Obama still is close to announcing his revamped war strategy, most likely shortly after he returns from a trip to Asia that ends on Nov. 19.
The president raised questions at a war council meeting on Wednesday, however, that could alter the dynamic of both how many additional troops are sent to Afghanistan and what the timeline would be for their presence in the war zone, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss Obama's thinking.
The president is considering options that include adding 30,000 or more U.S. troops to take on the Taliban in major areas of Afghanistan and to buy time for the Afghan government's small and ill-equipped fighting forces to take over. The other three options on the table are ranges of troop increases, from a relatively small addition of forces to the roughly 40,000 that the top U.S. general in Afghanistan prefers, according to military and other officials.
No open-ended commitment
The main sticking points appear to be timelines and mounting questions about the credibility of the Afghan government.
Administration officials said Wednesday that Obama wants to make clear that the U.S. commitment in Afghanistan is not open-ended. The war is now in its ninth year and is claiming U.S. lives at a record pace as military leaders say the Taliban has the upper hand in many parts of the country.
The options presented to Obama by his war council are likely to be amended.
Military officials say one approach is a compromise battle plan that would add 30,000 or more U.S. troops atop a record 68,000 in the country now. They described it as "half and half," meaning half fighting and half training and holding ground so the Afghans can regroup.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33864508/ns/world_news-south_and_central_asia/
-
- groups:
- News, Current Tonight, US Politics, News_Featured, 2 more
-
- tags:
- + add
-
-
-
-
- current89
- added this
-
Related Breaking Story: U.S. Afghan Envoy Urges Caution on Troop Increase
WASHINGTON — The United States ambassador to Afghanistan, who once served as the top American military commander there, has expressed in writing his reservations about deploying additional troops to the country, three senior American officials said Wednesday.
The position of the ambassador, Karl W. Eikenberry, a retired lieutenant general, puts him in stark opposition to the current American and NATO commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, who has asked for 40,000 more troops.
General Eikenberry sent his reservations to Washington in a cable last week, the officials said. In that same period, President Obama and his national security advisers have begun examining an option that would send relatively few troops to Afghanistan, about 10,000 to 15,000, with most designated as trainers for the Afghan security forces.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/12/us/politics/12policy.html?hp
-
Now that's what I call brass!
-
Oh , please , please , send them home instead ....
-
GOOD CALL...but for how long can the US resist its generals or the military industrial complex ;)
Afghanistan’s Sham Army
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20091109_afghanistans_sham_army/
Posted on Nov 9, 2009
By Chris Hedges
EXCERPTWe have pumped billions of dollars into Afghanistan and occupied the country for eight years. We currently spend some $4 billion a month on Afghanistan. But we are unable to pay for whiteboards and markers for instructors at the Kabul Military Training Center. Afghan soldiers lack winter jackets. Kabul is still in ruins. Unemployment is estimated at about 40 percent. And Afghanistan is one of the most food-insecure countries on the planet.
What are we doing?
Where is this money going?There are a ton of corporations in Afghanistan performing labor that was once exclusively in the realm of the military. If you’re a [military] cook, someone from Kellogg Brown & Root has taken your spot. If you’re a logistician or military adviser, someone from MPRI, Military Professional Resources Inc., will probably take over your job soon. If you’re a technician or a mechanic, there are civilians from Harris Corp. and other companies there who are taking over more and more of your responsibilities.”
“When we arrived in Afghanistan, nearly half our unit had to be reassigned because their jobs had been taken over by civilians from MPRI. It seems that even in a war zone, soldiers are at risk of losing their jobs to outsourcing.
The American military has been largely privatized, although Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, has still recommended a 40,000-troop increase.The Army’s basic functions have been outsourced to no-bid contractors. What was once done by the military with concern for tactical and strategic advancement is done by war profiteers concerned solely about profit. The aims of the military and the contractors are in conflict. A scaling down of the war or a withdrawal is viewed by these corporations as bad for business. But expansion of the war, as many veterans will attest, is only making the situation more precarious.
“American and Afghan soldiers are putting their lives at risk, Afghan civilians are dying, and yet there’s this underlying system in place that gains more from keeping all of them in harm’s way rather than taking them out of it,” the officer complained. “If we bring peace and stability to Afghanistan, we may profit morally, we might make gains for humanity, but moral profits and human gains do not contribute to the bottom line. Peace and profit are ultimately contradictory forces at work in Afghanistan.”
