Restrepo - One Platoon, One Valley, One Year

Acclaimed author Sebastian Junger, widely known as author of 'The Perfect Storm', has put together what looks to be a most interesting look at an isolated U.S. Army platoon that he embedded with during 2007/08 in eastern Afghanistan.

The movie 'Restrepo', filmed by Junger and co-hort Tim Hetherington, will be released next month. The film has already won the Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary at the Sundance Film Festival.

Here is a trailer:



Another (better) version of the trailer can also be viewed in HD here.

Junger has also released a book about his embedded experience titled 'War'.

Consequences of Delaying the Afghan Decision

Over at Bouhammer's Afghan Blog, an Afghan vet lays out why President Obama's delay in making a decision on an Afghan surge will make things a lot more complicated.

Dear Mr. President:
Posted By The Dude on December 6, 2009

Now that I’ve had a few days to ingest, digest, and perform my own mission analysis on your new plan for Afghanistan, I’m a bit concerned. My concerns are based from my experiences of being on one end of the spectrum at the tip of of the spear defending freedom in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border regions, to the opposite end of that spectrum in Kuwait serving in the logistical nerve center for both Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) and Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF).

Some points to consider....

- Winter is coming has already arrived in Afghanistan. Had this decision been made during the summer, any surge of forces to the north and the east of the country could have beaten the winter conditions. Now it will be more difficult.

- With the upcoming drawdown in Iraq, logistics hubs and transport will be very busy in 2010. Add ina surge to Afghanistan, and you get a logistics nightmare. Had this decision been made during the summer, then some of the surge movement could have preceded the Iraq drawdown, and thus avoided future scheduling conflicts. I feel for my Army logistician and Air Force airlift brethren over the coming year...

Perhaps this should not come as any surprise, especially concerning the office of the President of the United States, but decisions (or lack thereof) have consequences. And even seemingly trivial decisions can have cascading effects. However when it comes to military matters in times of war, there are no trivial decisions, and the cascading effects can have serious consequences.

It can only be in Washington where 'a decision delayed is a decision made'. I don't think they teach that up at West Point, Mr. President.

Obama Afghanistan Speech Word Count

President Obama's Afghanistan Speech Word Count: 'I' - 45, 'Afghanistan' - 39, 'Victory' - 0

Here is the word cloud for the speech:


(Wordle removes the most common english words, thus 'I' does not appear)

Battle for Helmand

Follow the USMC during its operations in Helmand Province, Afghanistan through the short videos from the Washington Post.


The entire blog can be found here.


Also, some great photoblogs on Helmand and other action in Afghanistan are out there.

Denver Post: Marines Pour into Afghanistan


Boston Globe: In Afghanistan, Part 1, Part 2



[Hat Tip to Steven Pressfield and his new blog for the Denver Post link]

It's the Tribes, Stupid

#hhrs #tcot
I would recommend that everyone go read/watch the great new blog/videos from Steven Pressfield

Here is the first of 5 videos that are worth your time....

Memorial Day 2009

Godspeed 1Lt Schulte

The Wrong Change for Afghanistan

Last week there was news and discussion about how the replacement of one 4-star General with another 4-star General would affect the future of the war in Afghanistan.

However, it may be more important to explore how that war will be affected by the replacement of a Major by at 2LT, and a Captain by a Corporal.

The perplexing news comes from frontline blogger Vampire 06, at Afghanistan Shrugged:

"Today, I was informed that my team will be replaced in a matter of weeks by a team from the Georgia National Guard. Not so bad on the surface, but the hazardous rocks lay below the calm exterior. The team is commanded by a Second Lieutenant (2LT) and his Non-commissioned Ofiicer in Charge is a Sergeant (E5). The remainder of the team is made up of E5s and below. Not exactly the experience rich combination that you’re looking for in a Combat Advisor Team. In fact my S3, CPT Brain is being replaced by a Corporal.

At this point I have to shake my head and wonder, “What the ..?”

Is this what we’ve come to?

Does the building of the ANA mean so little that this is what we’re committing to the fight?

Is this the surge that’s supposed to win the war and bring us all home?

