Obama rules out cutting troop levels in Afghanistan
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19 Comments
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0
30061015
?"other" moves were NOT honest? Are we are fighting to win or loose? If you want to be honest and you want to win, then send more troops to help the brave Americans who are fighting with one hand tied behind their back!
Waffling is a false choice while our fighting men and women face death every day.
0
SushiSake3
"then send more troops to help the brave Americans who are fighting with one hand tied behind their back!"
Exactly what OBL and co. wants, and another reason Afghanistan could easily become another Vietnam for America.
0
Mittsu
Troops out! that's the only choice. otherwise more will die and all for nothing.
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moonbeams
What needs to be remembered is the Afghanistan of the late 90s under Taliban rule. Sometimes, news of public executions of women got out. Their crime? Showing a wrist in public.
I'm as liberal a person as you can be. However, I always hoped that something would be done in Afghanistan. The Taliban are terrible people who don't respect human rights. In their eyes, they believe that they do the right thing. Killing innocent women.
0
Sarge
"Troops out! that's the only choice"
Exactly, exactly. We must bend over and grab the ankles.
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thepro
America is kaput
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Sarge
"America is kaput"
Not yet.
0
thepro
Almost
0
Spider
The fact of the Taliban not respecting women's right and of killing innocent women should not, in it self justify killiing them all. Your comment illustartes just how confused and deluded the American public has become over the issues of your Middle Eastern wars of terror.
I suppose you're also concerned about Saudi treatment and execution of women too, since it goes on over there? Would you like to invade them next?
Thing is, I'm willing to bet that you and most of your fellow Americans never even gave the Taliban a moment's thought until you were attacked. Until that point they were safely far away and it's awful but what can I do about it anyway...? Now you just want to see them crushed. Don't worry that it was, in fact, not the Taliban who attacked in the first place - They were Saudi fighters.
0
TheQuestion
He can't want it if he's dead, and his buddies can't fight us if they're decorating the inside of a crater. If we can do those two things we'll have won, never mind stability, that's just a fringe benefit.
Considering America and the American people are the largest international investors in the world and we are the largest buyer of consumer goods in the world you had better hope you're wrong. The remifications may not be all that you'd wished for.
Problem is that they weren't content to kill their own innocents, they went and killed a bunch of ours. Now every single one of them is marked.
0
PepinGalarga
Obama's generals' are trigger-happy republican-leaning officers that would love to go at it their way and make him look out of control in the process. They are really pushing their luck by making policy statements without checking with the White House.
Look at what's happening in Iraq now, all those communities that the soldiers have left have returned to their old tribal ways, and most of those that collaborated are now persecuted as traitors.
McCain lsot the elections by a landslide. Yeah Obama's numbers are not as good now, but he's the only one that has the mandate to fix the situation, and the only one responsible for what happens.
If we're gonna get out anyway, we should get out now before we get people's hopes up. Afghanistan's tribal governments haven't changed at all for centuries, and they will go back to the way things were the day US leaves.
The comments about Saudi are spot on. If we hold the same standard of justice and rule of law, then we should also be invading Saudi.
The US should build schools, and help rebuild, in order to secure some goodwill, instead of blowing up buildings with drones, often killing civilians.
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Sarge
"Almost"
You'd better hope Obama is unsuccessful at making America "kaput."
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SuperLib
If the military says they need more troops, then Obama should give them.
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Badsey
We must continue to indebt the American people by continuing this "war." +The pipeline has not been built yet and we must invade Iraq and commandeer their oil.
=Obama must keep his word to the rich bankers, but lie to the American populace.
Next is Venezuela (oil) = They are evil and must be stopped!!
0
Badsey
Iran --> Iraq
Some concept: They have oil = Evil.
Japan Good = Little, No oil = traders/bankers like that.
0
bushlover
Pepin you have gotten to the bottom of the Republican conspiracy to undermine the Obama "wonderboy" administration. How dare those Generals lean to make Obama look bad. How underhanded those Generals are to make policy statements as if Obama will cave to them. Wonderboy has done so much in reversing everything Bush-man did. And your intel on the present situation in Iraq is to be admired. Good job on securing the facts for us.
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TheQuestion
How is doing you're job being a 'trigger-happy republican-leaning' officer? A General doesn't play to lose and the troop request is part of their strategy, if the president wants to change the game plan and focus on counter-terrorism only than that would change things.
Difference is that the saudi government never killed anybody we particularly cared about.
So you're saying that the war is hopeless but we should build stuff to foster goodwill...
Personally I'd be all for going flat out counter-insurgency. Increase troop presense by a few thousand, increase aerial sweeps, and start lighting them up. A platoon for every cave and a Tomahawk for every mountain pass. Make them never want to deal with us again.
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PepinGalarga
Those military commanders have little loyalty to their new commander in chief. Their agenda is to keep the ammo flowing and the bombs falling. Politically, Obama is in a very delicate situation as every decision he makes is second guessed, and losers like McCain try to quarterback from the back of the bus.
Counter-terrorism, counter-insurgency... why not be pro-something... Stop going against the current, and repeat the same mistakes of every invading force for the last century.
Afghanistan is a nation so different culturally from Iraq, and even Iran. Very traditional, and not as open to foreign things. In Afghanistan, the enemy is the average afghan person living in the remote mountainous regions, and there's many more children ready to join the fight once they are old enough to carry a weapon. Non-combatants could care less about what the US is doing there, they just want life to go back to normal, even if it means dealing with the Taliban.
If we work on community development, and increasing the literacy and education rate, there we can loosen the grip of the fundamentalists and dependence on opium farming. It will take a few generations, but it's the only thing thas has not been tried in the last 100 years. Eliminating insurgents will not be fulfilled by raining bullets and missiles into the general population until everyone around is dead, or even on some remote mountaintop.
We had a big chance when the Russians left, and we blew it then, and look how much it cost us. Let's not blow it again.
The average American doesn't care about the average Afghani any more than they care for the average Saudi, regardless of the injustices taking place in both nations. I agree that the Saudi government is not a state sponsor of terrorism, but how many of the 20 hijackers were Saudi???
I would agree with a surge 100% if the main objective was to achieve national security while rebuilding, community development and education were the main objectives. Just a surge to have more boots and more guns on the ground will lead to failure.
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