“It is this system that has broken the logistics of Afghanistan,” the officer said. “It is this system of waste and private profit from public funds that keeps Kabul in ruins. It is this system that manages to feed Westerners all across the country steak and lobster once a week while an estimated 8.4 million Afghans—the entire population of New York City, the five boroughs—suffer from chronic food insecurity and starvation every day. When you go to Bagram Air Base, or Camp Phoenix, or Camp Eggers, it’s clear to see that the problem does not lie in getting supplies into the country. The question becomes who gets them. And we wonder why there’s an insurgency.”
-
The problem in Afghanistan is not ultimately a military problem. It is a political and social problem. The real threat to stability in Afghanistan is not the Taliban, but widespread hunger and food shortages, crippling poverty, rape, corruption and a staggering rate of unemployment that mounts as foreign companies take jobs away from the local workers and businesses. The corruption and abuse by the Karzai government and the ANA, along with the presence of foreign contractors, are the central impediments to peace. The more we empower these forces, the worse the war will become. The plan to escalate the number of American soldiers and Marines, and to swell the ranks of the Afghan National Army, will not or defeat or pacify the Taliban.
“What good are a quarter-million well-trained Afghan troops to a nation slipping into famine?” the officer asked. “What purpose does a strong military serve with a corrupt and inept government in place? What hope do we have for peace if the best jobs for the Afghans involve working for the military? What is the point of getting rid of the Taliban if it means killing civilians with airstrikes and supporting a government of misogynist warlords and criminals?
“We as Americans do not help the Afghans by sending in more troops, by increasing military spending, by adding chaos to disorder,” he said. “What little help we do provide is only useful in the short term and is clearly unsustainable in the face of our own economic crisis. In the end, no one benefits from this war, not America, not Afghans. Only the CEOs and executive officers of war-profiteering corporations find satisfactory returns on their investments.”
Chris Hedges, whose column is published on Truthdig every Monday, spent two decades as a foreign reporter covering wars in Latin America, Africa, Europe and the Middle East. He has written nine books, including “Empire of Illusion: The End of Literacy and the Triumph of Spectacle” (2009) and “War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning” (2003).
Peace, if it really arrived, would upset things. At present, arms expenditure and (military) aid to other countries are bolstering business. U.S. News and World Report, December 31, 1948
-
FURTHERMORE...
For those fluent in 'la langue de Voltaire' this CBC piece shows that the afghan police is smacked out on heroin & totally corrupted and that this sad state of affair is generalized throughout the country... same goes for their army !
http://www.radio-canada.ca/emissions/une_heure_sur_terre/2009-2010/Reportage.asp....Brother of Afghan Leader Is Said to Be on C.I.A. Payroll
http://current.com/items/91304647_brother-of-afghan-leader-is-said-to-be-on-c-i-....Report: Taliban trying to turn US troops into heroin addicts
http://current.com/items/91239450_report-taliban-trying-to-turn-us-troops-into-h....Peace, if it really arrived, would upset things. At present, arms expenditure and (military) aid to other countries are bolstering business. U.S. News and World Report, December 31, 1948
-
We have soldiers who are now discharged being interviewed on Spanish TV Telemundo reporting that they were dicharged because they refuse to go serve in Afghanistan because "there is no clear military mission, we are not there to make America more secure, and they will not serve in a conflict that has no purpose other than political purposes whose goal is to enrich a few multinational corporations.
-
ASK A WOMAN FOR SIZE ;)
The survivor of four assassination attempts, she was elected to Afghanistan"s parliament in 2005 and kicked out in 2007 by the warlords
US Is Doing No Good in Afghanistan
By Malalai Joya
As an Afghan woman who was elected to Parliament, I am in the United States to ask President Barack Obama to immediately end the occupation of my country.Over the past eight years the U.S. has helped turn my country into the drug capital of the world through its support of drug lords. Today, 93 percent of all opium in the world is produced in Afghanistan. Many members of Parliament and high ranking officials openly benefit from the drug trade. President Karzai's own brother is a well known drug trafficker.
Meanwhile, ordinary Afghans are living in destitution. The latest United Nations Human Development Index ranked Afghanistan 181 out of 182 countries. Eighteen million Afghans live on less than $2 a day. Mothers in many parts of Afghanistan are ready to sell their children because they cannot feed them.
Afghanistan has received $36 billion of aid in the past eight years, and the U.S. alone spends $165 million a day on its war. Yet my country remains in the grip of terrorists and criminals. My people have no interest in the current drama of the presidential election since it will change nothing in Afghanistan. Both Karzai and Dr. Abdullah are hated by Afghans for being U.S. puppets.The worst casualty of this war is truth. Those who stand up and raise their voice against injustice, insecurity and occupation have their lives threatened and are forced to leave Afghanistan, or simply get killed.