I’m perplexed, pissed off and to be perfectly honest depressed. Ask any former advisor and they’ll tell you that this is a difficult mission that we put every ounce of our souls into, with the hope that one day the ANA/ANP will get it and we can go home. It’s built on your judgment, knowledge and experience and your ability to communicate them effectively.

Now, some genius has decided that we should have 2LTs advising ANA Battalion Commanders on how to plan, support and employ their Kandaks in combat. That alone will be perceived as an insult in an Army where rank means a great deal. Who the hell thought this one up?

By the way this is occurring throughout eastern Afghanistan, right against the Pak border. A border with a country that is gradually melting down and the Taliban is attempting to consolidate. Is this the time to bring in your least experienced team?"

We can change the warriors at the top all we want to find the right strategic leadership, but if we skimp on finding the right warriors for some specific tactical missions on the ground, then we are doing more harm than good.

The Action Afghans Need

Afghanistan is in crisis.

We need action that's swift, bold and wise enough for us to climb out of this crisis. No time for delay. In fact delay is inexcusable and irresponsible!

Ooops...sorry, those were the President's invectives about his bloated "stimulus" bill....

Unfortunately, the strategy for victory in Afghanistan is imbued with no such sense of urgency from the new Administration. And this is despite the fact that we are being told this is the toughest war in the last 50 years.

"President Obama's national security team gave a dire assessment Sunday of the war in Afghanistan..." [WaPo]

Of course this is no different than anything that has been said over the last year, but I guess it needs to be said if only to tag the last administration with guilt.

However it is the language that the Dems use that one can infer the "dire" nature of the task.

Holbrooke Says Afghan War ‘Tougher Than Iraq’
The war in Afghanistan will be “much tougher than Iraq,” President Obama’s special representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan said at a security conference here on Sunday.

Interestingly, less than 2 years ago, Holbrooke also said this:

“Let me start by making a statement that I never thought I would make: the situation in Iraq today is worse than it ever was in Vietnam..."

So...through my special powers of analysis I can draw the conclusion that Afghanistan is worse than Iraq, which was worse than Vietnam...which would make it the worst situation in the last 50 years. (Grenada of course brings up a close fourth.)

And I am OK with that analysis. It is indeed a tough, intractable military problem beset by outside influences much like the other two. Of those two, one got better because we took action, and one got worse because we hog-tied ourselves.

This leads to the question, what will Obama do? Action or inaction? So far the signs are not encouraging:

Obama puts brake on Afghan surge
PRESIDENT Barack Obama has demanded that American defence chiefs review their strategy in Afghanistan before going ahead with a troop surge.

There is concern among senior Democrats that the military is preparing to send up to 30,000 extra troops without a coherent plan or exit strategy.

The Pentagon was set to announce the deployment of 17,000 extra soldiers and marines last week but Robert Gates, the defence secretary, postponed the decision after questions from Obama.

Great, we are back in the "Exit Strategy" era of foreign policy...

Thus I must ask... If the current economic situation is the worst in the last 50-60 years, and we must brook no delay in the passage of the "stimulus", then is it wise that we delay the DoD's planned solution for the worst military dilemma in the last half century? Should we not have the same sense of urgency?

Maybe it would go quicker if we included even more troops to teach the Afghans about STDs, establish the National Endowment for the Afghan Arts, handout digital-TV coupons, and provide hybrid vehicles for the Afghan government.

That might just do the trick....

A Weaponized Version of Borat

BUMPED for UPDATE....

Head over to Pajama's Media, and read Michael Yon's latest dispatch and observtions from the Afghan province of Zabul.



The best portion are the descriptions of our new stalwart allies, the Lithuanians. Please note how these allies will actually deign to fight the Taliban...

Maybe when your country spends almost a half-century with the Soviet boot on its neck, its first generation of free soldiers know what freedom is worth — and that you sometimes have to fight for it

Amen...

UPDATE: For anyone who might think that Yon was writing disparagingly about the Lithuanian soldiers, please reconsider. As he states, perhaps he being 'tongue-in-cheek', but if you read his post closely, you should understand that he was being complimentary with his overall assessment. Both Yon, myself (who recently returned from several months in Afghanistan, and others are highly appreciative of the fact that there are some countries who will actually stand up and fight the evil in front of us...as opposed to some other European countries who do not seem to have the will.

