Obama Good War in Afghanistan Becomes a Cluster

Nearly 500 Taliban flee in daring Afghan jailbreak

Nato screwed it up again. They are unable to stabilize the region. Their incompetence is making the Afghanistan War look utterly hopeless. In fact, Obama's war in Afghanistan is unraveling. Afghanistan President Karzi is playing both side of the war and ironically, the US is pouring billions to his corrupt government. To make matters worst, Obama is allowing soldiers to die in order to make plight we have to get out of Afghanistan. Mr. President, why not get them out now and not before the 2012 elections. Mr.President, blood and treasure refers to our military men and women, if you didn't know. Under Obama's watch, there were more deaths in the 3 years as president(960) compared to the 8 years under the Bush Administration (630).

Coalition Military Fatalities By Year

Year: US
2001: 12
2002: 49
2003: 48
2004: 52
2005: 99
2006: 98
2007: 117
2008: 155
2009: 317
2010: 499
2011: 100
Total: 1546
(courtesy: http://icasualties.org/oef/)

(Breitbart) Almost 500 Taliban fighters and commanders escaped from a prison in an audacious jailbreak in southern Afghanistan which the government admitted Monday was a security "disaster".
The Taliban said it sprung the inmates out of the prison in Kandahar through a one-kilometre tunnel that took five months to dig, and claimed all those who escaped belonged to the militia, including over 100 commanders.

The daring breakout in the Taliban's heartland, the second from the prison in three years, threatens to undermine recent gains claimed by NATO forces in the area after a US-led troop surge, just as the annual fighting season begins.

It is also a major embarrassment for Afghan forces who are due to take on greater responsibility for security in their country ahead of the planned withdrawal of foreign combat troops in 2014.

In Libya, Rebel Fighers Now But al Qaeda Back Then

It is now official. The Libyan rebels are al-Qaeda members and supporters. This is the same group Obama wanted to arm with US weapons to fight Gaddafi. It is pathetic that we don't know who is the enemy. At this point picking the lesser of two evils, I pick Gaddafi. If we allow NATO to continue to kill the rebels "accidentally," Gaddafi can just sit back and wait till the international coalition implode. The Libyan war is a total joke.

(ABC News) Less than four years before Libya's popular opposition movement took up arms and revolted against Moammar Gadhafi with enthusiastic U.S. backing, anti-Gadhafi fighters chose another tactic to hit back at the hated dictator: they joined al Qaeda and tried to kill American soldiers in Iraq, according to U.S. documents.

In 2007 the U.S. Department of Defense snatched more than 600 records of al Qaeda's foreign fighters in Iraq and discovered nearly a fifth of the foreigners were from Libya, according to a report by West Point's Combating Terrorism Center released later that year. Within those records, the total put Libya second only to Saudi Arabia in total fighters and "far and away" the largest provider of foreign fighters per capita to the terrorist organization.

The report ties the surge of Libyan recruits to a formal pledge of allegiance to al Qaeda by a major anti-Gadhafi group in 2007.

A day before President Barack Obama authorized covert support of the rebels in Libya, NATO Supreme Allied Commander in Europe U.S. Admiral James Stavridis said officials will watch potential terrorist presence in the opposition "very closely," but had so far only seen "flickers" of it.

Libyan Rebels are not Prepared to Beat Gaddafi

The rebels are poorly equipped, lack of leadership, and no military experience. The combination will eventually lead to failure. It doesn't make a difference if the rebels are able to capture a tank or a plane because there is no one capable to work these machines. It doesn't make a difference if the rebels make a successful charge because they always retreat. This type of strategy will not overthrow Gaddafi. Instead, Gaddafi will have a ball making everybody look like idiots. The only way to solve this is with coalition ground troops to assist the al-Qaeda rebels. If Obama gave the okay, it will be the end of his presidency. The war in Libya is 14 days old and it seems it will be a long drawn out war.

(The Guardian) The revolution lacks an organised military structure in spite of several attempts to stamp its authority on the volunteer army. Discipline is bad. Few of the fighters have proper military experience and they would need training in the use of weapons such as artillery. But the revolutionaries have made a strong point of saying they do not want foreign troops on Libyan soil.

The revolution's de facto finance minister, Ali Tarhouni, claims that there are 1,000 trained fighters among the rebels but there is little evidence of it on the battlefield where the anti-Gaddafi forces appear capable of advancing only when the way is cleared by foreign air strikes.

The problem is not solely the rebels' lack of more powerful weapons. In the past two days their disorganisation has shown as they have been badly outmanoeuvred by better-trained forces that have outflanked them with sweeps through the desert. The revolutionaries lack any cohesive defensive plan. Instead they fire wildly at the enemy and argue among themselves about what to do next and who should be giving orders before turning and fleeing.

Indeed, the rebels have seized a significant number of large weapons abandoned by retreating Gadaffi forces including a handful or more tanks this week after air strikes around Ajdabiya sent the government's army fleeing. But the tanks have yet to be put to use on the battlefield in part because of a lack of expertise in fighting with them.

The lack of control over Libya's rebel army also raises questions about how it might behave as an occupying force were it to take over a town such as Sirte which has not risen up in support of the revolution and where the Libyan leader is believed to retain some support.

