washingtonpost.com:
If there is a worse use of the U.S. military than "nation-building," it is adult supervision and behavior modification of other peoples' politicians.
Want to reply to a comment? Hint: Click "Reply" at the bottom of the comment; after being approved your comment will appear directly underneath the comment you replied to
Will Wonders never cease, George is finally speaking in a language ordinary people can understand. I'm glad he has finally come to an understanding of the futility of our involvement in Iraq. I hope he does the same with Afghanistan.
George Will is one of the few real conservatives left in this country. The conservative mantel has been stolen by neocons and the liberal mantel has been stolen by leftist swine; this also explains why the discourse has become so uncivil - both "sides" have gone mental.
It will be interesting to hear the Administration testify before Congress (they will be testifying?) about our objective(s) in Afganistan, how long it will take and how much it will cost as well as our exit strategy. Perhaps more interesting will be what Congress thinks.
As I recall the Taliban were ousted from Afganistan in 2003/2004 thanks to monetary paymets to the tribal leaders.
What has changed since then?
Is al queda in Afganistan or in the border regions of Pakistan?
Will Afganistan continue to be the largest supplier of heroin in the world? Why?
Now the GOP's are soft on National Security? Man, If President Obama is for it, then the Republicans are against it!
Just because Will has come to his senses doesn't mean that the rest of the Republicans have. Most still support the war. You need to read some of the other stuff out there. Apparently in this one area, whereas Obama is experiencing a lack of support from Democrats, the Republicans on the other hand do support our involvement. Will is one of only a few who are beginning to sing a different tune.
Where was George Will for 6 1/2 yrs...oh yeah towing the tired conservative party line about how necessary the Iraq war was. It's curious that there is such urgency to get out now that Obama is in office.
So are your saying that since Obama is now president you support continuing these hapless, worthless wars?
The US military does nation un-building, and has done for over a century.
CAN WE STOP LISTENIGN TO THESE TROLLS ONTHE RIGHT, AND WHY DOES THE MEDIA FOLLOW THOSE WHO
DESTROYED OUR NATION SO MUCH
Money!
George? Are you coming back to true conservatism's philosophy of non-interv
I certainly hope so, it took long enough.
I couldn't agree with George Will more.
I meant to add about Iraq.
"Many scholars believe, Pollack says, that nations that suffer civil wars as large as Iraq's between 2004 and 2006 have "a terrifyingly high rate of recidivism
If, in spite of contrary evidence, the U.S. surge permanently dampened sectarian violence, all U.S. forces can come home sooner than the end of 2011. If, however, the surge did not so succeed, U.S. forces must come home sooner. "
Obama should use this speech to hammer Bush and Cheney and show that even a hard core conservative columnist agrees that the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan were pointless and that with the support of conservatives who are able to admit their mistajkes like Mr. Will, we can pull out tomorrow.
Obama probably may not lose in 2012 as the Republicans are doing everything they can to ensure he is re-elected, but if he expands the conflict in Afghanistan and there is not a complete withdrawal from Iraq, Obama will be trying his hardest to lose the next election. If the election were tomorrow, I would be shocked, but I would definitely vote Green.
Please ignore the horrible grammar.
Why Green, Have you seen the Green Party say or do anything of any import of late. I quit them well over a year or more ago, when I failed to see any leadership on any real issues. Do they even have any serious candidates for anything. If we ever get a decent third or even fourth party in this country let me know, because we sure could use them.
So Geo rge Will want the ter rists to win I take it. Sounds like it, right wingers?
Perfect. The GOP is now the anti-war party! Buncha pinko sissies. Next thing they'll be spitting on the Flag and trying to secede from the Union! Hahaha...
If they knew what was good for them they would spit on the flag and secede.
With all due respect, it's obvious that the media and the American people have an extremely warped sense of history and truth regarding war. It's particularly telling that when the Bush Administration rammed the war in Iraq down our collective throat (under false pretense) the critics were basically ignored and were shouted down as "cut and run" cowards. The words "unpatriotic and traitors" were thrown about by the hawks (on all the MSM outlets) with abandon. And remember the wonderful "be careful what you say" warning from top Bush officials. Remember all that ?
And now, the very supporters and architects of our ridiculous involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan are proposing those solutions thought to be so heinous by the hawks: cut and run is now the rallying cry of armchair experts like Will.
America is not good at empire building..
Think back to the start of the Iraq War. EVERY NEWS NETWORK had some form of "Alert Music" that trained your ears to tell your eyes to look at the television because some WAR News was about to be reported.
Remember that?
Have you heard that "war alert theme" on any network since the the Iraq War started going south years ago?
Have you seen ANY in-depth coverage of either war, for that matter?
Yup MSM, you are just as complicit in us being over there, with all the hype you gave a war that had nothing to do with 9/11/.
Yes, it's truly amazing how dense the American public is and how manipulative the MSM has become. Americans have been reduced to expressing three emotions about most issues: anger, outrage and fear. Just pick one, add some music, a couple of pictures of "terrorists" and bingo, you have the makings of a foreign war.
I can't tell you how utterly disgusted I am with US these days. We've become a nation of fat, lazy sheep and, ultimately, we only have ourselves to blame.
Everybody watch how these Republican commentators and the MSM are now going to try to paint this war as "Obama's War". Like they didn't have anything to do with fomenting it for the last eight years.
Granted most people will see right through this BS, but the half wits that tune into Fox nightly will buy it hook, line and sinker. And thanks to the town hall meetings this last August, we can all see how disruptive the Republican nut jobs can be.
Guess I'm a 1/2 wit with a 140 IQ - who knew?
Anything the President is for, the Republicans are against. I say to the President, you have a new strategy going forward, just say the opposite that you want, and let the Republicans give you want you really wanted in the first place.
Probably because just about all the Generals and Colonels who served in Vietnam have all retired
Loading comments…
First Posted: 09- 3-09 06:23 PM | Updated: 09- 3-09 06:30 PM