The Bottom Line Up Front: The article firmly rejects the condemnation of Islam and the implied condemnation of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and its citizens.  “Stir the Hate” at no point attempts to infringe upon Mr. Wilders’ freedom of speech, nor is it a personal attack against him.  Freedom of speech implies the freedom to disagree, which the article does, adamantly.  The article does question Mr. Wilders’ motives, as does much of the Dutch media.  It also raises a concern that Mr. Wilders may fail to exercise the inherent responsibility that comes with his freedom of speech and use already tested inflammatory images or acts to incite the same reaction the “Mohammed Cartoons” did, once again, as does much of the Dutch media.  As President Bush said in February of last year, “We believe in a free press.  We also recognize that with freedom come responsibilities.  With freedom comes the responsibility to be thoughtful about others.”

As for “getting on with fighting the war,” that is precisely what we are doing.

The CJTF 82 Mission Statement is:

“In conjunction with Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, joint, interagency and multi-national forces, CJTF 82 conducts full spectrum operations to defeat insurgent forces in Regional Command East, facilitates the further development of Afghan National Security Forces and support stability operations in order to assist the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan in extending its authority and influence, which contributes to security and regional stability.”

CJTF 82 along with NATO and Afghan partners, have made great strides in executing this mission since arrival in theater last January.  The one over-riding lesson learned is that it is not our war to win.  It is the Afghans’ war to win; the mission statement properly identifies that fact: “…facilitates the further development of ANSF Forces…” and “…assist the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan in extending its authority and influence, which contributes to security and regional stability.”

Full Spectrum Operations isolate insurgent forces from the civilian populace, disrupts terrorist support networks, limits their freedom of movement, and highlights the emptiness of the insurgent vision.  All of this revolves around the civilian populace of Afghanistan.  The familiar doctrinal tasks of Seize, Destroy and Neutralize, while still in use, have been supplemented with Defeat, Empower, Embolden, Uphold, Foster, Vitalize and many more.  Successful execution of full spectrum operations requires earning the trust and respect of the civilian populace and their leaders.  Every service member in Afghanistan has exactly that in mind when dealing with Afghan citizens and leaders, from the most remote village elders and mullahs, the Afghan National Security Force leadership, and the leaders of the government ministries.  Development of the Afghan National Security Forces is proceeding at a remarkable rate, with Afghan Soldiers and Police successfully executing over half of the operations targeting insurgent leaders in the past six weeks.  One visible sign of the growing stability of the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan is the recent influx of refugees fleeing the current insurgent activity in Pakistan, and the Afghan government’s ability to react and respond with humanitarian aid.

 
The enemy will seize any means he can to discredit the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.  Insurgent organizations incited the "Mohammed Cartoon" riots in 2004.  Insurgents have the luxury of twisting words, meanings, and preying on the emotions of others, often without regard to truthfulness – and they do not share in our values or freedoms.  A repeat of the "Mohammed Cartoon" riots will have serious effects on the mission.  Numerous Afghans were killed during the riots in 2004.  The Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan suffered a serious blow to the trust, authority and influence it had built with its citizens.  It was a serious enough blow that the insurgents achieved their desired effect - damaging and discrediting the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, and effectively gaining ground that the Coalition had taken from them on the battlefield. 

The possibility exists that citizens of Afghanistan, and other Muslim nations, will paint the United States and its Coalition partners with the same broad brush of condemnation that Mr. Wilders espouses, or any others who fail to focus on the overall peaceful nature that Islam preaches, undoing months or even years of efforts and progress - and that is exactly what we are trying to avoid.  We do not want our Soldiers or our mission to be put at risk (call it guilt by loose association) due to the controversy that could arise from Mr. Wilder's words and his pending movie.  This is not solely a domestic concern for one of our Allies, who incidentally are serving honorably alongside of us here in Afghanistan; it is potentially a worldwide issue.  Failing to bring to light the potential effects to the military mission in Afghanistan in order to mitigate possible negative outcomes would be both irresponsible as well as dangerous.