I am really, really pissed...

And I looked, and behold, a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and hell followed with him. And power was given to them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.

Revelation 6:8

From Alternate Brain:

"I've written a couple times about war but I think people forget what it's all about. First off, I think you should read the article Gord posted on yesterday. I left a comment there:

We're learning the same way the Russians and the British did. We shoulda just gone in and killed 'em all.

And thinking about it, I think I should explain.

According to the narrative we've heard since 11 September 2001, the nation of Afghanistan harbored Osama bin Laden and facilitated the attacks on the US. Fine. Why did we go in there saying 'we'll take out the Taliban, but we're gonna go over there and win hearts and minds'?

Let me explain something. You don't go to war worrying about winning hearts and minds. You go to war to break the enemy, pound him far enough so he surrenders. War is ugly, dirty, and a last resort but if you're gonna go, you have to go ugly and dirty. Why in Hell do you think they call it 'war'?

We should have blown Afghanistan to shit, period..."

Fixer

Go read the articles linked to in the above quote and you will understand what's got my knickers in such a fucking twist.

Fixer is right.

The United States Marine Corps has requested that they be withdrawn from Iraq and deployed in Afghanistan, ( Marines Press to Remove Their Forces From Iraq, New York Times ). The only reason I can see for not doing this would be to avoid killing Bin Laden and totally destroying the Taliban and Al Queda.

It's time to turn loose the Dogs of War on Bin Laden and Afghanistan! Else all of our efforts, all of our losses, will have been in vain!



Let's do this right people, and finish it once and for all!

d.

Below is a comment I posted at the Brain. I am including it here as an addendum of sorts.

Listen, the last time we fought a war to win it was 60 fucking years ago and ended when we dropped the bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Anybody sorry about that? I sure as shit ain't! I got relatives beneath the sea at Pearl Harbor and when they apologize for that and Bataan, then maybe I'll reconsider.

Anybody sorry we turned Dresden into a blast furnace? How about Berlin? Lots of "collateral damage". It's called "winning".

Sure 15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudi's and if I had my way they would pay dearly for that. Shit, Bush's boy Baker defended them against lawsuits by those who lost people in the Trade Towers. The fact remains tho, that Bin Laden was based in Afghanistan, had the support of the Taliban, ran training camps there for the hijackers and other operatives and has now reconstituted Al Queda and is supposedly stronger than ever. And where the fuck do you think he is? Brooklyn?

Afghanistan.

And what do we have there, at the tip of the spear, in the hottest AO in the country?

One company of Regular Army! One!

Let's do this right. Pull the troops out of Iraq and cut the Marines loose in Afghanistan. And if we have to go into Pakistan to get this prick, so be it.

That was the fucking mission, wasn't it?

I suggest that everyone read the entire article, then post your comments.

Look, I'm all for peace but I am not anti-war, just anti-stupid, illegal war.

d.

Update! A Different Point of View

From House of The Rising Sons:

Can't kill everybody

After reading this account of our soldiers in Afghanistan, I am reminded that the situation there is no less fucked up than in Iraq.

Fixer at Alternate Brain , who like me, is not one to mince words, posts today that we could have already won in Afghanistan if we would've have been more merciless. I understand the sentiment, really I do, and I always felt that Afghanistan was different from Iraq. I believed they deserved it. Why? Because Osama was there right? He was in charge, with the Taliban, right? Well, whatever. But also, I thought Afghanistan deserved what they got because, if nothing else, they seemed to be celebrating the 9-11 attacks. So, fuck em, right? But years past that knee jerk kill em all feeling- the one that also told me that sending our troops there was justified- I don't seem to believe my simple minded revenge horseshit anymore. Alternate Brain is one of my favorite spots- and I respect Fixer and his opinion on this matter, even though I disagree. He certainly isn't some neocon gasbag postulating emptily on this matter. It's understandable to wish "the enemy" was all dead so our soldiers could come home and get some relief from the never-ending hell that the Republican party has inflicted on them.


For the full post, go to

Can't kill everybody

d.