We are sandwiched between three powerful enemies: the occupation forces of the U.S. and NATO, the Taliban and the corrupt government of Hamid Karzai.
Now President Obama is considering increasing troops to Afghanistan and simply extending former President Bush's wrong policies. In fact, the worst massacres since 9/11 were during Obama's tenure. My native province of Farah was bombed by the U.S. this past May. A hundred and fifty people were killed, most of them women and children. On Sept. 9, the U.S. bombed Kunduz Province, killing 200 civilians.My people are fed up. That is why we want an immediate end to the U.S. occupation.
MALALAI JOYA spoke at San Jose State University Saturday and signed copies of her new political memoir, A Woman Among Warlords, co-written with Derrick O"Keefe. The survivor of four assassination attempts, she was elected to Afghanistan"s parliament in 2005 and kicked out in 2007 by the warlords. She wrote this article for the Mercury News.
Or ask the Mr. Ambassador...
The U.S. ambassador in Kabul sent two classified cables to Washington in the past week expressing deep concerns about sending more U.S. troops to Afghanistan until President Hamid Karzai's government demonstrates that it is willing to tackle the corruption and mismanagement that has fueled the Taliban's rise, senior U.S. officials said.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/11/AR2009111118432.... -
Why is everybody trying to get the president to get more soldiers killed. This is not a decision you just pownse on. I am glad he isn't just throwing a bunch of kids into the fire like Bush did.
-
During his campaign Obama said that we need to be fighting the "real" war in Afgahnistan!
Since Obama took office, US deaths in Afghanistan have more than doubled the previous year's total.
The top General in Afghanistan has asked for 40,000 more troops to secure the country and protect our own troops. It was the first time the President talked with the top General in seven months.
Since this request over 100 American soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan.
This request remains unanswered. However, during this time the President has taken a family vacation, played golf multiple times, and made an appearance on the David Letterman show.
Either shit or get off the pot Barack, this stay the course bullshit is all about not being able to piss off your political base. If it's the real war, then take the advice of the top general and send the troops, fire the general and do it your way, or pull the troops the fuck out.
-
President Obama would not commit more troops into Afghanistan until after the crap-care bill passed. He will send Troops. The cost of losing in Afghanistan is too high. We are fighting real enemies in Afghanistan. We tried not fighting back against people who are committed to a war against America, It did not work. I am sure the closer President Obama faces re-election, the more he will "do the right thing." Do the math "Pelosi + Clinton + Biden + Reid + Obama = Crap Administration.
-
I'm glad to see President Obama wants to use well thought out 'strategy', moving away from the maddening 'strategery', which we have witnessed for the past 8 years.
-
WHO'S MAKING A KILLING ?
Afghanistan’s Oil Binge: 22 Gallons of Fuel Per Soldier Per Day
http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2009/11/afghanistans-oil-binge-22-gallons-of-fue...Wanna know why the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are so expensive? Here’s one big reason: The U.S. military consumes 22 gallons of fuel per soldier, per day. And each gallon costs $45 or more to haul to the battlefield.
That’s according to a new Deloitte study, flagged by our friend Paul McLeary at Aviation Week.
Actually, $45 per gallon is a lowball estimate; according to the Navy, it’s more like $300 to $400. (Talk about sticker shock.) But the costs of guzzling that much gas won’t be measured just in dollars, the study warns. Fuel has to be driven in to Afghanistan’s isolated bases. Which opens up U.S. convoy to improvised bomb attacks. Which invariably leads to troops dying. “Absent game-changing shifts, the current Afghan conflict may result in a 124% (17.5% annually) increase in U.S. casualties through 2014,” according to Deliotte.
The Defense Department has all kinds of isolated initiatives to try to cut down its dependence on fossil fuels: massive solar arrays, hybrid rides, trash-powered generators. But most of these efforts are concentrated on making the Pentagon’s domestic operations more energy efficient. For the troops in the field, it’s still a steady diet of gas.
But let's never forget our favorite off shore corporation...
