Here are some great pictures of the Burtons’ visit in Mid-August. We went to the Oregon Zoo, Cannon Beach, and downtown Portland. It was unusually hot for the Pacific NW, but we struggled through and had a great time.
So far we have had a really exciting summer, adventuring in Portland. It has been I while since I made a new web album, so I picked the best and put them all together here for you to see. These pictures include our trip to the Oregon coast, camping, July 4th festivities, and the Blues Festival at Waterfront Park in downtown Portland. I will have to make a second posting when I get the rest of our summer pictures together.
This is a movie review, sort of…
I just finished watching Inside the Green Berets, a documentary about our operations against the Taliban in Afghanistan.
The movie was well made for what is was. It was short at 60 minutes. It was short in part because it was cut short. The circumstances leading to the abrupt end are what I really want to talk about, and that is our general strategy in the region as presented in the film. Obviously, we have very limited data, and I don’t really want to second guess the soldiers on the ground. For the most part they are making the most out of the situation they can. I will say that I think the Captain made some mistakes, but I think that he probably agrees, and he is in a no-win situation, so it is hard to fault him too much, even if his mistakes lead to death. His good decisions lead to death too.
Here is the situation as I see it. You have one firebase (code name Cobra) tasked with pacifying a large region in Afghanistan. I have to assume that this is representative of the situation elsewhere in Afghanistan. Many of the locals are sympathetic or even supportive of the cause we represent, but they are being oppressed by an entrenched extremist force. The enemy is using harassing tactics to contain our force with great effectiveness and efficiency. As long as our force is contained the local population cannot break free from their oppressors, and as long as the local population is not attempting to break free our forces will remain contained.
The answer to this problem was given to the members of firebase Cobra about half way through the film by a delegation of village elders representing eleven or more villages that Cobra has been trying to subdue for some time. The answer starts as the right question, “why has the pacification worked in this village?” The answer is that firebase Cobra is very close to the village and can respond quickly to any threat. The elders expressed their willingness to break free from the Taliban and they gave the answer. Each village needs a firebase.
Actually, I don’t think that each village will need a firebase, but I think that there will need to be many more firebases in the region for our forces to be able to protect the people. And the only way that the locals will actively work against the enemy and support us is if we are capable and willing to protect them from the backlash. And I don’t blame them.
Anywhere there is a route being used by the enemy for the transportation of food, arms and personnel there should be a string of firebases not more that one day’s travel apart along that route. As new routes develop a new string of bases should be extended along the new route. This strategy must be employed until the enemy withdraws from the region, at which point you should be prepared for a shift in tactics from IED’s and firefights to suicide bombers, both in trucks and on foot.
In general the campaign must be one of extending development into hostile territory. As a new firebase is added to the chain the previous one should be expanded. As another firebase is added the road between the first two should be improved. As another firebase is added the first firebase should become a forward airbase.
There should be a more committed effort at developing the liberated peoples. There should be eduction programs offered in the bases. Medical clinics should be established. Veterinary services should be offered.
In addition, and this is the politically incorrect part, the roots of the extremism should be addressed directly. Missionaries should be recruited to help in the education and other services. It is my belief that God would work, and by that I mean that he would do work not that it is a good strategy for some pragmatic reason. Although there are pragmatic reasons. Promoting Christianity especially in associating with developing the community services will undercut the roots of the extremism. I am not saying that all Muslims are extremists, but we are fighting Muslim extremists. If you reduce the number of Muslims in the population you will decrease the number of extremists. I am not suggesting that you coerce the population to profess faith in exchange for services. I think that your overtly missionary approach should carry with it tolerance. And they you should be open to any Muslim organizations that wish to participate in volunteering to do service. It is this strategy that will catch the most fire, in part because it is this strategy that can actually solve the situation.
On the other hand He says, “I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.” I am not saying that sending missionaries will bring peace. It will change the battlefield. It will enlist some of the population in your cause against the Taliban; for their own reasons, better reasons than ours.
Sadly, I think that this may be a sign of things to come. A large bank in Southern California has failed.
The bank is blaming it on a run caused by a senator’s open letter expressing concern. Interestingly this bank specialized in Alt-A loans, which are basically one step up in quality from the sub-prime loans. Didn’t we just get done with a sub-prime melt-down…
So we are seeing the beginning of a second wave of the mortgage crisis, as the next most vulnerable sector falls. But what, there’s more. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are in trouble. What you say? Yes, the federal government is considering taking over these venerated institutions to prevent collapse. Prevent collapse. At what cost are we going to “prevent collapse?”
This is not all the government is doing for you. In May, the House Financial Services Committee approved the FHA Housing and Homeowner Retention Act, which allows the Federal Housing Administration to refinance mortgages for families that can show their payments are consuming 35 percent or more of their income. What is bailing out the bottom going to get us when the collapse is already raising up the mortgage quality ladder?
The media has been reporting since February about how walking away seems to make sense. There are websites dedicated to it.
Here are some great pictures from the Rose Parade that runs through downtown Portland. We really enjoyed our time with the kids and my mom who was visiting. They put on quite a show.