Taliban strength in Afghanistan nears military proportion

Where was Glenn Beck when GWB was in the process of destroying the Constitution. The Democrats get in office and all of a sudden the Republicans care so much about the Constitution all of a sudden. I can't believe the GOP haven't kicked Ron Paul out of the party. He makes too much sense to be a Republican.

We have been giving money to Pakistan since the 60s. What have we gotten for our loan/gift/investment? It is a terrible joke. When will you Obamaheads see this guy for what he is---an extension of Bush?

I read that Obama signed a bill behind closed doors with no fanfare yesterday giving billions in aid to Pakistan with conditions attached.... being that they can have the money if they work to catch insurgents. And here I thought we had deficits? How stupid are they? Do they really think those billions are all going to what they think it is? And what about people right here who are out of work? Or those who rely on social security who won't be getting a COL increase? Yes, just like Bush.

screw it level the place and get the hell outta there

you could say the same about the the yankee troops in the birth of america.

Ron Paul may have some good points, but I think people need to get off his nuts.

the war on drugs part II...Armed Resistance...

Why is the US and the so called 'coalition forces' pressing forward to change this terrible situation with a failed model, have the lessons of past conflicts not proved that you cannot defect guerilla forces with a visible army. I can only assume they believe that submission must be achieved first and then diplomacy and mutual understanding can begin. What are they keeping secret about this war? Is Obama a hypocrite? promoting understanding, unity and respect in other areas but following the tails of the war mungers when it comes to Iraq and afghanistan - are there sections of the US military more powerful than the president?

We will never win. Just continue sending our troops to their death by guerrilla.

War stimulates economy. Can you imagine what would happen if half the soldiers overseas came home looking for jobs? Production of weaponry and aircraft would plummet. Our pressure on foreign oil producers would lax.

In the debate over military occupation and possible imperialism, nothing matters less than the ideals or the lives of our brothers and sisters.

It's funny one day this country is going to have to admit it's "worlds strongest military" was defeated by a bunch of sheep herding dope growers. Sad that the powers that be don't see that the only victory left is bringing the troops home in one piece, and providing humanitarian aid to Afghanistan.

yep lets keep this perpetual war going on forever. If we didn't we'd have to go back to chasing communism wherever it is..

History ALWAYS repeats itself, it probably has to; variations on themes....thats all.

Well, I have to concede I too am very concerned about the nukes in Pakistan due to the escalating destabilization there. The only reason why they haven't been fired is because India has them as well. MAD is the dictating policy there now. However, should they fall into the wrong hands MAD may simply not be a consideration. Obama talks about nuclear disarmament, then why is that not the focus here rather than sending billions of dollars into Afghanistan? Of course, should we one day diplomatically work it out where Pakistan, India, and other countries totally disarm their nukes, do you honestly ever see a day when the US and Russia will disarm all their nukes fully? I don't see that happening, and until that does happen you will have countries like Pakistan and even Iran looking to arm themselves. I think this is really where the focus should be. If Obama believes so much in diplomacy, then really prove it. What we are doing now is a fool's errand. The Russians were there for a decade and lost. I guess proving history does repeat itself when you don't learn from it.

I agree, something has to be done about the nukes in Pakistan. South Africa peacefully and willfully gave up its nukes without a military conflict. Libya did also after Bush singled them out in a speech. I cannot think of any other examples of peacefully ending nuclear weapons programs.

The nuclear weapons programs of North Korea and Iran need to be dealt with as well. It will take a tremendous amount of leadership to carry this out peacefully. The Russians are already starting to opt out on Iran and the Chinese are starting to opt out on North Korea. That protection will keep those programs progressing. We must bring pressure to bear on the protectors.

I dont feel good about this report - for most of the reasons Jan points out. However, a majority of the problems we see in the world today does stem from Pakistan yet we accept this bad behavior and thus facilitate it by doing nothing.

In the White House Situation Room: Joe Biden--
--"Can I just clarify a factual point? How much will we spend this year on Afghanistan?" Someone provided the figure: $65 billion. "And how much will we spend on Pakistan?" Another figure was supplied: $2.25 billion. "Well, by my calculations that's a 30-to-1 ratio in favor of Afghanistan. So I have a question. Al Qaeda is almost all in Pakistan, and Pakistan has nuclear weapons. And yet for every dollar we're spending in Pakistan, we're spending $30 in Afghanistan. Does that make strategic sense?" The White House Situation Room fell silent.--

I want to see peace in the world as well but realistically, it will not be possible till we do something about Pakistan and their nukes.

What a coincidence(?) this report is coming out just as Obama is about to decide troop levels even after just sending 30,000. No doubt this will be spun until we're dizzy to validate a large increase in troops from a president who just won the Nobel Peace Prize. I see this if true as a huge failure. How is it we can be in Afghanistan for EIGHT years now going on NINE and the Taliban has the resources to get to military proportions? What the hell have we been doing there? Perhaps instead of taking over their infrastructure and farming and opening the door to corporatization, they should have been concentrating on the original goal... breaking up training camps that were provided to terrorists who supposedly trained there in relation to 9.11. I don't recall them saying any of the 9.11 hijackers were from the Taliban.

However, just like Bush and Iraq we will now have Obama and Afghanistan with the same lines about how this will be a long battle but we will fight until every insurgent is gone. And of course, our own economy and unemployment rates will assure a nice steady flow of "recruits" for their pursuits. I really don't understand why the streets are not overflowing in this country with angry Americans regarding this war. To me it is an obvious set up for escalation to Pakistan and elsewhere in this area. They play peacemakers while waging war for profit and poll ratings and we pay for it. Some change.