The news media is all a-twitter about President Black Obama’s decision to deploy additional troops to Afghanistan, like this is something new. All accounts suggest the decision is in response to a standing request by General David McKiernan, but, it seems more likely to be a campaign promise fulfilled. In his own words, here’s what he said in the New York Times in July:
As president, I would pursue a new strategy, and begin by providing at least two additional combat brigades to support our effort in Afghanistan. We need more troops, more helicopters, better intelligence-gathering and more nonmilitary assistance to accomplish the mission there. I would not hold our military, our resources and our foreign policy hostage to a misguided desire to maintain permanent bases in Iraq.
In January of 2008, the video below was posted on You Tube, and, though he has been accused of blowing off Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearings on the subject, going after Al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan is probably the one thing Barack Obama has been consistent about since Day One.
X-posted at Cinie’s World
Filed under: Barack Obama, Politics | Tagged: Afghanistan, Al Qaeda, Iraq War, PUMA, Taliban |
The Confluence 
first?
I second that
Yep.
Woo-hoo!
So, are the “war babies'” heads exploding, or are they trying to pretend they’re okay with switching battle fronts?
So much for Obama as the “anti-war” candidate.
I’m not saying it’s bad strategy, in fact I agree with it. We never should have pulled our troops from A-stan to invade Iraq.
eh, no one will care what BO does because the msm won’t report it except as ponies, unicorns and lollipops.
I thought unicorns shit skittles?
They’re giving him cover, saying it was McKiernan’s request.
I’ll betcha we don’t leave Iraq anytime soon though.
notice there’s been NO reporting on Irak since BO took office?
we won’t leave until all our oil is out of thier sand
I agree with myiq (!); we should have done the job right in Afghanistan. But since we’ve let things go to wrack and ruin there, it’s going to be an enormous job to try to stabilize the area.
I don’t look for much decrease in #s of troops abroad — they’ll just get shunted from I-duty to A-duty.
On TPM, their heads are percolating, not yet erupting into full blown explosion.
From the BBC:
President Barack Obama has authorised the deployment of up to 17,000 extra US troops to Afghanistan, saying they are to “meet urgent security needs”.
Two brigades – one army and one marine – are to be sent, Mr Obama said in a statement released by the White House.
This first major troop deployment under Mr Obama comes as his administration reviews US policy in Afghanistan.
He has vowed to focus US military efforts on fighting the Taleban in Afghanistan, rather than on Iraq.
The additional troops to be sent to Afghanistan had originally been scheduled to go to Iraq. “The fact that we are going to responsibly drawdown our forces in Iraq allows us the flexibility to increase our presence in Afghanistan,” Mr Obama said.
The announcement came after the UN said that the number of civilians killed in the conflict in Afghanistan rose by 39% last year.
Militants were to blame for 55% of the 2,118 civilian deaths, while US, Nato and Afghan forces were responsible for 39%, according to the UN report – the highest number since the Taleban were ousted in 2001.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7895951.stm
afghanistan = death trap of empires
But, Quetta is in Pakistan, elderj.
Hey elder!
You stole my comment! Although I thought the line went: “Afghanistan–where empires go to die.” If so, I guess it’s fitting that we are ramping up over there right now. What I’ll never understand is how aerial bombardments by drone planes are supposed to help to stem the tide of terrorism in the tribal areas. I guess that’s where the logic of putting feet on the ground comes in, but I feel awful for those feet, and for the innocent lives that will be shed on all sides.
afghanistan = death trap of empires
The Hindu Kush is in A-stan
“Hindu Kush” means “Hindu Killer”
I was just over at TBogg reading the (obligatory) post about Bristol Palin – I can’t tell the difference between the comments there and the stuff you see at Freeperville.
I agree that abandoning the war in Afghanistan for Iraq was totally stupid (actually, as I write that, I still cannot believe we went to war in Iraq. It’s incredible). But some mistakes are not correctible and this may be one. Even the Soviets couldn’t succeed in Afghanistan.
