PDJT takes command

The good news is “we are not nation building again.  We are killing terrorists.”  The bad news is that that is a rather open ended commitment to a very broad desired end state.  If you ask anyone in the know the question, “when will the war on terror end,” the answer as often as not is, “not in our lifetime.”  Lex has oft stated that the current conflict with Islamo-Terror-Fascists dates back to the Barbary Wars in the early 1800s.  The intensity of the conflict has ebbed and flowed ever since. 

So if the state of the world is a constant state of conflict with Islamo-Terror-Fascists, we might as well kill them in Afghanistan. 

Further good news, it was good to hear a president declare that we would win the war.  I do not think Bush or The Empty Suit ever stated clearly that victory was the objective.  Still what does victory look like?  Well, if we believe the president, victory will look like the confetti that littered the RNC convention floor on the last night of the convention with ITF bodies taking the place of the confetti and Afghanistan taking the place of the convention floor.  

The critics say that, since we had 100,000 troops in Afghanistan at one time, an additional 4,000 troops is not going to be sufficient to bring the war to an end.  Well, the war isn’t going to end until the transformation of Islam is complete.  So, in my mind the number of troops is not as important as what they are allowed to do.  The desire is to kill the enemy as opposed to capturing and holding territory.  That mission can be accomplished with a lot fewer troops. 

Also, the rules of engagement will be critical to success of this new strategy.  If the goal is to kill the enemy, the military has be allowed to pull the trigger. Further good news from PDJT’s address last night is that he is willing to give them that authority.  No more frantic calls from troops engaged in combat to the on duty lawyer somewhere deep in the bowels the pentagon to allow artillery to fire in support of those troops engaged in a firefight because the artillery fire may hit an Afghan village 10 kilometers away.

Further good news was PDJT’s calling out of Pakistan.  These rats were known as duplicitous azzbags as fa back as when I roamed the passageways of CentCom.  GWB famously sent them an unambiguous message after 9-11 – you’re either with us or against us.  They’ve since forgotten.  PDJT reminded them last night.

I think it is noteworthy that PDJT admitted to changing his mind from his campaign position.  That is a clear signal that PDJT’s decision is not political.  That should give critics and supporters alike that PDJT can be persuaded to do the right thing for the country. 

More good news is the notion that PDJT will not tell the enemy when our forces would attack, but “attack we will.”  Moral of an army on the attack is easier to maintain than one that is being picked off one by one trying to maintain the status quo.

That’s a lot of good news in a 25 minute speech.  We’ll see in 6 months or so how it pans out. Or given PDJT’s wish to keep the enemy off balance, maybe we won’t.    

Cleveland Browns win the Super Bowl of National Anthem protests
The hapless Cleveland Browns can’t play football so they’ve taken to protesting.  They are #1 in the league for having the most players participating in protesting the National Anthem. 

This is all Roger Goodell’s fault.  He could have put an end to this stupidity when the protest involved one layer.  He didn’t do it.  Now the leagues popularity is plummeting.  Owners are also to blame.  Most of these guys probably have some kind “team rules” clause in their contract.  Make a team rule that player will line up take off their helmets and be respectful during the anthem.  Send any player that kneels or otherwise shows disrespect during the National Anthem to the shower and cancel their game check.

Prediction:  The NFL is in the beginning of its death throes.

It’s all former Navy Secretary Ray Maybus’ fault
The navy has hit another cargo ship.  Ray Maybus probably thinks as long as the watch crew on duty at the time of the collision was a diverse bunch and that ship was named after a social justice warrior, the collision is worth it.   With all of his social justince training taking the place of ship driving training, Ray Maybus has probably done a generation of damage to the US Navy.