With all the attention on the upcoming election and all the hype about Trump and Clinton, very little attention has been paid to what is going on in Iraq and Afghanistan. To make things even worse, the two recent natural disasters, the earthquakes in Japan and Ecuador have taken up much of the American public's attention. But what has been transpiring in Iraq and Afghanistan in our so-called war against ISIS/ISIL and Al Qaeda is nothing short of a major disaster. The current administration, it seems, is more interested in trying to get a new Supreme Court Justice in place and garner some "points" with the American public on some minor issues (minor compared to what is going on in Iraq and Afghanistan) rather than earnestly try to solve the problems in those regions. This administration has been using a "Band-Aid Policy" in those regions. Instead of using all possible means to rid of ISIS and Al Qaida, Washington keeps repeating what has become a mantra, that Iraq and Afghanistan must do it on their own. The so-called Iraqi Security Forces or Iraqi Army and Afghan National Army must fight on their own. This, despite the fact that they have continually demonstrated that they are not able to do so.
The fact that neither the Iraqis nor the Afghans appear to be able to fend for themselves doesn't seem to concern this administration all that much. It is mind boggling that after more than a decade of training and receiving arms and monies, neither army appears to be capable of fending for itself! Yet, we continually have "experts" in Washington making statements to the effect that another couple of years of training will do the job! Give me a break! If it couldn't be done after all these years, what are couple of more years going to accomplish? The problems that exist are so ingrained, so institutionalized that it just cannot be solved with a "couple of years of training." What can couple of more years do that the last decade and a half was unable to do? The main problem is graft, graft in monumental proportions that we seemed to have allowed to develop over the period that we were involved.
It is the very same problem that we faced in Vietnam. We poured in so much money and equipment into South Vietnam, yet were unable to field a South Vietnamese Army capable of defending themselves. The Republic of Vietnam Army, the RVN, were supposedly better trained, most certainly better armed and equipped than the enemy, had better heavy artillery support and air support which the enemy did not have, yet were soundly defeated! In Iraq and Afghanistan, the same story is repeated. In both countries, the only exception are those forces that were trained and led by US advisors! In Iraq, the only ones that are worth anything are those units that were not yet absorbed by the regular Iraqi Army. These units are normally identified as Iraqi Commando Units which were trained and led by US Special Forces! They used to operate like the Mobile Strike Forces (Mike Forces) or the Civilian Irregular Defense Groups (CIDGs) of Vietnam that were so successful. The same things holds true of Afghan National Army. It is only the former Afghan Commandos that were trained and led by US Special Forces that are worth anything! But the vast majority of Iraqi and Afghan forces are worthless, corrupt, and unmotivated like the RVN of old!
The peshmergas, the Kurd fighters are an exception. They are terrific fighters and are basically the only ones doing any damage to ISIS in Iraq. Unfortunately, the Kurds do not and have not, ever gotten along, with the Iraqi government. They are essentially autonomous in the northern part of the country, yet they are involved in fighting in the southern regions. However, we can't seem to even support the Kurds properly. The peshmergas desperately need more arms and equipment. But, we cannot supply them directly, we must channel all support and aid for the Kurds through Iraqi central government system, a system I might add, that is so corrupt that an average American cannot even comprehend. So, you can guess how much aid that they receive through central government!
A few days ago, after visiting Iraq and meeting with corrupt Iraqi officials, Secretary of Defense Carter announced that we will be sending additional 200+ or so soldiers to Iraq. Naturally, they will be mostly Special Forces teams that will be "training and advising" the Iraqis, and we will send Apache helicopters. In addition, we will be giving the Kurds some $400 million worth of aid that will be passed on through the Iraqi central government. What that means is that we have just made several more Iraqi millionaires and made some other Iraqi officials even richer! As for Kurds? They will be lucky to see even a small percentage of that $400 million! Talk about throwing good money after bad! I can't believe that Washington is unaware that most of that money is going to end up in personal bank accounts of Iraqi officials and not go to the Kurds! Yet, we continue to do this.
The latest deployment of additional US soldiers and the $400 million in aid to Kurds have been spurred by our and Iraqi desire to retake the city of Mosul from ISIS. The Iraqis have been trying for over a year with no success. Mosul, incidentally, is the second largest city in Iraq! So the fact that it is still in the hands of ISIS goes to show how serious the situation is in Iraq. People outside of Iraq have sort of been lulled into thinking that nothing much was going on except for some suicide bombing now and then. But when ISIS has control of the second largest city in the country, the problem is obviously much more serious than some suicide bombers now and then! Remember how just couple of months ago the Iraqi Defense Minister announced that they were on the verge of taking Mosul? Right! It is obvious that Iraqis can't do it on their own.
There are some politicians in Washington that are vehemently opposed to this "Band-Aid Policy" and have repeatedly criticized the administration. However, they have been labeled as "hawks," both by the current administration and the liberal media that so loves to jump on someone like that. One such politician stated after the recent announcement that the administration's reaction to problems in Iraq are both "shameful and disgraceful." I agree. This type of support of our "allies" will only get Americans killed for a non-existing cause. We are obviously sending our men and women into harms way only as a delaying action, not for a total victory! So in a sense, although it may be in small numbers, we are nevertheless simply sacrificing American lives for a delaying action. Frankly, I don't know what Washington is delaying for....are they hoping that someone else will pick up the fight? Perhaps those "experts" in Washington are simply delaying until Iraq and Afghanistan will be able to rid of ISIS and Al Qaida on their own? Whatever the case or thinking in Washington, we seem to be playing with extremely dangerous situations. It is puzzling to me how such brilliant minds in Washington could be so dense, so incapable of seeing what is taking place!
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