Obama sending 17,000 troops to Afghanistan. Hooray for CHANGE!

casa_mugrienta

Duke status
Apr 13, 2008
43,215
17,648
113
Petak Island
Diplomacy = send in thousands of troops, according to Obama.

I'm sure all the Obama supporters/erBB war mongerers are scrambling to enlist. <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/socrazy.gif" alt="" />

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Obama OKs about 17,000 more troops for Afghanistan
Feb 17, 4:52 PM (ET)

By ANNE GEARAN

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama has approved adding about 17,000 U.S. troops for the flagging war in Afghanistan, administration, defense and congressional officials said Tuesday.

The Obama administration is expected to announce on Tuesday that it will send one additional Army brigade and an unknown number of Marines to Afghanistan this spring and summer. Officials spoke on condition of anonymity ahead of the official announcement.

About 8,000 Marines are expected to go in first, followed by about 9,000 Army troops.

The new forces represent the first installment on a larger influx of U.S. forces widely expected this year. Obama's decision would get several thousand troops in place in time for the increase in fighting that usually comes with warmer weather and ahead of national elections in August.

The additional forces partly answer a standing request from the U.S. commander in Afghanistan, Gen. David McKiernan, who has sought as many as 30,000 additional U.S. forces to counter the resurgence of the Taliban militants and protect Afghan civilians.

The United States has slightly more than 30,000 troops in Afghanistan now.

The new units are a Marine Expeditionary Brigade unit from Camp Lejeune, N.C., and an Army Stryker brigade from Fort Lewis in Washington state.

Ahead of his first foreign trip, Obama told a Canadian news organization that the United States will seek a more comprehensive, diplomatic approach to Afghanistan, where the U.S. has been engaged in war since 2001.

"I am absolutely convinced that you cannot solve the problem of Afghanistan, the Taliban, the spread of extremism in that region solely through military means," the president said in a White House interview with Toronto-based Canadian Broadcasting Corp.

Obama is scheduled to make a quick day trip to Ottawa on Thursday.


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BTW, I made this post especially with you in mind, born2surf. <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/computer.gif" alt="" /> Sucker.
 

Kento

Duke status
Jan 11, 2002
68,691
20,905
113
The Bar
Does this mean that Bin Laden is no longer under the Bush administration's protection? <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/shrug.gif" alt="" />
 

HopperNash

Billy Hamilton status
Apr 1, 2008
1,451
1
0
Shouldn't come as a surprise. During Obama's campaign, he mentioned the need for additional troops in Afghanistan. It's to be applauded, since he focusing the job that Bush started and then promptly forgot about... leaving the almost defeated Taliban to surge again. Imagine, its more dangerous than Iraq these days.
 

srfdrnk66

Michael Peterson status
Jan 2, 2005
2,758
0
0
semi-submerged
It's to be applauded, since he focusing the job that Bush started and then promptly forgot about...

Will you clap faster or just louder as more of our troops die?



"applauded" <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/foreheadslap.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/foreheadslap.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/foreheadslap.gif" alt="" />






<img src="/forum/images/graemlins/tomato.gif" alt="" />
 

casa_mugrienta

Duke status
Apr 13, 2008
43,215
17,648
113
Petak Island
It's to be applauded, since he focusing the job that Bush started and then promptly forgot about... leaving the almost defeated Taliban to surge again. Imagine, its more dangerous than Iraq these days.
Damn, didn't take long for the apologists to pop up, did it?

Applauded eh? Then go enlist. Serve you country. <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/roflmao.gif" alt="" /> Fight for freedom. <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/roflmao.gif" alt="" />

<img src="/forum/images/graemlins/loser.gif" alt="" />
 

Kento

Duke status
Jan 11, 2002
68,691
20,905
113
The Bar
No.
It means that the new president doesn't have a fckn clue.
And hopes that those who voted for him don't have a clue.
A clue as far as making money for Cheney and his friends? <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/shrug.gif" alt="" />
 

SmackDaddy

Duke status
Feb 12, 2002
18,919
0
0
San Diego, CA
No.
It means that the new president doesn't have a fckn clue.
And hopes that those who voted for him don't have a clue.
So it's your opinion that we should not send more troops to Afghanistan? That we should sit back while the existing soldiers get picked off one by one and the Taliban takes over the country and Bin Laden continues to have sanctuary in the Afghan/Pakistan border? Really, is that what you think we should do? And when I say we, I mean those of us that live in the USA.
 

casa_mugrienta

Duke status
Apr 13, 2008
43,215
17,648
113
Petak Island
No.
It means that the new president doesn't have a fckn clue.
And hopes that those who voted for him don't have a clue.
So it's your opinion that we should not send more troops to Afghanistan? That we should sit back while the existing soldiers get picked off one by one and the Taliban takes over the country and Bin Laden continues to have sanctuary in the Afghan/Pakistan border? Really, is that what you think we should do? And when I say we, I mean those of us that live in the USA.
Situation sounds dire. Go enlist. <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/loser.gif" alt="" />
 

casa_mugrienta

Duke status
Apr 13, 2008
43,215
17,648
113
Petak Island
OK. So far we have SmackDaddy, Jethro, and Hopper waking up bright and early to head to their local recruiting office.

