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Escalation

Build, Don't Destroy in Afghanistan: An Open Letter to President Obama

Jim Wallis | Posted 11.20.2009 | World

Read More: White House, Strike, President Obama, Civil, International, Indigenous, Washington, Pakistan, War, United Nations, Campaign, Muslim Countries, Collateral Damage, Surge, Prayer, America, Muslim, Conflict, Un, Terror, Technology, Security, Development, History, Afghan Government, Democracy, Fear, Terrorist, Ngos, Unmanned Drones, Religious Leaders, Engagement, Death, Foreign Policy, Moral Values, Occupier, Extremists, Moral Issues, Deaths, Women, Escalation, Faith Community, Economic Support, Taliban, Military, Afghanistan, General Assembly, Terrorism, Humanitarian Assistance, D.C., Casualties, Faith-Based, World News
Jim Wallis

Already, thousands of our readers have signed a letter and contacted the White House urging a new way forward in Afghanistan. I encourage you to read it and to endorse this message if you have not done so already.

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General McChrystal's War

Rick Ayers | Posted 11.18.2009 | World

Read More: Stanley McChrystal, Pentagon, Afghanistan Surge, Vietnam War, Escalation, Afghan War, World News
Rick Ayers

A Newsweek cover story purporting to demonstrate how the US could have "won" in Vietnam turns out to be a stalking horse for General McChrystal and the Pentagon hawks.

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Biggest State Party to Obama: Get Out of Afghanistan

Norman Solomon | Posted 11.16.2009 | Politics

Read More: Air War, President Obama, Karen Bernal, Escalation, Jane Harman, California Democratic Party, Afghanistan, Democratic Party, Marcy Winograd, Withdrawal, Rick Reyes, Politics News
Norman Solomon

While Obama weighs Afghanistan policy options, the California Democratic Party's adoption of the resolution is the most tangible indicator yet that escalation of the U.S. war effort can only fuel opposition within the president's own party.

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New Tools for Peace in Afghanistan

Jim Wallis | Posted 11.16.2009 | World

Read More: Corruption, Debate, President Obama, Humanitarian, Washington, Security Forces, Congress, Washington Post, Military Options, President Karzai, Surge, Hammers, Foreign Policy, Government, Infrastructure, Japanese Government, Karl Eikenberry, Escalation, Military, Afghanistan, Military Spending, Un, Terrorism, Security, Development, Humanitarian Assistance, World News
Jim Wallis

Development and humanitarian assistance can no longer be an afterthought; they must be central to any strategy the U.S. government puts forward in Afghanistan.

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The War Stampede

Norman Solomon | Posted 11.12.2009 | Politics

Read More: Hamid Karzai, Capitol Hill, President Obama, Karl Eikenberry, Escalation, Stanley McChrystal, Humanitarian Aid, Afghanistan, Veterans, Politics News
Norman Solomon

After 30 years of war, Afghans do not need more ingenious war efforts by the latest batch of best and brightest in Washington.

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Is This Tom Friedman's "Walter Cronkite Moment" on Afghanistan?

Harvey Wasserman | Posted 10.29.2009 | Politics

Read More: New York Times, Thomas Friedman, Afghanistan, Vietnam, Escalation, Walter Cronkite, Politics News
Harvey Wasserman

No one contends that Tom Friedman has the influence that Walter Cronkite did, but could Friedman's anti-Afghanistan editorial mark a similar war-time shift in thinking?

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Uncle Sam in Afghanistan: Good Help Is Hard to Find

Norman Solomon | Posted 10.22.2009 | Politics

Read More: Hamid Karzai, Afghanistan, Pentagon, Escalation, Vietnam War, Obama Administration, Abdullah Abdullah, Politics News
Norman Solomon

Unless the best and brightest who oversee Afghan war policy can rig up a coalition with the top two contestants, a runoff between Karzai and his rival Abdullah Abdullah will happen November 7.

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Starting Another Year of the War in Afghanistan

Norman Solomon | Posted 10.01.2009 | World

Read More: Afghanistan, Escalation, Barack Obama, Military Budget, War, World News
Norman Solomon

As this month begins the ninth year of the U.S. war effort in Afghanistan, "windowless" seems to be an apt metaphor for our strategy there.