Please see Yon's mea culpa letter to the Commander of Lithuanian Special Forces, here.

From the U.S. military...Thank you Lithuania!

Home Sweet Home

My six-months of Afghanistan fun are done!

Got plenty of leave on the books, so I won't be back to work until January...

The 106-day Work Week

No, it is not some masochistic proposal to increase the production of American industry...it is simply the "work week" I have just had here in Afghanistan.

After 106 days filled with combat skills training, trans-oceanic flights, 4 countries, and a non-stop run of 15-18 hour days....I have finally taken a day off. It may only be a one day "weekend", but it has felt good.

Now, only one more "week" to go, and I can get back to my family for the holidays....

CF out....

Good News is No News in Iraq

It has always been readily apparent that the major news outlets were more than willing to broadcast/print any bad news that emerged from Iraq. And it has been equally apparent recently that there is a reticence to give equal treatment to the good news that turned from a trickle to a regular flow. The MSM have scoffed that there could be any bias influencing their reporting from this war zone, and equal scoffing from the conservative blogosphere at that claim.
Well apparently there was a copy editor asleep at the switch over at the Old Grey Lady, because they have published a very interesting article titled "Reporters Say Networks Put Wars on Back Burner". I guess no one sent them the memo on obscuring any evidence of bias....

Other mainstream blogs like Powerline and Danger Room are right to point out the amazing numbers:

"According to data compiled by Andrew Tyndall, a television consultant who monitors the three network evening newscasts, coverage of Iraq has been “massively scaled back this year.” Almost halfway into 2008, the three newscasts have shown 181 weekday minutes of Iraq coverage, compared with 1,157 minutes for all of 2007."

However no one I have seen yet (though my reading time is limited here in Afghanistan) has noted the real smoking gun, found in the quote from a CBS news bigwig:

"Paul Friedman, a senior vice president at CBS News, said the news division does not get reports from Iraq on television “with enough frequency to justify keeping a very, very large bureau in Baghdad.” He said CBS correspondents can “get in there very quickly when a story merits it.”

Oh I see. So we finally have an admission of guilt on the bias front.

CBS news has now admitted that good news from a war zone does not merit coverage. Death, carnage, mis-doings of individual soldiers, and lack of good planning all drown out positive stories when they happen at the same time. But when those negatives all dry up and disappear, and the positive stories are left standing alone, the "journalists" lose interest and can't "justify" sticking around to do their jobs. If you can't justify a bureau because not enough reports from Iraq get on television....then put more reports from Iraq on television! This magically wasn't a problem a year ago. There were plenty of stories then. Gee, if we could only figure out what has changed during that time.....

Sad. Shameful. Disappointing.

How the once mighty have fallen.

In deference to Glenn Reynolds, we don't need and "Army of Davids". We desperately need an "Army of Yons", and "Army of Roggios", and an "Army of Tottens"....

Greetings from Afghanistan

Greetings to all from Afghanistan.

I am settling in for my months of task and toil, after a trip which was at times both exasperating and thrilling.

With the hours that I will be keeping during my service here, I hope I will have the time to keep my blogging up. At least I have access to Blogger this time, even if the connection is fairly slow.

In the mean time, enjoy a snapshot from my first convoy across this ancient land....



PS - It is getting hot here, and even hotter in Iraq. Please consider going to Soldiers Angels and buying/donating some 'Cooling Scarfs' for the troops. I already have one, and know that many who don't would really appreciate them..... CF out....

Words of Warning

I am just starting to work my way through Steve Coll's 'Ghost Wars', in preparation for my vacation to the Shomali Plain.

Early during a recitation of William Casey's efforts of working with the Pakistanis to support the burgeoning Mujahadin, Pakistani President Zia-ul-Haq offered the following insight that Iraqi leaders may want to keep in the back of their minds:

"...being an ally of the United States was like living on the banks of an enormous river. 'The soil is wonderfully fertile,' he said, 'but every four or eight years the river changes course, and you may find yourself alone in a desert."

This is not to say that Iraqi leaders should root for one result or another in this fall's election, but just be warned that we are going to fight this Long War, with a many short term strategies.

