SNAFU!

Tuesday, August 24, 2021

Karzai Airport NEO...Mission Creep + Bad Options = Clusterfuck from hell....

I'm sure Biden thought that he would order the pullout, the military would pull it off quickly and then he could pivot back to his domestic agenda.

Further I believe that he knew he would get pushback from the elites and the foreign policy hawks but also knew that most Americans wanted the US out.

Then the moralist showed up. In Europe and America. Suddenly it became about getting out the people who helped us, while we were supposedly helping them for 20 years to bring their country into the 21st century. It became how we "owed" them and how we had to evacuate them.

So now he's faced with bad options all around.

First.

How many Afghans are we gonna evacuate? We're basically conducting a mass migration operation. No way in hell all those 17 year olds were helping us in our operations there! But that's besides the point.

Does anyone know what the cutoff point is?

Second.

Idiot Westerners are all over the country. I spoke about this earlier but the Taliban have hostages and I don't know if we can even reach them all. This is gonna linger for at least another decade even if SOCOM makes a full bore push to grab them all.

Lastly.

How many American troops is Biden willing to sacrifice to save our allies? Sorry but those Soldiers and Marines have families too. They might be wanting the action but they don't make the decision. Biden does. Is he gonna allow outlandish moralization to cost our troops lives?

This thing is turning open ended. We're seeing mission creep from hell. This is gonna turn bad in a hurry.

Mark my words.

This could have been painful but quick. Now its gonna be painful and lingering. The combat mission might have ended but the combat rescue mission will last till Thanksgiving.

Sunday, August 22, 2021

USS Arlington Arrives in Haiti to Support USAID

CARIBBEAN SEA - The San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock ship USS Arlington (LPD 24) arrived in U.S. 4th Fleet area of operations off the coast Haiti to begin humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations, Aug. 21.

Arlington departed Naval Station Norfolk Aug. 17 to support U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) following a 7.2-magnitute earthquake that struck Haiti on Aug. 14, 2021.

"Our initial focus is to concentrate on saving lives while alleviating suffering for the people of Haiti," said Capt. Eric Kellum, commanding officer of Arlington. "Assisting those in need due to a natural disaster is something this team is trained and ready to do. Our presence here demonstrates our nation’s commitment to supporting our partners in this part of the world."

Arlington has approximately 600 Sailors and Marines which includes service members embarked from Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment to provide lifesaving and humanitarian assistance support. The ship is augmented by two MH-60 Seahawk helicopters from the “Chargers” of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 26, a landing craft, utility (LCU) from Assault Craft Unit (ACU) 2, Fleet Surgical Team (FST) 2, in addition to staff from Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 40, and amphibious and aviation planners.

The mission forms part of an inter-agency framework lending aid to Haiti, including the Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART), which was deployed Aug. 14 immediately after the earthquake occurred. U.S. Southern Command Joint Task Force-Haiti, commanded by Navy Rear Adm. Keith Davids was stood up to coordinate military support, with Arlington deployed as a maritime component.

Arlington joins other U.S. Southern Command components and U.S. Coast Guard ships already on station, in addition to allies and partners from the Netherlands, France, and United Kingdom.

USS Arlington, homeported in Norfolk, Va., is part of Expeditionary Strike Group 2, whose mission is to provide timely, operational, amphibious expertise in support of national tasking to sustain maritime security and defense of the nation.