Afghan War to Expand, but with "Endgame"

[hideyoursheep]

Just thinking out loud...

It won't do any good to build a pipeline if they keep blowing the fuck out of it.

[Va Beach VH Fan]

Yet another thread hijacking into pissing contests, you see what Sarge is referring to ya fellas, don't ya ??

To get back on topic....

My problem with the whole Afghanistan operation, since 2003 anyway, is that the primary focus has been shifted....

It's no longer about finding Bin Laden and Omar, it's shifted to the Taliban and nation building....

I know the Taliban is/was sheltering Bin Laden, so it made sense to go after them initially.... But even if after this latest deployment, where they're sure to wipe more of them out, does anyone really think that as soon as the pullout is complete, they'll eventually take over once again ?? And if the answer to that is yes, why delay the inevitable at the massive cost of lives and money ??

I know dealing with Pakistan on military matters is a walking minefield, but if Obama came out and said we're going to deploy 30,000 more troops, and their SOLE focus was to go in the region where Bin Laden and Omar are most likely hiding, then I'd have no problem at all, much like I had no problem with the initial deployment that Dubya ordered (not to be confused with Iraq, of course)....

[ULTRAMAN VH]

Yet another thread hijacking into pissing contests, you see what Sarge is referring to ya fellas, don't ya ??

To get back on topic....

My problem with the whole Afghanistan operation, since 2003 anyway, is that the primary focus has been shifted....

It's no longer about finding Bin Laden and Omar, it's shifted to the Taliban and nation building....

I know the Taliban is/was sheltering Bin Laden, so it made sense to go after them initially.... But even if after this latest deployment, where they're sure to wipe more of them out, does anyone really think that as soon as the pullout is complete, they'll eventually take over once again ?? And if the answer to that is yes, why delay the inevitable at the massive cost of lives and money ??

I know dealing with Pakistan on military matters is a walking minefield, but if Obama came out and said we're going to deploy 30,000 more troops, and their SOLE focus was to go in the region where Bin Laden and Omar are most likely hiding, then I'd have no problem at all, much like I had no problem with the initial deployment that Dubya ordered (not to be confused with Iraq, of course)....

It does seems like an absolute waste of taxpayer money and troop lives. In boxing they call it telegraphing. Why Obama would broadcast to the world that he intends to pull out in 18 months after announcing the deployment of 30 thousand troops is just absurd. Al Qaeda has no problem stepping out of the picture for 18 months and waiting out this latest surge. This group is very patient and methodical. It must be frustrating to be a soldier in today's U.S. military. My heart goes out to them.

[Dr. Love]

Yet another thread hijacking into pissing contests, you see what Sarge is referring to ya fellas, don't ya ??

Are you insinuating that in the Front Line we don't debate ideas, but rather just piss on each other personally?

No doubt we all have the intellectual fortitude to debate each other here on the policy and do so all the time, just not in any of the threads I read or post in.

I dunno, maybe it's too hard to keep it to the ideas/too easy to call someone a retard.

Retard.

[jhale667]

Nah, it's just to easy (and accurate) to call Jerksmear a retard when he makes the "Obama's muslim brother" comments and merely regurgitates whatever Fixed Noise told him that morning on "Fucked and Friends"...

I'm with those who've said they'd be more into the idea if we were specifically going after Bin Laden and his Taliban helpers, but that unfortunately doesn't seem to be the case.

[FORD]

Well, that's because Bin Laden is dead. Hard to go after him, unless Satan lets you know where the portal to Hell is located.

There's three things in play here, and they all begin with the letter P

Pipelines
Poppies
Pakistani nukes

The first two are not worth one more drop of American blood. The third needs a much better approach (i.e. a government in Pakistan that's not a client state of the CIA/BCE)

[jhale667]

Well, that's because Bin Laden is dead. Hard to go after him, unless Satan lets you know where the portal to Hell is located.

There's three things in play here, and they all begin with the letter P

Pipelines
Poppies
Pakistani nukes

The first two are not worth one more drop of American blood. The third needs a much better approach (i.e. a government in Pakistan that's not a client state of the CIA/BCE)

Exactly.

