As President Obama considers sending more troops to Afghanistan or not, I believe one simple question should inform his/our decision: Over the last eight years we have spent waging a war, and attempting to build a nation in Afghanistan, have we done enough to consider an escalation of force, a "good idea?"
Ironically, Afghanistan President Karzai has offered up the perfect excuse for the Obama administration to make a convincing argument there is no military victory in Afghanistan to be achieved.
If Karzai cannot be trusted to conduct a fair election, then we have miserably failed, and all due haste should be undertaken to bring our troops home NOW ! ! !
I don't care of Osama bin Laden spends the rest of his life wandering those mountains of Afghanistan and Pakistan. I just don't CARE ! ! !
Let's come home, it's time, don't you think?
If you didn't notice the text link above, here it is again:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/09/opinion/09wed1.html?th&emc=th
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Comments: 11
I'm just sayin' -- given the ostensible "corruption" charges, Obama should use that as an excuse to suggest, "we'll, we tried, we tried for eight long years, but sorry, we're going home now because we really don't believe in you and don't accept your way of life and corruption. We're done."
One of the problems, and perhaps the biggest one, is that they have never defined what would constitute a victory beyond saying: "Well know when we see it."
The administration has said the chief potential foreign policy threat lies in Pakistan so I get the feeling that this has something to do with the surge to 68,000 troops with a possible 12,000 more being considered. But it isn't clear how these troops could intercede if - say - Taliban sympathizers in the military launch a coup. If we went in to secure the various armories housing nukes there would be stiff resistance.
I guess if the government needed help against an overwhelming insurgency - under that kind of situation - we could help but it would be no cakewalk like Iraq Phase I was...
The Taliban still would have been around but I don't think they were ever thought of as a real enemy. They were just a bunch of backwards religious fanatics who gave aid and comfort to what was seen by most Americans as the real enemy, Al Qaeda and initially, at least, Al Qaeda was seen a one-headed serpent whose body would shrivel up and die as soon as it was deprived of its head.
Admittedly the preceding is a simplified version of what might have happened, but then our view of the Taliban was pretty simple-minded, and perhaps still is, but understanding that goes a long was to explaining why no clear definition of what would constitute victory in Afghanistan.
I read today that, partly because of what jJack referred to here, France, England and Germany are calling for a Summit on Afghanistan...
The orchestrator to the symphony of genocide, the genius Zbiegnew Brzenzski and his counter part Richard Haass. Not too mention the umpteenth fracture of international law committed by the outgoing administration conducting training lessons to the current on how to invade a soveirgn nation illegally and get away with it, last Sept., concerning Pakistan.
Sh*t. This is getting so tiring as our tax dollars keep funding the industrial military complex and our troops are being so dumbed down, they don't care if they die fighting an unknown cause, as long as they can survive long enough to get a ticket to college.
It's disgusting, on all fronts, and not one more person deserves to loose their life. If you are tired of Iraq, you ain't seen nothing like you will see in Afghanistan. Ask ZB what their definition of "win" is. What a f***ing joke...and I am certain all the dead are not laughing.
I see this, We have dumped BILLIONS into the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, Iraq, Afghanistan, Indonesia (remember the big wave), and other Arab back-woods sand pits and do they even have toilets that flush yet?
I like the idea of sitting in the Ocean, sending in small contingencies to flush out trouble makers, put some missiles in the bedroom windows and let them cut each other up and butcher and mutilate themselves over their imposing their Sharia Laws. And just assure ourselves they don't get another shot at doing us harm on our soil.
Yet, I believe there are many active cells just waiting here to do about 50.000 suicide bombings in malls, offices, buses, trains, etc in any given time frame. But, don't we understand now it is our fault and they are just misunderstood?
I wish I had pictures to show you. I'm living very 'humbly' compared to most here. However, the home I am living in is absolutely beautiful. It's a hundred year old original arabic style dwelling (arched ceilings, etc.) and it's built to last. Cool in the summer, warm in the winter.
Most people live in the most beautiful homes you've ever seen. Not only do they have flushing toilets but every bathroom has a "douche" hand held shower thingy like the kind you have on your kitchen sink...for that extra clean fresh feeling. Nice, eh?
I don't believe there are 'active cell' suicide bombers hiding behind every nook and cranny. If there were, they wouldn't be waiting so long.
You would be surprised to know how peaceful we all co-exist over here. It's really quite refreshing. Shilo (a Jewish settlement is just a mile away) along with many inner-community Christians, yes they even have their own churches, and beautiful ones at that...we all just get along. For now, anyhow. And that's a good thing.