Tag: Afghanistan

Special Soldier, Better Man

 

COL John M. McHugh, United States Army (KIA)

by Guardian 6       (Originally published May 22, 2016)

While deployed to Iraq, about ten months through my tour in May 2010, pictures of a significant Vehicle Based Improvised Explosive Device (VBIED) came across my screen while reviewing the daily theater intelligence brief. This attack had occurred in Kabul, Afghanistan. In all, five US troops were killed along with 17 Afghan civilians and over 40 wounded in this attack. At that moment, I did not know that a friend and colleague from the US Army War College (AWC), one of my classmates, had been killed. Ten months earlier I was graduating from AWC where I had first met John in the fall of 2009.

While we didn’t have classes together or share the same seminar group, John and I kept the same physical training routine hitting the gym early getting our work outs in before class. AWC was relaxed for Army standards and officers were on their own schedules to meet physical standards. During this time, John and I got to know each other, went on some long runs together and shared the Army War College experience as classmates. We both had young boys too for our mid -40’s ages helping to keep us young in spirit and often putting life in perspective. John and his wife had five children total, and one of his son’s was already serving in the Army. Another commonality we would share.

It was clear to me early on what a class act John was. He loved the Army, loved his family and loved life. John was very bright and inquisitive and pursued knowledge. I remember John asking thoughtful questions of guest speakers when the AWC class would attend en masse to hear from a warfighter, a Combatant Commander or a speaker from one of our government agencies. Some colonels asked questions to showcase their experiences, some colonels asked questions to hear themselves talk and some colonels liked John asked questions to learn and gain knowledge. When John stood up to ask a question, one knew there was something to be learned, gained from both the question and the answer.

When John and his team of soldiers left Ft. Leavenworth for this mission, they knew there was risk but they expected to come home. There is always risk for deployed soldiers, especially in a warzone. Their families worried and prayed for their safe return, like they always do. COL John McHugh, LTC Paul Bartz, LTC Thomas Belkofer, SSG Richard Tieman and SPC Joshua Tomlinson were undoubtedly focused on their mission to defeat the enemy through enhance pre-deployment training better preparing US forces by capturing real-time lessons learned and incorporating these lessons into their training at Ft. Leavenworth.

John and his soldiers were killed a few short days after arriving in Afghanistan serving their country, executing their mission in support of the war effort  and making all of us that knew them proud, saddened and humbled by their loss; and their families sacrifice that endures today, tomorrow and every Memorial Day. For Colonel McHugh’s family, and all the families that have lost a loved one in war, Memorial Day endures 365/24/7. We should honor them and share their legacy with family and friends, and keep them all in our prayers.

 

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Confessions of a Reformed and Redeemed W Voter

by Blackjack Pershing                Missouri Territory

Dateline April 20, 2021

“I think we agree, the past is over. ”
― George W. Bush

 

That’s right W, and for that we are thankful.

As W has inserted himself in the national conversation of late, so let’s recap where many of us have landed on the teetotaling son of another President with a dubious record.

“Never trust a man who doesn’t drink.”

  • Winston Churchill   (OK maybe a cheap shot, but he’s earned it)

We wanted him to succeed.  In fact in the immediate wake of 9/11 even many democrats felt reassured that ‘the adults were in charge’ following 2 terms of Bill, Hill, Monica, White Water, Clintoncide, Hillary Care, Co-presidents, Vast Right Wing Conspiracies, a failed impeachment and the generally tawdry atmosphere of the Clinton Whitehouse.

Americans wanted ass kicked after 9/11.  W delivered.  Box checked.  However,  I believe it was Colin Powell at the time who said with regard to screwing up a war, ‘If you break it, you bought it.’  Did we ever.  Powell deserves to be held accountable for letting Rumsfeld drop his ‘Powell Doctrine’, built on lessons learned from Vietnam on how to win wars.  Powell’s doctrine was used in the first Gulf War: overwhelming force.  It worked.  See the ‘highway of death’.  He let Rummy screw it all up in the 2nd Gulf War.  An unending disaster ensued.

