We, Americans and western Europeans alike, are trying to view this entire conflict in terms of taking on this country or that country, Iraq or Afghanistan. The cry "Bush has FORGETTEN Afghanistan" is such a rampant thing that it's disgusting. Bush hasn't forgotten Afghanistan, Africa, or any place else in the world, the dinosaur media has. Bush has even stepped UP funding to Africa. The dinosaur media deliberately have chosen to ignore Afghanistan in their reporting, and then try to paint the President as having turned his back on the area and the rest of the world to focus ONLY of Iraq. A great trick, worthy of a Copperfield or a Henning, but, unfortunately, so many American's have fallen for it that they actually BELIEVE the President has forgotten Afghanistan. A helping hand from the leftist Clintonista's in the Congress doesn't hurt anything in that regard; the dem's are right there at the forefront of the propoganda scandal in trying to blame Bush for forgetting about Afghanistan to focus only on Iraq. This coming week, others will be citing examples of how we are still involved in Afghanistan, just as much as we are in Iraq. We haven't abandoned nor have we forgotten Afghanistan. The media has. And I charge that they did so deliberately, setting the stage to blame the President for having lost focus.
My proof? My proof is the LACK of evidence seen in the news media in regards to our activities in Afghanistan. We are there, boots on the ground as the saying goes, although I have to say, this old combat engineer never HEARD that phrase until this go around. We are running missions, operations, encountering the al Quida on a weekly basis. Yet it goes ignored by the dinosaur media.
Case in point, from CENTCOM:
KABUL, Afghanistan – U.S. and Afghan noncommissioned officers toured the Pakistan Army’s Junior Leader Academy in Shinkiari, Pakistan, Dec. 28 during the second day of an exchange program tour.
Pakistan officers and NCOs briefed the team on training procedures and processes in an effort to strengthen the ties between the Afghan National Army and the Pakistan military.
“We came to learn,” said Sgt. Maj. Mahmodi Shamsudine, the command sergeant major of the ANA’s 201st Corps, after asking several questions about the training curriculum and format.
He was one of three Afghan Senior NCOs who traveled to Pakistan hoping to take back information that will help them develop their 4-year-old army.
“This was very good for (the Afghans) because they discussed training strategies, schools, doctrines, techniques and procedures that can be shared between the two armies,” said Sgt. Maj. Daniel Wood, command sergeant major for Combined Forces Command-Afghanistan.
Staff members from the JLA took the team to a field training area and watched students conduct mission planning. They were also shown classrooms and sat in on a class discussing tactics.
“This visit was very good for our countries,” said Sgt. Usman, JLA instructor. “Our door is open and we want to help the Afghan army because we want peace in Afghanistan.”
Wood called the meeting a ”very successful engagement with the military of Pakistan.” He contributed the success to the ”non-threatening and non-political environment” between the NCOs.
“The (Afghans) are very excited about the information they heard,” Wood added. “They are excited to hear about the focus on counter-terrorism and the amount of effort and attention that they are putting on training. They want to go back and try to put more of a counter-terrorism focus in their own training.”
The visit also gave the U.S. and Afghan NCOs an opportunity to share information about the progress and accomplishments of the ANA.
“People from the Pakistan military and Frontier Corps did not realize how far ahead the ANA were – they were very surprised and it made them feel more secure,” Wood said.
During a meeting with Col. Rehman, the JLA deputy commandant, he explained that Pakistani Soldiers were “giving (their) life to help Afghanistan.
“The world is a global village, and the sooner we have peace, the better it is for the world,” he said.
Sgt. Major Ahmad Fazel, the command sergeant major for the ANA’s 203rd Corps, agreed, saying, “If we work together we will be successful because we have the same goal and the same enemy.”
Plans are underway for the next program to take place at Fort Benning, Ga., in the U.S.
For more information, contact the press center at Kabul-Presscenter@cfc-a.centcom.mil.
Back to the point here. The only reason there are established and recognized borders in the Middle East is for one reason: European Colonization. The same is the case for most of central Africa. Once the Europeans pulled out and went back home, old tribal and regional differences flared back up again, hence the period of civil wars (the mercenary war era) in Africa and the reintroduction of a Jewish state into the Middle East. The Jews were merely allowed, after a couple of thousand years, to return home, folks. If anyone has any dispute with that concept, pick up a Bible, a Torah, the Talmud, and various and other sundry histories of the ancient world that DON'T have to do with religious influence and belief. But as I have been trying to say, the concept of a border is a foreign notion to the Arabic mind. Regionalism? That concept they understand. Borders created by European cartogrophers? They could care less. Hence the ease at which the terrorist networks pass from one country to another in the Middle East, welcomed with open arms by supporters across various old caravan trade routes from one city to the other. The concept of the city-state is still very much alive and well in the Muslim world. In case you haven't really grasped this notion yet, ask yourself this: how many Baptists have ever set foot in Mecca? How many Methodists? Has the Pope ever held Mass there?
As the TITLE of this site says, WAKE UP, AMERICA. This war, this military action, is NOT about one country versus another. It's about our nation fighting an enemy that transcends borders, a concept of hatred that would see both us and Israel cleared from the map in the name of the Jihad. This is a war to stop radical Muslim Imperialism, a notion that, if it comes to pass, will strike away the freedom of the individual. All of the work done by many liberal organizations will be gone. That in itself should bring the left on board with this. NOW would be outlawed. ACTUP would be outlawed. The NAACP would be changed radically. Dissidents and "free thinkers" would be labeled as outlaws and infidels. Women in the US think that they're still under male subjegation today? Imagine how it will be if the terrorists WIN.
The bikini would become a thing of the past, A horrible concept, in my opinion. The world is a MUCH better place since the introduction of the bikini, especially the thong bikini. Welcome to the age of the burkah...
Think outside our borders, learn how the rest of the world sees us, and how they know that we see them. We have GOT to stop bickering, fighting amongst ourselves over penny anty issues that don't amount to a hill of beans. We have GOT to maintain our focus on the ENTIRE Middle East to hunt these terrorist groups down, keeping a watchful eye on Korea.
We also HAVE to do something about the number of illegal immigrants coming into this country across the Mexican border, but that is another story...
Once and Always, an American Fighting Man
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