During Clinton’s nomination hearings, she talked a LOT about taking diplomany and international development out of the hands of the military and putting it back into the diplomatic and econ. development professional arenas where it belongs. When your primary diplomany vector is the military you just tend to get a whole lot more war. When you’re a hammer, everything looks like a nail. (Anyone else been seeing way too many promos for ‘The Closer’?)
We’re coming up on the deadline for the book discussion of Three Cups of Tea. Which will be interesting, because the whole point is that there is more than one way to achieve peace and military involvement is not necessarily the best, or even a good, one.
today from state.gov
QUESTION: Yes. Madame Secretary, Pakistan has reached an agreement with militants in the Northwest Territories that will halt government military offenses there in the hope of reaching peace, and I wonder if you have any concern that this might end up being a capitulation to a strategy that hasn’t worked in the past.
SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, Paul, I think that the decision that was announced by the Government of Pakistan has to be thoroughly understood, and we’re in the process of pursuing that at this time. Obviously, we believe that the activity by the extremist elements in Pakistan poses a direct threat to the Government of Pakistan, as well as to the security of the United States, Afghanistan, and a number of other nations not only in the immediate region.
So before I comment on what its meaning might be, I want to be sure that we have as good an understanding of both the Pakistan Government’s intention and the actual agreed-upon language. And that I don’t have at this time, so I want to wait until we can provide that.
To be successful it seems that we are going to have to start learning to live with lots of gray and very little black and white. Egg timers last longer than most alliances in that part of the world and are as shallow as Favreau’s rhetoric. I have always thought that BZero’s play was to capture or kill bin Laden and but for that he wouldn’t give a thimbleful of dead goat’s milk about the place.
Egg timers last longer than most alliances in that part of the world and are as shallow as Favreau’s rhetoric
There’s a saying about A-stan that it’s a place where “You can’t buy loyalty, you can only rent it.”
Q: What’s the difference between Jesus and Obama?
A. Jesus could assemble a cabinet.
Good one — hadn’t heard that one.
Been trying to rent since 1980.
There’s an interesting post on New Hampster’s website and I think this takes you to it:
http://www.partizane.com/node/783
(yep it works)
It appears Mdmes Obama and Biden have jobs!
As long as everyone understands this war has moved on to Pakistan, it’s Agh-Pak. I understand why we might feel the need to send troops in, but I doubt it’s going to work. It’s very scary because the Taliban is very close to taking over Pakistan, and of course Pakistan has nuclear weapons, but I don’t think the policy will be successful. I still agree with Kerry. Afghanistan was a policing/intelligence mission, not a military mission. No good will come from there.
Afghanistan will probably be the straw that breaks the back of the American Empire.
“We’re coming up on the deadline for the book discussion of Three Cups of Tea. Which will be interesting, because the whole point is that there is more than one way to achieve peace and military involvement is not necessarily the best, or even a good, one.”
When and how will we be discussing? I am just about through the book now….. want to hear what you all have to say.
SYD
In the first paragraph you say President “Black” Obama. Is that a Freudian slip? Why mention race?
Unlike his decision to fly to Denver and make an enormous personal effort and pr event of signing the stim bill, his announcement about troops to A-stan was a piece of paper and something less than half of the request. What has not been discussed in the papers or anywhere else is the apparent request of DOD to cut its budget by 10%. This back of the bus seating for the military is very loud. From an economic standpoint, one of the quickest and most direct ways to effect unemployment, provide high quality job training and direct government spending would be to expand our military forces and repair and replenish the damage done to our forces as they have fought two wars.
Carolyn, that’s why he was elected, imo, so that’s the way I refer to him.
Somebody had to say it Cinie.
Perhaps this is why her whole focus is on “military moms”
right now.
Somebody had to say it Cinie
It’s obvious that the “race card” was a predetermined strategy of the Obama campaign.
ANY criticism of Obama was turned into racism.
The only people who could call bullshit on the strategy were AA’s, and very few of them were willing to do it.
Give Obama credit, the strategy worked like a charm.