Drone Strikes Continue And Spread Under President Trump

President Donald Trump discusses current military operations with Gen. Joseph Votel, commander of U.S. Central Command Commander, and Gen. Raymond A. "Tony" Thomas, U.S. Special Operations Command Commander at MacDill, AFB, FL, Feb. 6, 2017. (DoD photo by D. Myles Cullen/Released)

Daniel Rosenthal and Loren DeJonge Schulman, Defense One/The Atlantic: Trump’s Secret War on Terror

Drone strikes continue and spread—away from public scrutiny or Congressional oversight.

President Donald Trump has dramatically expanded the war on terror. But you—and perhaps he—would never know it.

Since he came into office, Trump has reportedly abandoned Obama-era rules governing the use of drones in non-combat theaters such as Somalia and Libya. Whereas Obama operationally expanded but bureaucratically constrained drones’ use, from what we can tell, Trump’s new rules instead vest strike decisions with military commanders, without requiring approval from the White House.

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WNU Editor: And it is a war that is going to go on for long time .... Fight against terror entering a new phase, still just as vital (Ilan Berman and Chloe Thompson, USA TOday).

There Are Now 76 Countries Involved In America’s War on Terror

(Click on Image to Enlarge)

Tom Engelhardt, Tom Dispatch: Mapping a World From Hell

76 Countries Are Now Involved in Washington’s War on Terror

He left Air Force Two behind and, unannounced, “shrouded in secrecy,” flew on an unmarked C-17 transport plane into Bagram Air Base, the largest American garrison in Afghanistan. All news of his visit was embargoed until an hour before he was to depart the country.

More than 16 years after an American invasion “liberated” Afghanistan, he was there to offer some good news to a U.S. troop contingent once again on the rise. Before a 40-foot American flag, addressing 500 American troops, Vice President Mike Pence praised them as “the world’s greatest force for good,” boasted that American air strikes had recently been “dramatically increased,” swore that their country was “here to stay,” and insisted that “victory is closer than ever before.” As an observer noted, however, the response of his audience was “subdued.” (“Several troops stood with their arms crossed or their hands folded behind their backs and listened, but did not applaud.”)

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WNU Editor: Running an empire is always costly. But while Tom Engelhardt provides a good picture on what is currently happening, he does not provide a solution on what should be done. And that is the rub .... the U.S. desperately needs a debate on what should be its foreign policy and national security objectives, the military that is required to do such a job, and a State Department that can handle the diplomatic aspects of it. But there is no debate, little if any think-tank or foreign policy institute contribution, no political pressure, zero media attention, and definitely no public pressure that something should be done. And the nations that are involved in America's War on Terror are just as guilty .... if not more so .... as this never-ending war continues to grind on.

Is Now The Time For The U.S. To Step Back From The War On Terror?

Image: U.S. Air Force/Erik Gudmundson

Erik Goepner and Trevor Thrall, War On the Rocks: Time to Step Back from the War on Terror

President Donald Trump has expanded every aspect of the war on terror he inherited from his two predecessors. In his first nine months Trump has ordered a renewed surge in Afghanistan, increased the tempo of drone strikes, and granted the military greater autonomy. Meanwhile, in Afghanistan, the Taliban now control or contest more districts than at any point since 2001. And last week four American soldiers died in Niger, an increasingly active front in the war on terror. Americans are now fighting — and dying — in at least eight different countries across the Middle East and Central Asia. The deaths of American forces are a particularly sobering reminder of the war’s high costs and should prompt people to ask whether the costs are worth it.

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WNU Editor: Instinctively .... my answer is to say yes .... that now is the time to step back from the War On Terror. ISIS is on the brink of defeat. The other terror groups are still active .... but that will probably be the case for a long time with or without U.S. involvement. And while Afghanistan is still a problem .... it will still a problem a decade from now. But while stepping back we should also engage in a debate on this issue, to prioritise what is in the U.S. national security interest, and to plan and allocate the necessary resources. Will this happen .... I do not know. But after almost 16 years .... a re-evaluation is definitely needed.

Report: The Estimated Cost of America's Post-9/11 Wars

Uri Friedman, The Atlantic: Fighting Terrorism With a Credit Card

Interest payments on America’s war debt could one day exceed the direct costs of combat itself.

If a war costs trillions of dollars, and no one pays for it, what is its true cost? Since the 9/11 attacks, America has poured $3.2 trillion into its wars, according to a new study from Brown University’s Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs. The estimate includes what the U.S. government has spent or pledged to spend through 2016 on homeland security, medical and disability care for wounded veterans, and the military and diplomatic campaigns against terrorism in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, and Syria.

