Afghanistan

[dgriffin]

I am about to advise the President by mail to send more troops to Afghanistan and keep an American presence there until he feels it is appropriate to withdraw. Since this policy will result in more death and destruction, especially among our servicemen and women, I would like to list the reasons why our country should do this.

But I can't think of any.

Would anyone like to help me?

[Ralph]

Uh.......

Let me get back to you on that.

[Deleted]

Well, we don't have to worry about bombing the Afghans back into the Stone Age, they still live in that era. Bunch of friggin' cave dwellers. Animals. They supply probably 90% of the poppies used to make heroin, & we're defending those bastard war lords that are making millions growing the crop? Karzai is corrupt & half nuts as is the whole government over there. We will not & cannot win over there, but we will spend billions trying which is an exercise in futility. Not to mention our servicemen & women who are going to die. Obama will send thousands of more troops to Afghanistan so as not to be labeled weak & a pacifist by the right wing neocon nut cases of Fox News & others. What a waste.

[clarencebunsen]

We learned yesterday that one of our nephews has deployed to Afghanistan. He was already out of country when we found out and was somewhere between here & there as we sat down to Thanksgiving dinner. Since the Army has trained him to speak Farsi & Pashtun and he discretely doesn't talk about what he does, I have a pretty good idea of which area of the country he is going to be assigned.

This summer he visited us during 4th of July weekend (he was able to travel from DC to central NY on a 3 day pass but didn't feel he could make it to Minnesota & back). It was the first time I had an extended conversation with him since his HS graduation.

While we were having a July 4th picnic, he tried to explain to the gathering that although he had no personal desire to fight, as a member of the US military during war time he was ready & willing to go.

A lot of the assembled family didn't get it, but I had no trouble with his reasoning.

I won't claim to know why we are there, but I understand perfectly why he is there.

[dgriffin]

Many here get it, CB. And we pray for him.

[dgriffin]

US suffers deadliest month in Afghanistan as eight soldiers killed

Deaths come as newspaper reports senior diplomat's resignation over growing conflict



The US has suffered its deadliest month (October, '09) in eight years of fighting in Afghanistan with the deaths of eight American soldiers today in bomb attacks in the south of the country.

A total of 55 American soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan this month, nearly half of them in recent days.

The surge in deaths comes as President Barack Obama considers a request from the Nato commander in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, for tens of thousands more troops. It was also revealed that a senior American diplomat in Afghanistan has become the first US official to resign over a war he says is only being perpetuated by the presence of foreign troops and international support for a corrupt, unpopular government.

Matthew Hoh, a former marine captain who fought in Iraq and was posted to Afghanistan's Zabul province where the Taliban is strong, questioned the purpose of the war and said that many Afghans were fighting only because foreign troops are in their country.

"I have lost understanding of and confidence in the strategic purposes of the United States' presence in Afghanistan," he wrote in a four-page resignation letter last month, obtained by the Washington Post. "I have doubts and reservations about our current strategy and planned future strategy, but my resignation is based not upon how we are pursuing this war, but why and to what end."


Mr. Hoh's letter of resignation is here:

www.enewspf.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11164:us-diplomat-resigns-to-protest-war-in-afghanistan&catid=88888983:latest-national-news&Itemid=88889930


Guardian article here:
www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/oct/27/matthew-hoh-afghanistan-resign-us

[gski]

Great question, why are we there? Supposedly to support the UN coalition against the Taliban and to "strangle" the Taliban and stop terrorism.

Now we've got a double edge sword. Leave and the Taliban take over the rest of the country and empower them with a victory over the great Satin, the US. Don't leave and we prolong everything.

With our Muslim in Chief, as president, I'm just waiting for him to send the Taliban the troop deployment schedules along with what times the bombs and troops with be attacking.

[dgriffin]

Nov 27, 2009 5:24:08 GMT -5 @kracker said:

Well, we don't have to worry about bombing the Afghans back into the Stone Age, they still live in that era. Bunch of friggin' cave dwellers. Animals. They supply probably 90% of the poppies used to make heroin, & we're defending those bastard war lords that are making millions growing the crop? Karzai is corrupt & half nuts as is the whole government over there. We will not & cannot win over there, but we will spend billions trying which is an exercise in futility. Not to mention our servicemen & women who are going to die. Obama will send thousands of more troops to Afghanistan so as not to be labeled weak & a pacifist by the right wing neocon nut cases of Fox News & others. What a waste.