I'm proud of you guys. <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/hah.gif" alt="" />

So that's three less guys in the water, 3 more waves for me. Who's next? <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/wave2.gif" alt="" />
 

ratfink

Rabbitt Bartholomew status
Jul 15, 2008
8,127
56
48
Texas Gulf de Mexico
No.
It means that the new president doesn't have a fckn clue.
And hopes that those who voted for him don't have a clue.
A clue as far as making money for Cheney and his friends? <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/shrug.gif" alt="" />
Do you feel better if Obama's friends at GE start to wet their beeks? As if they haven't already?
 

HopperNash

Billy Hamilton status
Apr 1, 2008
1,451
1
0
It's to be applauded, since he focusing the job that Bush started and then promptly forgot about... leaving the almost defeated Taliban to surge again. Imagine, its more dangerous than Iraq these days.
Damn, didn't take long for the apologists to pop up, did it?

Applauded eh? Then go enlist. Serve you country. <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/roflmao.gif" alt="" /> Fight for freedom. <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/roflmao.gif" alt="" />

<img src="/forum/images/graemlins/loser.gif" alt="" />

Well let’s see, there was a little thing called September 11th, where bad men did bad things to innocent people. We tracked the money and the brains behind that little thing I’d like to call a catastrophe to Afghanistan, where the ruling party were really harboring real terrorists (and yes, I know, the U.S. had something to do with the Taliban being in power and yadda, yadda, yadda so we don’t need to expand this thread into a trainwreck waiting to happen). So we here in ’merica approve of going into said country to kick the poop out of said terrorists. The world sympathizes and basically says “go get ‘em!”

The strategy was sound. Kill bin Laden, wipe out Al Qaeda and defeat the Taliban. The other part of the strategy was brilliant and that was to rebuild the infrastructure (sound familiar?), you know, kind of fixing a past mistake, and the an already dumb President would have been hailed a hero of the people.

But wait, what’s that, over there… It’s Saddam.

Notice how, in what seemed like the blink of an eye, Iraq became the sole focus. Afghaniwha? Most of the money and resources were funneled into getting our asses handed to us after our dumb President spoke about accomplishing our mission with such swift determination. And the rest in Iraq, as you know, is bitter history.

Meanwhile, with limited resources, allies giving us the look of distain, the Taliban and Al Qaeda rallied in the third quarter and started doing some damage. Ground was retaken and more U.S. troops were killed in the process. They also had the luxury of sneaking across the border into Pakistan, where we couldn’t touch them. Now, even with the good that we’ve been doing in, what’s that country’s name again, oh yeah, AFGHANISTAN, its becoming more dangerous than Iraq. And I may be mistaken, but even top generals were calling for a surge there, because it worked so well in Iraq, but you know who thought it wasn’t such a good idea? That’s right, our dumb President. He didn’t want resources leaving Iraq, so at least he could leave office feeling a little better about the gigantic clusterfuck he created by giving us a two-front war.

So yeah, perhaps Iraq is a little more stable than it was several years ago, but IT WAS NEVER OUR OBJECTIVE IN THE FIRST GODDAMN PLACE. So I say “HELL YEAH!” Let’s try and finish the first job we started in this crazy thing called war. And it’s no longer about bin Laden or the rest of the 9/11 conspirators. It’s more about finishing the fucking job because we still owe it to the Afghans who considered us liberators, and actually wanted us in their country (besides the profit making warlords and their heroin trade mind you!).

Hey casa, I can’t enlist. I’m what you call a 4F. My hearing is shot.
 

SmackDaddy

Duke status
Feb 12, 2002
18,919
0
0
San Diego, CA
OK. So far we have SmackDaddy, Jethro, and Hopper waking up bright and early to head to their local recruiting office.

I'm proud of you guys. <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/hah.gif" alt="" />

So that's three less guys in the water, 3 more waves for me. Who's next? <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/wave2.gif" alt="" />
I'm sorry, did I miss the post where you posted your enlistment papers?

