In Afghanistan, U.S. Plans Next Major Offensive Into Kandahar

washingtonpost.com:

Even as Marines in Afghanistan continued to fight for control of the Taliban stronghold of Marja, senior Obama administration officials said Friday that the United States has begun initial planning for a bigger, more complex offensive in Kandahar later this year.

The assault on Marja, the largest U.S.-NATO military operation since 2001, is a "prelude to larger, more comprehensive operations," senior Obama officials said Friday.

Read the whole story: washingtonpost.com

Comments

[Oleg1]

05:43 PM on 02/28/2010

People of Marja are returning, life is resuming. But without the Taliban sharia, courts, stonings. Minus the Taliban beatings of women who show their faces. And without Taliban prohibition against music, beard shaving, haircuts, DVD stores, women education and other benefits of Taliban rule so many people here seem to adore.

[Dr knowitall]

04:40 PM on 02/28/2010

I have read all of the posts on this tread and came to the conclusion that most of you have no idea what you’re talking about. You people obviously haven’t been to either country and just have a bias against the previous administration. Good job.

[nogimmicks]

02:12 AM on 02/28/2010

Bombing Afghan peasants at a price tag of 100 billion dollars a year makes sense only for 1) the war profiteers 2) bankers who are interested in a larger national debt and interest payments; and 3) for those who for political reasons want perpetual military presence in that region. It is inhumane and insane.

[Oleg1]

02:10 PM on 02/28/2010

So you have a problem with bombing peasants. Very laudable. How about bombing various Foreign Jihadists. Lemme guess you have a problem with that too. Not surprising

[Fred Hood]

12:41 AM on 02/28/2010

the next objective same as the last one........suck our country dry use the money to import drugs and further enslave the American people with their own money.......worked in the last war

[Oleg1]

02:11 PM on 02/28/2010

This is not writing, this typing. You seem to never open your r mouth without subtracting from the sum of human knowledge. it is amazing.

[Fred Hood]

12:38 AM on 02/28/2010

I have noticed here lately everything is a nato action..........is this some diversion tactic to make us think this war is a good thing........It is a black hole to consume our money..........and use our children for fodder

Nam 69-72 a volunteer for what........

[Oleg1]

05:45 PM on 02/28/2010

Senior citizen a former enlisted grunt waxes hysterical about the old Nam days.

[BannedInBoston]

12:37 AM on 02/28/2010

Here is the covert logic for Afghanistan. It used to be well-known that by invading and occupying _Iraq, the US was essentially fignting a proxy _war for _Israel against Saddam Hussein & Co. who were perceived at the time of the invasion as the greatest immediate _threat to _Israel. The public rationales for this _war of military occupation were totally bogus -- fight _terrorist threats to the US (_Iraq was never a direct threat to the US or US interests), bring a _war criminal (Saddam) to justice (not our job), force democracy on Islamic countries in the Middle East (again, not our job to say nothing of that being a self-contradictoy mission anyway). Oh yeah, and find those darned WMDs! Even the other ulterior motive of obtaining cheap(er) oil from one of the world's largest reserves didn't pan out.

After thousands of American _deaths and hundreds of thousands of _Iraqi deaths, it became obvious that _Iraq was a non-starter. But HOW, after all that phony idealism, _blood, and tax bucks flushed down the _crapper there -- how to leave without seeming to admit defeat and being branded forever and ever as having "lost" _Iraq?

Enter Afghanistan, stage right. If we now say the REAL "war on _terror" is actually in that place, we have this great excuse to pull US troops out of _Iraq. We haven't lost the "war on _terror", we've just shifted the front! (People in Washington stay up nights late thinking of these bright ideas.)

[porsche996]

12:05 AM on 02/28/2010

No matter how many young Americans di e...we must secure this regimes lawful democratic Government and President and prevent turning the country over to the radical towlieban.

The most important element of a democracy is the fair and free elections of it's leaders...that's why it's so vitally important that NATO and the USA protect Karzai and his govenrment....no matter the cost.

[Fred Hood]

12:39 AM on 02/28/2010

tell me u joke

[porsche996]

12:55 AM on 02/28/2010

Ummm...was a democratic government elected in a certified election?

If not.....why are we there supporting this war lord that was not lawfully elected???????

Our MSM is completely ignoring that question and is not allowed to discuss it....when's the last time you saw an American MSM story about Karzai's duly elected government and the election that maintained him in power?

You won't...and you won't see another embarrassing fake election either.

[porsche996]

12:04 AM on 02/28/2010

No matter how many young Americans die...we must secure this regimes lawful democratic Government and President and prevent turning the country over to the radical towlieban.

The most important element of a democracy is the fair and free elections of it's leaders...that's why it's so vitally important that NATO and the USA protect Karzai and his govenrment....no matter the cost.

[CarolinaDem]

11:58 PM on 02/27/2010

I would like to believe that this is Obama calling the military's bluff to show that they actually can achieve something before he forces them to go public and acknowledge that they will not support the next 'knife in the back' campaign to blame Democrats for neocon policy failures. But Mostly I think they just have too much priestly clout with the true believing American public who seem to think our military is our Olympic Warfare Team.

[BannedInBoston]

12:30 AM on 02/28/2010

Or the New Orleans Saints....

[CarolinaDem]

11:56 PM on 02/27/2010

We don't from the outset enjoy the trust of the people," the administration official said. "We have to win that trust."

This I gotta see.

[BannedInBoston]

11:20 PM on 02/27/2010

Military Whack-a-Mole....

[joeyc]

10:53 PM on 02/27/2010

Operation Goose Chase.

[aznurse]

10:31 PM on 02/27/2010

Todatg my local news paper had a list of 11 marines that were killed in Afghanistan.
it was on page 15.
5,536 deaths from both Iraq and Afghanistan.
999 from Aghanistan.

[BannedInBoston]

11:23 PM on 02/27/2010

And that's just the number who _died while in-country. I've read that the actual TOTAL _death toll of US troops from wounds received in action in _Iraq and Afghanistan is MUCH higher. (It also seems to be a closely guarded military secret or at least a figure that the Pentagon doesn't advertise, understandably....)

[Ergon]

12:05 AM on 02/28/2010

Doesn't count those who died en route stateside, mercenaries, or contractors. Doesn't count suicides.
Under reports wounded or psychologically disabled.

[andyx1205]

09:01 PM on 02/27/2010

Hey guys, what's geographically located between Iraq and Afghanistan?

It's our next country to invade, Iran.

[BannedInBoston]

11:26 PM on 02/27/2010

Don't laugh. _Iraq was a proxy _war for _Israel and _Iran is currently their Number One _enemy now that we got rid of Saddam for them. They just announced completion of a fleet of pilotless drones with a range that includes Iran....

[ilse]

08:46 PM on 02/27/2010

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