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Afghanistan Endgame
The gang at McClatchy say their sources tell them that Obama has made up his mind about Afghanistan. He plans to increase troop levels by 34,000:
As it now stands, the administration's plan calls for sending three Army brigades from the 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell, Ky. and the 10th Mountain Division at Fort Drum, N.Y. and a
Marine brigade, for a total of as many as 23,000 additional combat and support troops.
Another 7,000 troops would man and support a new division headquarters for the international force's Regional Command (RC) South in Kandahar, the Taliban birthplace where the U.S. is due to take command in 2010. Some 4,000 additional U.S. trainers are likely to be sent as well, the officials said.
The first additional combat brigade probably would arrive in Afghanistan next March, the officials said, with the other three following at roughly three-month intervals, meaning that all the additional U.S. troops probably wouldn't be deployed until the end of next year. Army brigades number 3,500 to 5,000 soldiers; a Marine brigade has about 8,000 troops.
But apparently Team Obama wants some more time to work on their PR campaign before they announce this publicly. "This is not going to be an easy sell, especially with the fight over health care and the (Democratic) party's losses" of the governors' mansions in New Jersey and Virginia last week, according to one unnamed source. I'll buy that.
"The plan would fall well
"The plan would fall well short of the 80,000 troops that Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top U.S. military commander in Afghanistan, suggested as a "low-risk option" that would offer the best chance to contain the Taliban-led insurgency and stabilize Afghanistan.
It splits the difference between two other McChrystal options: a "high-risk" one that called for 20,000 additional troops and a "medium-risk" one that would add 40,000 to 45,000 troops."
So it's not low risk, and it's not medium risk. Apparently, his too small can't make it bigger stimulus troubles have taught him nothing.
The President is a guy who likes to stand the country in the middle of the highway.
Wish we had a leader.
futile war
you had a leader dick cheney and his side kick the bushwaker.
7 years they had,they were so good that the war has now lasted longer than ww2.
7 years of bullshit talk and lies.
does that mean the talibs are better than the nazis or is it that the cheney was busy sorting out financially rewarding haliburton contracts.
the biggest money grab in history and no impeachments.
obama won a nobel prize for talking.
Afghanistan
A good estimate is that it costs $1,000,000 to keep a soldier in Afghanistan for a year. That's one billion per year, then, for a thousand troops and so 34 billion dollars per year more for 34,000 more troops.
Is this the best way we could spend our money? I do not think so.
Tired of the BS
"Democratic losses."
I'm so sick of this. A vastly unpopular Dem in NJ lost, and a Republican won in VA. How can the Dems be so f'in stupid as to read a lot into this? A NY23 Dem went to the House for the first time since the 1800s, and a liberal Dem replaced a moderate Dem in CA. Quit the f'in bitchin' and work for the American people!
These chicken shits won't get a dime from me until they stand up.
Ghost
The ghost of Lyndon Johnson is knocking on the door. This. Is. A. Lost. Cause.
Give It One Last Try, I Guess
I'm in favor giving Obama a chance. Perhaps some of the good people of Afghanistan will appreciate our helping in the fight against the Taliban. We shouldn't expect to create a flourishing democracy, but should at least give the sane people of Afghanistan a fighting chance when we leave.
Also
In addition to the troop numbers and the PR message, it is also important to formulate an exit strategy. Perhaps the Adminstration will provide something other than a vision of endless warfare over there...
Here's a PR message:
I voted for Obama and change. America is NOT getting change. We're getting more status quo politics. Democrats are not supposed to be Republican Lite. Losers!
In what way is Obama not Bush III?
Endgame!?
One thing this move surely is not is any sort of endgame. Pick your metaphor--"quagmire," "one more slog into the Big Muddy", or whatever. "Endgame" is definitely not the word.
Stay the course
Obama is American President and he does as American presidents do, what else would you expect.
He might criticize the war decisions of his predecessor and then he'll stay the course.