The End of the Perpetual War

[Valin]

NY Times:

 

THE EDITORIAL BOARD

May 23, 2013

 

President Obamas speech on Thursday was the most important statement on counterterrorism policy since the 2001 attacks, a momentous turning point in post-9/11 America. For the first time, a president stated clearly and unequivocally that the state of perpetual warfare that began nearly 12 years ago is unsustainable for a democracy and must come to an end in the not-too-distant future.

 

(Snip)

 

While there are some, particularly the more hawkish Congressional Republicans, who say this war should essentially last forever, Mr. Obama told the world that the United States must return to a state in which counterterrorism is handled, as it always was before 2001, primarily by law enforcement and the intelligence agencies. That shift is essential to preserving the democratic system and rule of law for which the United States is fighting, and for repairing its badly damaged global image.

 

(Snip)

 

One huge obstacle to closing Guantánamo was created by Mr. Bushs policies of detaining prisoners illegally and using torture in interrogations. Those practices left some truly dangerous men in custody without a clear way to try them because the evidence against them is so tainted. Mr. Obama acknowledged this legal disaster but added that once a commitment has been made on a process for closing the prison, I am confident that this legacy problem can be resolved, consistent with our commitment to the rule of law.

 

He said passionately that history will cast a harsh judgment on this aspect of our fight against terrorism and those of us who fail to end it. And he talked about the force-feeding of hunger strikers and added: Is this who we are? Is that something our founders foresaw? Is that the America we want to leave our children?

 

(Snip)

 

 

 

 

 

 

The modern Progressive mindset on parade!

[Valin]

And now a view from Someone who actually knows what they are talking about.

 

Rhetorical vs. Substantive Change in Obama’s Security Policy

Max Boot

05.23.2013

 

With his address today at National Defense University, President Obama continued his pattern of trying to separate himself from the Bush administration—while largely carrying on, and even expanding, its legacy in the counter-terrorism fight.

Obama said, for example, that after he came into office, “we unequivocally banned torture, affirmed our commitment to civilian courts, worked to align our policies with the rule of law, and expanded our consultations with Congress.” Umm, actually all of that happened in Bush’s second term.

 

He also took a swipe at the admittedly imperfect terminology favored by Bush (deliberately and understandably formulated to avoid any mention of our actual enemy—Islamist extremists), saying “we must define our effort not as a boundless ‘global war on terror’ — but rather as a series of persistent, targeted efforts to dismantle specific networks of violent extremists that threaten America.” Actually, that’s exactly what GWOT meant when used by the Bush administration: “a series of persistent, targeted efforts to dismantle” terrorist networks. Even Obama’s closing line—“That’s who the American people are. Determined, and not to be messed with”—sounds as if it could easily have been delivered in a Texas twang.

 

(Snip)

 

My own view is that drone strikes should not decrease while the threat from “al-Qaeda and Associated Movements” (to borrow the Obama administration’s parlance) remains as high as it is today—the threat coming no longer primarily from al-Qaeda Central but, as Obama noted, from its affiliates and from lone wolves inspired by its rhetoric. But at the same time, while I believe it is dangerous to reduce drone strikes, it is also misguided to believe that they can be the sum of our counter-terrorism efforts. We need to address, as Obama said, “the underlying grievances and conflicts that feed extremism, from North Africa to South Asia.” That doesn’t mean ending poverty, as his remarks implied, but rather effectively countering extremist propaganda and political organizing by helping moderate forces throughout the Muslim world to fight back. Unfortunately, this is an area where Obama, like Bush, has conspicuously fallen short.

 

(Snip)

[Valin]

And yet one more evil hate filled war monger heard from!

 

-david-french]Gitmo, Politics, and Ending the War

David French

May 23, 2013

 

Given my administrations relentless pursuit of al Qaedas leadership, there is no justification beyond politics for Congress to prevent us from closing a facility that should never have been opened.

Thats the presidential trademark the blistering attack on the straw men arrayed against his brilliant, effective, and virtuous policies. Hes the problem-solver; his opponents are the ideologues, or in this case merely craven politicians. (Someone needs to write a book about this rhetorical tactic) In a national-security address that contained no real surprises and was notable mainly for moving us just a bit further though not completely down the road toward a law-enforcement model for defending against jihadist terror, this line stood out for its sheer bad faith. Gitmo exists because the nature of this war created a class of detainee unlike those from previous wars, an often-unprosecutable (under any conventional civilian standard of evidence), un-uniformed unlawful combatant who can and should be interrogated and held for the entire duration of the hostilties without a trial. Where should such detainees be housed? Is there an obvious answer to all those apolitical problem-solvers out there? To say that only politics maintains Gitmo given the relevant legal and strategic environment is sheer nonsense.

 

Another statement stood out:

 

Our systematic effort to dismantle terrorist organizations must continue. But this war, like all wars, must end. Thats what history advises. Thats what our democracy demands.

(Snip)

 

In the 1990s, we pursued much the strategy that President Obama is recommending now occasional pinprick strikes, peacetime operational tempos, and heavy diplomacy (no leader visited the White House more than Yasser Arafat). We ended the decade with the Second Intifada in full swing and the 9/11 plot underway. At least Bill Clinton had the excuse of the Oslo Accords to give him hope for peace. Upon what does President Obama base his hopes? The Arab Spring? From Benghazi to Cairo to Damascus, the Arab Spring looks bloodier and more radical by the day.

