Afghanistan- WTF?

[YoungRemy]

There's no end in sight and we are losing more soldiers than ever. We're not even fighting the same enemy anymore. Al Qaeda is in Pakistan and the Taliban is ruling the areas where the ragtag Afghan Army can't reach.

We'll be out of Iraq before we get out this mess in Afghanistan, more troops will be needed by october...

[Drederick Tatum]

I doubt that the US will leave Iraq completely for many many years to come. the permanent bases they built there suggest they plan to garrison this strategically vital area for a serious length of time.

Afghanistan could drag on for a long long time. I'm mostly worried about Pakistan's nukes and how secure they are/will be.

[saz]

In a powerful new documentary, "Security" from the Rethink Afghanistan project (http://rethinkafghanistan.com/), three former high-ranking CIA agents explain why the war in Afghanistan is making the world more dangerous, rather than safer, for Americans.

Robert Baer, former CIA field operative in the Middle East and the author of "See No Evil," says: "The notion that we are are in Afghanistan to make our country safer is complete bullshit."

And Graham Fuller, former CIA station chief in Kabul, emphasizes: "Both wars have made the world much more dangerous for Americans and for any American presence overseas."

rethink afghanistan (part 6): security (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjE2wMWMJwI)

[Schmeltz]

I still find it impossible to believe that any kind of significant reconstruction project can be undertaken without first securing Afghanistan from the direct military interference of the Taliban. It's ludicrous to pretend that you can build and maintain schools in a place where people are willing to take up arms to prevent their own children from being educated. And it's equally inane to believe that a state founded on the sale of narcotic drugs and a spiritually imprisoning interpretation of Islam could be anything other than a threat not just to its neighbours but to the world at large.

Clearly a new approach to the conduct of the war is needed. But a direct retreat would be the worst possible option for all the parties involved except for the clear and present villains.

[YoungRemy]

When we bombed Kabul in 2001, were we fighting the Taliban or were we fighting Al Qaeda and looking for Bin Laden?

[YoungRemy]

bump

30,000 more troops ordered and an endgame in sight.
July 2011, according to Obama, troops will begin to withdraw.

al Qaeda is weak, the Taliban is stronger than ever, Bin Laden is nowhere in sight, Pakistan harbors anti-American sympathizers.

wtf?

[RobMoney$]

Obama promised an impatient public he would begin bringing units home in 18 months


Sen. John McCain, who was Obama's Republican opponent in last year's presidential campaign, told Obama at an early evening meeting attended by numerous lawmakers that declaring a timetable for a withdrawal would merely send the Taliban underground until the Americans began to leave.



BTW, John McCain is still alive and kicking.

[Schmeltz]

I guarantee that the Taliban will not simply abandon the gains they have made in the past year and a half and let NATO walk around unhindered. If anything forces them underground, it will be the troop surge. Let's hope it works.

Good to see McCain survived his association with that Alaskan dimwit you love so much.