Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Reflection: Wise to Remember Failures and Not Repeat Them

19 Hijackers: Did we act against their countries 
(We invaded Afghanistan and then Iraq)
Hitting Afghanistan Was Was Right Reason
(Iraq invasion was based on lies)
The Decision Makers
Those who aged with time 
(America's longest war)

The U.S. will leave 9,800 troops in Afghanistan in 2015 with two narrow missions (reported by CBS News):

(1)  Continue supporting Afghan forces, who took the lead in securing the country last year, and 

(2)  Continuing to support counter terrorism operations against the remnants of al Qaeda.

The number of forces will then be reduced by about half by the end of 2015. By the end of 2016, there will eventually be no combat troops, only normal embassy presence with a security assistance office in Kabul, as is the case now in Iraq.

At the peak of that war, there were 100,000 American troops in Afghanistan. Today, there are about 32,000. 

President Obama laid out his military doctrine in a speech at West Point, two key points standout that I heard: 

(1)  “For the foreseeable future, the most direct threat to America at home and abroad remains terrorism.” 

(2)  “America must always lead on the world stage. But U.S. military action cannot be the only — or even primary — component of our leadership in every instance. Just because we have the best hammer does not mean that every problem is a nail.” 

This doctrine makes sense, however, our enemies (and there are plenty), could care less about our doctrine. Vigilance as always is the operative word with no repeating of failed past policies and actions (i.e., Iraq). 

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