This is probably a lose-lose for the O-Man. But the sooner he sucks it up and pulls out, the less lives will be spent. Those slackers of Old Europe will be bitter about us not doing their work for them, in addition to the folks Kracker refers to here. Who, by the way, are entertainers ... Hannity, OhReally, etc. I read somewhere that although they have large audiences, surveys show that most of the listenership does not take them seriously.

(Can someone point me back to that article? I can't find it. When I searched, the only interesting result was O'Reilly claiming Lesbian Gangs were taking over towns in Tennesee and could become a national threat.)

[gski]

Dave, the biggest issue again, at least to me, for Obama, is that he campaigned on the Afgan war as the "good" war, again, what he continues to do is hedge his bets, promises.

[Deleted]

Nov 27, 2009 8:55:04 GMT -5 gski said:

Great question, why are we there? Supposedly to support the UN coalition against the Taliban and to "strangle" the Taliban and stop terrorism.

Now we've got a double edge sword. Leave and the Taliban take over the rest of the country and empower them with a victory over the great Satin, the US. Don't leave and we prolong everything.

With our Muslim in Chief, as president, I'm just waiting for him to send the Taliban the troop deployment schedules along with what times the bombs and troops with be attacking.

I seriously doubt that Obama is a Muslim as you claim. But, could you please point me to where in the U.S. Constitution it is mentioned that a Muslim can't be President? As long as the law of the land is upheld, & he's not a militant calling for jihad against the U.S., then what difference does it make? There are millions of Muslims in this country. If they were all joining the jihadist movement, out troops would be fighting them right here on our own soil. Gimme a break.

[corner]

the russians couldnt handle it and they were brutal ove there i dont know what makes us think we can eal with it and win and what do we win .. the ability to spend billions building them back up.?

[dgriffin]

Nov 27, 2009 10:15:11 GMT -5 gski said:

Dave, the biggest issue again, at least to me, for Obama, is that he campaigned on the Afgan war as the "good" war, again, what he continues to do is hedge his bets, promises.

Well, I know we dislike thinking of such things, but countries, including the US, have to invade and murder once in a while, sending in soldiers who will be killed, for reasons that are not always crystal clear, nor with arguments that are as tight as we might see in a Henry Fonda movie. A movie script starts out with either zero history and a manufactured past. Real life always has antecedents. And a lot more of, "if we don't, someone worse will."

But in this case, I still don't see any good reasons to remain in Afghanistan. But who knows, maybe the CIA needs the cash from the opium sales that Kracker mentioned. The Golden Crescent (Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan) produces a large proportion of all the opium in the world.

[Deleted]

The bastards also more than likely know where Bin Laden is hiding. If he's in Afghanistan, the war lords know where he is. No way could he survivve all these years without their protection & assistance.

[gski]

I seriously doubt that Obama is a Muslim as you claim. But, could you please point me to where in the U.S. Constitution it is mentioned that a Muslim can't be President?

Hmmm....I don't believe anywhere in my comments I said that a Muslim couldn't be president.
So I don't know where that comment came from.

Aside from the middle Name, which during the campaign, could not be spoken, and his prior name was Barry Sorento, I guess that one just decides to call themselves Barrack Hussain Obama for kicks.

HUSSAIN -Meaning & Origin:
From the Arabic personal name, Husayn, derived from the Arabic hasuna, meaning "to be good" or "to be handsome or beautiful." Hasan, for which Hussain is a derivative, was the son of Ali and the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad.

Just because he went to Muslam schools while in Indonesia and studied the Koran and Islam, that too means nothing.

Frankly what bothers me is the fact that he doesn't admit it. What's the big deal if he did, he says now he's a "christian". Oh maybe it's the Indonesia thingy. As a US citizen they weren't allowed to be in Indonesia during that time.....

[Deleted]

I know why you made the statement. It was a slam on Obama, & an attempt to inflame the ignorant, present company excluded. It seems to me that some people just have to show some prejudice against whoever. Be it blacks, hispanics, left handers, redheads or whatever. The current fad goes against Muslims & folks of Arabic descent. And while the country crumbles, people are wringing their hands over whether Obama is a Muslim or not. At the same time, the real issues that plauge this country are ignored & are put off for the next generation to deal with. It's called divide & conquer. Who benefits? The ruling class, while the suckers continue to live day to day, paycheck to paycheck, taxed into the poorhouse.