more troops for afghanistan....more war, more death, more, more, more

[spanone]

U.S. commander: Afghan forces insufficient

Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, the newly arrived top commander in Afghanistan, has concluded that the Afghan security forces will have to be far larger than currently planned if President Obama's strategy for winning the war is to succeed, according to senior military officials.

Such an expansion would require spending billions more than the $7.5 billion the administration has budgeted annually to build up the Afghan army and police over the next several years, and the likely deployment of thousands more U.S. troops as trainers and advisers, officials said.

Obama has voiced strong commitment to the ongoing Afghan conflict -- which this year surpasses Vietnam as America's longest combat engagement -- but has been cautious about making any additional military resources available beyond the 17,000 combat troops and 4,000 military trainers he agreed to in February. That will bring the total U.S. force to 68,000 by fall.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31858268/ns/world_news-washington_post/

[Just-plain-Kathy]

1. If Bush expanded fighting in the Middle East we would be up in arms.

K&R

[paulsby]

4. obama made his position clear before he was elected vis a vis afghanistan

so it's hardly a surprise now

[bahrbearian]

10. So did you vote for more death and destruction?

[Just-plain-Kathy]

13. What was our alternative? "Bomb, bomb, bomb Iran" McCain?

I have never voted for anyone other than a democrat, I can't see that I ever would. BUT, I am not against holding our party accountable.

[bvar22]

18. I OPPPOSED it then.

I OPPOSE it now.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

2. Gotta keep those dominoes from falling and burn some more villages to save them. K&R

And, build another memorial for the troops who died for nothing.

[RC]

15. Killing all those civilians in Afghanistan is keeping America free...

Free to be fleeced by Military-Industrial Complex, big Banks and the government policy of pandering to the rich over the average Jane & Joe.

[kiva]

3. Gimme an F...

Yeah, come on all of you, big strong men,
Uncle Sam needs your help again.
He's got himself in a terrible jam
Way down yonder in Vietnam
So put down your books and pick up a gun,
We're gonna have a whole lotta fun.

And it's one, two, three,
What are we fighting for ?
Don't ask me, I don't give a damn,
Next stop is Vietnam;
And it's five, six, seven,
Open up the pearly gates,
Well there ain't no time to wonder why,
Whoopee! we're all gonna die.

Well, come on generals, let's move fast;
Your big chance has come at last.
Gotta go out and get those reds —
The only good commie is the one who's dead
And you know that peace can only be won
When we've blown 'em all to kingdom come.

**refrain**

Huh!

Well, come on Wall Street, don't move slow,
Why man, this is war au-go-go.
There's plenty good money to be made
By supplying the Army with the tools of the trade,
Just hope and pray that if they drop the bomb,
They drop it on the Viet Cong.

**refrain**

Well, come on mothers throughout the land,
Pack your boys off to Vietnam.
Come on fathers, don't hesitate,
Send 'em off before it's too late.
Be the first one on your block
To have your boy come home in a box.

**refrain**

Too bad Country Joe is still so relevant.

[Mari333]

5. sigh.

[scarletwoman]

6. Spend more money on killing people! It's the American thing to do!

[laststeamtrain]

7. K & R--It's obscene. The US military is a welfare queen. n/t.

[spanone]

8. what, 600 B I L L I O N per year....per fucking year.

[Jennicut]

9. Obama should not have listened to the Gates/Hillary faction

on Afghanistan. And I like Hillary but others like Biden argued to be cautious and argued against more troops. When is it going to end? I get that he wanted to focus here after we ignored it for years but I am uneasy about even more troops. I do hope he won't go with this.

[AzNick]

11. I see hope in the new tactics

They take new territories from the Taliban, rebuild, bring food and meds, help people feel better and the Taliban unwelcome.

They are also cordoning at the border with Pakistan, to help relieve tensions there.

It may work. I will not bet the house on it, but I see hope in the new tactics.

Also this type of warfare is less costly in $$$ and lives than in Iraq.

[TomCADem]

12. The New Tactics Should Have Been From The From Day One Tactics

The Bob Woodward books, even though they are still pretty light on Bush, just show a basic fundamental lack of understanding of what to do in Afganistan. The only metric for success under Bush was body counts. If we had gone in, then focused on the well being of population, rather than invading Iraq, then things would be a lot better. Instead, Pakistan nearly slipped into Taliban control as did Afganistan.

[dflprincess]

14. Afghanistan - "where empires go to die"

(I heard someone say that to Thom Hartmann a few weeks ago - can't remember who.)

We can only hope that Obama will wake up and realize this is hopeless.

[bahrbearian]

16. Actually that was "Rudyard Kipling"

[The_Casual_Observer]

17. And they don't even have a mission. Were there in order to prevent

Bin Laden from setting up a new training camp or some such nonesense from what I can gather about this whole mess.

[leftstreet]

19. The imperialist occupations in Pipelinestan now belong to the Democrats

Will the Repubs ignite the anti-war movement?

:shrug: