
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Leon, Leon. The Canadians just pulled out their forces in southern Afghanistan around Khandahar. That’s a stronghold for the Taliban and pro-Iranian forces. We don’t have the troops to fill the gap and it’s going to get worse once your boss starts reducing US forces. Nature abhors a vacuum, so who do you think is going to fill this particular void?
I know that you were CIA director, so you must have had a lobotomy.
“United States was “within reach of strategically defeating Al Qaeda”
THANKS to President Bush, who aggressively fought them on every front. President Bush also made it clear that our fight is NOT just against “Al Qaeda” but all terrorists — i.e. radical Islamist terrorists.
Obama scaled this way back, doesn’t even call it “War on Terror” anymore and it does not want to go after the terrorists to kill or capture them, before they come over here, wants to declare victory, whether or not it’s true.
President Bush’s speech to Congress on Sept 20, 2001.
Full Text: President Bush Declares “War on Terror”
http://middleeast.about.com/od/usmideastpolicy/a/bush-war-on-terror-speech.htm
“Our war on terror begins with Al Qaida, but it does not end there. It will not end until every terrorist group of global reach has been found, stopped, and defeated.
These measures are essential. But the only way to defeat terrorism as a threat to our way of life is to stop it, eliminate it, and destroy it where it grows.”
The Presidents’ new YES man ought send in the Presidents own Fighting fudgepackers— that’ll scare the Muslims.
Right, killing a few of their "leaders" sure has stopped them over the last 10 years. Oh, I wonder why they mention Somalia and Yemen but not the Al Quaeda we are supporting fighting with the "rebels" in Libya?
Does this include Al Qaida in America? And all of the loyalists to AQ who serve within the US military?
What a putz.
“Mission sorta accomplished...”
Right. The US won the Cold War against the USSR but lost the war on global Communism and the rising Red tide of Socialism.
The war on Islamic Imperialism is not a 10 or 20 year long battle. It’s been waged for a thousand years and we should not let it rise up again and again and again.
Obama’s strategy is to name the Muslim Brotherhood - the organization that gave birth to Muslim international terrorist attacks, moderate Muslim friends of the US. You defeat your enemy by giving power over Americans so they won’t be mad about losing anymore.
Yet the liberals cried foul that an illegal Mexican murdering-rapist didn’t get to talk to his consulate before being convicted and Obama’s pleas didn’t stop his execution in Texas.
“Obama’s strategy is to name the Muslim Brotherhood - the organization that gave birth to Muslim international terrorist attacks, moderate Muslim friends of the US.”
Exactly, he wants all Americans to enjoy the same life he had in Indonesia.
Until something is done about Iran and Pakistan arming and supporting terror, the war will never end.
Now I am awaiting Obama’s followup speech emphasizing that the reason the US has defeated Al Qaeda is because he personally killed bin Laden.
I disagree with the premise of the article.
Al Queda (spell it anyway you like, as there are multiple ‘versions’) is an IDEA, not a PERSON. IDEAS cannot be killed.
Which is just about where the SUCKER PUNCH occurs.
Is a freight train coming your way.
"See? That's exactly why I want to pull out all US troops. Duh!"
If that were the case al Qaeda's best aiders and abetters in the Capitol building and the folks over at ACLU HQ would have Predator drones circling overhead, and northern Pakistan would be within a day or two of being made of glass.
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