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Gen. McChrystal's Assessment Ignores COIN Doctrine, Reality

Derrick Crowe | Posted 11.23.2009 | World

Read More: John McCain, Rethink Afghanistan, Bill Kristol, Escalation, Stanley McChrystal, Afghanistan, Joe Lieberman, Mike Mullen, Barack Obama, Counterinsurgency, World News
Derrick Crowe

If the president was looking for a signal that the situation had progressed to a stage in which the military could not offer a credible plan to deal with it, this is it.

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War Gone Wild in Afghanistan

Derrick Crowe | Posted 11.08.2009 | World

Read More: Anthony Cordesman, Karl Eikenberry, Escalation, Afghanistan, : Abe Greenwald, Rethink Afghanistan, Barack Obama, Bruce Riedel, World News
Derrick Crowe

After more than 800 U.S. military casualties, tens of thousands of Afghan civilian deaths and $228 billion, we have zero indications that Pashtuns in Afghanistan are any closer to giving their support to the Kabul government.

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The Afghanistan Gap: Press vs. Public

Norman Solomon | Posted 09.26.2009 | World

Read More: Al Qaeda, Escalation, Vietnam War, New York Times, Iraq, Afghanistan, Washington Post, News Media, Lyndon Johnson, Frank Rich, Barack Obama, World News
Norman Solomon

Increasingly, public opinion is not cooperating. While the media establishment and the political establishment appear to belong to the same pro-war affinity group, the public is shifting to the other side of a widening credibility gap.

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UN Report Confirms Troop Increases Fail to Reduce Civilian Casualties in Afghanistan

Derrick Crowe | Posted 09.01.2009 | World

Read More: Civilian Deaths, Military, Rethink Afghanistan, Mcchrystal, Civilian Casualties, Escalation, War, Taliban, Afghanistan, Drones, World News
Derrick Crowe

U.S. troop levels in Afghanistan have increased every year since 2001. In every year since systematic civilian casualty data collection started, civilian casualties caused by pro-government have increased.

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Escalation Scam: Troops in Afghanistan

Norman Solomon | Posted 08.09.2009 | Politics

Read More: Pentagon, Center for Strategic and International Studies, Vietnam War, Escalation, Martin Luther King Jr., Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, Special National Security Estimate, Afghanistan, Lyndon Johnson, Barack Obama, Politics News
Norman Solomon

The president has set a limit on the number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan. For now. That's how escalation works. Ceilings become floors. Gradually.

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Female Afghan MP Warns Congress of Dire Situation After US Airstrikes

ZP Heller | Posted 07.05.2009 | World

Read More: Military, Roshanak Wardak, Congress, Rethink Afghanistan, Bombings, Stanley McChrystal, Escalation, World News
ZP Heller

We need to hear from experts like Dr. Roshanak Wardak who understand the situation on the ground in Afghanistan. A Predator drone bomb landed 200 meters from her house. .

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Lawrence Korb is Wrong on Afghanistan

Derrick Crowe | Posted 05.25.2009 | World

Read More: Lawrence Korb, Afghanistan, Escalation, Counterinsurgency, War on Terror, Troop Surge, Progressives, World News
Derrick Crowe

The War on Terror is a metaphor designed to bludgeon the progressive movement to death. Write that in stone. Tattoo it somewhere on your body where it will hurt.

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Lawrence Korb and I Debate Military Escalation in Afghanistan (Video)

Katrina vanden Heuvel | Posted 05.21.2009 | World

Read More: Lawrence Korb, The Nation, Brave New Foundation, Troops, Afghanistan, Terrorism, Afghan, Taliban, Center for American Progress, Gilles Dorronsoro, Barack Obama, Al Qaeda, Escalation, Robert Greenwald, Brave New Films, Robert Pape, Katrina Vanden Huevel, Robert Gates, Video, World News
Katrina vanden Heuvel

I believe the more responsible and effective strategy moving forward is to take US-led military escalation off the table, begin to withdraw US troops and support a regional diplomatic solution.