When you factor in the interest America owes on the money it has borrowed to finance these wars, the number rises to almost $3.7 trillion. When you add in likely expenses for 2017 and spending obligations to veterans over the next four decades, the total increases to nearly $4.8 trillion.

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WNU Editor: $3.7 trillion to $4.8 trillion .... and counting. Makes you want to puke.

Will Killing The Leaders Of The Islamic State And Al Qaeda End The War?

Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi

Tim Lister, CNN: Who must be killed to beat ISIS and al Qaeda?

(CNN) Every other week, it seems, U.S. officials disclose that another "key" terror commander has been eliminated -- in Syria, Yemen, Somalia, Afghanistan, etc.

The list this month includes Muhsin al Fadhli, leader of the Khorasan Group -- an al Qaeda offshoot in Syria -- and Abu Khalil al-Sudani, a senior figure in al Qaeda in Afghanistan.

And yet progress in degrading (let alone eradicating) groups such as the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), al Qaeda, Al-Shabaab and the Taliban is fiendishly difficult to measure.

WNU Editor: Killing terror leaders does have an impact on terror operations .... but to win this war .... which has been primarily ideological and religious .... you have to defeat it on the battlefield of ideas. Unfortunately .... the reluctance among many of our western leaders to identify and call out the role that radical Islam has in groups like the Islamic State has not helped .... but fortunately .... some Arab leaders are now identifying the problem and calling for a response .... Egypt’s al-Sisi Makes Extraordinary Speech on Islam (PJ Media).

The Collapse Of Yemen Is Also A Failure Of U.S. Counter-Terrorism Strategy

Max Boot, Commentary: Yemen’s Lesson For the Future of Terror

“Thanks to sacrifice and service of our brave men and women in uniform, the war in Iraq is over, the war in Afghanistan is winding down, al Qaeda has been decimated, Osama bin Laden is dead.” –President Obama, Nov. 1, 2012

“This strategy of taking out terrorists who threaten us, while supporting partners on the front lines, is one that we have successfully pursued in Yemen and Somalia for years.” –President Obama, Sept. 10, 2014

“The United States has evacuated its remaining personnel, including about 100 special operations forces, from Yemen because of the deteriorating security situation there, U.S. officials said on Saturday. The U.S. pullout…  marked a further setback in U.S. counterterrorism efforts against a powerful al Qaeda branch in the country.” –Reuters, March 21

WNU Editor: There is no stomach in the U.S. to get involved in the Yemen crisis .... therefore a new strategy will be needed to combat groups like Al Qaeda. What that strategy may be .... I suspect that the CIA/Pentagon/White House/etc. are now finding that their options are severely limited.

Is The 'War On Terror' Now Over?

Does Bowe Bergdahl's Release Signal An End To The 'War On Terror'? -- Mary Dejevsky, The Guardian

The deal to swap a US soldier for five Taliban prisoners may be evidence of the pragmatism underlying Obama's foreign policy

What strikes you first is the human predicament. Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl was detained for five years, the last US citizen to be held captive by the Afghan Taliban. His parents had still not seen him when they appeared before the cameras in the sort of flags-and-family scene American television and politics love. His father – with his huge bushy beard and ponytail, hardly a photofit of your standard US serviceman's dad – suggested that his son might have to learn to speak English again and would need time to "decompress"; "if he comes up too fast, it could kill him".

Difficult though Bergdahl's reintegration into the western world will doubtless be, though, the politics threaten to be many times more complicated. Sparks of controversy flew as soon as his liberation was announced – for the return of this American prodigal son (some reports suggest he deserted) was the product of a deal; a prisoner exchange, no less, which may make it unprecedented in recent American diplomacy. And to say that it was not universally welcomed is to put it mildly.

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My Comment: This Guardian commentator is in denial on what is happening on the ground. The Taliban and Jihadi forums are treating this release and exchange of hard-core Taliban military commanders for Bergdahl as a great victory and as a call to escalate their war against the West. If this is the beginning of peace .... I sure hate to know what war looks like.

A Look At Britain's Role In America's 'Dirty Wars' (Commentary)

Britain Is Up To Its Neck In US Dirty Wars And Death Squads -- Seumas Milne, The Guardian

The war on terror is now an endless campaign of drone and undercover killings that threatens a more dangerous world

You might have thought the war on terror was finally being wound down, 12 years after the US launched it with such disastrous results. President Obama certainly gave that impression earlier this year when he declared that "this war, like all wars, must end".

In fact, the Nobel peace prize winner was merely redefining it. There would be no more "boundless global war on terror", he promised. By which he meant land wars and occupations are out for now, even if the US is still negotiating for troops to remain in Afghanistan after the end of next year.

