Military Ring Info

The purpose of AFRICOM or the US African Command is to establish relationships with African Nations and to strengthen African Armies. This is not because the US has any love for Africa but looking down the road we know that that continent may possibly be the next al-Qaeda stronghold. We are stretched too thin as it is and we know that to try to chase al-Qaeda arounr the globe to try to kill them off just won’t work.

Establishing relationships with African countries puts us in a better position to combat the terrorists in the region through those nations. For example, getting permission to use their airspace or to conduct limited military operations on their soil would be much easier to do if we have a rapport with them.

We are helping many of them to train their armies to the point where they will be able to control the land masses that they occupy and fend off terrorists who would attempt to set up operations there. We would also need to depend on these African Countries to provide necessary intelligence to help combat the terrorist organizations. The establishment of AFRICOM is a good political move and our custom military ring customers who serve there will have their hands full for quite a few more years to come getting everything operational and running smoothly.

The North Korean government warned the US and South Korea that they need to call off their scheduled military exercise this weekend because it places the region in danger.

Now my precious military ring customer let me say this to you. It would be a grave mistake for the US or South Korea to even answer this rambling lunacy. Doing so would glorify it and make the North Koreans not look like the aggressors in this situation. It doesn’t deserve a response. As a matter of fact if I were the Chinese I would fire them from being my ally for having a constant, chronic case of diarrhea of the mouth.

The problem that makes them bold is that the United Nations was too wimpy to assign the blame on them for sinking the Cheonan although the whole world knows that they did.

Now my custom military ring customers let me ask you this; What would the world and the UN say if we had sank a North Korean Naval vessel? I just don’t get it. You had better believe that they would have their panties in a serious bunch. Its a good thing that I’m not commander in chief because I would blow up the North Koreans and point my missiles at the United Nations and dare them to say anything.

I guess its a good thing that I was a soldier and not a politician. I’m just not that good at diplomacy.

There has been another pledge of committment given to the Afghan people. This time the NATO commander has vowed that NATO will not leave that country until it’s mission has been successfully completed.

The problem is that the Taliban has had some victories in its terror attacks in the region. Its attempt is to thwart the NATO offensive before it gets off of the ground. The Pakistanis and the Afghan government have some doubts about our committment in the region for several reasons. First is the US deadline to pull out of their country. That deadline is getting closer by the day with no obvious results. Also the US and NATO don’t have a good past track record for finishing off the wars that they start. This gives the Afghans and the Pakistanis cause for concern as it should.

The Afghan and Pakistani governments are also looking at the fact that there is pressure in all of the NATO countries to bring their troops back home. The Afghans and the Pakistanis know that blood is thicker than water. If the pressure back home becomes strong enough NATO countries will cave in and withdraw. If this were to happen they would be left alone to deal with a super ticked off Taliban with blood in their eyes because they would view these governments as traitors. The Taliban enjoyed a position of strength before NATO came in and interfered in their internal affairs so it would be very difficult if not impossible to keep them at bay.

Our Operation Iraqi Freedom ring customers, and our Operation Enduring Freedom ring customers have done all that they can to win these wars. If the US or NATO were to withdraw leaving the job undone our credibility would be forever lost in the Arab world.

The US and Afghan forces conducted an air mobile operation in Kunar province recently to disrupt the Operations of the Taliban and al-Qaeda there. The area is known as a safe haven and staging area for enemy combatants. Although there is nothing being said I believe that this is a part of the scheduled offensive that we have been hearing about. It seems that the US and coalition forces are attempting to cripple the enemy by cutting off his head. The situation reminds me of the story in Greek mythology where every time one of the heads of the Medusa was cut off another one would grow in its place.

This tactic would work on any given army at any time but it doesn’t seem to be working against the Taliban. Part of the reason may be that the Taliban and al-Qaeda are so decentralized that they operate easily in the vacuum of not being issued orders or directives. Their objectives are simple so its not hard for the individual soldier to know what to do. Just go out and kill as many people as possible.

The commander which friendly forces are looking for happens to be the one and only Qari zia Rahman. He was reported killed by Pakistani soldiers in a raid earlier this year but surfaced just to show that he was still alive and well. Since he is the top Taliban and al-Qaeda commander in the area so if our Enduring Freedom Military ring customers can kill or capture him it will be a joyous accomplishment for us.

Two Americans were killed along with two Afghans in an attack which one of the dead Afghans initiated. The Afghan who initiated the attack was an Afghan Army trainer. There are not many details available right now but there were two other troops wounded in tha attack. The fact that the Americans seemed to get the worst of the attack leads me to think that they were the primary targets.

This is just another sad example of what our custom military ring troops have to face as they attempt to fight the war in Afghanistan. It has to be pretty demoralizing when you don’t know if your allies are on your side.

Afghan soldiers and policemen have conducted many of this type of attack since we have been there. The US has initiated a program designed to weed out those who don’t really have our best intrests at heart in the war and things seemed to have gotten better but as you can see the problem still exists. The question is, How in the world do you get it under control?

Many of our allies have ties with the Taliban which run much deeper than their ties to us. This is also a ountry where corruption has been the order of the day (not much unlike ours) so loyalty is not something that comes naturally. We are also viewed in a negative light by the countries in the region. Old habits are hard to change and old ties run deep so I don’t really see a way to effectively end the problem.

