By Joy Tiz ——Bio and Archives--December 3, 2009
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“The insurgents wage a ‘silent war’ of fear, intimidation and persuasion throughout the year-not just during the warmer weather ‘fighting season’-to gain control over the population. These efforts make possible, in many places, a Taliban ‘shadow government’ that actively seeks to control the population and displace the national government and traditional power structures. Insurgent military operations attract more attention than this silent war but are only a supporting effort. Violent attacks are designed to weaken the government by demonstrating its inability to provide security, to fuel recruiting and financing efforts, to provoke reactions from ISAF that further alienate the population, and also to undermine public and political support for the ISAF mission in coalition capitals” (Pgs. 13-14).McChrystal also identifies the insurgents’ two objectives: controlling the Afghan people and breaking the coalition’s will. Broadcasting a firm departure date at is an effective way of achieving both objectives. Why would the Afghanis put their faith in us when our president is so irresolute about victory? Reassurances that pulling out our troops may not be done precisely according to Obama’s declared timetable are not consoling. If Obama is the world’s greatest communicator, why do liberal pundits have to spend so much time telling us what he really means? Whether or not the exit dates are fixed or not is meaningless from the Taliban’s perspective. All they needed to know is that this president has no serious commitment to winning this war and wants to opt out at the earliest opportunity. That makes a hell of a convincing advertising campaign for the terrorists. Obama tried to camouflage his casuistry using the preposterous excuse that we can’t fight terrorists because the Karzai government is corrupt. If liberals had any appreciation of irony, they would see the lunacy of an amoral Chicago politician lecturing us about corruption. If we are to defeat the insurgents, we have to strengthen, not weaken the Karzai government. Third world governments are seldom as pristine as we would like. But, it’s all we’ve got. We can’t expect other governments to be run by a bevy of selfless altruists like ours is. This war is altogether winnable. General McChrystal recognizes that the insurgents can take losses among their fighters. What they can’t survive is loss of the abetment from the general population. Weaknesses that we can exploit arise from internal frictions across groups but we need troops on the ground to make use of these vulnerabilities. Afghan Defense Minister Wardak:
“Victory is within our grasp, provided that we recommit ourselves based on lessons learned and provided that we fulfill the requirements needed to make success inevitable . . . I reject the myth advanced in the media that Afghanistan is a ‘graveyard of empires’ and that the U.S. and NATO effort is destined to fail. Afghans have never seen you as occupiers, even though this has been the major focus of the enemy’s propaganda campaign. Unlike the Russians, who imposed a government with an alien ideology, you enabled us to write a democratic constitution and choose our own government. Unlike the Russians, who destroyed our country, you came to rebuild’. (pg. 8)
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Joy Tiz,Joytiz.com, has been quoted by Ann Coulter, as heard on Lou Dobbs radio, The Rusty Humphries Show, Bill Cunningham, KSFO in San Francisco, WOR in New York, Premiere Radio Networks, Air America and other major shows.
Joy was born in Chicago, long enough ago to remember when many democrats were actually normal people who were just wrong about everything. Joy holds a M.Sc. in psychology and a JD in law. Joy hosts The Joy Tiz Show Wednesdays at 2 pm Pacific/5 pm Eastern.
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