But the war on terror is mutating, growing and spreading. Drone attacks, which have escalated under Obama from Pakistan to north Africa, are central to this new phase. And as Dirty Wars – the powerful new film by the American journalist Jeremy Scahill – makes clear, so are killings on the ground by covert US special forces, proxy warlords and mercenaries in multiple countries.

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My Comment: Jeremy Scahill is an interesting journalist. And while I do disagree with some of his assertions, I have seen his documentary and I do recommend it for viewing.

Why Is The Long War On Terror Giving Us Little In Return

America Gathers Little Return From Its Long War On Terror -- Michael Young, Michael Young, National Interest

Last Saturday, American Delta Force commandos abducted a Libyan, Nazih Abd Al Hamed Al Ruqai, known as Abu Anas Al Libi, in Tripoli. This came hours after Navy Seals sought to capture a leader of the Al Shabab movement in Somalia, an operation that was called off in the face of resistance by Al Shabab militants.

Both operations cast fresh light on the American antiterrorism strategy after the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States. Only nine days after that, George W Bush declared a global war on terror, a term that his successor Barack Obama discarded.

And yet the war continues with no apparent end in sight, since wars have a finality to them and conclude with either a victory for one side or a truce, and in the war against terrorism neither is likely to happen.

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My Comment: In all fairness .... I do remember after 9/11 that many counter terrorism specialists were predicting that this conflict .... this war against militant Islam .... or more to the point .... militant Islam's war against us .... is going to take a long time before it burns itself out. My prediction .... commentators and pundits will be saying the same thing a decade or two from now .... why are we getting little return from our long war on terror.

Will Our War Against Terror Come To An End?

U.S. President Barack Obama makes a point at the National Defense University at Fort McNair in Washington, D.C., on May 23, 2013. Larry Downing / REUTERS

Can Obama End The War On Terror? -- Michael Crowley, Time

In his broad address on drone strikes, al Qaeda terrorists, and the prison at Guantanamo Bay Thursday, Barack Obama wrestled with some of the hardest moral questions that have defined national security policy since September 11: Who is the enemy? Who can we kill, and where, and how? What to do with suspected terrorists we hold in captivity? And when, if ever, will this war as we know it end? Along the way, Obama issued a strong defense of his reliance on drones to kill suspected terrorists in places where other military means are infeasible or risk more civilian deaths. He announced higher standards for drone strikes, limiting them to situations where the confidence about a target’s location is extremely high and the possibility of civilian casualties is virtually nil. He reiterated his belief that the Guantanamo prison is a stain on America’s honor and image around the world and should be closed, and vowed new action to make that long-delayed goal a reality.

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More Commentary And Opinions On President Obama's Goal To End The War On Terror

Obama seeks end to perpetual U.S. 'war on terror' -- Reuters
Obama Sees Sunset on Sept. 11 War Powers in Drone Limits -- Bloomberg Businessweek
Obama’s six-point plan to wind down the ‘war on terror’ -- Timothy B. Lee, Washington Post
Obama pulls back in fight against al Qaeda -- Thomas Joscelyn & Bill Roggio, Threat Matrix
President Obama dreamily wants to scale back the war on terror -- New York Daily News
Obama thinks we won the War on Terror and it's time to move on -- K.T. McFarland, FOX News
What Mattered in Obama's Speech Today: Ending the Open-Ended 'War on Terror' -- James Fallows, The Atlantic
Bush's war on terror is over -- Peter Bergen, CNN
Obama Lays Out Plan To End The War Against Al Qaeda -- Hayes Brown, Think Progress

My Comment: What's my opinion .... as I had mentioned in the previous post .... I am deeply skeptical.

Killing Terrorists By Drones Polls Better Than Putting Them In Gitmo?

Wikimedia Commons

Why America Stopped Sending 'Terrorists' To Gitmo And Started Bombing Them -- Michael Kelley, Business Insider

Last week John Bellinger, the lawyer who drafted the legal framework for drone strikes under George W. Bush, accused the Obama administration of overusing drone strikes because of a reluctance to capture suspected terrorists.

The evidence for the statement is obvious: shortly after Obama took office, the CIA ostensibly shut down its network of secret interrogation centers (i.e. black sites), the president promised to close the Guantánamo Bay Detention Facility, and the U.S. ramped up drone strikes.

The shift to drones was made for legal and political reasons — despite significant moral concerns and the potential for abuse.

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My Comment: A cynical look at how US counter-terrorism policy may be formulated .... and the shocking possibility is that the author may be right.