Six Afghan policemen were captured and beheaded by Taliban fighters in Afghanistan yesterday. The Taliban obviously targeted the police checkpoint and then overran it in the attack. It seems to me that this attack was a deliberate attempt to capture the policemen for the purpose of beheading them.

This is definitely a morale booster for the Taliban, and it definitely can’t be good for the morale of the Afghan police. I would have to call it a very clever ploy by the Taliban. If we put ourselves in their shoes we will understand the way that they have to fight this war. Their tactic is to stall for time and survive. They don’t have to win in the sense of wiping out the NATO forces in their country because they know that NATO can’t stay there forever. If they can continue to bloody our nose and survive that will be good enough for them.

Once we leave they will be free to take control and rule the area again as they will. The key word for them is patience.

On the other hand NATO has to be able to weaken the Taliban enough to allow the Afghan government to gain control. NATO also can’t measure victory in terms of wiping out the Taliban because it just isn’t possible. Taliban fighters are streaming into the country from all over the region, and the longer the war goes on the more Taliban recruits will join the fight. Attacks such as the attack on the Afghan police here are designed to wear away the will of our Operation Enduring Freedom ring customers to fight. If we can establish some control during the troop surge we should be able to meet our objectives.

Our Vice President claims that he wasn’t really bothered by General McChrystal’s negative remarks about him to Rolling Stone magazine but I don’t believe it. There’s not a man or woman in the world who wouldn’t have been upset behind those remarks. Mr Biden says that he didn’t view the remarks as being personal and they probably weren’t, but it probably did tick him off. Now the backdoor political catfighting that I remember seeing when I was in the military was that when you were responsible for wrecking someones career you would hide the hands that threw the rock by pretending to like the person that you just backstabbed. If the remarks didn’t bother our VP why is he talking about them now?

OK let me give you the official stance of the military ring man on this one. Yes General McChrystal should have been sacked behind that performance. He knows it as well as every other custom military ring customer that I have. It caused us to have to scramble to show that we are united in our cause in Afghanistan. That’s why you see so many government officials going to Afghanistan right now and preaching unity.

On the other hand Joe Biden and every one else needs to let this thing die a quick death. Its over Joe, let it be. Lets forget about it and move on. It happened, it is what it is, so lets forget it and move on.

The US Army is working on a new uniform which will be called the RBU. This acronym stands for Robotic Battlefield Uniform. This uniform is essentially an exoskeleton which will utilize mechanical hydraulics, and computer electronics to give the individual soldier the ability to carry hundreds of pounds of equipment as though it were nothing. This would certainly enhance the capabilities of every small infantry type unit in the military.

You might have heard of light forces using the term “Having to hump equipment.” Think about how light forces have to carry all of their food, water, ammunition, first aid, weapons, specialized equipment, and spare clothing with them on the battlefield. Now think about how they may have to do so in extreme weather and terrain. Imagine what it is like having to walk through desert sand, or climb mountainous rocky terrain in 130 degree heat loaded down with stuff that you need to do your job. Now imagine doing this while wearing a helmet and flak vest and carrying a machine gun. You just have to do it a few times to really get an appreciation of it. Once you do you will intimately appreciate every piece of equipment that I have just mentioned.

I can see how this will greatly benefit our Special Operators who have to perform long range reconnaissance missions. They have to know how to live off of the land because they just can’t always carry all of the food that they need. Anything that works is subject to breaking down and that is the question with me. What if this uniform malfunctions in the field? They would have to leave vital equipment behind. Doing so would compromise the operation because the enemy would know that they were in the area.

The de facto leader of the Taliban has ordered his field commanders to begin to target women and children who assist the US and NATO allies in their war effort. He told them to capture and kill the women and to also target the other Afghan civilians who work either for or with our allies.

This is a reversal of his previous stance where he ordered his soldiers to be careful when they targeted their victims. Now those of you who know me know exactly where I am getting ready to go right now. I can’t understand for the life of me why no one will complain about the Taliban using the tactics that they do when all concerned cry hard and long when we accidentally harm innocents. Don’t get me wrong folks, it is a terrible thing when we or anybody else kill innocent civilians,but the difference is that we don’t do it on purpose.

Our rules of engagement are more lenient on Taliban fighters than the Taliban is on civilians. We treat enemy combatants with more respect than they give innocents.

Our military ring customers in Afghanistan are asked to restrain themselves to the point of personal danger when engaging combatants. The same combatants will wantonly slaughter anyone in their way without remorse and nothing much is said. I just don’t get it folks. Is there something seriously wrong or is it just me?

US and South Korean Marines have completed some joint training which is always good for both sides. When different troops from diferent armies train together they always benefit from each other. They are able to compare tactics and find ways that they can incorporate the new tactics into their training.

I can vouch for the South Korean Army. They are some of the toughest troops that I have ever seen. They are deadly serious about their training. We are too but the difference is that they are defending their homeland from a real threat. We as Americans don’t have that problem. At least not directly. They look directly across the border every day at an enemy that wouldn’t mind ripping the limbs from their bodies. As a matter of fact the North Korean military would delight in doing so.

The training in question was the Korean Incremental Training Program, and the ROK Marine Corps Basic Ranger Course. Both of these courses seem to be focused on conducting operations in mountainous terrain. The training will enhance the capabilities of the USMC Military Ring customers who participated in it.