Masters Of War

Come you masters of war You that build all the guns You that build the death planes You that build all the bombs You that hide behind walls You that hide behind desks I just want you to know I can see through your masks. You that never done nothin' But build to destroy You play with my world Like it's your little toy You put a gun in my hand And you hide from my eyes And you turn and run farther When the fast bullets fly. Like Judas of old You lie and deceive A world war can be won You want me to believe But I see through your eyes And I see through your brain Like I see through the water That runs down my drain. You fasten all the triggers For the others to fire Then you set back and watch When the death count gets higher You hide in your mansion' As young people's blood Flows out of their bodies And is buried in the mud. You've thrown the worst fear That can ever be hurled Fear to bring children Into the world For threatening my baby Unborn and unnamed You ain't worth the blood That runs in your veins. How much do I know To talk out of turn You might say that I'm young You might say I'm unlearned But there's one thing I know Though I'm younger than you That even Jesus would never Forgive what you do. Let me ask you one question Is your money that good Will it buy you forgiveness Do you think that it could I think you will find When your death takes its toll All the money you made Will never buy back your soul. And I hope that you die And your death'll come soon I will follow your casket In the pale afternoon And I'll watch while you're lowered Down to your deathbed And I'll stand over your grave 'Til I'm sure that you're dead.------- Bob Dylan 1963

Friday, June 25, 2010

Petraeus’s False Hope

Petraeus’s False Hope

by James Gundun

June 2010 has assumed the grim record of deadliest month, 80 coalition deaths and counting. July could be worse. With no one left to turn to, US President Barack Obama appointed CENTCOM commander and general David Petraeus to rescue him from Afghanistan. And therein lies the first of many fatal flaws in the decision.

His strategy already in disarray, Obama scrambled to heave off one final shot - The Petraeus Hail Mary.

But the Wall Street Journal’s conclusion lingers at the surface: “In choosing to throw a Hail Mary pass to General Petraeus, the President has chosen a commander who understands counterinsurgency, who helped to design the current Afghan strategy, and who knows how to lead and motivate soldiers. He - and they - need a Commander in Chief willing to show equal commitment and staying power.”

What Petraeus really means is that, one way or the other, US and NATO intervention in Afghanistan has finally arrived at the end of a seemingly endless road. The positives of Petraeus: he is, generally speaking, what people make of him, a diligent COIN student and polished public speaker. Architect of Iraq and Afghanistan’s surges, and McChrystal’s COIN mentor, Petraeus provides the smoothest transition during this high-stakes moment.

Overlooked is how unstable Iraq appears, how it’s nevertheless superficially compared to Afghanistan’s complexity, and Petraeus’s woeful attempt to contain al-Qaeda with Special Forces in Yemen and Somalia. Where the group actually plans attacks on Western targets.

But if anyone in the US military can turn Afghanistan around, Petraeus is the best bet.

His cons are Obama’s worst nightmare: if Petraeus fails no one else can ably replace him. Obama just put in his closer, played his trump card which he was undoubtedly holding until after July 2011. Now he has nothing left. Justifying another general will be impossible if Petraeus cannot crack the Taliban code in time, and America’s war will be forced to end (many will consider this a positive).

Ultimately Petraeus untangles few roots of discord between the White House and Pentagon. Obama pressured him to speed up the surge beyond his calculations, from fall 2010 to summer, a demand both he and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Michael Mullen opposed until twisted into submission. Petraeus is far more articulate than the outgoing Stanley McChrystal, but his military views on Afghanistan are roughly the same.

That McChrystal was forced out for similar behavior to Petraeus’s actions, albeit more theatrical, is an overt contradiction.

The White House became alerted to the Rolling Stone’s article last week, triggering an immediate debate on McChrystal’s status and Petraeus as the replacement. McChrystal’s boiling point had already risen since 2009, his resignation long in the making. But as the White House debated McChrystal’s fate, Petraeus also found himself loudly undercutting Obama. Testifying before Congress, Petraeus pushed back July 2011 by calling it a transfer date, not a withdrawal date - absolutely not a deadline - and added that everything is conditions based.

White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel was forced to quell the growing clamor over the deadline’s definition - because of General Petraeus. So why expect smoother sailing? Because he speaks better? He still thinks like General McChrystal.

