Afghanistan looks like another VN. Lessons learned from VN: 1. Have a clearly stated objective, so you know when you have done the job. 2. Have a plan that can achieve the objective. 3. Go in heavy and achieve the objective quickly and decisively. 4. Exit plan, know how the situation will end, what objective has to be achieved and we are out of there. As far as defeating Al Qaeda, they are not in Afghanistan anymore. Staying in Afghanistan does not achieve that objective. What objective does staying in Afghan achieve? Is that objective worth the price we are paying? An objective that may be worth something, use Afghan as a base of operations against Al Qaeda in Pakistan. We don't do much of that, our primary weapon in Pakistan has been Predator drones firing missles. A little history, Afghan has not been successfully occupied ever. Russia tried to occupy in the 80's, 10 year failure (Mujaheddin supported by US weapons). Our enemies (Taliban) and our friends in Afghan are cousins and we can't readily tell them apart. That is a bad set up for a guerrilla war. This is a complex problem, I like to see plenty of thought given to the plan. Possible mistake, increasing activity there over spring and summer without doing the plan first.
What an idiot! What kind of a leader insists on an endgame? Doesn't he know that war is supposed to be infinite?
it would be relevant if his decision would have been to not increase troop levels by half though, huh? you should leave the country i guess i dont know. i assume he could have reversed the orders if he wanted to.
Priceless. "Get out of Iraq al qaeda isn't there"..."Get out of Afghanistan, al qaeda isn't there"..."Maj Hasan is a disturbed criminal, there's no al qaeda in Texas"... Poor, naive, blind, liberals.
Oh the good ole rhetoric of Victory. To define this gives neo-cons so much trouble. And yes weak and uncommitted to our enemies that have no army, navy, or airforce.. Okey Dokey.. The drum of fear is still rampant I see.. Ugh.
I'm not used to backing Obama. But I'll say this. Afghanistan is, by it's own nature, a true quagmire. There will be no single victory in Afghanistan because there is no single Afghanistan. It's a conglomeration of tribal war lords (for lack of a better analogy) and the rule of law may never function there. Which means that any peaceful outcome that relies on the rule of law will be either short-lived or a flat-out illusion. The end-state is critical. I'm not convinced anyone knows what that is. Which is why we went after Iraq first because there was an achievable end-state. Having said all of that ... Obama's real agenda is 2012. The left will not fawn over Obama if he proves not to have legitimate Liberal cred. Waging war is not high on the loonies' list of desireables. And he knows he's creating a huge election problem for himself with his clear Socialist domestic agenda. Re-election is at risk. Yes, already. If you think he's not focused on his voting block, you're naive. What would I do? No one has been able to figure out Afghanistan for centuries. I'm not smarter than no one.
Which is what:huh: Didnt know we achieved an end-state there. Also, didnt know thats why we went there first.
That's why I'm here. To educate you. (I learned that kind of non-answer from Red and Sabanfan - my mentors...)
Get new mentors:hihi: seriously I agree with you on Afghanistan, there is really no end game there, so what would be the point of increasing the troop level or rushing a decision. However, he needs to make one. Either we get out or we go in a direction that makes sense for our troops. This decision shouldn't be about politics, it should be about making the right decision, not just because people want to score points by bashing him from nonsense neocon standards. But this guy has just as good of resume' as the guy on the ground now and here is what he had to say about it.
We have soldiers on the ground right now who are in danger. More troops provide a margin of security and safety that is not there right now. The Ambassador is now a politician beholden to Obama. He's doing Barry a solid. Funny how the stimulus and HC bills need to be passed "yesterday" without even being read, but troop safety needs to be pondered and thought out with no sense of urgency. It's quite simple. Obama has no idea what to do here.
