Afghanistan Escalation

General David Rodriguez: Afghanistan Troop Surge Will Take Longer

AP | ANNE GEARAN and AMIR SHAH | Posted 12.15.2009 | World

Read More: White House, Pentagon, Troop Surge, Escalation, Afghanistan Surge, David Rodriguez, Afghan Troop Surge, Afghanistan Troop Surge, Afghanistan Escalation, Afghanistan, World News

KABUL — The military may not finish its surge of 30,000 American troops to Afghanistan until nearly a year from now, a senior U.S. commander sai...

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The Nine Surges Of Obama's War

TomDispatch | Posted at 1:03PM on November 24, 2009. | Posted 12.10.2009 | World

Read More: Afghan War, Afghan Surge, Barack Obama, Afghanistan Escalation, Afghanistan, World News

In his Afghan "surge" speech at West Point last week, President Obama offered Americans some specifics to back up his new "way forward in Afghanistan....

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We Need a Clean Vote Now on Afghanistan Escalation

Robert Naiman | Posted 12.04.2009 | World

Read More: Congress, Afghanistan, Politico, MoveOn.Org, Jim McGovern, Afghanistan Escalation, President Obama, World News
Robert Naiman

Already, President Obama has ordered Marine units to be deployed later this month. If Congress waits for months to debate the issue, most of the new troops may already be in place.

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How to Make Peace With Obama's Speech

Deepak Chopra | Posted 12.02.2009 | World

Read More: Afghanistan Escalation, Barack Obama, Afghan War, World News
Deepak Chopra

In order to move on, I think we have to make peace with Obama's speech and the decisions he made. To do that, here are the salient points.

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Jason Linkins

Critics Of Obama's Exit Strategy Have Argument Backwards

HuffingtonPost.com | Jason Linkins | Posted 12.04.2009 | Politics

Read More: Afghanistan Exit Strategy, Obama-Speech-Afghanistan-121, War on Terror, War in Afghanistan, Afghanistan, Escalation, Afghanistan Escalation, Barack Obama, Al Qaeda, Politics News

The narrative that seems to be emerging from the most bellicose critics of last night's speech by President Barack Obama is that his setting a start d...

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Fort Carson Will Nearly Double Number Of Troops In Afghanistan Under Obama's Plan

Colorado Springs Gazette | TOM ROEDER | Posted 12.02.2009 | Denver

Read More: Fort Carson, Afghanistan Escalation, Colorado Springs, Obama Afghanistan, U.S. Army, Denver News

President Obama's Afghanistan plan was met in Colorado Springs Tuesday by a mix of cheers and protests. And for local GIs, it may bring relief afte...

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Tom Friedman: Why I Can't Support The Afghan Surge

nytimes.com | THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN | Posted 12.02.2009 | World

Read More: Afghan War, Thomas Friedman, Afghanistan Escalation, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Afghan Surge, Friedman Afghanistan, World News

Let me start with the bottom line and then tell you how I got there: I can't agree with President Obama's decision to escalate in Afghanistan. I'd pre...

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A Costly Mistake

Malou Innocent | Posted 12.02.2009 | World

Read More: Obama Afghanistan, Afghanistan Surge, War in Afghanistan, Afghanistan, Afghanistan Escalation, Escalation, Afghan War, Us Troops Afghanistan, Afghanistan War, World News
Malou Innocent

Barack Obama's announcement last night that he will deploy another 30,000 troops reminded me of what John Kerry said in 1971: "How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?"

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By Sending More Troops To Afghanistan, Obama Will Enable The GOP's Revival

Jason Rosenbaum | Posted 11.24.2009 | Politics

Read More: Congress, Afghanistan Surge, War in Afghanistan, Afghanistan Escalation, Intervention, Afghanistan, Barack Obama, Republicans, Politics News
Jason Rosenbaum

Republicans are poised to cement their complete opposition to everything Obama and reap a huge political win by twisting their political principles to oppose further escalation of troops in Afghanistan.

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Obama's War and Remembrance Day

Dave Lindorff | Posted 11.16.2009 | Politics

Read More: 2012 Election, Afghanistan Escalation, President Obama, Afghanistan War, Armistice Day, Veteran's Day, Politics News
Dave Lindorff

It is, I would suggest, time for progressives to start searching for a serious, gutsy, plain-speaking candidate to challenge Obama for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination in 2012.

