It's Obama's war now

[IndianaGreen]

It's Obama's war now

Barack Obama kept a campaign promise--for a second time--with the announcement that he would send an additional 30,000 U.S. soldiers to Afghanistan.

December 2, 2009

U.S. backing for Afghanistan's mujahideen fighters against the ex-USSR's occupation in the 1980s gave rise to the armed networks that eventually produced al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden.

Now the Obama administration cites the fight against the terrorists of al-Qaeda as the primary justification for sending even more U.S. troops to kill and be killed in Afghanistan. This involves a double conceit--historical amnesia about the bitter fruits of U.S. policy in Afghanistan since the 1970s, and deception about the real reasons for the continued U.S. interests in cultivating a pro-U.S. regime in Afghanistan.

That effort goes back to the 1979 invasion of Afghanistan by the USSR. "The day that the Soviets officially crossed the border, I wrote to President Carter," recalled Zbigniew Brzezinski, who was Carter's national security advisor from 1977 to 1981. "We now have the opportunity of giving to the Soviet Union its Vietnam War."

At the time, U.S. foreign policy officials encouraged the growth of the most extreme Islamic elements because they considered them the key to defeating the USSR. After the U.S. achieved its goal, the mujahideen fighters it had backed came to power--and Washington stepped aside and watched, as the country descended into a civil war among the divided factions that had triumphed over the Soviet Union.

When the Taliban emerged as the victor in 1996, the U.S. adopted an attitude of benign indifference. At least the Taliban brought stability and an unrelenting hostility to the opium trade, reasoned U.S. officials.

But September 11 gave the U.S. a new opportunity to project military power into the heart of Central Asia. It quickly installed military bases in countries that had been part of the old USSR, giving the Pentagon the means to pressure China, Russia and neighboring Iran, and provide greater U.S. access to the region's oil and gas resources.

http://socialistworker.org/2009/12/02/its-obamas-war-now

[Dr Robert]

1. Actually, It's all of ours. Unless, of course, you don't pay taxes.

[NYC Liberal]

2. We're getting out after 8 years of mismanagement and bungling

by Bush. Thankfully we have a president who actually has a rational and reasonable plan with concrete goals and timelines.

[IndianaGreen]

3. based on the assumption that the Afghan people will be so mesmerized by Obama

that they will bend to his will by the force of his voice alone.

[NYC Liberal]

4. Based on the fact that Afghan people are quite capable

of taking control of their own country and governing themselves, which is what Obama's exit strategy is all about.

Or do you think they're incapable?

[IndianaGreen]

5. Afghanistan is a collection of tribal leaders and warlords

having one thing in common: opposition to foreign armies.

[NYC Liberal]

20. Which is exactly why we are going to hand over control to their security forces

and get out.

[mike_c]

6. did you get a snack with your KoolAid...?

Concrete goals and time lines?

In two years we will start to think about decreasing troop strength. It's still as open-ended a war as it ever was. A time line is a date certain for ending the war-- which should have been YEARS ago, not some unspecified time in the future. What Obama offered was a date for BEGINNING to end the war, with no actual ending date or any certain rate of troop withdrawal.

It's all smoke and mirrors, and you were taken in hook, line, and sinker.

I'll bet you the U.S. war in Afghanistan is still ongoing ten years from now. Unless Obama is replaced in 2012 by someone who will actually end it.

[Cha]

8. You're all smoke and mirrors and I trust the President, VP Biden,

and Senator Kerry on this..not the interneters who only deal subterfuge.

[mike_c]

10. well, that's sweet....

Everyone needs heroes.

[NYC Liberal]

18. Yeah, someone tried to feed me anti-Obama koolaid. I didn't touch the stuff.

You bet concrete goals and time lines.- you would know it unless you did not listen to Obama last night or pay attention to anything he has said.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/way-forward-afghanistan

Quote

*The President has decided to deploy an additional 30,000 U.S. troops to Afghanistan. These troops will deploy on an accelerated timeline to reinforce the 68,000 Americans and 39,000 non-U.S. ISAF troops already there, so that we can target the insurgency, break its momentum, and better secure population centers.

*These forces will increase our capacity to train effective Afghan Security Forces, and to partner with them so that more Afghans get into the fight. And by pursuing these partnerships, we can transition to Afghan responsibility, and begin to reduce our combat troops in the summer of 2011.

*We will maintain this increased force level for the next 18 months.

