British Prime Minister Gordon Brown faces a grassroots challenge over the war in Afghanistan at this month's Labour Party conference, the Guardian reports:
Gordon Brown faces fresh questions over the war in Afghanistan at this month's Labour party conference, with grassroots activists circulating a motion demanding that troops be withdrawn.
I'd give anything for the opportunity to address this conference.
I'd wait until one or two people gave speeches arguing that Britain had to keep its troops in Afghanistan out of friendship with the United States. Then I'd ask to be recognized, and I'd say,
"As an American, I thank the honorable gentlemen and ladies for their kind words of friendship towards the people of the United States. I assure you, as you know very well, that the feelings are reciprocated.
"But I beg you, in the name of humanity: show your love differently than by continuing to support this war. Do not love us like a drinking buddy who gives liquor to an alcoholic. Do not love us by staying, teeth gritted, in a car whose driver has had too much to drink. Do not love us by holding back your criticism, or praising our war policy with faint damnation.
"Like the majority of Britons, the majority of Americans oppose this war. Fifty-seven percent of Americans say they oppose the war in Afghanistan, CNN reports.
"Moreover, the constituencies that the Labour Party represents in Britain -- working people, members of the trade union movement, women, members of minority groups -- these constituencies in the United States are overwhelmingly opposed to the war. Three-quarters of Democrats in the United States oppose the war, CNN says.
"These constituencies oppose sending more U.S. troops to the war, as is now being proposed in Washington. Americans making less than $25,000 a year oppose sending more troops by a margin of 70-27, McClatchy News reports. American women oppose sending more troops by a margin of 2 to 1; Hispanic-Americans oppose sending more troops by a margin of 86-9; African-Americans oppose sending more troops by a margin of 78-15.
"Even our Vice-President, Joe Biden, opposes sending more troops, the New York Times reports.
"In the political discourse of the United States, the presence of British military forces in Afghanistan is being used to justify the presence of American military forces in Afghanistan. If Britain is there, we have international support. If Britain is there, it is a coalition that is taking action, not a unilateral U.S. military action. By supporting the continued presences of British forces in Afghanistan, you not only give yourselves responsibility for what happens to those forces and for what they do in Afghanistan; you also give yourselves some responsibility for what happens to the American forces and for what they do in Afghanistan.
"If you love America, if you love Americans, show your love by passing this resolution put forward by the Campaign for Labour Party Democracy demanding the withdrawal of British troops of Afghanistan. Help America. Help America to get its own troops out of Afghanistan. Get out of Afghanistan, so we can get out."
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Arianna Huffington: Why Joe Biden Should Resign
The vice president has long opposed escalating in Afghanistan. So if the president decides to escalate, Biden, for the good of the country, should escalate his willingness to act on his "deep reservations" and resign.
Now that Iraqi war has been won, troops should be rotated to Afpak.
Obama with his inexperience and preposterous vacillation about the troops is doing grave damage to the cause of peace and stability in the region.
US created both the CIA managed United Front mujahideen and the Pakistan:ISI managed Taliban.
Their little Global War Against Godless Communism left Afghanistan shattered, millions killed and more millions orphaned and internally displaced refugees (IDR), although they changed that to IDP, persons, put a little 'green shoots' spin on the refugee moniker.
The US promptly turned their back on the vacuum that defeat of the Soviets created, as the mujahideen warred against the Taliban for power, happily supplied with arms and ammunition by the United States.
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30 years, that's right THIRTY YEARS of war profiteering later, Afghanistan is a rubble-ized bullet and tank shell pockmarked and cratered moonscape narcostate with a kleptocratic regency in power. Good job, men!
And you want to 'pull out'. What, Afghanistan got a little too frisky for you?!
Wake up and smell the coffee. Karzai and Holbrooke are engaged in a very careful campaign of 'hoping up' the election results, baby steps at a time from 30% to 40% now to 48.6% on their state-engineered election rigging.
Karzai's first executive act will be to sign away $500 BILLION in Afghan iron & coke, oil & gas resources that are right now being privately auctioned off by Ministry of Mines and Gustavson Associates in Denver. Not one word, **not one word** anywhere in any media or any public figures, about the greatest resource extraction program in the history of Central Asia.
Instead, they're going to roboticize and privatize this war and resource profiteering behind a milllion man Afghan militia using 1960's weapons bought with $298 MILLION of your taxes, in the ever-growing war crimes smoke-scream of "Iran WMDs" and "Pakistan Fundamentalism".
You mook! This is the End Game of the Fourth Reich!
US arms dealer pleads guilty in Afghan weapons case
Mon Aug 31, 2009 1:21pm EDT
MIAMI, Aug 31 (Reuters)
They quashed the wire tap indictments because those wire taps led to DoD mercenaries running black ops profit center, and the court sealed all the evidence!
Unfortunately, you seem to be following in these deplorable traditions of the media and blogosphere, at least insofar as your foreign policy analysis and your treatment of Vice President Biden.
I do have a question for you, though...what do you presume may be the consequences of a US withdrawal from Afghanistan - regardless of whether or not more troops are deployed - for Afghanistan, Pakistan, the region and the national security of the United States?
A withdrawal will do great damage to the US' and NATO's reputation but much less than withdrawing in 15 years time with a whole load of body bags and little progress. As long as Al-Qaeda is weakened enough not to plan and execute another terrorist attack, Afghanistan should be considered Mission Accomplished.
If Afghanistan breaks out into all out civil war, do you not see that situation as ideal for Qaeda to set up shop there once again.
At least, we are starting to have a debate about all of this and, hopefully, we will see more of that among those responsible for making these decisions. Because, as Vice President Biden has always said, and I paraphrase...no foreign policy, no matter how warranted or meritorious it may be, can long be sustained without the informed consent of the American people.
I guess what I am saying here is that there are no easy answers and a complete withdrawal is not even anywhere near being on the table. Withdrawal may be an easier proposition if we were just talking about Afghanistan. But, of course, we are most definitely not. What do you suppose would be the consequences for Pakistan and the entire region?
All of this is not to say that I support more troops being deployed into Afghanistan because I haven't heard the case that would convince me that that would be a wise decision, yet.
If we care at all about the people of Afghanistan and our own security, then we will be in Afghanistan for a very, very long time and, hopefully, without leaving too big of a military footprint, and less and less of one as time goes on. And, it's going to involve a huge diplomatic effort that will, in the end, require adopting a vastly different political strategy and negotiating some sort of political accommodation with the Taliban that is acceptable to the Afghan people.
http://www.independent.co.uk/multimedia/archive/00239/cartoon060909_239392d.jpg
Anyway, we are in a different time now. The majority of U.S. public opinion is with us.
Installing a democratic government in Afghanistan is not vital to our security here, so the effort needed to do so is not worthwhile. If it can be argued that a democratic Afghanistan IS vital to our (meaning Britain and the US) security (which I don't think is the case), then we must do whatever it takes - introducing conscription and putting the economy on a war-footing, if need be.