President Obama will have tripled U.S. troops in Afghanistan by this summer!

[Better Believe It]

As President Obama pointed out in his speech: "When I took office, we had just over 32,000 Americans serving in Afghanistan ...."

There are now 68,000 troops in Afghanistan. The second stage of escalation will result in over 100,000 GI's in Afghanistan by this summer. That will be over a three fold increase in troops during the first year and a half of his administration!









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Obama now defined by war
U.S. President and Nobel Peace Prize laureate will have tripled American presence in Afghanistan by the time the latest 30,000 arrive
By Konrad Yakabuski
December 2, 2009

More than economic depression, recession or domestic affairs, war defines the presidencies of U.S. leaders who feel compelled or forced to wage it. Barack Obama has chosen to become one of them.

Few who voted for Mr. Obama, and fewer still among those who did not, could have imagined that the defining act of his first year in office would consist of an escalation of U.S. military engagement abroad.

But by sending another 30,000 U.S. troops to Afghanistan – on top of the 21,000 he dispatched last spring – this year's Nobel Peace Prize laureate will have tripled the American military presence there by the time the last of the reinforcements arrive in mid-2010.

For a leader often criticized for being overly cautious, the Afghan surge is a muscular act that will undermine Republican criticism of Mr. Obama as weak-kneed – though the mechanical, at times listless, delivery with which the President laid out his strategy will nourish doubts on the right about his commitment to it.

“This does not look like political triangulation. He's giving Stanley McChrystal most of what he asked for,” opined Charles Kupchan, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and a professor of international affairs at Georgetown University in Washington. “If it is true that the Obama administration inherited this conflict, it has now put its imprint on it in an indelible way.”


Read the full article at:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/obama-a-man-of-peace-now-defined-by-war/article1384979/

[tekisui]

1. Every increase has additionally brought an increase in death,

and further destabilization. I don't expect this to be any different.

[Better Believe It]

2. But .... but ..... but President Obama might bring home a few hundred troops by the summer of 2011!

Look at the positive side.

Why are some people so negative about a war escalation?

[VMI Dem]

3. Bush Doctrine.

They may pose a possible future threat.

[tridim]

4. The Bush Doctrine was cancelled last night.

Did you listen to the speech?

[VMI Dem]

6. Yeah. Bush Doctrine, Obama style.

[tridim]

7. Get back to me if Obama starts a war for no reason.

So far he has only made efforts to END wars.

[VMI Dem]

8. Yeah, escalation is one way to end wars.

[tridim]

10. Regardless, he is ending both wars. Not starting them like Bush/Cheney did.

[avaistheone1]

13. Oh yes, war is peace.

Especially when you elect to step war up.


:sarcasm:

[tridim]

14. Ending wars is peace. nt

[avaistheone1]

16. The escalation will not stop the war, it will inflame it.

Have you seen the stats of when we send more troops there, the more conflict increases, and the more fatalities. It does not bring peace.

[tridim]

17. In your worst case scenerio opinion. nt

[Cha]

22. Yes, I know you're stuck on that like some ignorant robot.

[Better Believe It]

9. The troops in Afghanistan are coming home now? I thought Obama said he's sending more over

[tridim]

11. They're coming home starting in 2011

Read the speech.

[bigjohn16]

12. Read this thread.

Gates: U.S. troop withdrawal may not begin in July 2011 - statement president's 'strong intent'

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x7136290

[tridim]

18. I did, and IMO The President should fire Gates.

Thankfully Obama is the Commander In Chief, and not Gates.

[bigjohn16]

19. Secretary Clinton said the same thing during the meeting.

It's administration policy. Sorry.

[tridim]

20. Administration policy is exit by July 2011. Period.

The President is the boss.

[bigjohn16]

21. The boss sold you a lemon last night. Sorry. Like a boss!

[tridim]

23. Thanks for your opinion.

But that's all it is.

[bigjohn16]

24. Gates words aren't my opinion but the lemon comment is. Later

[Better Believe It]

26. No it isn't. The policy is to begin withdrawing some troops in a year and a half. How many?

200?

500?

2,000?

And when will all U.S. troops be withdrawn from Afghanistan and Iraq .... any idea when that will take place?

[Better Believe It]

25. How many? And do you think Obama will win the war against Afghanistan in 18 months?

[The_Casual_Observer]

5. With no results except the requirement for even more troops.

They don't have the slightest idea of what to do there except to kill anybody that gets in their way.

[NoSheep]

15. Two thirds of which will be training the Afghans to provide their own security.

But that doesn't fit into your graph.

[Better Believe It]

27. Oh .... Just like the Vietnam war plan .... it was called Vietnamization.! How did that turn out?

Beginning in about 1960 U.S. military advisors began training the Vietnamese army to fight the National Liberation Front, otherwise known as the commie Viet Cong. It didn't take long for many of those well trained Vietnam army troops to join the independence fighters after they got money, arms and good training from the United States.

Now that was a plan!

It should work out just as well in Afghanistan!

The Afghanization of Afganistan. Rings a bell!

[NoSheep]

28. I understand why you are upset. I really do.

I don't feel the same as you and I can tell you why if you care. The short version is I think he's trying to get us out. I think he's trying to do that in the real world.

[Better Believe It]

29. The way to get out of Afghanistan and Iraq is to leave! Just leave!

This is a war escalation plan, not a withdrawl plan.

I know the difference.

The Vietnam war escalation plan was also presented as a withdrawl plan.

Years later and nearly 60,000 GI's and over one million Vietnamese dead we finally got out.

[NoSheep]

30. Even though 2/3rds are going to train Afghani's to police their own country?

[Better Believe It]

31. You got a link on that?

So 8 years wasn't long enough to train and quip Afghan soldiers/cops who will do what Afghan soldiers/cops did during the Russian occupation.

Join the resistance to occupation!

But if you want to arm them and train them to fight U.S. troops I suppose you can. Most will certainly be supporters of different Taliban factions and leaders.

[NoSheep]

32. No - 8 years wasn't long enough because the BUSH adminstration didn't want to end it.

Did you happen to hear the interview on NPR tonight with Inspector General Arnold Fields-the man who is in charge of oversight of the funding for the reconstruction of Afghanistan? He doesn't have a clue where all the money from 8 years is! You know why? Because he was only hired at the very end of the Bush administration when congress decided it was time to make it look like they were paying attention(awwww, wasn't that convenient?) No one had been watching! Remember? The war was started and abandoned to theives by treasury robbing thugs.

http://www.npr.org/templates/player/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=121030785&m=121030749

Pretty wild interview.

Last night after Obama's speech, I heard the news analysts on MSNBC state that the number of troops that were going to be deployed would be 30,000 with combat brigades accounting for approximately 1/3. This is no doubt an assessment of news that came out of the Pentagon recently linked with what NATO is expected to add to the level.