[FORD]

All Too Familiar on Afghanistan
posted by Laura Flanders on 12/03/2009 @ 09:50am


The President talked about America's enduring values again at West Point Tuesday night, and then he laid them out, a whole lot of values one can only wish would endure a little less.

The President began his address to the nation on Afghanistan in the traditional style of his predecessor, setting the tone for troop deployments by recalling 9-11 and terror and fright. Then came the retelling of the traditional Al Qaeda story, the one that omits any mention of Saudi Arabia or Israeli occupation or post-Gulf War US bases -- in fact any mention of politics.

Sadly, our new president seemed to share George W. Bush's appreciation for the value of a simple villain and not asking questions. So much for those who seek a new narrative, one that might include the debate that exists around the world about the merits and real demerits of war as a response to a criminal terrorist act.

Having declared legitimacy, the president then claimed responsibility, a special American responsibility and authority to invade, police, and act in ways that other countries may not.

Amazingly, the nation's first Black president retold the simplest national founding story: "Our union was founded in resistance to oppression." (For his wife's ancestors it was not.) And he made the classic claim of innocence "We do not seek to occupy other nations. We will not claim another nation's resources." (The US has a long history, of course, of helping our corporations do just that, from Chevron to United Fruit.)

As tradition requires, Obama claimed progress is being made. Maybe so, but it'd be more convincing in Afghanistan were it not for all those US-backed Afghan warlords gearing up to fight each other with US weapons, fueled by a heroin trade that the CIA stands accused of letting rip. Obama's words were too familiar -- so too his silences.

Finally and worst, for those who'd thought they'd voted for the death of the Bush Doctrine. Sorry. Bush/Cheney live on in the new president's embrace of the idea that the US has a right, not only to respond to attacks, but also to deploy men and women in anticipation of them.

"New attacks are being plotted as I speak," said Obama.

Do I hear an echo? So much for those who had the audacity to hope.

Laura Flanders is the host of GRITtv which broadcasts weekdays on satellite TV (Dish Network Ch. 9415 Free Speech TV) on cable, and online at GRITtv.org and TheNation.com. Follow GRITtv or GRITlaura on Twitter.com.

http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/502872/all_too_familiar_on_afghanistan

[LoungeMachine]

He may not be responsible for this war/occupation's inception.....

But he'll be responsible for every last soldier and marine who dies for this mistake.

There's NOTHING to "win" there.

Declare victory, and get the fuck out.

Regroup here, and live to fight another day.

[Va Beach VH Fan]

Are you insinuating that in the Front Line we don't debate ideas, but rather just piss on each other personally?

I'll just say that the percentage of time actually debating has declined drastically in lieu of pissing....

Retard...

[LoungeMachine]

I'll just say that the percentage of time actually debating has declined drastically in lieu of pissing....

Retard...

But when we do ask people to stay on topic and to stop pissing, just look at the increase in traffic in the Feedback Forum!!!

If they can't piss here, they'll piss louder in Feedback about their rights being stomped on.




faggot.

[Dr. Love]

I'll just say that the percentage of time actually debating has declined drastically in lieu of pissing....

Retard...

I did a quantitative analysis on quality of posts in The Front Line and here is what I discovered:

[Dr. Love]

bitch.

[ZahZoo]

I'd like to debate this further but I gotta piss... BRB

[Nickdfresh]

It does seems like an absolute waste of taxpayer money and troop lives.

What's an absolute "waste?" Should we withdraw? Or do you believe we're not sending enough?

In boxing they call it telegraphing. Why Obama would broadcast to the world that he intends to pull out in 18 months after announcing the deployment of 30 thousand troops is just absurd.

The 18 months deadline is so filled with loopholes, qualifiers, "ifs" and "whens" --that it's not even really relevant to the discussion and is essentially a meaningless line meant to assuage the left...

Al Qaeda has no problem stepping out of the picture for 18 months and waiting out this latest surge. This group is very patient and methodical. It must be frustrating to be a soldier in today's U.S. military. My heart goes out to them.

So you think we should withdraw and let al Qaida take over Afghanistan?