But we digress, back to W.

13 years post W, with plenty of help from truth teller Donald J Trump, most republicans and conservatives have been red pilled on W.  Eyes now wide open.

In 2001:

We thought we got a republican Harry Truman.  Instead we got a less demented, sometimes confused and togue tied republican Joe Biden.  As George H.W. might have said: ‘Not good!  Bad!’

We thought we got a more conservative George HW, less enthralled with the New World Order.  Instead we got China sellout 2.0, post Clinton, letting the offshoring spread like a plague while telling Americans we weren’t competitive.  Blaming us while giving our jobs to communists paying 1 cent on the dollar to their slave laborers.

We thought we got a happy warrior – the one that unseated loudmouth Ann Richards in TX.   Instead we got an oddly passive mopey W who refused to answer his critics, who in turn just piled on.  This passivity let down his voters and his party, and enabled the attack mob CCP-partner media we now have firmly in place.

We thought we got a down home, red neck, rootin tootin, kinda funny, ranch owning, pick up truck driving old son of a gun character as President.  What we really got was a Yale educated elitist faking it as a cowboy.

“The thing that’s important for me is to remember what’s the most important thing.”
― George W. Bush

W lucked out with stiff retreads to campaign against.  Gore and Kerry – unappealing scolds that allowed W’s charm, such as it was, to shine.  He was very likeable – we must give him that.

And funny at times: It’s a shame he only gave mean nick names only to his immediate staff: Skippy to Cheney due to his heart issues.  Turd Blossom to Karl Rove for obvious reasons.  Tiny to Richard Armitage, chubby Deputy Secretary of State.   It took a fearless champion to give nicknames to the dummies that truly deserved them in the media, democrat party etc: Donald J Trump.  His were better.

W’s largest mistakes were his foreign wars.  We have plenty of recent history that showed how to lose foreign wars: Vietnam with no clear strategy, incrementalism, and little home support.  And how to win: first Gulf War: Clear goal, Powell doctrine of overwhelming force.  Having some military background himself, W should have been wiser.  Rumsfeld, seemingly a good choice at first, turned out to be the worst of the worst technocrat.  Shock and Awe didn’t prevent us from an unmanageable mess in Iraq upon our march into Baghdad.  Such lousy execution from pedantic bigmouth Rumsfeld should have got him fired.

Remember the disappearance/retirement of General Shinseki after he told the truth about necessary troop levels needed to occupy Baghdad?  Shameful.

W’s biggest mistakes involved listening to career bureaucrats (the swamp) and taking them at their word.  The ‘de-Bathification’ of Iraq was a disaster.  Others can cover that topic better than I can.

The so called surge was late.  And necessary due to bungled strategy and poor execution.

Interesting that most of the career military officers, especially the General Officers, that have criticized Trump publicly, were key leaders in the failed foreign wars started by W.  Clearly their motivation is fear of their malfeasance being exposed, and resentment of Trump’s accurate criticism.

The ineptitude of Iraq/Afghanistan wars is settled business.  I believe the intention was to get to root causes in the region and permanently settle them.  Clearly that did not happen.  Let’s move on.

Remember when W fired Rummy in 2006, openly admitting it was because he lost congress and they (the Dems) wanted someone less controversial.  I am not Rummy fan, but really?  What kind of reasoning is that?  Fire him and take responsibility for it.  Sad.

Remember when Bush cut taxes and it really wasn’t even that much and he let the business tax stand which really was the big issue even then?

This all seems like a million years ago.  Pre-tech monopolies and censorship.  It is actually a bit hazy.  Like many, W did some good things.  But they were lost under a pile of incompetence.