Ending The War On Terror

Will Obama End The War On Terror? -- Daniel Klaidman, Daily Beast

Zero Dark Thirty spotlights America’s finest hour in the battle against al Qaeda. But can Obama finish the forever war? The debate over drones—and getting out alive.

In the final scene of Zero Dark Thirty, Kathryn Bigelow’s heart-stopping thriller about the hunt for Osama bin Laden, Maya, a CIA operative and the movie’s heroine, is strapped into a seat on a military transport plane staring into the middle distance, looking depleted. The film’s dramatic arc follows Maya’s near-messianic quest to take out “UBL.” Intense and headstrong, she battles the weary fatalism of her bosses, suppresses all moral doubt about the use of torture to extract leads, and sticks to her theory of the case with feverish conviction. The movie’s harrowing, climactic kill operation is Maya’s vindication. But then, having identified bin Laden’s body in a hangar at Bagram Air Base, she finds herself all alone in a cavernous cargo hold, a thousand-yard stare on her face. When a cheerful crew member tries to engage her, she looks away. “Where do you want to go?” he asks.

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My Comment: The problem with ending the 'war on terror' is that many radical Islamist have no interest in ending it.

Is President Obama's "War On Terror" Approach Similar To The Approach That President Reagan Used When He Was In Office?

Watching the Bin Laden raid from the White House. White House photo by Pete Souza

Three Wars on Terror -- John Arquilla, Foreign Policy

Ronald Reagan and the battle for Obama's strategic soul.

One of Barack Obama's earliest acts as president was to discard the phrase "war on terror," yet he has been waging just such a campaign these past four years -- with a skillful mix of subtlety and ferocity. Several major al Qaeda plots have been thwarted by aggressive, innovative intelligence programs, often conducted in a deeply networked fashion with our allies. In addition to the killing of Osama bin Laden, many other operatives in the late terrorist capo's organization have found themselves on the receiving end of commando raids or Hellfire missiles, from Waziristan to Yemen -- and beyond. Those not yet in the crosshairs have gone to ground, or dare to move about only sparingly, furtively.

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My Comment: There are some similarities, but there is no question in my mind that President Obama has elevated it to a higher level. He does not only have the tools to wage war against terror differently (he has drones, President Reagan did not), but public opinion is now more in favor of the U.S. conducting anti-terrorism operations abroad while President Reagan had limitations. For example .... if President Reagan had ordered the assassination of a U.S. terror suspect abroad without legal due process .... there would have been a public uproar. But in today's world .... President Obama actually issued such an order, and the public outcry was completely muted.

A Double Standard?

President Obama in the Oval Office (Official White House/ Pete Souza)

Liberals Ignore Obama's Guantanamos -- James Kirchick, New York Daily News

The same people who excoriated Bush's war on terror are letting Obama do as he pleases
In a city full of them, Harold Koh is Washington’s biggest hypocrite.

As the dean of Yale Law School, Koh was the most prominent critic of the Bush administration’s counterterrorism policies, deriding them as “executive muscle-flexing.” The former President, Koh said, was the “torturer-in-chief.” In a 2002 interview with The New York Times, he referred to the war on terror as “legally undeclared” and questioned the administration’s right to kill terrorists on the battlefield. “What factual showing will demonstrate that they had warlike intentions against us and who sees that evidence before any action is taken?” he asked.

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My Comment: I have been saying the same thing for the past few years. Where are the anti-war protestors? Critics on Guantanamo? Protests in the Congress? Questions from the media?

To Those Who Believe That The War Against Al Qaeda Is Over

Can We Declare The War On Al Qaeda Over? -- Mary Habeck, Shadow Government/Foreign Policy

Peter Bergen has a new piece up on CNN's website that argues the United States can declare victory over al Qaeda and wind down the war against the group. Reading through his article, I found several places where I profoundly disagreed with his analysis and therefore with his overall conclusion that al Qaeda has been defeated.

First, Bergen begins with a false analogy by arguing that the current war is nothing like World War II, and that therefore there can be no culminating peace as was signed between the Allies and Nazi Germany. This argument implies that a definitive victory over al Qaeda, one on the model and scale of the victory over the Nazis, is impossible.

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My Comment: I have a mixed opinion on this subject. A part of me accepts the argument that Al Qaeda has been significantly degraded .... that many of the founders are now dead or in jail .... and the effectiveness of the organization to conduct serious attacks is now minor if not insignificant. Another part of me has a different point of view .... Al Qaeda enjoys the support of tens of millions of people, they operate with impunity in many failed states, and their ideology of spreading jihad and Islam has not been sufficiently countered.