Now a chain of command is undoubtedly paramount to upholding a stable democracy. At the same time, civilian chain of command bent on deciding war policy through politics more than strategy presents an equal danger. McChrystal’s judgment to supersede the White House was wrong, but Obama, having already underestimated Afghanistan’s requirements, is guilty of grave deception against the American people.

Rolling Stone author Matt Hastings writes, “Even those closest to McChrystal know that the rising anti-war sentiment at home doesn't begin to reflect how deeply f....d up things are in Afghanistan. ‘If Americans pulled back and started paying attention to this war, it would become even less popular,’ a senior adviser to McChrystal says.”

Refusing to review US strategy in any significant way while attempting to keep the situation as hidden as possible only furthers the deception, as does installing and hailing Petraeus after he committed a similar deed as McChrystal.

Those believing the chain of command is being upheld by Petraeus might want to pay closer attention to Washington’s power structure. He may pose an even greater threat, being far more “elite,” politically connected, and deeply aligned with figures like US Defense Secretary Robert Gates. Rumors of a presidential campaign refuse to die (Gates could simply keep his job). Does Petraeus really stabilize America's chain of command or challenge it?

Unless Obama signed off privately on an extension to Petraeus’s deadline, militarily necessary but politically perilous, Washington will be right back to its conflict of interest next December and into July. This is no way to wage war, especially the trial of fire that is counterinsurgency. McChrystal’s termination should have focused attention here. Yet even as the White House and US media steer the conversation towards chain of command and away from Afghanistan’s crumbling strategy, Petraeus’s own opposition to key aspects of Obama’s surge, primarily a lack of troops and July 2011, remains lost in the shadows.

McClatchy reported earlier this month
, “a number of U.S. and allied military, intelligence and diplomatic officials have been warning for months that the American strategy in Afghanistan is failing and complaining that no one at a high level in the Obama administration wants to hear their discouraging words.”

And they still don’t.

James Gundun is a political scientist and counterinsurgency analyst based in Washington D.C. Contact him in The Trench, a realist foreign policy blog, atwww.hadalzone.blogspot.com.
James Gundun is a frequent contributor to Global Research. Global Research Articles by James Gundun

James Gundun appears on my blogroll at [The Trench] I highly recommend his site.

3 comments:

TONY @oakroyd said...

Excellent take. A senior Obama aide told a UK jounalist two weeks ago: “Make no mistake, the last thing this president wants is to be involved in a major military campaign in Afghanistan when the next presidential election contest beings in earnest in 2012.”
Certainly the removal of McChrystal, the main architect of the surge strategy, will lend encouragement to those, like Joe Biden, who want to withdraw American forces at the earliest available opportunity. Biden, who was lampooned by Team McChrystal as a nonentity in Rolling Stone, is one of several prominent Democrats who advocate waging war by remote control and zapping the bad guys with drones as you know. This avoids the messy business of having American soldiers constantly being killed and maimed by roadside bombs for a war the American public increasingly neither understands nor supports. In a recent interview with Newsweek, Biden had sufficient confidence in his ability to win the Washington turf war that he boasted, “in July 2011, you’re going to see a whole lot of people moving out of Afghanistan – bet on it.” Whether Biden gets his way will now depend, to a large extent, on the performance of Gen Petraeus who, unlike McChrystal, is a seasoned Washington operator. I worry that Petraeus may create an illusion of success (Iraq-style) and prolong the clusterfuck in Afghanistan.

TONY @oakroyd said...

Interesting angle on McChrystal from Veterans Today, whoever they are:
http://www.veteranstoday.com/2010/06/26/americans-need-to-pay-attention-they-have-no-skin-in-the-game/

Tao Dao Man said...

Tony:
I have to disagree.
Patreus will get what he wants. He will fight the supposed withdrawal deadline. And he will have the Congressional war mongers, along with the MSM, and the shadows behind the curtain to support him. Perhaps they will even demand another surge. One surge might replace the other. Remember they are now calling it[draw down] not a [withdrawal].
The Sunni Awakening is not the same as the Pashtun Afghans. Saudi Arabia had a lot of influence over the Awakening. No one has influence over the Afghans.
NO ONE.
Least of all Karzai, and his fellow profiteer puppets. Biden did his duty, he helped bring Obama the Jewish vote. He is no longer relevant. This is now Patreus, Gates, and Hillary's show.