Murtha Warns Obama On Afghanistan

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review:

Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama, if elected, should avoid the same mistakes in Afghanistan that the Soviets made more than 20 years ago, U.S. Rep. John Murtha said today.

"I told Obama's people, 'Don't get your feet too far in Afghanistan,'" Murtha, an 18-term Democrat from Johnstown, said during a wide-ranging interview with the Tribune-Review.

Read the whole story: Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Comments

[newshawk14]

I think Murtha has been correct on many things in the Iraq war, and I would certainly listen to his
advice on the Afghanistan war. However, the president carries the global portfolio, and I can only
hope the next president, will have a more balanced view of where US interest lie.

[the964kid]

Murtha - you're a crook and you have no credibility.

[ThoughtAboutIt]

That doesn't mean he isn't correct.

[Glowcy]

.
Even though Obama has called for more troops in Afghanistan, he has already said that a surge approach will not work there. Besides that, we don't want to take over the country, we want to find the 9/11 perps.

The thing is: the perps are intermarried with the general population, added to the fact that we are not prepared to wage guerilla warfare in the Afghan mountains.

Before we go full bore into Afghanistan, we need to define victory so that we will know when we have achieved it.

.

[speeddeeps]

What the hell are we supposed to do in afganistan?

[realspirited]

McCain's way of warfare is obsolete today - that's why it hasn't worked for Bush (besides make his cronies richer). Mr. Obama is correct in his comments on how to approach other countries. We simply can't keep doing things the old way, it doesn't work anymore.

[LaFilleEnRose]

I'm hoping BO realizes that while we may need some more troops there, we need to develop a whole new way of working/fighting in countries like these. A new special ops/comman­do's/intel­ligence network for terrorism.

[Aesthete]

My sense about Afghanistan is that Osama bin Laden is hiding there, but it will take something other than an all-out war to "smoke" him out. I have a feeling that great stealth is required.

[Jamchinadian]

I am rarely amused, but almost always bemused, when all sorts of people - however well-meaning - give Barack "advice" through the media.

Why not call him up and have a discussion with him?!

[Gib]

Wise words.

[realspirited]

...from a wise man. He's certainly taken a lot of flak for speaking up - and personally, I appreciate his candor.

[vippy]

Iraq bankrupted this country already and Afghanistan is a lost cause. We will end up just like the
Russians. The US had the nerve to ask its NATO partners to either send more troops or come up
with 17 billion a month each. How dare, they did not start the war. I am sure there are other ways
of freezing out Afghanistan.

[Bitsko]

Senator 0bama doesn't want to "freeze out" Afghanistan. He wants to get the Taliban and Al-quiada and shore up that sad country's infrastructure.

[lucite]

Joe Biden is enormous in his middle eastern knowledge. I have faith in Joe and Obama to handle our global policies. Joe Biden can walk through any door in the international community. McCain and Palin would not be welcomed.

[BlueBoomer]

Palin wouldn't even be recognized!

[BlueBoomer]

ANd you're right about Joe BIDEN...fo­r my money (and I did contribute to his campaign), he is generally the smartest guy in ANY room he walks into.

[Bitsko]

I gotta hand it to Joe. He's doing a great job.

[Jamchinadian]

So can Obama - as he proved over the summer on his European and Middle-East trips !!!

[Nonamnesiac]

Murtha is right on the money. Bush's policies of alienating Russia means if there's significant escalation in Afghanistan we might see a Russian version of Charley Wilson's War, with some Russians funding Afghan secularists and providing them with SAMs to shoot down our planes. Remember, the Russians believe they were fighting on the right side when they were fighting the drug pushers and Islamic fundamentalists the US armed with Stingers, causing the deaths of many Russian troops and ultimately leading to the Russian withdrawal from Afghanistan and the eventual victory of the feudal Taliban. Had the US supported the secularists instead of the fundamentalists and drug pushers, the resulting government would have been moderate, secularist and probably tradiing with the United States with alot less poppy trade.

Obama's comments on Afghanistan and Pakistan can create a situation that could embroil us in another quagmire, something we cannot afford anymore than we were able to afford the Iraqi invasion and occupation. Although the Russians would not have done that simply to get even for our actions in Afghanistan in the 80s, they might now as the US is actively working to create anti-Russian states and policies right on Russia's borders, something to which they will always react agressively.

[stardot]

The Afghani people have never been defeated in thousands of years, and plenty of armies have tried. The terrain and weather can reduce a disciplined army to trying to survive.

No invader can long endure against the will of the people. The Mujahadeen are smart, tough, and experienced fighters and they have a lot of support!

Our best chance there is to draw a distinction in their minds that Americans can help them have a good life, can help protect them from terrorists, can help their children learn and stay healthy, and that they do not need to fear us or fight us.

It is a delicate balance, needing to show them we respect their privacy (and this is a HUGE cultural issue) and we need to be able to support justice and laws.

A win in Afganistan really will take a very long time, and having a bigger footprint there will not help.

How to win there? Build roads, schools, hospitals, bring food, clothing, clean water, electricity. Bring kindness and build relationships. You will win.

Bring a huge army? You will lose.

[Moka11]

I never understood Obama wanting to dig deep in Afghanistan. Afghanistan is where the people who attacked us on 9/11 were hiding. Bush has screwed over the troops that are fighting there. The Taliban is stronger than ever and our troops are shortchanged on support because of Iraq.
Murtha's comments are unnecessary, self-serving, and suggests Obama doesn't get it. There was a time when Murtha was the only one to speak out about the war in Iraq. Thanks for that. But you don't need to publicly lecture Obama on Afghanistan, thank you.

[Deparis]

Congressman Murtha, your advise will be well taken when Senator Obama is sworn into Office in January 2009 as the 44th President of the United States. What the Senator and America need from you now, is for you to go out there in Youngstown and stump for him as if your life and that of your fellow Americans depended on it. Quite frankly, it does. Until he becomes our next Commander in Chief, your advice will be worthless, simply because we will instead have more of the same from the old man from AZ.

I am just thinking strategically.

[Aabby]

Here Here. Very well put. Email his office that please!

[Golfer59]

AMEN!!!!

[Teritt]

I think you meant Johnstown, not Youngstown­...