U.S. Failing Successfully in Afghanistan

[tekisui]

Source: Huffington Post

While we have been fixated on successive Arab breakthroughs and victories against tyranny and extremism, Washington is failing miserably but discreetly in Afghanistan.

(snip)

In spite of its international coalition, multiple strategies, hundreds of billions of dollars, and a surge of tens of thousands of troops, the US is unable to conclude its longest war yet or at least reverse its trend.

Recent "reports" from the war front have been of two kinds. Some official or analytical in nature and heavily circulated in Washington portray a war going terribly well. On the other hand, hard news from the ground tell a story of U.S. fatigue, backtracking and tactical withdrawals or redeployments which do not bode well for defeating the Taliban or forcing them to the negotiations' table.

For example, while the US military's decision to withdraw from the Pech valley was justified on tactical need to redeploy troops for the task of "protecting the population," keen observers saw it as a humiliating retreat from what the Pentagon previously called a very strategic position and sacrificed some hundred soldiers defending it.

more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marwan-bishara/post_1806_b_832508.html

[tekisui]

1. Kick!

[DFab420]

2. So I'm confused..

We pull troops out of an area...we are running away..


We leave troops in an area... we are forcibly occupying ...


Do you want us to be successful in out occupation? or do you want us to start removing troops from harm's way??

[tekisui]

3. I want all the troops to leave Afghanistan, now.

What you are confused on is the double-speak from the Pentagon who sells continuing losses as wins.

[Sonoman]

4. Remember when the Pech Valley was 'absolutely critical'?

All of that "Th next three months will tell the tale"?

Well, it seems as tho that tale has been told.

Sonoman

[Bigmack]

5. I don't understand...

Pres Obama can talk to this country like we're adults. He's done it before - in the campaign mostly. We're not all adults, but most of us are.

Why can't he simply say "I've looked and investigated and I've come to the conclusion that the US cannot resolve the Afghan situation. That situation is lousy, and will probably get worse for a while if we leave, but we cannot afford - in blood or in treasure - to continue in an effort that is going nowhere."

The rightwingnuts are going to hate him, but they already think he's the goddam Anti-Christ, so what's he got to lose?

[robdogbucky]

6. Restrepo, an Oscar nominated film

Restrepo is a 2010 documentary film directed by American journalist Sebastian Junger and British photojournalist Tim Hetherington. The film explores the year that Junger and Hetherington spent in Afghanistan on assignment for Vanity Fair,<3> embedded with the Second Platoon, B Company, 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment (airborne) of the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team in the Korengal valley. The 2nd Platoon is depicted defending an outpost (OP) named OP Restrepo, for PFC Juan Sebastián Restrepo, a Colombian-born naturalized U.S. citizen platoon medic who was killed earlier in the campaign.

The film follows the deployment of the 2nd Platoon of Battle Company on a 15 month deployment in the Korengal Valley of northeast Afghanistan. It chronicles the lives of the men from their deployment to the time of their return back home. The Korengal Valley was at the time regarded as "the deadliest place on Earth" (as stated in the documentary itself, trailers, and television commercials on the National Geographic Channel). The goal of the deployment is to clear the Korengal Valley of insurgency and continue to gain the trust of the local populace. They begin their deployment at OP Korengal, and early in the campaign PFC Restrepo is killed, as well as another team member. The film portrays the construction of an advanced outpost, OP Restrepo, as well as the challenges and intermittent firefights they faced while they managed to build the outpost from nothing in only one night. In the latter portion of the film, the extremely dangerous mission Operation Rock Avalanche is shown along with some of its tragic consequences, such as dead civilians and soldiers, as well as the emotional distress that the soldiers are left with in its aftermath.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Restrepo_(film)



A great film that will enlighten about our role in Afghanistan

[felix_numinous]

7. Afganistan, the empire killer,

living up to it's name.