1.Bush pulled men, materiel, and money OUT OF Afghanistan, where al Qaeda unquestionably had its bases. Smooth move!
He did? I don't recall that.. In fact, I believe we just reinforced Afghanistan with 2,000 marines. We certainly have more troops there than during the actual overthrow of the Taliban and Al-Qaeda.
The reality is that Al-Qaeda and Taliban forces are not basing in Afghanistan, but along the Pakistani border.
Which means we have to pressure the Pakistanis to deal with their side of the border, hopefully squeezing these terrorists into a classic "hammer and anvil" operation.
Of course, there's no guarantee that we can rely upon Pakistan to fulfill their obligations on their side of the border..
But it's better to pressure them for now rather than undermining Musharraf's efforts to dominate the Islamist elements in his society and potentially subvert his government.
3. Bush will shortly pull 3,600 soldiers OUT OF South Korea, and move them into Iraq. Hey, lets enhance our security by removing about 10% of the troops guarding against the craziest, most dangerous nuclear power on the planet--one that actually has long-range missiles. Smooth move
Long-range missiles that can, at best, hit Japan, S. Korea, or China...
And the South has more than adequate forces to defend themselves against any potential attack by the North..
Additionally, Bush has pursued a MULTI-LATERAL negotiating approach to resolving the N. Korean issue.. He's getting other regional countries involved..
Just like he tried to do with the UN and other countries surrounding Iraq..
So get a grip.. US strategic interests ARE at stake in the Mid-East.. Certainly more than they are on the Korean peninsula, where there are many other partners available to thwart Kim Jong Il.
If anything disturbs me, it's the potential that Bush is going to close down the NTC so that the 11th ACR can be deployed to Iraq. They are the OPFOR force that regularly beats the dickens out of other Army units.
Hawk |
