We're the Military and Airpower Guys of Jonah Goldberg of National Review Online + a stray we found wandering around looking lost. All original material JHD, BHD, JR, WT, and KA 2003-2010 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2009/12/the_arv_and_the.html Sat, 24 Mar 2012 15:09:36 Z Movable Type 4.12 en Copyright 2012 http://www.rssboard.org/rss-specification The Taliban wants to take Kandahar. The Taliban *needs* to take Kandahar, both for the military advantage and the political leverage the victory -- even if fleeting -- will give it. Even if the Taliban only manages to take and hold one neighborhood for 24-hours, you'll see the MSM and the armchair analysys trot out the references to Tet '68 and declare that we've lost, still oblivious after forty years to the fact that Tet was a military defeat for our enemies, but a political *win*, due in no small part to the pontifications of -- the MSM and the... http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2009/12/the_arv_and_the.html http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2009/12/the_arv_and_the.html Sun, 13 Dec 2009 06:43:03 -0600 we'll see results from his awesome plan within a year.

Of course, he also graded his first year in office as "B+" -- he would have given himself an "A++" except for that minor glitch with the unemployment numbers...
]]> http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2009/12/the_arv_and_the.html#comment-96363 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2009/12/the_arv_and_the.html#comment-96363 Mon, 14 Dec 2009 08:45:52 -0600
And rather than simply nuke the place and turn it into glass, we decided we needed to embark on a strategy to change the culture and government of the region to prevent it from ever becoming a sanctuary for these nutcases again?

So now that we've discovered that this process is taking more time and effort than a couple of American election cycles and our myopic, ADD, "instant gratification" American natures can handle, we've decided to just pull-out and run the risk of repeating the cycle all over again?]]> http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2009/12/the_arv_and_the.html#comment-96362 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2009/12/the_arv_and_the.html#comment-96362 Mon, 14 Dec 2009 07:51:49 -0600
Given his amount of time in theater, contacts at all levels, and his own background as a solider, not a panty-wetting liberal journalist, I tend to put more confidence in Mike Yon's opinions than anyone else.  He certainly does not have all the questions, or the answers and definitely not the responsibility to make the difficult decisions.  However, he calls 'em like he sees 'em.

Others will decide if this splotch of green in a vast wasteland of brown desolation has any real strategic or tactical value to justify fighting for it or through it.   What is to be gained if we prevail, and what is the cost if we fail?  Both in lives, treasure, and the perceptions of status as a strong or weak power?  Weigh the costs and benefits and make a decision- and not dither for several months while doing so.

I don't know the answers, but I sure appreciate Mike Yon, and the Castle, for bringing his thoughts out for discussion.

My personal gut feeling is that it is not our job to bring Afghanistan into any of the past dozen centuries of progress, nor free their women from chatteldom and illiteracy, nor change their religious beliefs.   Let them be backward and ignorant as long as their centuries old wars are amongst themselves and do not spill over into the western world.   Pursue AQ, kick Taliban butt if they get in the way of Job 1, and then get out ASAP.  Hold a victory parade and find other things to do.
]]> http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2009/12/the_arv_and_the.html#comment-96355 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2009/12/the_arv_and_the.html#comment-96355 Sun, 13 Dec 2009 20:49:48 -0600
This is our adversary's homeland, don't put your *public focus* on Kandahar, you want a full *Situational Awareness* for all parties Military and Civilian of the Alliance. Part of the problem is history, if we put our focus on Arghandab and Kandahar, this is a "bass ackward" path to the Tet Offensive issues. We want to stay away from this path, but we want to find a path forward. Therefore, the status quo is not acceptable. So where do we go?

We *do not go with a full situational awareness with the local leaders.*  Again, status quo is not acceptable, the idea is this, if you want *face*, you'll earn it, you'll go with us and we can all work together and try to improve the situation. The reality is this, we have a male-dominated society, and we have a firm grasp of their *brass issues*. Males do *not* argue with someone else, who has a firm grasp of their issues. Now we infer that we have UAV capability 24/7/52 watch/strike. For as much as the ground is the homeland of our adversary,  the sky is homeland of the US.
]]> http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2009/12/the_arv_and_the.html#comment-96348 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2009/12/the_arv_and_the.html#comment-96348 Sun, 13 Dec 2009 15:15:40 -0600