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"Lessons in Disaster": If Obama Caves to the Pentagon, He's No Jack Kennedy

Robert Naiman | Posted 10.27.2009 | World

Read More: John F. Kennedy, Vietnam, Lessons in Disaster, Afghanistan Escalation, Afghanistan, Washington Post, Joe Biden, Seymour Hersh, Wall Street Journal, Afghanistan War, Gordon Goldstein, Barack Obama, Mcchrystal, World News
Robert Naiman

You don't have to be a dove to understand what President Kennedy understood: putting U.S. troops on the ground somewhere doesn't automatically make you more powerful.

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NoEscalation.org: Can the Peace Movement Reach President Obama?

Robert Naiman | Posted 10.25.2009 | World

Read More: John Murtha, Barnett Rubin, Rahm Emanuel, President Barack Obama, Afghanistan Escalation, Congress, Joe Biden, David Obey, Afghanistan War, World News
Robert Naiman

Congress fights over whether we can "afford" to provide every American with quality health care, but every health care reform proposal on the table will likely cost less than McChrystal's endless war.

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Obama at the Precipice: Tough Guys Don't Need to Dance in Afghanistan

William J. Astore | Posted 10.11.2009 | Politics

Read More: Obama Afghanistan, The Great Society, Lyndon B. Johnson, Afghanistan Escalation, Barack Obama, Vietnam War, Troops for Afghanistan, Politics News
William J. Astore

By continuing the war in Afghanistan, Obama will likely ensure himself a one-term presidency, and someday be seen as a man like LBJ whose biggest dreams broke upon the shoals of an unwinnable war.

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Is "Escalation" the Right Word?

Lorelei Kelly | Posted 11.08.2009 | Politics

Read More: Nato, Counterterrorism, National Security, Afghanistan Surge, Afghanistan, Afghanistan Escalation, Progressives, Defense Department, State Department, Counterinsurgency, Al Qaeda, Anti-War, Politics News
Lorelei Kelly

Seeking an alternative to the word "escalation" to describe U.S. involvement in Afghanistan, I asked deployed or recently back friends and they each offered a different answer.

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Team Obama Divided, Public Strongly Opposed, to More Troops in Afghanistan

Robert Naiman | Posted 10.20.2009 | World

Read More: Afghanistan Escalation, Mcclatchy, Obama Administration, New York Times, Afghanistan, Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, Afghanistan War, World News
Robert Naiman

Since we're all about promoting democracy, let's have some democracy here. Since the American people are opposed to sending more troops to Afghanistan, let's not do it.

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While Obama Escalates War in Afghanistan, Iraq Could Blow Up in His Face

Jeremy Scahill | Posted 05.01.2009 | World

Read More: Iraq Surge, Obama Afghanistan, Moqtada Al-Sadr, Thomas Ricks Fiasco, MoveOn.Org, Success of the Surge, Antiwar Movement, Afghanistan, Obama Iraq Withdrawal, Afghanistan Escalation, Iraq Occupation, Iraq Withdrawal, Barack Obama, Afghanistan War, Iraq War, Thomas Ricks, Myth of Iraq Surge Success, Iraq, Sunni Awakening, Obama Iraq, Nouri Al Maliki, World News
Jeremy Scahill

There is great reason to suspect that the timeline for withdrawal -- all troops out by 2011 -- announced in February by the Obama administration will prove to be a fallacy.

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Five Myths About the Afghanistan Escalation

Brandon Friedman | Posted 03.01.2009 | World

Read More: Insurgency, Military, Robert Gates, Surge, Escalation, John Nagl, Taliban, Afghanistan, Counterinsurgency, Barack Obama, Michele Flournoy, Obama Afghanistan, Troops, Afghanistan Surge, Foreign Affairs, Afghanistan Escalation, Obama Foreign Policy, Foreign Policy, Al Qaeda, Afghanistan War, Soldiers, Us Troops Afghanistan, World News
Brandon Friedman

If we're going to win back the Afghans' support, then we need to show them that we can protect them from the Taliban -- something that will clearly take more troops -- both U.S. and Afghan.

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