Which point of view is right? If there are no major terror attacks (or attempts) in the next few years .... one can then make the argument that Al Qaeda as we know it is no more.

Putting The "War Against Terror" Into Perspective

Bee Stings Killed As Many In UK As Terrorists, Says Watchdog -- The Telegraph

Bee stings kill as many people in Britain as terrorist attacks do, according to a report by a Government watchdog who claims the risk from extremists has fallen “markedly” in recent years.

David Anderson said that no one has even been injured by an Islamist in this country for more than two years, while the number of convictions has dropped to a “handful”.

As a result he suggested that ministers could relax some anti-terror laws without endangering public safety, such as by allowing terror suspects to apply for bail or making it harder to ban certain groups.

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My Comment: On face value this assertion is true .... but .... it will just take one major 9/11 event to change this argument completely.

Rethinking The War On Terrorism -- A Commentary

Rethinking ‘The Long War’ On Terrorism -- David Ignatius, Washington Post

Gen. John Abizaid used the phrase “the long war” to describe America’s battle with Islamic extremism after Sept. 11, 2001. When I first heard him say it in the dark days of 2004, as Iraq was spiraling downward, I had the feeling that it would last for most of our lifetimes.

Behind this decades-long battle, Abizaid said, was the political modernization of the Islamic world — the explosive process of change that he likened to the revolutions and anarchic movements that swept across Europe in the 19th century.

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My Comment: We can rethink the 'the long war' on terror as much as we want, but in the end it is terror groups like Al Qaeda that will influence our policies and behavior. In fact .... as long as we are not willing to recognize who and what the enemy is .... radical Islamists with a strong commitment to pursue Jihad .... this war (which has actually been going on for centuries), will continue until the Muslim world itself reforms and modernizes .... a process that I very much doubt will be accomplished in my lifetime.

A General Reflects On His Personal Loss

Marine Lt. Gen. John F. Kelly's son was killed in Afghanistan on Tuesday, according to the Pentagon. Reuters Close

After His Own Loss, A General Salutes Two Brave Marines -- Washington Examiner

Given the opportunity to do another 9/11, our merciless enemy would do it today, tomorrow, and every day thereafter.

I don't know why they hate us, and I don't care. We have a saying in the Marine Corps that there is "no better friend, no worse enemy, than a U.S. Marine." We always hope for the first, friendship, but are certainly more than ready for the second. If it's death they want, it's death they will get, and the Marines will continue showing them the way to hell if that's what will make them happy.

Our country is in a life and death struggle against an evil enemy, but Am

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My Comment: The General knows only too well who the enemy is. Unfortunately .... some people do not share his point of view.

The Left And Terror -- A Commentary

From The American Thinker:

The Jihadis will return. We know this, in the same way that we know about death and taxes. Thanks in large part to the weakening of our defensive efforts under the new administration, there will be further attacks against this country's population, perhaps even worse than those of 9/11. (This week's attack by Nidal Malik Hasan serves to underline the threat.)

When this attack occurs, we will see an end to all the nonsense. Our present drift regarding terror policy is occurring only because Americans have been encouraged to put unpleasant realities at a distance, to live in a dream world where all the bad stuff happens to other people. 9/11 has ceased to signify. Terrorism has become a matter of bad manners. As my grandfather might have put it, this country is in for a rude awakening.

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My Comment: I prepared a long commentary to discuss this piece from the American Thinker, but I then realized that it would only take you away from the "impact" of the article.

Read it all .... it pulls no punches.

The War On Terror Still Continues -- A Commentary

Binyam Mohamed, 30, foreground, a British resident who has been held at Guantanamo Bay for more than four years, covers his face as he leaves RAF Northolt in west London Monday Feb. 23, 2009, after nearly seven years in U.S. captivity — the first inmate from the U.S. prison camp freed since President Barack Obama took office. The Ethiopian-born detainee has been held at Guantanamo since September 2004 after his arrest in Pakistan, accused by U.S. officials of being part of a conspiracy to detonate a 'dirty bomb' on American soil. (AP Photo/ Sang Tan)

The War On Terror Goes On, Whatever We Call It -- Times Online

Binyam Mohamed may have been maltreated, but that doesn't mean that the threat from Islamic theocracies is not real

George Bush is gone, Binyam Mohamed is home from Guantánamo, and the War on Terror is no more. Rejoice. It was all a bad dream.

Should even a fraction of Mr Mohamed's story of physical and psychological abuse in various prisons from Morocco to Afghanistan turn out to be true, he has been appallingly treated. His activist lawyer, Clive Stafford Smith, is quoted as saying that Mr Mohamed was “a victim who has suffered more than any human being should ever suffer”.

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