A show of hands -- who's really shocked that President Obama made the decision to commit 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan?
If you raised your hand, you're either incredibly naive or you weren't listening particularly closely during last year's presidential campaign. It's not so much what Obama said then as what he didn't say: He talked a lot about withdrawing from Iraq -- a war that was arrogant, unabashed folly from day one -- but never mentioned pulling out of Afghanistan. Those on the left who are now gnashing their teeth at how cheated they feel -- how their dreams of a great progressive utopia have been sacrificed on the altar of Obama's attempts at centrism and the fruitless appeasement of his political enemies -- would be wise to remember all the times they conveniently held Afghanistan up as an example of a supposedly "just war" in an effort to contrast Bush's Iraq adventure as the ultimate "unjust war." As in: "Why aren't we focusing all our attention on Afghanistan, the Taliban and bin Laden, instead of wasting time, lives and money in Iraq? Huh? Huh?"
The fact is that Afghanistan, and by proxy Pakistan, remains the main front, if there is such a thing, in the war against the entity that attacked us on 9/11; it's where we should've been concentrating every ounce of our military and strategic effort all along, before we allowed a bunch of neo-con assholes bent on remaking the Middle East in our image -- or at least Halliburton's -- to distract us in Iraq. Afghanistan is an unfinished fight and, as much as it hurts beyond belief to say this, it's one that will result in a whole lot of American kids having died in vain if we don't at the very least attempt to tie it up in as respectable a bow as is possible in a place that exists at the ass end of the world.
Would it be nice to pull all the troops out and bring them home and would we all love to see that more than anything? Absolutely. Is it realistic, given not simply the fight we started there eight years ago -- the fight we had every right to start -- but the way we abandoned Afghanistan 25 years ago, silently intervening in that country's war against the Soviets then leaving it to pick up the pieces on its own in the aftermath? No, it isn't. It's common knowledge by this point that we helped to create Osama bin Laden and the Taliban through our arming of Afghanistan's mujahadeen in their holy war against the Soviet invaders. If you still subscribe to what Colin Powell once cynically touted as the "Pottery Barn" rule of nation building -- "You break it, you bought it" -- then Afghanistan has been our war for almost three decades.
And that's something the conflict-addicted jerk-offs in the media need to remember before they giddily jump on what we're already seeing is a rapidly advancing meme in the wake of tonight's address by Obama: that with this escalation, Afghanistan is no longer Bush's war but "Obama's War."
That's horseshit. It was never really Bush's war, and it certainly isn't Obama's war; it's America's war. The Reagan administration was at one time as knee-deep in the impenetrable caves and valleys of Afghanistan as the Soviets were -- the difference being that the U.S. wasn't on the ground attempting to conquer the Afghans -- and because of its negligence post-Russian invasion, our tenuous erstwhile allies evolved to become our greatest threat in the Middle East and Asia, if not on the entire planet. Our decision to attack Afghanistan and attempt to drive out the enemies that we'd ironically created was the right one -- especially after 9/11. The eventual result of this conflict likely won't be a perfectly stable state, and it damn sure won't be one that's free of corruption, not with the Karzai government in charge. But if the Taliban really were allowed to regain a measure of legitimate control within the Afghan borders -- particularly with Pakistan being the bubbling cauldron of crazy that it is -- then we'd have spent the past eight years there for almost nothing.
As painful as it is to accept and as much as it seems antithetical to what many believe they were promised during the campaign, Obama knows this. He made a tough choice -- the least terrible one from a series of options that were all terrible in some form.
Let's just pray we really can push forward and get out with as few lives lost as possible.
Although that may be the naivest hope of all.
Follow Chez Pazienza on Twitter: www.twitter.com/chezpazienza
Thank you -- that's well put.
However, it is not just America's war. Nearly half the soldiers who have died in Afghanistan have been from 23 other NATO/Coalition countries.
Actually, it is about what Obama DID say, as opposed to what he didn't, as during the presidential campaign and the preliminary days of his office, he declared on repeated occasions Afghanistan to be a "war of necessity". Sounds like you haven't been paying too much attention either.
Oh well, it's your right. Call the kettle black all you want.
The policy change last night is not the deployment of additional troops, it is the declaration that we will start withdrawing. Obama's dilemma reminds me of Lincoln's story most here have heard, ending with the statement "come down and help me let go of this hog!"