“They misunderestimated me.”
― George W. Bush

Remember the embrace of globalism and so called free trade with W, a stupid republican hallmark for decades.  The problem is free trade was never free or fair.  But the Chamber of Commerce loved it as they lined their pockets while American workers got screwed.  ‘Compassionate Conservative’ W was ok with that.

Remember when W said he wouldn’t comment on his successor due to the dignity of the office, and proceeded to let Obama blame him for every bad condition that has ever existed without a word?  And remember when Trump made mincemeat of his dopey brother Jeb, W decided to join the chorus of A-holes taking shots at Trump?  Yeah.   I do.  Shove it W.

The other things are many: bailouts, Hurricane Katrina optics and execution, whatever.  Massive media misinformation had become a thing.  W is a classic example of missed opportunities, unmet expectations, investment in failed models, faith in the swamp, disguised elitism, groupthink, failed strategy setting, unwillingness to change quickly when things are not working.  Stubbornness.   We wanted him to win but he didn’t let himself.  He tried to act like the common man, but helped give birth to the forgotten man (and woman).

Finally, I’ll say it as much as it pains me.  On 9/11 when W sat there as long as he did after Andy Card told him we were under attack, and let the kids keep reading, it did suck and was embarrassing.  It pissed me off when Media Hippopotamus Michael Moore made hay with it, but on that, he was right.  Nuts.  W may have needed time to think, but he could have done that in private.  Gracefully exiting quickly was the thing to do.  WTF.

“It will take time to restore chaos”
― George W. Bush

W – you had a good life as TX governor and part owner of the Rangers.  You should have stayed.

With Regret

BlackJack Pershing

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Afghanistan’s Only Hope: The Taliban

Dateline February 19th, 2019

The Live Free or Die State

by Decurion

I ask myself this question: What are our conventional military forces doing each day in Afghanistan? Besides SPECOPS accompanying the Afghan National Army (ANA) on some of their ops, here’s what we’re doing – hopelessly advising ANA and Afghan National Police (ANP) Colonels and General Officers while they continue to rob us blind, building Powerpoint tales to say we’re continuing to make progress, and like good FOB prisoners, doing time.

All those little FOBs we were familiar with that had USMIL based there have collapsed into Kabul or ANA Corps HQ. We’re HESCO’ed in more than ever. The last time I remember seeing an American doing a patrol outside the HESCOs in Kabul was around 2008 or 9!

We know that as long as the current Afghan government, ANA and ANP goons are running the circus, there is no hope for either peace or prosperity- none. They’re just too damn corrupt to focus on their own
country. My hunch is we may find more hope going back to a time reminiscent to the early and mid 90s, a time when we were negotiating with Taliban (in Washington!!) UNOCAL and Argentina to do petro business. The plan was to develop existing fields and explore for more oil and gas, and build a pipeline from Turkmenistan to Afghanistan to Pakistan. We were so close to a deal but wouldn’t do it because Taliban were not a legitimate government (and they treated their women like crap). These current talks are setting them up to be a legitimate piece of the government. But they would have to moderate their idiotic ways.

Plenty of Afghans will tell you the Taliban were really bad but they kept order and a lid on corruption. Taliban right now are seeing the benefits of running the lapis, emerald and copper mines, and unfortunately, the opium business. Afghanistan also sits on a plethora of rare earth minerals……at least a trillion dollars’ worth of total resources. The opium business will continue regardless of who’s in charge. Right before I left in late 2015, the Afghans resumed the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India pipeline project. But the Taliban won’t allow that to proceed unless they can officially become part of the government- the ANA and ANP are unable to keep the construction sites secure.

Taliban have long memories and understand, like back in the 90s, that a pipeline means big money. And having a legitimate piece of the government is all it takes to get back in the game.

There’s a chance that with Taliban officially part of the government acting as an anti-corruption and security hammer, then revenue from petro, precious metals and minerals, and maybe even a return of tourism could bring back some semblance of normalcy.

I’m now thinking the Taliban as a part of the Afghan government is the country’s only hope.

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