I find it interesting that the same man who enjoins the military to mirandize enemy combatants who are not US citizens and who has enforced some of the strangest Rules of Engagement used in warfare, a man who is an alleged Constitutional scholar has no problem with placing a US citizen on his "death list" without due process of law. Ironic isn't it?

Agreed, we went into the current war with far too few Arabic language linguists/interpreters. We still rely heavily on contractors for these services as well. We still haven't seen a budget to replace the equipment lost or worn out in the current war. What will we do about that? What are we doing to replace the failed and very expensive Stryker systems or to move forward with "smart munitions" for our artillery which is still a more cost effective way of delivering support than aircraft weapons systems. The commentator who wrote about Mr. Gates "fighting the last war" is spot on IMNSHO.

I disagree with your assessment of the need for additional C17 aircraft. While the Air Force and Navy like "sexy" fighter aircraft in preference to lumbering cargo/passenger carriers, the only way to project forces rapidly is to use aircraft. Our current C5A fleet is rapidly approaching the end of its airframe life cycle with no replacement even on the drawing board forcing the DoD to lease Antonev heavy lift cargo planes from former Warsaw Pact/Soviet and Russian Military to help re-supply forces in Afghanistan. The Boeing built C-141 Starlifters which were to be replaced by the C17 are still having to fly sorties to keep supplies and casualty evacuations going. Although those have slowed to a bare minimum because of the age and...

Well said, sir. Well said!

My son chose to join the US Army and graduated Advanced Individual Training on 10 June 2010. It was his choice to serve in our nation's armed forces and it has been my privilege to have been in part and to remain an example of that same dedication and commitment that he has taken on for his own. I'm very proud of him and his choice to serve and while there are inherent risks. His mother's response to people who query incredulously "Why him? He has so much going for him." Her answer is, "Why not him? He has so much to offer his country." I salute your son's desire and hope that he does indeed choose the path that he has spoken of taking. Too few young men outside of military families do these days and our country is threatened...

If you go to ISAF HQ you'll find a book that's about the size of an unabridged dictionary. This book contains caveats and limits to what the various NATO member countries forces can and will do. Moreover, there really is no central command per se of NATO forces each contingent reports to its country's command authority and not to ISAF. One of the biggest problems in Afghanistan is a lack of consistency by NATO forces in engaging the enemy by fire and manuever and destroying them or even coming to the aid of other member countries' forces when they're attacked.

Most US military personnel refer jokingly to ISAF as meaning "I Saw Americans Fighting". Some countries forces like Belgiums and Germany's are less than useless and...

Way back at the beginning of OIF like many Soldiers I bought a Trijicon sight. Later in about 2006 I bought two ACOGs one for a 7.62 NATO and another for the 5.56 NATO. I bought them because they work well and have been rugged enough for 2 Afghanistan and 1 Iraq deployment since buying them. Recently, PEO Soldier began fielding them as part of a Soldier's field gear relieving Soldiers of having to shell out the price of on out-of-pocket, which they did since the war began. There isn't anything better (the Army played with EOTech, Aimpoint and some others before contracting Trijicon).
The whole serial number with a bible verse reference is just a tempest in a teapot. I don't think anyone but someone with too much time on their...

After all I deployed to Afghanistan not once but several times.

But I read the transcripts of Mr. Obama's speech at the USMA and came to a different set of conclusions.
If anything the Daley political machinery that now serves Mr. Obama should be commended for its strategic brilliance.

What we have here is this;

"Now, let me be clear: There has never been an option before me that called for troop deployments before 2010,"

The phrase "Now let me be clear" is Obamaspeak for let me tell a bald faced lie.
General McChrystal asked for immediate reinforcement of 40,000 men. Over 90 days ago.

"as Commander-in-Chief, I have determined that it is in our vital national interest to send an additional...

I think that in your essay you have struck upon the defining phrase to characterize Mr. Obama and his administration. That phrase is that he "is both weak and irrelevant."

We've seen the weakness in his dealings with Iran, his mis-handling of the al-Malaki government in Iraq, his head waterboy and cheering, position rather than a defining leadership role when it comes to the one piece of legislation that he wanted as a cornerstone to his administration, and probably more defining of him and his adminstration its willingness to kow-tow (almost literally) to foreign princes and potentates.

I think the phrase truly defines more than anything else the persona of the Ditherer-in-Chief and his administration.

We not only need new tankers. We need other aircraft that the USAF brass aren't concerned over. In order to be able to defend our interests across the globe as our Carrier forces in the Navy and overseas bases for the other three armed forces diminish we need strategic airpower. We have stricken the FCS program and the LAV program produced a vehicle that takes two C-17 sorties to fully deploy. Yet the Air Force still relies on the C-5A Galaxy dating back to 1968, as the only aircraft in its inventory that can lift an M1A1 tank into a combat zone. The aging C-141 starlifters (modified Boeing 707s from the 1957) were taxed into near extinction by the logistical demands of the Afghanistan campaign. Our C-17 force of 158 aircraft and...