Warning From General on End to Afghan Combat

[laststeamtrain]

Source: NYT

July 16, 2009
Warning From General on End to Afghan Combat
By ERIC SCHMITT

KABUL, Afghanistan — The new American commander in Afghanistan said Wednesday that United States Marines had faced less resistance than expected in their operation to clear Taliban safe havens in the south, but that British troops just to the north were running into fiercer fighting than anticipated.

The commander, Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, also said that he was surprised by the resilience of pockets of Pashtun militants in western and northern Afghanistan, areas that he expected to be relatively calm but that now needed more troops and stronger local governance.

General McChrystal’s assessment one month into his command does not only reflect the dynamic and unpredictable nature of the fight in Afghanistan. It also underscores the challenges facing American commanders and diplomats as they work with allied and Afghan officials to carry out the Obama administration’s new war strategy here.

In the pivotal southern province of Helmand, for instance, where 4,000 Marines and 650 Afghan soldiers faced only sporadic fighting in the first two weeks of their operation, General McChrystal said, Taliban fighters are starting to fight back, probing with small-scale attacks and improvised explosives.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/16/world/asia/16general.html?hp

[timeforpeace]

1. "End to Afghan Combat"? Shouldn't headline writers be required to read the article first?

[ShamelessHussy]

2. Terrible echo from the past... Gen. Says he "needed more troops"

:cry:

[laststeamtrain]

3. The real welfare queens. n/t.

[Ex Lurker]

4. McChrystal is no Westmoreland

That doesn't mean this thing will turn out like it's supposed to, but he has a track record, and does actually know what he's doing.

[ShamelessHussy]

5. This is way bigger than any one man

Just like nam.

[saigon68]

7. He is a Fucking Asshole making Gold Star Mothers Daily

He is a simple, and stubborn man, who perpetuates for whatever reason, the Chimp/Cheney war for oil. It doesn't matter to him that the last 3 Empires who tried to "civilize" that place, left with their tails between their legs.

What the Fuck would the inhabitants of amerika do if Osama's Army had his assets and attempted to religiously invade and assimilate amerika?

No, he is clueless to history. The people who sent him there are also clueless.

Rudyard Kipling had a poem for this place---- here are the last 2 verses.

Rudyard Kipling THE YOUNG BRITISH SOLDIER

If your officer's dead and the sergeants look white,
Remember it's ruin to run from a fight:
So take open order, lie down, and sit tight,
And wait for supports like a soldier.
Wait, wait, wait like a soldier . . .

When you're wounded and left on Afghanistan's plains,
And the women come out to cut up what remains,
Jest roll to your rifle and blow out your brains
An' go to your Gawd like a soldier.
Go, go, go like a soldier,
Go, go, go like a soldier,
Go, go, go like a soldier,
So-oldier ~of~ the Queen!

Oh and by the Way----Where is Osama ? That useless POS has no idea. He is however a tool for the rich and powerful

[ShamelessHussy]

8. And consider that the head of the CIA just CANCELLED the targeting of AQ - according to the M$M

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/15/AR2009071503856.html

So, if that is the case, then I say the WOT is over and it is time to bring our troops home NOW!

[saigon68]

10. Sadly it appears to be true

[soryang]

6. In ten years Afghanistan, then the world

imperialism never loses its appeal. Where does all the money come from for this pointless endeavor?

[ShamelessHussy]

9. Afghanistan Now Is Obama’s War - Helen Thomas

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=6081300&mesg_id=6081300