Rand Paul Has Been Asking Why We Are Still in Afghanistan - MR CLUELESS

[protectionist]

Is there anyone in America more CLUELESS than Rand Paul ? This total ignoramus has been all over the TV networks and the internet asking why our military is still in Afghanistan. WOW. And this guy is a US Senator, who is running for President of the United States.

Amazing.

EARTH TO RAND PAUL: Did you not see what happened when Obama pulled the troops out of Iraq in 2011 ? Here's a few clues for you. >> Vacuum. ISIS. Genocide.

Even if there were no threat of ISIS taking over in Afghanistan (they already are moving in and setting the foundation), there has long been 2 very strong reasons for the US military to be in Afghanistan, and that has not changed one iota. The primary reason is so that In the event that the fragile Pakistani govt were to collapse, their 100+ NUCLEAR warheads would not be in danger of going straight into the hands of the Taliban et al jihadists. The US troops could rush in and secure the nukes, and remove them to a safe place.

The second reason is to deny the jihadists (al Qaeda, the Taliban, ISIS, et al) the use of Afghanistan as a place to have training camps (AKA bomb-making schools).

All this has been common knowledge for at least 14 years (since the 9-11 attacks), even to school kids. Maybe Rand Paul could get a job driving a truck, or something else worthwhile, where he won't be endangering the American people. I doubt that Paul has a snowball's chance in hell to get the Republican nomination for president, but he is also running for re-election as Senator. One can only hope the people of Kentucky are smart enough to dump this dufus, before he does any real harm.

 

[protectionist]

And Rand Paul could have been disqualified from the presidential race (or the US Senate as well), just on the basis of those weeds growing out of the top of his head.

 

[waltky]

Gonna handle things differently than we did in Iraq...

US troops could stay beyond 2016 in Afghanistan
Wednesday 14th October, 2015 | WASHINGTON - The US is examining the possibility of keeping American troops in Afghanistan beyond 2016 in view of the Taliban winning major victories, including capture of Kunduz, and reports of some Afghan militants shifting base to the Islamic State.

President Barack Obama is looking at the possibility of a long-term large presence of US troops in Afghanistan beyond 2016, following the Taliban temporary takeover of Kunduz city, officials indicated. Under the current policy, American troops are scheduled to be reduced to embassy level presence by the end of 2016. Currently there are about 10,000 US troops mainly engaged in training, aid and advise mission in Afghanistan. No decision in this regard has been made yet, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest told reporters. "The reason that the US got involved in Afghanistan in the first place was because of the concern about the threat of terrorists that have been operating in Afghanistan and in the region," he said.

The US, he said, has made important progress against extremists in Afghanistan. "However, there continues to be a terror threat emanating from Afghanistan. It's not on the same scale of what - of the risk, pre-9/11, but it's still a risk that we do not take lightly," he said. "It is important, in the mind of the President, for the US to preserve our counter-terrorism capabilities inside of Afghanistan - both because of the impact that would have on the stability of the central government in Afghanistan, but also because of the impact that would have on the core national security interests of the US," Earnest said. Responding to a question, he acknowledged that there is an upcoming policy decision that the president has to make about our ongoing military posture inside of Afghanistan.

He said there's no denying that the risk that is posed by those terrorist elements inside of Afghanistan is significantly lower than the risk that was posed by Al Qaida pre-9/11. "However, that is not a terror risk that we take lightly. The president takes it quite seriously, and that's why the work that's been done by our military personnel in Afghanistan even since our combat operations there ended continues to be a top priority," he said. "We have acknowledged that the President has to make about what is the smartest way for the administration to make a policy decision that is consistent with our national security interests inside of Afghanistan," he said.

MORE

 

[Kosh]

Because Obama has not figured how to hand it over to Putin yet without making it look so obvious..