 

(Snip)

[Valin]

[Valin]

Stupid

P.J. OROURKE

5/27/13

 

Youre stupid, is not something even his most severe critics usually say to President Barack Obama. But on Friday morning I picked up the Wall Street Journal and learned that the president had given a speech about the war on terror saying, This war, like all wars, must end.

 

That story was at the top of the front page. Immediately below was a photograph of flowers being laid at a makeshift memorial near the Woolwich Royal Arsenal where machine gunner Lee Rigby was hacked to death by terrorists.

 

This war, like all wars, must end when someone wins it. The presidentspeaking at the National Defense University, of all placessaid, the core of al Qaeda . . . is on the path to defeat. And so it may be. But meanwhile, the core of al Qaeda, its aims and its beliefs, is also on the path to Boston and London and any number of other places.

 

(Snip)

 

And there it is: Dopey stimulus, obtuse bailout, noodle-headed Obamacare, half-wit Dodd-Frank, damfool IRS Tea Party crashers, AP and Fox News beset by oafish peeping Toms and the Benghazi tale told by an idiot. One could go on. Stupid is a great force in human affairs. And the great force has a commander in chief.

 

 

 

Note Bold Mine

[Draggingtree]

Stupid
9:01 AM, May 27, 2013• By P.J. O’ROURKE
More likely it’s because we pundits prize signs of intelligence. We take every opportunity to display our own signs, and President Obama exhibits the same wordy, wonky, academic intelligence indicators that we do, so we don’t call him stupid. http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/stupid_729235.html

 

thats what caught my eye

[Valin]

My head hurts...Real Bad!!!

[Pepper]

Who is that idiot at 50"? @Valin

[Valin]

Who is that idiot at 50"? @Valin

That would be Kyle Kulinski Progressive extraordinaire! he r got muchly more edumakshuns.

 

I'd pay cash money to watch Newt rip him a new one.

[Valin]

Will Somebody Tell Al-Qaida That the Era of Terrorism Is Over?

Steven Hayward

5/29/13

 

So Obama thinks the problem of terrorism has receded to pre-9/11 levels and we can call the whole thing off. Wont be long now before the New York Times re-runs the Larry Johnson article from July 2001, The Declining Terrorist Threat, which confidently proclaimed:

 

 

Americans are bedeviled by fantasies about terrorism. They seem to believe that terrorism is the greatest threat to the United States and that it is becoming more widespread and lethal. They are likely to think that the United States is the most popular target of terrorists. And they almost certainly have the impression that extremist Islamic groups cause most terrorism. None of these beliefs are based in fact. . .

 

Although high-profile incidents have fostered the perception that terrorism is becoming more lethal, the numbers say otherwise, and early signs suggest that the decade beginning in 2000 will continue the downward trend. . . terrorism is not the biggest security challenge confronting the United States, and it should not be portrayed that way.

Good call, Larry.

 

Has anyone sent the Obama memo to al-Qaida? Oh, thats rightal-Qaida comprises loose networks of lone wolves and other lowlifes, and now that Osama bin Laden is dead, they are as rudderless as a George Lucas Star Wars prequel. Theres no central office to send the Obama memo to.

 

 

(Snip)

[Valin]

[Valin]

It appears someone didn't get the memo.

 

Top Marine Sees a Future of Perpetual War

Sandra I. Erwin

5/29/13

 

President Obama last week said the United States is ready to move beyond the war on terror. The nation's military, meanwhile, is preparing for a future of continuous combat.

“I don’t see any indication that things are going to settle down or become peaceful,” said Gen. James F. Amos, commandant of the Marine Corps.

 

Speaking at The Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C., May 29, Amos said he is convinced that the U.S. military during the next two decades will be just as busy as it has been during the past 12 years of war. When asked to forecast the Marine Corps’ future missions, Amos said, “I see much of what we’re going through right now. I don’t see any of it waning away. I don’t see major theater wars. I see thorny, difficult, challenging, human intensive — not necessarily technology intensive — conflicts.”

 

Amos cited the crisis in Syria, the activities of Lebanon’s Islamist group Hezbollah, developments in Iran, Iraq, Mali and North Korea as potentially requiring U.S. armed intervention over the coming years. None of these boiling pots will settle down, he said. Extremist groups continue to threaten the United States, Amos added. “We may think we are done with them. But they are not necessarily done with us.” The nation might be inclined to cut military spending, but “You can’t ignore the world I just described,” Amos said. “You can’t turn your back on it.”

 

Amos’ vision of the future echoes the views of other military leaders who believe the post-Afghanistan era will be one of perpetual war.

(Snip)

[Valin]

Obamas Dorothy Doctrine

Declaring the War on Terror over wont make it so.

Charles Krauthammer

5/30/13

 

This war, like all wars, must end. Thats what history advises. . . .

 

Barack Obama, May 23

 

Nice thought. But much as Obama would like to close his eyes, click his heels three times, and declare the War on Terror over, war is a two-way street.

 

Thats what history advises: Two sides to fight it, two to end it. By surrender (World War II), by armistice (Korea and Vietnam), or when the enemy simply disappears from the field (the Cold War).

 

Obama says enough is enough. He doesnt want us on a perpetual wartime footing. Well, the Cold War lasted 45 years. The War on Terror, twelve so far. By Obamas calculus, we should have declared the Cold War over in 1958 and left Western Europe, our Pacific allies, the entire free world, to fend for itself and consigned Eastern Europe to endless darkness.

 

(Snip)

 

 

I prefer this