See the Secretary-General's comments on Darfur.
Note to Secretary-General Ban: The genocide in Darfur is not being caused by global warming. The genocide in Darfur is being caused by genocidal maniacs who need to be killed.
Showing posts with label Darfur. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Darfur. Show all posts
Monday, June 18, 2007
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
Somalia...
In the course of two months, the United States has helped run the Islamic Courts out of Somalia. Austin Bay has the latest updates, including reports on an AC-130 strike.
The AC-130 strike is some nice payback for the 1998 bombings of the American embassies in Tanzania and Kenya. Whoever gave us the location of those terrorist creeps, this American thanks you.
Al-Qaeda wanted a jihad in Somalia. Well, they got one. That settles most of the debts there.
Fighting with surrogates is one way to get the job done (see the performance of los Pepes against the Medellin drug cartel as one example). Special Forces troops who can coordinate support, provide intelligence and training, and carry out some missions can help America in the war on terror. Soemthing similar could be done with Darfur. Four Special Forces A-Teams, with some guys from Blackwater as backup, plus weapons. Primarily small arms, although with the known Sudanese Air Force involvement, we'll have to provide Stinger missiles as well.
But intervention would be very doable.
The AC-130 strike is some nice payback for the 1998 bombings of the American embassies in Tanzania and Kenya. Whoever gave us the location of those terrorist creeps, this American thanks you.
Al-Qaeda wanted a jihad in Somalia. Well, they got one. That settles most of the debts there.
Fighting with surrogates is one way to get the job done (see the performance of los Pepes against the Medellin drug cartel as one example). Special Forces troops who can coordinate support, provide intelligence and training, and carry out some missions can help America in the war on terror. Soemthing similar could be done with Darfur. Four Special Forces A-Teams, with some guys from Blackwater as backup, plus weapons. Primarily small arms, although with the known Sudanese Air Force involvement, we'll have to provide Stinger missiles as well.
But intervention would be very doable.
Monday, December 04, 2006
Iraq and civil wars...
Eve Fairbanks discusses the situation in Iraq as well as Darfur.
I've discussed Darfur before. That is a situation where American intervention is best kept to a small force that trains the people there in the use of small arms and in small-unit tactics - as well as training instructors.
Iraq is another matter. Saddam's regime had to go. Austin Bay largely recaps the reasons for doing so. I will add that I believe that the ivestigative reporting of Stephen F. Hayes at the Weekly Standard has established enough of a connection to al-Qaeda to warrant taking down that regime. I also think the neoconservatives are offering perhaps our best chance - maybe our only chance - to deal with state sponsors of terror before things get to the point where we have to turn to what I call the "Omaha option." The short version is that the war on terror would be turned over to a major joint command headquartered near that city. The war would be over in three days, tops. The bad news is that we would have to deal with the fallout - both figuratively and literally.
With all that said, having taken out the old Iraqi government, we needed to replace it. That government is still trying to get its feet on solid ground. Do we need a change in strategy? Yes, we do - and Don Rumsfeld had some good ideas. Sadly, he was treated like crap by certain people looking to score political points rather than come up with alternatives to what had to be done.
It's a good article, and worth thinking about.
I've discussed Darfur before. That is a situation where American intervention is best kept to a small force that trains the people there in the use of small arms and in small-unit tactics - as well as training instructors.
Iraq is another matter. Saddam's regime had to go. Austin Bay largely recaps the reasons for doing so. I will add that I believe that the ivestigative reporting of Stephen F. Hayes at the Weekly Standard has established enough of a connection to al-Qaeda to warrant taking down that regime. I also think the neoconservatives are offering perhaps our best chance - maybe our only chance - to deal with state sponsors of terror before things get to the point where we have to turn to what I call the "Omaha option." The short version is that the war on terror would be turned over to a major joint command headquartered near that city. The war would be over in three days, tops. The bad news is that we would have to deal with the fallout - both figuratively and literally.
