Obama: Afghanistan War Is "Fundamental"

CBS News:

The war in Afghanistan is "fundamental to the defense of our people," President Obama said Monday, addressing the Veterans of Foreign Wars conference in Phoenix, Ariz. -- but the fight will not be easy.

"The insurgency in Afghanistan didn't just happen overnight. And we won't defeat it overnight," the president said. "But we must never forget. This is not a war of choice. This is a war of necessity. Those who attacked America on 9-11 are plotting to do so again. If left unchecked, the Taliban insurgency will mean an even larger safe haven from which al Qaeda would plot to kill more Americans."

Read the whole story: CBS News

Comments

[jcorrington]

11:41 AM on 08/18/2009

8 yrs ago maybe...but not now, with all our problems here at home. Get the hell out.

[tbone99]

11:38 AM on 08/18/2009

fundamental to who - arms manufacturers?

[SamKnause]

11:23 AM on 08/18/2009

I agree. The Afghanistan war is fundamental. A fundamental waste of lives and money.

[PaxEterna]

11:07 AM on 08/18/2009

Another stupid speech designed to mislead the American people.

Bring them home and stop sending our young people on missions of meddling.

There will be two "Waterloos" for Obama: health care, which he has morphed into health insurance reform, and Afghanistan.

The question is which one will come first?

Either way, the once in a lifetime opportunity to steer this country in a better, more socially just direction has been blown.

We are all on the slippery slope that will make America a third world country for everyone but the rich, if we don't get blown up by all the enemies we've made across this planet with our forever wars, and endless trading of arms for profit.

[pomegrante]

10:27 AM on 08/18/2009

pres Obama now you know we the people know the truth. cut it out.
you are beginning to not just sound like W,but you're making me look twice too.

[AnnfromCA]

09:37 AM on 08/18/2009

Why is it fundamental? I still don't get this war or what the end point is.

[clearwaterclearmind]

08:39 AM on 08/18/2009

bring the troops home. war in afghanistan isn't fundamental, it's mental illness.

[DofG]

09:35 AM on 08/18/2009

Yes it is mental illness. If one does a retrospective going all the way back to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, and probably even further, one will see a trail of bungled American foreign policy decisions. And if one could look at this objectively, without patriotic blinders, one can easily see that the illusion of "superior understanding", when it comes to geopolitical strategy, as the unspoken theme, resulting in a myriad of unintended, but avoidable, consequences.

This war is a war for revenge, which is quite different than an action that seeks a solution-to stop terrorism. But the only way to do that is to see the terrorist as human equals. But we don't really believe in human equivalency, which narrows our options. However, we must keep in mind that we already had a relationship with theses people before we screwed that up too. So maybe we should think differently about the approach.

One thing's for certain. We can't kill our way to a solution, and at the same time say we want peace!

[clearwaterclearmind]

03:45 PM on 08/18/2009

well said.

[jennylynn]

08:32 AM on 08/18/2009

Where are all the Bush haters yelling "Antiwar". BO is not bringing the troops home.

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/politics/For-the-Left_-war-without-Bush-is-not-war-at-all-8119694-53506047.html

[Rayme]

02:35 AM on 08/18/2009

The war in Afghan is fundamental to our security, why would we be scared of one of the poorest countries in the world with an ocean that separates us? Obamaidiot.

[Mason]

12:56 AM on 08/18/2009

Yah, sure. You betcha.

The Taliban are going to swim naked across the Atlantic with swords clenched between their teeth and kill us in our beds.

Fundamentally speaking, I'm fundamentally trembling.

Al Qaida isn't even in Afghanistan. It's in Pakistan and can't even seriously threaten the stability of the Pakistan government,

UNLESS we keep riling up people by indiscriminately killing civilians.

Way to go, President Rambo!

[Nobodyownsme]

12:09 AM on 08/18/2009

More Imperial BS from bush 3.

[jennylynn]

08:31 AM on 08/18/2009

Case Closed.

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/politics/For-the-Left_-war-without-Bush-is-not-war-at-all-8119694-53506047.html

[robbep]

11:50 AM on 08/18/2009

you are right the left has not attacked the president on this like we shld. Obama as usual has made a mess of this as well. First he LIED about sending a division home from Iraq every month if he got elected. Second he has doubled down on the war in Afghanistan in order to look like he is strong in the areas of security and defense. He has followed the Bush playbook on this from the beginning. THE PEOPLE WHO ATTACKED US ON 911 DIED WHEN THE PLANE CRASHED, there may be a few of the planners of the operation out there but the people who did the deed are dead. We are spending billions of dollars to capture and kill people who dont like us and may attack us or may not. They dont have to attack us again all they have to do is bleed us from within. We are spending billions of dollars to confront a couple of thousand ( if that many) people who have resentments toward the US it is ridiculous. The only reason we are stuck there is bcz of all the money being made from the war by US corporations. And lets not forget if Bush and Cheney and our security industry had done their job 911 wldve nvr happened. They were warned about an attack and chose to do nothing to prevent it. Bring all our troops home Obama we cant afford to keep borrowing from China to fight two wars.

[wonketteRAWKS]

08:59 PM on 08/17/2009

He sounds like Bush on Iraq.

Make the homeland safer.

Bring the troops home.

[jennylynn]

08:32 AM on 08/18/2009

BO said he would bring the troops home within the first 6 months. What happened?

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/politics/For-the-Left_-war-without-Bush-is-not-war-at-all-8119694-53506047.html

[rollingdivision]

07:54 PM on 08/17/2009

US Soldiers fight and die in Afghanistan for one reason: if Obama retreats now it will make Obama like highly opportunistic: he wanted to run as a national security candidate and used Afghanistan as a tool to claim he was tough on defence. Why do we fight? Obamacare could be completely paid for with the money Obama is wasting on wars. OBAMA's War in Afghanistan No vital national security interest No clear attainable objective No full and frank analysis of risks and costs No exhaustion of other non-violent policy means No plausible exit strategy to avoid endless entanglement No full consideration of consequences of our actions No

[Bude]

07:33 PM on 08/17/2009

The Afghan war is ignorant!

[S1m0n]

07:30 PM on 08/17/2009

What the US is fighting in Afghanistan isn't an insurgency; it's the Pashtuns - the inhabitants of southern afghanistan and the country's largest ethnic group, with 40% of the total population - fighting for self detemination against a government that consists of a figurehead Pashtun president & the Northern Alliance warlords backed by an army of occupation.

The warlords are HATED in the south; their previous occupation of Kabul* and the Pashtun south consisted of a wholesale campaign of robbery and rape so severe that the people turned to the Taliban to stop it. Southern Afghanistan is never going to accept a government that consists of them.

Which means that the present war cannot be won if winning is defined as the creation of central government in command of a professional police and army.

*After the fall of the Soviet occupation.