We hear the wailing and gnashing of teeth from the scrambled egg hat wearing brass at the Pentagon. President Trump is pulling out of Syria. I think that is wonderful and shows that President Trump is smart - brilliant.
The brass hat generals are little concerned about the many American body bags that have already come home, and the hundreds of shattered, wounded men. They just want more American blood and guts spread in the sands of Syria.
The vast majority of those generals and their sycophant staffers have no inkling of what the never-ending conflicts in the Ummah (the world of Islam) is about – nothing – zero. They just want to justify their positions and get more medal on their shirt fronts.
Some like General Mattis are probably good hallway strategists (but like Mattis haven’t really gotten into the mud or sand and done the dirty part of warfare). Like Mattis they are willfully ignorant of and have no knowledge or understanding of the enemy over there. They need to spend some time, like the genius General George Patton did to understand the enemy, why they do what they do, and what motivates them, and what can demotivate them. That’s how real warriors do it, without needlessly sacrificing thousands of American lives and squandering tons of taxpayer money.
Obama took us to war in Syria to protect his beloved Shia/Iranian/Alawite Moslems from Sunni Moslems (ISIS, Al Qaeda, the former Iraqi Republican Guards) supported by the Saudis. One and all are engaged in a vicious bloody so-called civil (actually a proxy war) war of wanton killing and destruction in the name of allah.
"The Sunni/Shia bloodletting has been an internecine battle going on for about twelve centuries (1200 years), ever since one of the Grand Pubahs, Ali, was murdered causing a permanent rift between the disciples of Mohammed." ... James E. Horn
The Sunni/Shia bloodletting has been an internecine battle going on for about twelve centuries (1200 years), ever since one of the Grand Pubahs, Ali, was murdered causing a permanent rift between the disciples of Mohammed.
Syria is further conflicted with the involvement of the Turks, another Sunni faction long at odds with the Sunni Saudis. That was Turkey’s basis in going after the Sunni ISIS in Syria – because ISIS had Saudi/Gulf money backing them. The Ottoman Turks who ruled much of the Umma for six hundred years never fully controlled the Saudis who joined/sided with the allies in World war I to break up and destroy the Turkish Caliphate who were allied with the Germans.
The Turks share a mutual hatred with the divided Kurds (some of whom are Sunni and some of whom are Shia) living in Syria and Iraq who have been in conflict and victimized by the Turks for centuries as well.
For a thousand years, the Russians have been mixing it up with Sunni Turks along Russia’s southern borders. This millennia long Sunni (Turk) animus with Christian Russia is the main reason why the Russians support and are allied with the Shia/Alawites who love killing Sunnis and vice-versa.
During this conflict in Syria, we allowed the Russians to physically insert themselves where they are working to protect their longtime client Alawite (Shia) partners in Damascus. The Russians came in opposing the Sunni ISIS and put themselves on the ground along a line between Turkey and the Alawites (Shia).
Strange bedfellows: In this Syrian connection however, the Turks and the Russians have reached an accommodation that will not last. It’s the Mafia thing of keeping your friends close but keeping your enemies closer because you cannot trust them and if they have any sense, they should not trust you. At present they are making sweet and nice while they make their opposing plans. The Turks are following the Islamic law set out by Mohammed that Moslems can make treaties while they build their strength. Under this Islamic guise (law), treaties with enemies are valid for no more than ten years.
This concludes the lesson on Syria for this season.
I’ve said it before and say it again: What the hell are we still doing in Afghanistan after seventeen years? The British tried to bring civilization to that place for 160 years. The Russians with a half of a million troops tried for twenty years. They both failed and bailed out with their backsides handed to them in a basket.
Besides thousands of dead, and countless more maimed, as well as the squandering of a trillion dollars, we are where we started seventeen years ago. And, General Mattis wants to keep on keeping on losing precious American lives in a never ending war with stupid rules of engagement (ROE) that put our valiant soldiers behind bard for killing the enemy. There is a basket waiting for Mattis’ ass.
I have written (my book, EXPERIENCING ISLAM) that, to subdue and to civilize Afghanistan, we need to do what the British and Russians failed to do: Consider taking drastic, long-term action starting with defoliating the entire country to lay waste to their narcotics plantations and halt, or strictly control food production and livestock; establish our own food for life program to bring Afghan people to feeding stations where their children will spend several days receiving a basic 3 R’s plus history education for about five generations; educate the men in the same manner and keep them away from the innocent children; put armed drones in the air 24/7 and blast anyone moving around while carrying a weapon, let the men start producing basic food and pay them for it, but keep control of the feeding of the people.
We could partner with the Russians in this endeavor, and we and the Russians would protect and control the borders (the armed drones would be invaluable) to keep the Pakistanis out on one side and the Iranians out on the other side. Along the way, we would have to carve out a chunk of Pakistan to provide Afghanistan access to the sea. We’d need to closely monitor Mosque’s and what is preached making sure it is civilization oriented as opposed to Mohammedism, and just tear down madrassas (schools) that radicalize children.
James E. Horn is a Retired American Diplomat
He is an activist, a writer, and a speaker who knows his subject
He can be reached at james@portervillepost.com
