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Afghanistan
Obama Says a Way Out of Afghanistan Is Needed
2009-03-23
WASHINGTON -- The United States must look for a way out of the war in Afghanistan, President Obama said, in a signal that the military build-up in Afghanistan will not be open-ended and will lead to the eventual withdrawal of American and NATO troops from the country. "There's got to be an exit strategy," Mr. Obama said in a wide-ranging interview shown Sunday on "60 Minutes" on CBS. "There's got to be a sense that this is not perpetual drift."
All of a sudden the 'good war' isn't. Bambi now realizes that all his tough talk in the campaign about Afghanistan and Pakistain, about getting bin Laden, has to be matched by action. He can't do it. He doesn't know how and he's getting contradictory and bad advice. This isn't going to go well.
European officials have been outspoken about their plans to leave Afghanistan in the next three to four years. Mr. Obama's remarks, which were recorded on Friday, indicated that the administration, which has more troops and resources in Afghanistan than European countries do, is also working toward a long-term strategy.

Last month, he announced that he would send 17,000 more American troops to Afghanistan this spring and summer, adding to the 36,000 already there.

In the interview, Mr. Obama also signaled that the United States was redefining its mission in Afghanistan, away from the Bush administration's broader strategy of promoting democracy, civil society and governance in Afghanistan and toward getting the country to a point where it is not used to start attacks on the United States.
The 'realists' are in charge when idealism is what the Afghan people in the north and west have bought.
Asked what the United States' mission in Afghanistan should be, Mr. Obama replied: "Making sure that Al Qaeda cannot attack the U.S. homeland and U.S. interests and our allies. That's our No. 1 priority."
Posted by:Steve White

#18  Obama is of the "war never solved anything" school of thought. Which means he'll look weak to our enemies and sell-out our friends. That crisis Biden promised is coming and it's going to be costly in both dollars and lives.
Posted by: DMFD   2009-03-23 22:53  

#17  OBambi has never had to make a hard decision in his life, EU6305. Suddenly he's in the hottest of the hot seats, and is flailing around like a non-swimmer caught in a rip tide. He has no idea what he's talking about, because except for being a "community planner", he has no experience with the "real world". He's an empty suit, and there isn't enough there to keep the electrons from escaping.
Posted by: Old Patriot   2009-03-23 15:58  

#16  Obama's strategy in Afghanistan is his way of voting "Present".
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC   2009-03-23 13:20  

#15  The donks and MSM (generally=liberals) have never seen a war they approved of. They prefer to carp and snipe from the sidelines whenever anyone does do anything about war.

There is an attitude that has developed mostly in Washington that wars should be like the Super Bowl--over in about 4 hours including all the hoopla, entertainment and shouting. Washington also thinks that wars should be bloodless, riskless, and not cost anything-especially low polls ratings or votes. During WWII, no one really knew when the war was going to end. Washington was committed to seeing it through and WIN. No one knew how long they would have to serve--they served until it ended whenever that was. The people at home, who were too young or old or infirm or needed to work in factories, were accustomed to sacrifice also. Rationing and scrap drives were commonplace, people put tin cans and lard out at the curb for pick up to be used for the war effort. Little was available for anything but the war effort. The concept of total war existed and was practiced. Contrast that with what we have today.
Posted by: JohnQC   2009-03-23 13:09  

#14  My thoughts, exactly, EU6305. The 17,000 troop increase was nothing more than an empty display with our troops in harm's way. The 0 has no real intention of winning the war. He's just looking for an excuse to "exit", with or without victory and it looks more and more like the latter will be the case.
Posted by: eltoroverde   2009-03-23 12:53  

#13  OK, so then why send those 17,000 additional troops into harm's way if all you're doing is looking for an exit? Why not just get the hell out? I'm thinking the reason is that BO is confused, unsteady, unreliable and grasping at straws. The thing to do is sit down and think about it, analyze all the various ramifications, come up with a policy and then stick to it whatever that policy is for at least a year. Sending mixed messages, making contradictory statements, moving troops in and out without a long range strategy is criminal. But I guess that's just how it is when you really don't give a rat's ass about the human beings under your command.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305   2009-03-23 11:59  

#12  The best way to end a war is WIN IT.
Posted by: Redneck Jim   2009-03-23 11:53  

#11  Anybody that has ever played "Risk" knows to get out of the Stan.
Posted by: bman   2009-03-23 11:50  

#10  How about we stop giving them modern transport and communications? No planes, no ships, no cars or trucks. No TV, phones, telegraph. Spread jihad by camel-back if you want to.
Posted by: mojo   2009-03-23 11:34  

#9  The way out of Afghanistan is thru Islamabad, silly.

Correct. And no one really wants a third war of that magnitude, unless India wants to do the heavy lifting, and maybe not even then. So let's get out.

The idea that we can defend a landlocked country surrounded by enemies is delusional.

The idea that we can introduce any form of government even roughly approaching a representative republic to a stone age tribal culture is fantasy.

Afghanistan is not a winning proposition in and of itself. Better to get out sooner rather than later. If they want another round they can punch us in the face again. But if they do, we should go back with the gloves off, via Islamabad with a Sherman.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble   2009-03-23 10:26  

#8  The way out of Afghanistan is thru Islamabad, silly.
Posted by: Varmint Hupomoling9921   2009-03-23 08:26  

#7  Obama Says a Way Out of Washington Afghanistan Is Needed

There, fully repaired.
Posted by: Besoeker   2009-03-23 07:21  

#6  He can leave any time he wants.
Posted by: no mo uro   2009-03-23 07:17  

#5  The "One" and his MSM quislings will blame Bush for letting Afghanistan deteriorate until it was disastarous and unwinnable.
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC   2009-03-23 05:39  

#4  The way out is to defeat the motherfuckers as they were defeated in Iraq. Doesn't he realise that the Taliban are listening to his defeatist words?
Posted by: Apostate   2009-03-23 05:28  

#3  Get out and seed the place with long half-live radioactives?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru   2009-03-23 04:28  

#2  All of a sudden the 'good war' isn't. Bambi now realizes that all his tough talk in the campaign about Afghanistan and Pakistain, about getting bin Laden, has to be matched by action. He can't do it. He doesn't know how and he's getting contradictory and bad advice. This isn't going to go well.

He got what he wanted. He thinks.
Posted by: gorb   2009-03-23 02:49  

#1  Coward!
Posted by: 3dc   2009-03-23 00:27  

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