With all that said, having taken out the old Iraqi government, we needed to replace it. That government is still trying to get its feet on solid ground. Do we need a change in strategy? Yes, we do - and Don Rumsfeld had some good ideas. Sadly, he was treated like crap by certain people looking to score political points rather than come up with alternatives to what had to be done.
It's a good article, and worth thinking about.
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Make genocide painful
Austin Bay's latest column on Darfur is worth the read. However, peacekeepers are not the answer. The answer is to make genocide painful. And it could be very cheap in DOD terms. Probably no more than two percent of the entire defense budget.
How do you make genocide painful - and do so on the cheap? Well, first I go to Israel and India, both of whom are retiring a number of M16 and AKM rifles in favor of the Tavor. I cut a deal, defraying the cost of the Tavor purchases in exchange for the retired rifles. Then you get two Special Forces ODAs that train the folks in Darfur on how to use them well. We might be able to get some general-purpose machine guns as well.
We'd need four C-130Js (or maybe C-17s) to get the rifles and machine guns there. Maybe a couple of older EA-6B Prowlers to deal with Sudanese radars and air defenses and some F-16As and some reactivated A-7s and A-37s to deal with any fighter opposition and to provide support (much of these could be pulled from the boneyard at Davis-Monthan and transferred to Chad). Perhaps some Stingers for the folks in Darfur, to deal with Sudanese helicopters as well. We probably have some B-2A Spirits at Diego Garcia already. Just add some locations in Khartoum to the potential target list for their JDAMs.
In essence, start carving out a state within the nation-state of the Sudan. This would be very doable, cheap, and not require a major deployment of American personnel. If anything, such a deployment, even if it were possible, would not be the most efficient solution. Leveraging the people of Darfur, who really only need the means to defend themselves, is a much better solution. They will know the terrain, and for them, it will be about defending their homes and families. It is far more effective than a massive troop deployment. The solution is to make genocide painful to commit, and when that happens, the Sudanese government will crack down on the Janjaweed militias.
Oh, and one other thing: Waiting for UN action is not going to do any good. China will probably veto any resolution. This calls for some unilateral action... and if the UN doesn't like it, TOUGH. Kofi Annan has had three years to deal with this crap, and he's just made some flowery speeches. Time for America to act.
How do you make genocide painful - and do so on the cheap? Well, first I go to Israel and India, both of whom are retiring a number of M16 and AKM rifles in favor of the Tavor. I cut a deal, defraying the cost of the Tavor purchases in exchange for the retired rifles. Then you get two Special Forces ODAs that train the folks in Darfur on how to use them well. We might be able to get some general-purpose machine guns as well.
We'd need four C-130Js (or maybe C-17s) to get the rifles and machine guns there. Maybe a couple of older EA-6B Prowlers to deal with Sudanese radars and air defenses and some F-16As and some reactivated A-7s and A-37s to deal with any fighter opposition and to provide support (much of these could be pulled from the boneyard at Davis-Monthan and transferred to Chad). Perhaps some Stingers for the folks in Darfur, to deal with Sudanese helicopters as well. We probably have some B-2A Spirits at Diego Garcia already. Just add some locations in Khartoum to the potential target list for their JDAMs.
In essence, start carving out a state within the nation-state of the Sudan. This would be very doable, cheap, and not require a major deployment of American personnel. If anything, such a deployment, even if it were possible, would not be the most efficient solution. Leveraging the people of Darfur, who really only need the means to defend themselves, is a much better solution. They will know the terrain, and for them, it will be about defending their homes and families. It is far more effective than a massive troop deployment. The solution is to make genocide painful to commit, and when that happens, the Sudanese government will crack down on the Janjaweed militias.
Oh, and one other thing: Waiting for UN action is not going to do any good. China will probably veto any resolution. This calls for some unilateral action... and if the UN doesn't like it, TOUGH. Kofi Annan has had three years to deal with this crap, and he's just made some flowery speeches. Time for America to act.
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