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Democrats and War Escalation

Norman Solomon | Posted 05.07.2009 | Politics

Read More: Carnegie Endowment, Eugene McCarthy, Ernest Gruening, Liberals, Escalation, Pakistan, Wayne Morse, Tom Hayden, Afghanistan, Democratic Party, Barack Obama, Robert Kennedy, Politics News
Norman Solomon

Top Democrats and many prominent supporters - with vocal agreement, tactical quibbles or total silence - are assisting the escalation of the U.S. war ...

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Breaking the Silence: Escalation in Afghanistan Does Not Keep America Safe

Jason Rosenbaum | Posted 05.07.2009 | Politics

Read More: President Obama, Martin Luther King, Get Afghanistan Right, Afghanistan, Escalation, Politics News
Jason Rosenbaum

By escalating in Afghanistan and putting more foreign troops into the region, we drive Taliban recruitment and power. There is another way.

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If David Brooks Thinks He Knows So Much About Afghanistan, He Should Debate Robert Greenwald

ZP Heller | Posted 05.03.2009 | World

Read More: David Brooks, Brave New Foundation, Troops, Military, Barack Obama, Escalation, Robert Greenwald, Kabul, Pakistan War, Rethink Afghanistan, Afghanistan, World News
ZP Heller

I'm curious to know what Afghanistan David Brooks visited? Either Brooks spent all his time hanging out with military leaders or there's a whole crisis he's deliberately trying to downplay.

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Don't Go There, Mr. President!

Tom Hayden | Posted 04.27.2009 | Politics

Read More: Jihadism, Troops, Iraq, Escalation, Pakistan, Barack Obama, Afghanistan War, Politics News
Tom Hayden

President Obama should maintain a deterrent posture while immediately accelerating diplomacy to meet legitimate Muslim goals, from a Palestinian state to genuine progress on Kashmir.

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The Case for a Middle Path in Afghanistan

Ilan Goldenberg | Posted 04.24.2009 | World

Read More: John McCain, National Security, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Terrorism, Escalation, Obama, Joe Lieberman, World News
Ilan Goldenberg

It's simply too early right now to move into containment mode and dramatic escalation is not a viable option. The middle path is not a good option, but it is the best of a number of bad ones.

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Is Your Representative Opposing Escalation in Afghanistan?

Norman Solomon | Posted 04.24.2009 | Politics

Read More: John Conyers, Neil Abercrombie, Pakistan, Ron Paul, War, Michael Honda, Walter Jones, Jim McGovern, Barack Obama, Bob Filner, Roscoe Bartlett, Escalation, Howard Coble, Marcy Kaptur, Dennis Kucinich, Ed Whitfield, Afghanistan, John Duncan, Steve Kagen, Politics News
Norman Solomon

Last week, some members of Congress sent President Obama a letter that urged him to "reconsider" his order deploying 17,000 additional U.S. troops to Afghanistan. But the list of signers was awfully short.

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17,000 Troops Will Be "a Drop in the Bucket" in Afghanistan

ZP Heller | Posted 04.09.2009 | World

Read More: Brave New Foundation, Andrew Bacevich, Surge, Barack Obama, Escalation, Robert Greenwald, Robert Pape, Rethink Afghanistan, Stephen Kinzer, Afghanistan War, Video, Taliban, Afghanistan, President Obama, World News
ZP Heller

2008 was the bloodiest year of this war to date, though it looks like 2009 will be much worse -- and not simply because our country is committing so many more troops.

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Baghdad Redux?

Jayne Lyn Stahl | Posted 04.02.2009 | Politics

Read More: Lbj, Afghanistan, Escalation, Vietnam War, Vietnam, Jfk, Korea, Barack Obama, Politics News
Jayne Lyn Stahl

Will the role of the U.S. in this millennium, be that of an empire that profits by promoting global instability? Or will the empire strike back?

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Afghanistan Plus More Troops = Catastrophe

ZP Heller | Posted 03.31.2009 | World

Read More: Rethink Afghanistan, Afghanistan, Escalation, War, Video, Us Troops Afghanistan, Barack Obama, World News
ZP Heller

More oversight would ensure the executive branch isn't overstepping its bounds; it would help curb wasteful military spending; and it would make sure military agencies are running efficiently.

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