Comments on: Blunt Instruments in Afghanistan http://www.captainsjournal.com/2008/09/25/blunt-instruments-in-afghanistan/ News & Commentary on Warfare, Policy and Counterterrorism Thu, 18 Mar 2010 04:11:13 -0400 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Brian H http://www.captainsjournal.com/2008/09/25/blunt-instruments-in-afghanistan/comment-page-1/#comment-26548 Brian H Fri, 26 Sep 2008 09:10:33 +0000 http://www.captainsjournal.com/?p=1313#comment-26548 Getting rid of OBL might briefly take the wind out of the sails of some of the more egregious anti-war loons, but it would make little or no operational difference to the Taliban. (OBL was/is Al Queda, not Taliban, to start with, and even they would hardly miss a beat if the figurehead was historical instead of ambulatory.) I think that Petraeus (Malik Dauod, King David) is far more important to the West than Osama bin Laden is to the Islamofascists. I think they're now counting more on guidance and assistance from Obama bin Biden, in any case. Getting rid of OBL might briefly take the wind out of the sails of some of the more egregious anti-war loons, but it would make little or no operational difference to the Taliban. (OBL was/is Al Queda, not Taliban, to start with, and even they would hardly miss a beat if the figurehead was historical instead of ambulatory.)

I think that Petraeus (Malik Dauod, King David) is far more important to the West than Osama bin Laden is to the Islamofascists. I think they’re now counting more on guidance and assistance from Obama bin Biden, in any case.

]]> By: Warbucks http://www.captainsjournal.com/2008/09/25/blunt-instruments-in-afghanistan/comment-page-1/#comment-26543 Warbucks Thu, 25 Sep 2008 15:06:36 +0000 http://www.captainsjournal.com/?p=1313#comment-26543 The coming months will indeed be interesting. My instincts still lead me to feel that capturing OBL (or digging up his bones) and hauling him or his remains before some organized world court sitting in judgment is one important element in reaching victory. Only the common person possessing street sense of right and wrong might tend to agree with that assessment. Most governments pretend such a process is irrelevant, perhaps because it is too specific and to fail would be disastrous. And yet when you look up names on various compiled lists of important wanted terrorists (http://www.angelfire.com/ultra/terroristscorecard/ ) one finds OBL appears on no official, public, goverment list, only a non-governmental list naming the comprehensive list of violent radical terrorists. One can only conclude that the greater wisdom employed by the war planners is to assign victory to other measurable indicies such as functioning central governments in the Middle East based on a democratic consensus, operating model. While I can accept the greater wisdom of the war planners as being the path of greater enlightenment, in my mind a lot would be achieved by hauling in OBL or his remains, for judgment. I wonder how many assets and of what type, are committed to finding him. It may be easier than we are given to realize. The coming months will indeed be interesting. My instincts still lead me to feel that capturing OBL (or digging up his bones) and hauling him or his remains before some organized world court sitting in judgment is one important element in reaching victory.

Only the common person possessing street sense of right and wrong might tend to agree with that assessment. Most governments pretend such a process is irrelevant, perhaps because it is too specific and to fail would be disastrous.

And yet when you look up names on various compiled lists of important wanted terrorists (http://www.angelfire.com/ultra/terroristscorecard/ ) one finds OBL appears on no official, public, goverment list, only a non-governmental list naming the comprehensive list of violent radical terrorists.

One can only conclude that the greater wisdom employed by the war planners is to assign victory to other measurable indicies such as functioning central governments in the Middle East based on a democratic consensus, operating model.

While I can accept the greater wisdom of the war planners as being the path of greater enlightenment, in my mind a lot would be achieved by hauling in OBL or his remains, for judgment.

I wonder how many assets and of what type, are committed to finding him. It may be easier than we are given to realize.

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