*beginning in July 2011, we will transfer lead security responsibility to Afghans and start to transition our combat forces out of Afghanistan

*We will work with our partners, the United Nations, and the Afghan people to strengthen our civilian effort, so that Afghanistan’s government can step in as we establish better security.

*we will also focus our assistance in areas – such as agriculture – that can make an immediate impact in the lives of the Afghan people

*A continuing significant increase in civilian experts will accompany a sizable infusion of additional civilian assistance. They will partner with Afghans over the long term to enhance the capacity of national and sub-national government institutions and to help rehabilitate Afghanistan’s key economic sectors so that Afghans can defeat the insurgents who promise only more violence.

*Our top reconstruction priority is implementing a civilian-military agriculture redevelopment strategy to restore Afghanistan’s once vibrant agriculture sector

*An emphasis of our governance efforts will be on developing more responsive, visible, and accountable institutions at the provincial, district, and local level, where everyday Afghans encounter their government.

None of that is smoke and mirrors. That is a concrete plan. Some of us can examine this logically and rationally and understand what is happening here. We finally have an exit strategy, something that has been lacking for 8 years. Obama is finally ending the two wars that Bush started. I know it will make him unpopular with those who want to believe the "Obama supports endless war" meme, but getting out of Afghanistan is the right thing to do and Obama is doing it.

[jeanpalmer]

12. That's actually what was missing last night

concrete goals and timelines. Just a vague promise that troops would be coming home in 18 months. But definitely no deadlines for complete withdrawal, or even benchmarks that would trigger a complete withdrawal. And there's a reason for that -- we're going to be there indefinitely. According to Obama, we're there to fight the terrorists. When will there ever be no terrorists per Obama? Never. That's why we're going to be there for decades. And that's why he gave us no deadlines, or even benchmarks, for withdrawal.

[NYC Liberal]

19. We're not going to be there indefinitely.

Which is exactly what Obama said. It puts a dent in the "Obama supports endless war" meme for sure, but quite honestly, if you buy into that then little Obama does will impress you anyway - no matter what. For the people who believe it, there will always be something wrong with anything Obama does.

Quote

When will there ever be no terrorists per Obama?

Strawman, since Obama never said the goal is to have "no terrorists." The objectives in Afghanistan according to him last night are:

*"deny al Qaeda a safe haven"
*"reverse the Taliban's momentum and deny it the ability to overthrow the government"
*"strengthen the capacity of Afghanistan's security forces and government so that they can take lead responsibility for Afghanistan's future"

[IndianaGreen]

21. There is no such thing as Afghan security forces

and what there is, in terms of police and Afghan National Army, suffers from 50 percent desertion rate.

Read the following thread, and make sure you watch the video provided at the link:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4167677

[ClarkUSA]

7. As your OP "sources" go, SocialistWorker.org is not as credible as the Sri Lanka Guardian.

:rofl:

[mike_c]

9. please identify the errors....

As arguments go, unsubstantiated accusations of worthlessness are even less credible.

[ClarkUSA]

11. Besides the fact that the OP title is an exact quote of an oft-repeated RNC talking point?

That says it all, doesn't it? If you don't see the "wrong" in sounding exactly like Eric Cantor and John Boehner, then I can't help you.

:shrug:

[mike_c]

13. more misdirection....

Neither of those people were quoted in the article and nothing in the article refers to anything they say. You've just thrown out some names and tried to garble the discussion further.

Sorry, you're right. YOU can't do a damned thing. YOU don't have any idea what you're talking about, I suspect.

[ClarkUSA]

14. lol! Facts = "misdirection"? I'll leave you to defending this wingnut talking point OP, then.

:hi:

[FailingParachute]

16. Really?

How so?

Could you post some examples of where they have been wrong?

I mean, certainly you're way too smart to blow something off just because you don't the title of the website, aren't you?

Gosh, I would hope so. Otherwise, you'd be just like those "other people" who blow off anything that Olberman or Maddow says.

That's pretty stupid, don't you think?

[jeanpalmer]

15. If you want to look at it technically

troops are always coming home. Some are going over there, some are coming home. No big deal. Obama should have talked about a date for complete withdrawal. But people are misinterpreting his comments about soldiers coming home to = withdrawal.

[alcibiades_mystery]

17. Good. He's the first competent president we've had to run it

:shrug:

[grahamhgreen]

22. Now it's a NEW war - the war in PAKISTAN!