But they probably figured that out already....

Call of Duty

Well, the time has come...just a bit quicker than expected.

Afghanistan, here I come....

I have known I would be deploying for some time now. However with a sudden change in training requirements, I am leaving home this week on only a few days notice.

It is always fun telling your spouse that you are leaving in a few days, and won't be home for 10 months.

As I said, the deployment was expected, but the training requirement that will end up lasting a full 50% of the actual deployment was not.

Like many others in service, particularly in the Army with their prolonged deployments, there will be things that I miss while I am gone. My 40th birthday with my family. My son's 2nd birthday. Halloween, Thanksgiving, etc.... But I cannot complain. It is part of my service to my nation. I have known this since the day I joined. Of course things are always easier when you are a single 20-something, not an almost-40 husband and father. Such is life....

So in a couple of days I will be off on another grand adventure that will start with several weeks of Air Force training, another few weeks of Army Huah training (where they will teach me to shoot bigger guns, drive Humvees, and sleep in barracks), and finish with my third trip to the sandbox.

I am not sure what the future holds on the blogging front. I intend to go on as normal as long as I have access. I will be taking along my intrepid, and recently revived Apple iBook. It has already been to Qatar and Iraq, so lets hope it will survive my summer vacation in the shadow of the Hindu Kush.

While it is always an honor to serve, no matter what your role, it does seem a little more relevant if you do it on the front lines. This war is the defining moment of my generation, and to crib a famous quote, "There is hardly such a thing as a war in which it makes no difference who wins"

So, away I go....

Obama meet the Milblogs...

Hat tip to Michael Graham in the Corner for pointing this out....

In tonight's debate, Obama charged that troops in Afghanistan actually have to [or had to] capture Taliban ammunition and weapons in order to fight, since they were sent improperly equipped:

OBAMA: And as a consequence, they didn't have enough ammunition, they didn't have enough humvees. They were actually capturing Taliban weapons, because it was easier to get Taliban weapons than it was for them to get properly equipped by our current commander in chief.

Now, we have heard some complaints from troops, even very public ones about armor to Don Rumsfeld in 2004, but I don't think I have ever heard any complaints from the field that our troops have to capture enemy weapons in order to fight.

I think this one deserves the BS flag.

Obama attributes this to "an Army captain who was the head of a rifle platoon", but given the fair number of pretend/faux soldiers who have been used by the left to hype imagined sins of the military in recent years, I think I might need some more evidence.

I invite other milbloggers with better knowledge to comment....

UPDATE: In comments Donald Sensing points out: "Lieutenants lead rifle platoons, not captains. Captains command companies." A great point that I neglected to add...

Books to win Wars

The other day I had a little fun with my Army brothers concerning Counter-Insurgency. However, I do feel strongly on the subject, especially on how the Air Force has a lot to learn when it comes to our role in such a fight. We are still caught in an Air Supremacy paradigm, and need to do more thinking on how we can be relevant in a 'Small War'

The new edition of Air & Space Power Journal dedicates its current edition to 'Irregular Airpower'. It should make for interesting reading, and is in my queue.

Now speaking of Small Wars.....

The Army is continuing its drive to incorporate Counterinsurgency education at all levels, to include our coalition partners, with its Afghanistan Counterinsurgency Academy.

"Six years into the Afghan war, the Army has decided its troops on the ground still don't understand well enough how to battle the Taliban insurgency. So since the spring, groups of 60 people have been attending intensive, five-day sessions in plywood classrooms in the corner of a U.S. base here, where they learn to think like a Taliban and counterpunch like a politician.

The academy's principal message: The war that began to oust a regime has evolved into a popularity contest where insurgents and counterinsurgents vie for public support and the right to rule. The implicit critique: Many U.S. and allied soldiers still arrive in the country well-trained to kill, but not to persuade."

To help out this effort, the Small Wars Journal and some others have put together a book drive of sorts to help stock the bookshelves at this Academy.

So, if you really would like to help he U.S. and its allies prevail in its current fight, then go to the SWJ's Amazon wish-list, and buy a book or two for the Afghanistan Counterinsurgency Academy (books delivered directly to Kabul).