[DirtyHarryY2K]

Got this link in an email, My son is a Marine currently deployed in the Helmand province Afghanistan.

If you want to see what the Hussein administration expects from our Marines, what amounts to getting them killed with suicidal stupid "rules of engagement" while he leaves them twisting in the wind and hung out to dry, watch this video..

[Izzy Dunne]

If you want to see what the Hussein administration expects from our Marines, what amounts to getting them killed with suicidal stupid "rules of engagement" while he leaves them twisting in the wind and hung out to dry, watch this video..

If I want to see them given a mission and only a few rules about how to get it done, and then celebrate them when it's over, what do I do?

[444Flyer]

Ping

[Eska]

I watched it a week or so back, pretty good; though it seemed to foster an attitude that Obama might like Americans to believe.

Bottomline, the Afgans out in those rural villages just want left alone; kinda the same as Vietnam in some ways. The Afgans had the attitude if I do what Americans tell me, the taliban will kill me; if I do what taliban say, the Americans will lay into me. I thought I heard one Afgan say, Americans should just go away; not that they liked the taliban any better either.

[tbpiper]

My son spent nearly a year in Mosul in 2003 and just got back from the Dyala province last August. Seeing Obama’s Dover AFB photo-op nearly made me puke. The boy president was having a great time playing soldier. I pray God protects our sons from this Gelding-in-Chief.

[BigSkyFreeper]

I saw this Frontline episode 2 or 3 weeks ago. It was very good, and only echoes the complexities of the situation over there that McChrystal is talking about from a military point of view, as well from a political point of view. Obama is ignoring it for two reasons, first, he's inexperienced, and secondly, he doesn't like being told what he has to do.  Obama sees this as more of a political hot potato more than an opportunity for military achievement.

Obama is dithering I think because he's trying to see how he can exploit the situation for his own political expedience, while at the same time, creating a way to take credit for something he has no direct part in.

[roses of sharon]

U.S. Army Spc. Michael Riley, a radio traffic operator, smokes a cigarette while taking a break with fellow Soldiers during a dismounted patrol across the Tangi Valley in the Wardak Province of Afghanistan, Aug. 29, 2009. All Soldiers are assigned to 1st Platoon and 3rd Platoon, Apache Company, 2nd Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Teddy Wade / Released) Date Posted: 10/29/2009

[fishergirl]

May God bless your son and all of ‘em and keep them safe! It’s a damn shame that some of their worst enemies are in Washington.

[DirtyHarryY2K]

I don’t know if you’ve seen this or not. Its a good detailed report. You may want to ping your list to it.

[Ben Ficklin]

"suicidal stupid riles of engagement"

If the US follows the Petreaus/McKrystal counterinsurgency(COIN) mission, those are the rule of engagement that you will have to accept.

If you don't like those rules of engagement, then you should support Biden's conterterrorism mission.

Those are your two choices: Counter-insurgency or Counter-Terrorism.

Also at the Frontline website on Obama's War, there are some interviews you should read.

First, the John Nagl interview. Nagl was Petreaus' advisor, "best and brightest". West Point and a Rhodes Scholar. An expert on counter-insurgency, he was a member of the team that rewrote the Army/Marine counterinsurgency manual that is being used in Afghan. Last Jan, Nagl became president of the think tank, Center for a New American Security(CNAS).

Second, the Andrew Exum interview. Exum was McKrystal's advisor and is now a Senior Fellow at CNAS.

Nagl replaced Michelle Flournoy who was co-founder and president at CNAS after she became Obama's Undersecretary of Defense for Policy which is the #3 civilian job at DOD. There were about 10-12 individuals at CNAS who went to work for Obama.