I thought Afghanistan was the "good war"???

[DiveCon]

[youtube]qO3zNoK3iI4[/youtube]

 

[PatekPhilippe]

This is the only thing good about the war in Afghanistan...
Videos and Photos of Army Special Ops, Navy SEALs, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard in Action - Shock and Awe - Military.com

 

[Si modo]

I thought Afghanistan was the "good war"???

And most of us could see this coming when we heard it last year.

More of what the "useful idiots" bought.

Bring the guys home now. They deserve better than a President who sits on his ass about this.

 

[Si modo]

This is the only thing good about the war in Afghanistan...
Videos and Photos of Army Special Ops, Navy SEALs, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard in Action - Shock and Awe - Military.com

I agree. It's sad that they take a back seat.

 

[Article 15]

Anyone who voted for Obama thinking he was going to end the war in Afghanistan is a moron.

 

[Sidestreamer]

Anyone who voted for Obama thinking he was going to end the war in Afghanistan is a moron.

But how about the one in Iraq?

 

[Article 15]

Anyone who voted for Obama thinking he was going to end the war in Afghanistan is a moron.

But how about the one in Iraq?

We'll find out next summer.

 

[JakeStarkey]

The Iraqis are not going to extend our stay. The majority have always wanted us to leave and that has not changed. One example was 73% in favor of U.S. troops leaving <abcnews.go.com/International/ story?id=4465682&page=1#> in February of last year. We will be out of Iraq at the treaty deadline, and Iraq will form an alliance with Iran, in my opinion.

 

[chanel]

Oh great....

 

[Xenophon]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01-2pNCZiNk]YouTube - "War" by Edwin Starr (Original Video - 1969)[/ame]

 

[strollingbones]

800 dead how many wounded....and there is no resolution....we should have never engaged afghanistan given its history ..they were not shocked or awed by our military toys....they had fought russian for decades and held them off.

bush elected to smack the tar baby....

 

[xsited1]

Anyone who voted for Obama thinking he was going to end the war in Afghanistan is a moron.

Or you could have said this:

Anyone who voted for Obama ... is a moron.

 

[Emma]

[youtube]qO3zNoK3iI4[/youtube]

What's your point? There have always been a large number who didn't support either action, however you'll find more who supported going against Afghanistan since they are the ones who sheltered those who actually attacked us.

 

[nodoginnafight]

The war in Afghanistan has much more justification than our invading Iraq. But the similarity (imho) is that no clear objective makes it impossible to determine WHEN we have met the objective and can cease hostilities.
My idea is that the only justifiable objective in Afghanistan was to cripple Al Qaida and punish those responsible for 911. Indications are that aside from a confimed kill on Bin Laden, that objective has essentially been met.

 

[JW Frogen]

What a bunch of hysterical cream puffs!

The losses we are taking there are nothing comparable to almost every other war we have ever fought, including Iraq. We could sustain this effort for a long time.

For instance at this death rate it would take over 60 years to reach the losses in Vietnam in just 10 years.

And we do not even have to take these losses to fight this war, if nation building fails in the next few years that does not mean the war must end or that we must surrender to the Taliban.

For our strategic purpose all we need achieve is to prevent the Taliban from controlling most of the country or having large safe havens in which to plan terror attacks in the West at their leisure.

Having them fighting a low intensity guerrilla war in Afghanistan for decades serves our purpose every bit as much as the costlier goal of nation building.

We could arm any group that opposes them, including the opium lords (who in the long run know a Taliban victory means their elimination) and let them do most of the slog fighting while we only augment with Special Forces, air power and increasingly effective predator drones, thus keeping the Taliban perpetually pinned down fighting in Afghanistan until they wear down.

Just keeping them bunkered down, running from special forces, preditor drones and the ethnic tribes that hate them, constantly fighting in Afganistan is a victory.

Democratic Civilisation has a constant cost.

The Taliban do not have the power to defeat us, only we do.

 

[Big Black Dog]

Anyone who voted for Obama thinking he was going to end the war in Afghanistan is a moron.

Anyone who voted for Obama for any reason is a moron.

 

[nodoginnafight]

What a bunch of hysterical cream puffs!

The losses we are taking there are nothing comparable to almost every other war we have ever fought, including Iraq. We could sustain this effort for a long time.

For instance at this death rate it would take over 60 years to reach the losses in Vietnam in just 10 years.

And we do not even have to take these losses to fight this war, if nation building fails in the next few years that does not mean the war must end or that we must surrender to the Taliban.

For our strategic purpose all we need achieve is to prevent the Taliban from controlling most of the country or having large safe havens in which to plan terror attacks in the West at their leisure.

Having them fighting a low intensity guerrilla war in Afghanistan for decades serves our purpose every bit as much as the costlier goal of nation building.

We could arm any group that opposes them, including the opium lords (who in the long run know a Taliban victory means their elimination) and let them do most of the slog fighting while we only augment with Special Forces, air power and increasingly effective predator drones, thus keeping the Taliban perpetually pinned down fighting in Afghanistan until they wear down.

Just keeping them bunkered down, running from special forces, preditor drones and the ethnic tribes that hate them, constantly fighting in Afganistan is a victory.

Democratic Civilisation has a constant cost.

The Taliban do not have the power to defeat us, only we do.

You make some good points. I cringe at the "nation-building" objective, but your point that elimenating a safe haven for terrorist organizations is a legitimate objective is very persuasive. But I think the crucial element there is the support and committment of the locals. We never got nearly enough committed support in Nam and I wonder if we can expect it Afghanistan. Without it - I think we are pissing away lives and resources.

 

[bodecea]

[youtube]qO3zNoK3iI4[/youtube]

As far as any war can be...it is. But you are always going to have those who protest war no matter.

Amazing the vast numbers in that video, eh? 2 million?

 

[Intense]

I would Love to see the Rules of Engagement Policies in Afghanistan Transparent, and open for review at some level. If Policy is costing unnecessary harm and loss of Life to Our Troops, It should be exposed, amended, and justified. Intention is no free pass for incompetence.

 

[PatekPhilippe]

I would Love to see the Rules of Engagement Policies in Afghanistan Transparent, and open for review at some level. If Policy is costing unnecessary harm and loss of Life to Our Troops, It should be exposed, amended, and justified. Intention is no free pass for incompetence.

You have to understand that with Obama in office there will be more of a passive approach to war

...in other words...

retreat from Taliban areas...blow up civilians to lose as much public support as possible....lie to everyone about your new strategy even though you don't have one, then claim you lost focus....and finally promise you will send more troops but then don't send them after everyone forgets what you said.