HALLIBURTON / KBR STEALING US BLIND !
http://current.com/items/89801957_halliburton-kbr-stealing-us-blind.htm"The plutocrats believe there are some things worse than war: the confiscation of special privileges; the abolition of unearned income; the overthrow of the economic parasitism; the establishment of industrial democracy. The plutocrats would welcome a war that promised salvation from any such calamities; they would also welcome a war that promised greater foreign markets, the destruction of foreign competition, more security for property rights and a longer lease on life for plutocratic despotism." - Scott Nearing — 1917
-
-
-
-
- WhiteNoise
- 9 days ago
-
-
Afghanistan and Iraq were doomed anyway, and no matter what Obama did, the insurgents in both countries would eventually overthrow the governments we set in place. The Taliban will tear apart the Afghan government, guaranteed. Even with us there, the Taliban managed to recapture like half the country. If we surged we could "eliminate" them, much like we "eliminated" them in the early half of the war, only for them to re-emerge. Plus the government we've set up is pretty much illegitimate. Karzai got his drug lord buddies to win him the election, only 30% of the country voted, even in places where the Taliban wasn't in power, turnout was low.
I think an Iraqi uprising will be slower to start than Afghanistan, but I think its inevitable. How that will gel with Iran isn't known, though I think that in a few years they'll probably be at war.
-
All of you stupid mother******* with the hopeful pipe dreams of him just pulling those troops out right now, better hold your breath
-
-
-
-
- ZeldaMasterZapp
- 9 days ago
-
-
Thank God! This is the most you can ask from a President is to give the problem some real serious thought. Anyone who gives the knee-erk reaction of just get everyone out or throw more troops in, is being foolish. The answers are there, but they are not easy ones. We have to be so careful here since we've been so careless before.
-
Seems like a vicious circle. We're still indirectly funding the Taliban that our forces are fighting. http://www.thenation.com/doc/20091130/roston
And the American Ambassador to Afghanistan is against additional troops. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/Afghanistan/article6913759.ece
Why don't we learn what the Russians learned a long time ago and simply get out?
-
-
-
-
- scifiwritir
- 9 days ago
-
-
According to the NYTimes President Obama feels the following questions have not been addressed adequately.
"Where are the off-ramps for the military? What is the exit strategy? When will Americans and their allies hand responsibility to the Afghanistan government? Can the Afghan government improve its credibility?"
Vice-President Biden, Senator Kerry (Head of foreign relations committee in the Senate) Senator Levin (head of the armed services committee) and Lt. General Karl W. Eikenberry (retired) among others, have expressed their concerns over the effectiveness of a troop increase as well.
-
It was the Cheney administration's decision to leave two wars in the hands of President Obama. Two wars the right wing, with the world's most powerful military shouldn't have started, but wasn't smart enough to win or end. It's time you Cheney supporters sit down and drink a nice, hot, 4 year long cup of STFU.
-
Once again 0 demonstrates he is incapable of the job.
Another brick in the load. -
s0uthc0ast
I'm afraid neocongo's last comment was addressed to your like ;)
America will always be filled with half-clever hucksters who look for ways to live the fat life off the ignorance and loneliness of country rubes. – Matt Taibbi
-
Meanwhile our troops are dying while the Campaigner in Chief tries to decide what he wants to do. This is what happens when you elect someone for President who has no idea what it takes to be a leader.
-
Sorry Barack, you can't vote "present" on this one.
-
Nice. Its good to see a president that actually thinks before he acts and better yet, learns from his predecessors mistakes.
-
A quick & awful reminder of the insanity of it all !
& Hunter's eulogy of our crumbling empire...
" The U.S. Treasury is empty, we are losing that stupid, fraudulent chickencrap war in Iraq, and every country in the world except a handful of corrupt Brits despises us. We are losers, and that is the one unforgivable sin in America. "
"Beyond that, we have lost the respect of the world and lost two disastrous wars in three years. Afghanistan is lost, Iraq is a permanent war zone, our national economy is crashing all around us, the Pentagon's ‘war strategy’ has failed miserably, nobody has any money to spend, and our once-mighty U.S. America is paralyzed by mutinies in Iraq and even Fort Bragg. "
"The American nation is in the worst condition I can remember in my lifetime, and our prospects for the immediate future are even worse. I am surprised and embarrassed to be a part of the first American generation to leave the country in far worse shape than it was when we first came into it.
Our highway system is crumbling, our police are dishonest, our children are poor, our vaunted Social Security, once the envy of the world, has been looted and neglected and destroyed by the same gang of ignorant greed-crazed bastards who brought us Vietnam, Afghanistan, the disastrous Gaza Strip and ignominious defeat all over the world. The stock market will never come back, our armies will never again be No. 1.
We have become a monster in the eyes of the whole world – a nation of bullies and bastards who would rather kill than live peacefully. We are not just whores for power and oil, but killer whores with hate and fear in our hearts. We are human scum, and that is how history will judge us… No redeeming social value. Just whores. Get out of our way, or we’ll kill you." - Hunter "Gonzo" Thompson
-
-
-
-
- WhiteNoise
- 8 days ago
-