Killings of alleged mercenaries in Benghazi, the rebels' de facto capital, as well as the large numbers of young men who have assumed an authority over ordinary citizens apparently only granted by their guns, will raise questions about how an ill disciplined and unaccountable force will behave on taking control of a potentially less welcoming city.

It would be embarrassing, to say the least, if even some of the rebels armed by Britain or the US were to carry out the kind of atrocities the west says it is intervening in Libya to prevent.

There must be an additional concern that any weapons sent to the revolutionaries could end up arming Gaddafi.

The rebel performance in recent weeks has amounted to rapid advances followed by almost as speedy retreats. It is one thing for the revolutionaries to jump in to their cars and pick-up trucks and race back tens of miles through the desert.

Obama Desperate, Planning to Arm Rebels with Weapons

To save face, Obama is planning to arm the rebels with weapons. The coalition is losing the war and Gaddafi's army made the rebels retreat. Pundits are in agreement that the only way the rebel can win is supporting them with weapons. This is a big dilemma with Obama. It is already known that most of the rebels are al-Qaeda affiliates. Americans would be very disturbed knowing our president is supporting weapons and arms to al-Qaeda rebels against US led NATO coalition. What will Obama do? In order to get rid of Gaddafi and save face, would Obama allow the rebels kill our boys and girls as collateral damage? Hm mm, the jury is still out on that one.

(Reuters) - As Libyan rebels fled in headlong retreat from the superior arms and tactics of Muammar Gaddafi's troops on Wednesday, U.S. officials said President Barack Obama had signed a secret order authorizing covert support for the rebels.

While the United States, France and Britain have raised the possibility of arming the rebels, they have all stressed that no decision had yet been taken.

As Gadaffi's army pushed back the rebels, their lack of heavy weapons and feeble fighting capabilities exposed the vulnerability of their forces in the absence of Western air strikes to tip the scales in their favor.

Despite some dissent within the Western military coalition attacking Gadaffi's forces, news that Obama had given the covert authorization surfaced as he and other U.S. and allied officials began speaking openly about the possibility of sending arms to the rebels.

Obama signed the order, known as a presidential "finding," within the last two or three weeks, according to four U.S. government sources familiar with the matter.

As Dictator Stands Firm, Britain Lowers its Expectations of Victory

The best possible scenario is a stalemate between Gaddafi and the coalition forces. This is a stupid war. It would been easier to freeze assets and impose severe sanctions. Now, we have pissed Gaddafi and it is very likely he will call on his cells to inflict terrorism around the world. Let Gaddafi destroy his anti-supporters. Hillary Clinton and the State Department has informed that the rebels are linked to al-Qaeda. In fact, there are several al-Qaeda factions trying to oust Gaddafi for many years. At this point, it is the lesser of two evils. I would pick Gaddafi, who is controllable, than al-Qaeda any day of the week.

(The Independent) The Western allies yesterday struggled to find a coherent strategy in Libya as Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's forces renewed attacks on rebel strongholds despite a no-fly zone and a fourth day of allied strikes against government military targets. In Washington, top officials insisted the US intended to hand over command of the operation to its allies within days, but wrangling within Nato continued yesterday along with confusion over what the mission was increasingly clear that despite the scale of the damage inflicted on Colonel Gaddafi's forces, the rebels were highly unlikely to achieve a military victory.

We are Losing the War in Libya, Coalition Forces Confused

This is the most convoluted war ever designed. Obama tells Congress we went to war against Libya 2 days ago. The Arab League broke away from the coalition. Russia and China are against the war. Fractions in the coalition is becoming evident. The mission of the war is unclear. The rebels that the coalition is supporting are al-Qaeda affiliates. There is no game plan except to bomb the crap of the country. Also, no one is willing to lead this fight.

(Mail Online) Deep divisions between allied forces currently bombing Libya worsened today as the German military announced it was pulling forces out of NATO over continued disagreement on who will lead the campaign.

A German military spokesman said it was recalling two frigates and AWACS surveillance plane crews from the Mediterranean, after fears they would be drawn into the conflict if NATO takes over control from the U.S.

The infighting comes as a heated meeting of NATO ambassadors yesterday failed to resolve whether the 28-nation alliance should run the operation to enforce a U.N.-mandated no-fly zone, diplomats said.

Yesterday a war of words erupted between the U.S. and Britain after the U.K. government claimed Muammar Gaddafi is a legitimate target for assassination.
U.K. government officials said killing the Libyan leader would be legal if it prevented civilian deaths as laid out in a U.N. resolution.

But U.S. defence secretary Robert Gates hit back at the suggestion, saying it would be 'unwise' to target the Libyan leader adding cryptically that the bombing campaign should stick to the 'U.N. mandate'.

President Barack Obama, seeking to avoid getting bogged down in a war in another Muslim country, said on Monday Washington would cede control of operations against Muammar Gaddafi's forces within days, handing the reins over to NATO.

But Germany and European allies remain unwilling to have NATO take on a military operation that theoretically has nothing to do with the defence of Europe.
Today the German defence ministry announced Berlin had pulled out of any military operations in the Mediterranean.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu suggested that air strikes launched after a meeting in Paris hosted by France on Saturday had gone beyond what had been sanctioned by a U.N. Security Council resolution.

With Turkey digging its heels in and the Arab League suspicious, it has been pointed out that Mr Obama has fewer coalition partners in Libya than George Bush did at the start of the Iraq war.