Posted by Tina
The US has authorised a sweeping expansion of covert military operations in the Middle East and Africa, aimed at destroying terrorist networks in the region, and preparing the ground ahead of any Presidential decision to attack Iran. ** According to the The New York Times, a directive called the Joint Unconventional Warfare Task Force Execute Order was signed on September 30 by General David Petraeus, head of Central Command and in charge of US military operations in the Middle East, Afghanistan and the Horn of Africa. ** Under its provisions units of the Navy Seals, the
Army’s Delta Force and other special forces will be able to operate both in friendly countries, and in hostile countries with which the US is not technically at war. ** In some respects, the strategy does no more than institutionalise policies initiated under George W Bush. However there are major differences. ** Both Pentagon and CIA officials indicated that the directive gives the Pentagon a bigger foothold in operations that were once largely the preserve of the CIA. ** This means they will not automatically need approval by either the President or Congress. (emphasis mine)
It looks like the NYT has been at it again. This is probably leaked information that should have remained secret. Is there any question that we are at war with Islamic extremist terrorists? Those of you that have been critical of the past administration need to wake up and smell the enemy as we move to destroy them, quote, “both in friendly countries, and in hostile countries with which the US is not technically at war.”…
Hmm, sounds suspiciously like”…in many ways and on many fronts.” – George W. Bush
The ususal critics will be out for American blood including the President’s:
A secret military directive signed last September 30 by General David Petraeus, the Centcom commander, authorizes a vast expansion of secret U.S. military special ops from the Horn of Africa to the Middle East to Central Asia and “appears to authorize specific operations in Iran,” according to the New York Times. ** If President Obama knew about this, authorized it, and still supports it, then Obama has crossed a red line, and the president will stand revealed as an aggressive, militaristic liberal interventionist who bears a closer resemblance to the president he succeeded than to the ephemeral reformer that he pretended to be in 2008, when he ran for office. If he didn’t know, if he didn’t understand the order, and if he’s unwilling to cancel it now that it’s been publicized, then Obama is a feckless incompetent. Take your pick. ** If Congress has any guts at all, it will convene immediate investigative hearings into a power grab by Petraeus, a politically ambitious general, and the Pentagon’s arrogant Special Operations team, led by Admiral Eric T. Olson, who collaborated with Petraeus. And Congress needs to ask the White House: what did you know, and when did you know it?
It is Obama’s war now, even as he seeks to avoid overt involvement and responsibility…and blame.