Operation Lightning Resolve begins in Afghanistan

[Cocoa]

no, it's not a variety of air freshener, it's a new operation, with 2,000 LESS Marines...

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=12331374&BRD=1710&PAG=461&dept_id=377222&rfi=6

KABUL, Afghanistan-- The U.S. military has launched a new operation in Afghanistan that will used thousands of American troops to protect the upcoming presidential election, the top American commander told The Associated Press Tuesday.

The operation, named Lightning Resolve, is "kicking off as we speak," Lt. Gen. David Barno said in an interview at his headquarters in the Afghan capital.

He said the operation has sufficient "offensive punch" to keep militants off-balance and would include targeted, intelligence-driven raids. He gave no specifics.

A 2,000-stong Marine force which has hammered Taliban militants in a southern stronghold since it began arriving in March is in the process of leaving the country and will not be a part of the new operation, Barno said.

more...

[JoFerret]

1. AKA October surprise?

.

[russian33]

Who comes up with these stupid names?

Lightning Resolve?

[JoFerret]

5. One of the legacies of WW2

...excess Operation names

[POed_Ex_Repub]

2. Ooooh... On first read I thought...

They were concentrating on capturing OBL to protect Chimpy's chances in the upcoming election.

[historian]

3. Lightning resolve?????

oh pls spare me the patriotic chest thumping emotional names

[progressivebydesign]

9. "Operation: I Wish We Had Bigger Penises" was already taken... N/T

[Joanne98]

11. lol

[WillyT]

19. ROFLMAO !!!

:yourock:

[Kinkistyle]

25. Operation codenames so generic, so interchangeable.

They are so completely meaningless and jingoistic that you could basically interchange one codename for the other. "Enduring Freedom", "Infinite Justice", "Lightning Resolve" etc.. etc.. Except for "Iron Hammer" which was appropriately used to demonstrate the Administration Nazi-esque strategy, they are all generic.

[The_Casual_Observer]

4. Lightning Resolve

Thousands of American troops will be used as poll watchers in Kabul. They will lend the "offensive punch" to make sure they don't have a problem with hanging chads.

They hammered militants in a southern stronghold since March. What have they been up to in the poppy growing regions since march? Nothing I suppose.

[Joanne98]

13. What about our poll watchers?

Can we use some of our own fucking money? We need them too.....

[Minstrel Boy]

6. Holding a presidential election under such dangerous conditions?

Geez, why don't they just cancel it?

If suspended democracy is good enough for the US of A...

[atreides1]

7. But Wit There's More

And while the US military is hiking around the southern and eastern parts of Afghanistan, the Taliban are probably at this very moment moving to within striking distance of polling places.

By the way it seems that the Afghan army will be guarding the polling stations outside of Kabul and Khandahar, and we all know how effective the Afghan army is, don't we?

[DS1]

8. In with a flash, couple loud bangs, off with the winds.. Like last time.

[Joanne98]

10. My favorite part

He said the operation has sufficient "offensive punch" to keep militants off-balance and would include targeted, intelligence-driven raids. He gave no specifics.

HE GAVE NO SPECIFICS.........They never do............

[sandnsea]

12. Karzai wanted international help,

but nooooo, we can let our troops take the brunt of another under-manned and mismanaged fuck up.

[Joanne98]

14. Control is everything.

They got to have it ALL.........

[thebigidea]

15. as if Karzai says anything we don't put in his mouth

[sandnsea]

16. Hey, he DID ask

And BUSH put a quick halt to it.

Sometimes, a mantra, Karzai is a tool of Bush, is best temporarily dumped when a new mantra can make Bush look even worse.

It's called talking points and we could benefit from learning to use them for the next 4 months.

[thebigidea]

17. mantra? You mean its not the truth? Karzai is independent?

News to me. Thanks for the scoop.

[sandnsea]

20. Thanks so much for your help

We'll just keep having millions of Dems saying millions of different things and see how well that works.

Karzai DID ask for help in this instance, our troops are going to suffer because Bush refused to support him in his request. Much better slam against Bush than "the puppet Karzai". But hey, don't let your ranting keep you from helping us win, that would be a real tragedy.

[thebigidea]

22. Good thing we have you to tell us what one thing is the only thing to say

I look forward to running my rants by you ahead of time... wouldn't want to ruffle any feathers, after all.

I'm sure Hamid Karzai is a wonderful human being with only humanitarian intentions in mind - and I'm sure the Afghani people will elect him in a landslide election... when they actually get around to having one.

Until then, I'll refer to him as a puppet. No offense.

[sandnsea]

23. You just don't get it

It's about winning an election, ya' know? And if this Afghanistan election turns into a major disaster, I'd much rather hold Bush accountable for not getting the help that was asked for, than try to run the "Karzai puppet" that 90% of Americans don't believe anyway. It doesn't matter what I THINK, it's what THEY think and how to best break through the massive denial of all those Americans out there. It helps if we're all on the same page.

[thebigidea]

24. and winning the election hinges on me not calling Karzai a puppet

does winning the election hinge on me not calling Dick Cheney a worthless pile of shit?

Because he's a worthless pile of shit.

Let me know how many swing voters that sentence just lost.

As far as being on the same page goes, I think I'll write my own dialogue. Thanks for the offer, though.

Now, if you'll excuse me - I have to get back to work founding the Hamid Karzai Appreciation Society. We're working on mousepads, coffee mugs, and t-shirts.

[sandnsea]

26. Have fun

Nobody's listening, nobody's buying. Have fun just the same.

[thebigidea]

27. not even the tv movie starring Ben Kingsley as Karzai?

and Dana Plato in a role that will surprise you?

If you don't support Hamid Karzai, you're against freedom itself.

If Bush wins, its all because you refuse to buy Hamid Karzai merchandise. Don't say I didn't warn you - but I did. Damn fringe radicals!

[sandnsea]

28. Who said support Karzai?

And let's recap, who came along and disputed my post in the first place? Must we really ignore Bush's failure to protect our troops again in order to play the Karzai puppet card?

[thebigidea]

29. Yes, I'm all for ignoring Bush's failures.

From day one, that has been my job on DU: to ignore Bush's failures in favor of calling Hamid Karzai a puppet.

Because you can't do both, ya see.

[leesa]

18. Well, what kind of destructive murderous crap is this now.

Did these people in the military who think up these adventures simply read too many action cartoon magazines??

[PATRICK]

21. Sounds ineffectual

If anything like our resolve in Iraq it will do nothing to the opposition except divert them perhaps from the voters or the voters away from fear.
It sounds like more than it is and could be much less than either.

I guess the purpose is to get the enemy to hunker down when they would be setting up for election day terrorism. A psych game.

In point of fact it only highlights that our limited force there can only do this little and its up to the other side to show how much they can or want to do.

Operation Distract and Cross your Fingers.