Tag: taliban

Report: Bowe Bergdahl to be tried for desertion.

Oh, dear.

So it is apparently now the official position of the US military that the US government went out and traded five terrorists for a deserter. I’d almost – almost – be close to maybe understanding it if we were at least planning to hang the guy afterward, but let’s be realistic.  Bowe Bergdahl, even if convicted for desertion, will not be executed for it. He’d probably spend a lot of time in jail, but he’d be unlikely to be hung, shot, or given the needle. Continue reading Report: Bowe Bergdahl to be tried for desertion.

The Taliban promise more kidnappings. …Of *course*.

Me, May 31st, 2014:

The Taliban will step up their kidnapping campaigns, because from their point of view said campaigns have been proven to work.

Time Magazine, June 5, 2014:

A Taliban commander close to the negotiations over the release of U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl told TIME Thursday that the deal made to secure Bergdahl’s release has made it more appealing for fighters to capture American soldiers and other high-value targets.

“It’s better to kidnap one person like Bergdahl than kidnapping hundreds of useless people,” the commander said, speaking by telephone on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the media. “It has encouraged our people. Now everybody will work hard to capture such an important bird.”

Continue reading The Taliban promise more kidnappings. …Of *course*.

Barack Obama hides behind signing statements to justify #Bergdahl / Taliban swap.

So, it turns out that the Obama administration was legally required to at least notify Congress before it actually traded Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl for five Taliban terrorist commanders*:

Lawmakers were not notified of the Guantanamo detainees’ transfer until after it occurred.

The law requires the defense secretary to notify relevant congressional committees at least 30 days before making any transfers of prisoners, to explain the reason and to provide assurances that those released would not be in a position to reengage in activities that could threaten the United States or its interests.

Continue reading Barack Obama hides behind signing statements to justify #Bergdahl / Taliban swap.

Three things about this Bowe Bergdahl / Taliban prisoners swap.

Short version:  Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl was captured by the Taliban in 2009.  Today, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel reported that the US government had made arrangements via the government of Qatar to exchange five Taliban terrorists held at Gitmo for Sgt. Bergdahl. The swap was duly made and Sgt. Bergdahl is now on his way home.

I say the following fully respecting the fact that Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl*and his family/loved ones might have an extremely understandably different opinion on the situation:

  1. The people we exchanged for Sgt. Bergdahl will end up running terrorist operations in Afghanistan if we’re lucky, and Afghanistan and abroad if we are not. And they will likely be doing it considerably sooner than a year from now.
  2. The Taliban will step up their kidnapping campaigns, because from their point of view said campaigns have been proven to work.
  3. Democratic, liberal, and progressive partisans will freak if you point out either #1 or #2 to them.  That particularly smarmy freaking that the more obnoxious examples do when they think that they’ve got the moral drop on you.

Continue reading Three things about this Bowe Bergdahl / Taliban prisoners swap.

Well, we cannot PROVE that Obama was fiddling as Camp Bastion burned. :pause: I GUESS.

So, last Friday 15 Taliban fighters managed to successfully [conduct] a raid where they traded 15 fighters for 2 dead US Marines, moderate to severe damage to the British-run Camp Bastion’s facilities… and 6 of our Harrier jump jets destroyed/2 damaged, which last is going to have severe consequences on our ability to conduct and support military operations in Afghanistan.  Despite the best efforts of Wired to suggest otherwise (H/T: AosHQ) this was NOT due to any stupid Youtube video.  I don’t care what the movies tell you, successful commando raids of this level  of sophistication and planning (the attackers wore American uniforms, had clear objectives, and met them) do not get thrown together and launched because a bunch of people without reliable electricity are upset about an online movie clip.  In short, last weekend we got an honest-to-God, no-fooling black eye that will eventually get more NATO troops dead.  Oh, and almost forgot!  Prince Harry is serving at Camp Bastion right now! So we almost had that to worry about. Continue reading Well, we cannot PROVE that Obama was fiddling as Camp Bastion burned. :pause: I GUESS.

Interesting article here. (Language warning)

Three lessons to take away from it.

  1. The AK-47, while an excellent automatic rifle, is perhaps not best-suited for keeping up the high standards of marksmanship and fire discipline that used to be ubiquitous in countries like, say, Afghanistan.  In fact, there is much to be said about the venerable Lee-Enfield in that regard.
  2. Do not fuck with the British Army, because they will drop a laser-guided Hellfire missile on you if you annoy them enough.
  3. Do not fuck with the British Army, because they will drop a laser-guided Hellfire missile on you if you annoy them enough.

To paraphrase Kryten from Red Dwarf: Now I realize that, technically speaking, those last two were only one lesson; but I thought it was such a big one, it was worth mentioning twice.

Via AoSHQ Headlines.

Moe Lane

PS: We will now pause to give everyone inclined to wage war over the statement “the AK-47 is an excellent automatic rifle” – pro and con – time to prepare.

Taiwanese news media discover monkey Taliban story…

…not one of their best CGI results, but there’s at least one good photoshopped image in there.

Via Buzzfeed: interestingly, the original story about the Taliban supposedly training monkeys to fire guns originates from… the official newspaper for the People’s Republic of China.  Why do I have the feeling that the rest of the world is getting somehow sucked into the lingering aftereffects of the last Chinese civil war?