That's exactly the situation. Obama has declared the goal, which is to let go of the hog. Letting go without help right now is strategically unwise and politically impossible. Reinforcing now, helping to seal the Pakistani border to try to make an anvil to go with the Pakistani Army's hammer in the tribal region, is the only way to try to stabilize the region and stall the Taliban. It will also save American lives - the surest way to create American casualties is to have insufficient forces.
Ultimately, it is the Afghans who will have to choose between advancing their society or retreating to the 8th century. Obama's decision is like telling a 16-year-old that I'll pay for food, housing and education now, but when you turn 18 you'll have to convert to being on your own.
Do you think you could do a better job as president, making decisions like this on a regular basis? This is one left-wing, progressive who will support Obama in 2012. As much as my moral and ethical conscience cannot support a war of any kind, I can understand what Chez is saying. Sometimes all of life's choices are made of dung. You try to choose the smallest pile.
Yes, I do think I could do a better job as president.
Good for you. Support him all you want. I wouldn't want to stop you.
For a Democrat to win an election in this country, generally they must cobble together a vast disparate coalition to just barely break past a majority. In this case, keeping them together under the best of circumstances would be a herculean effort.
We saw what happens when nobody really believes in the candidate just a few short weeks ago. A survey last week showed Democrats don't plan on showing up for 2010. It will be another bellwether before 2012.
We will just have to wait and see but there are plenty like me that helped get him elected before but will actually work against Obama in the future.
Sadly, his poor performance as president may severely damage the Republic as if shrub wasn't damaging enough. How many years can an Army fight a war? Ours is at the breaking point and he wants more. For what?
The lives of our military, the treasure of the nation and the lives of innocent bystanders are not a metaphor. Perhaps you should think about that the next time you see a flag draped coffin and what purpose their death served.
They are trying to make up for the fact that many of them foolishly supported the Iraq invasion, even though to anyone with common sense it was a fools errand from the beginning. That mistake cannot be rectified.
Live with it. Do not let it blur your judgement about this war.
My judgment isn't clouded at all. It is time to leave Afghanistan.
Obama can take comfort in knowing he kept one promise while the rest were lies as he exits the White House in 2012. Just wait and see.
Republican administration funds Saddam in war against Iran.
Republican administration starts war in Iraq to topple Saddam.
Democratic administration is left with mess to clean up.
Republican administration funds Taliban against Soviets.
Republican administration starts war in Afghanistan to topple Taliban.
Democratic administration is left with mess to clean up.
This has most certainly become the Democrats war, the only compelling case Obama could have made last night was for withdraw - the muddled case he did make failed to convince the majority of Americans who supported his presidency, including me.
Ultimately we must stand up for the decisions, the actions & the policy that make sense - and if those things are no longer associated with a leader we thought would support them - then he deserves to lose our support.
we would be going into Afghanistan if he
was elected. Weren't you listening?
I heard it and I voted for him with the hope
that maybe Biden or his advisors could
make Afghanistan a possibility, not a
certainty. I was wrong.
It's still not America's war or the Democrats
war. It's now Obama's war no matter how
you slice it or dice it.
I support him in everything else but not this.
His hankering after bipartisanship should
be applied to countries as well as the good
ol' boy system. Whatever happened to "I'll
talk to the enemy"?
We need to admit that this isn't a war, was never a war, just some unfortunately phased rhetoric. (Too many have died for that poor choice of wording.) Then we can move on and deal with this more practically.
can experience in a lifetime.
Chez..you wrote (I cut and paste what hit me)--referring to those on the left (I'm ambedextrous...but can't spell)..what IS left?
" would be wise to remember all the times they conveniently held Afghanistan up as an example of a supposedly "just war" in an effort to contrast Bush's Iraq adventure as the ultimate "unjust war." As in: "Why aren't we focusing all our attention on Afghanistan, the Taliban and bin Laden, instead of wasting time, lives and money in Iraq? Huh? Huh?"
do not take the liberty to toss ME into your ldefinition of a lump of lefties..I never, ever liked that part of Obama's strategy to win an election...but jeezuz...McCain..we'd be nuking Uzbekistan by now.. so..Obama did give me hope..Hilary..brilliant, but would have increased troops on Jan 22...that I know.(my own liberty)
If this is "america's" war...I want to move to the whore of Europe, France; what I'm declaring..in no way is this MY war...claim it as yours if you want..leave me out of it. There IS no winning..just as there was no winning in Viet Nam..I'm venting...ergo...two parts...