I'd say most of the dems here, over the course of the past 8 years would have preferred that we stay out of Iraq and had finished the job in Afghanistan. Now you support the concept of not finishing the job in Afghanistan just so you can oppose Obama's plan?

One word: Tool
 

nep

Duke status
Dec 6, 2002
25,610
5
0
It's to be applauded, since he focusing the job that Bush started and then promptly forgot about... leaving the almost defeated Taliban to surge again. Imagine, its more dangerous than Iraq these days.

Damn, didn't take long for the apologists to pop up, did it?

Applauded eh? Then go enlist. Serve you country. <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/roflmao.gif" alt="" /> Fight for freedom. <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/roflmao.gif" alt="" />

<img src="/forum/images/graemlins/loser.gif" alt="" />

Well let’s see, there was a little thing called September 11th, where bad men did bad things to innocent people. We tracked the money and the brains behind that little thing I’d like to call a catastrophe to Afghanistan, where the ruling party were really harboring real terrorists (and yes, I know, the U.S. had something to do with the Taliban being in power and yadda, yadda, yadda so we don’t need to expand this thread into a trainwreck waiting to happen). So we here in ’merica approve of going into said country to kick the poop out of said terrorists. The world sympathizes and basically says “go get ‘em!”

The strategy was sound. Kill bin Laden, wipe out Al Qaeda and defeat the Taliban. The other part of the strategy was brilliant and that was to rebuild the infrastructure (sound familiar?), you know, kind of fixing a past mistake, and the an already dumb President would have been hailed a hero of the people.

But wait, what’s that, over there… It’s Saddam.

Notice how, in what seemed like the blink of an eye, Iraq became the sole focus. Afghaniwha? Most of the money and resources were funneled into getting our asses handed to us after our dumb President spoke about accomplishing our mission with such swift determination. And the rest in Iraq, as you know, is bitter history.

Meanwhile, with limited resources, allies giving us the look of distain, the Taliban and Al Qaeda rallied in the third quarter and started doing some damage. Ground was retaken and more U.S. troops were killed in the process. They also had the luxury of sneaking across the border into Pakistan, where we couldn’t touch them. Now, even with the good that we’ve been doing in, what’s that country’s name again, oh yeah, AFGHANISTAN, its becoming more dangerous than Iraq. And I may be mistaken, but even top generals were calling for a surge there, because it worked so well in Iraq, but you know who thought it wasn’t such a good idea? That’s right, our dumb President. He didn’t want resources leaving Iraq, so at least he could leave office feeling a little better about the gigantic clusterfuck he created by giving us a two-front war.

So yeah, perhaps Iraq is a little more stable than it was several years ago, but IT WAS NEVER OUR OBJECTIVE IN THE FIRST GODDAMN PLACE. So I say “HELL YEAH!” Let’s try and finish the first job we started in this crazy thing called war. And it’s no longer about bin Laden or the rest of the 9/11 conspirators. It’s more about finishing the fucking job because we still owe it to the Afghans who considered us liberators, and actually wanted us in their country (besides the profit making warlords and their heroin trade mind you!).

Hey casa, I can’t enlist. I’m what you call a 4F. My hearing is shot.

<img src="/forum/images/graemlins/shrug.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/shrug.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/shrug.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/shrug.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/shrug.gif" alt="" />


<img src="/forum/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />


 

HopperNash

Billy Hamilton status
Apr 1, 2008
1,451
1
0
Finishing the job? Removing the Taliban so they're no longer a threat to reclaim power. We obviously can't fix the infrastructure because Bush put us so far in debt or else that would have been second on the list, along with putting a stable government in place. Oh, and if you really want to get technical, good job Mr. Bush on backing a worthless POS that Karzai has become.
 

casa_mugrienta

Duke status
Apr 13, 2008
43,215
17,648
113
Petak Island
OK. So far we have SmackDaddy, Jethro, and Hopper waking up bright and early to head to their local recruiting office.

I'm proud of you guys. <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/hah.gif" alt="" />

So that's three less guys in the water, 3 more waves for me. Who's next? <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/wave2.gif" alt="" />
I'm sorry, did I miss the post where you posted your enlistment papers?

I'd say most of the dems here, over the course of the past 8 years would have preferred that we stay out of Iraq and had finished the job in Afghanistan. Now you support the concept of not finishing the job in Afghanistan just so you can oppose Obama's plan?

One word: Tool
I support the concept of slowly pulling out of the Middle East completely, today, right now, even if that means letting it all go to hell. Let the middle-agers be middle-agers. Sending more troops is NOT diplomacy, it will only add fuel to the fire of religious radicalism.

This is a prelude to the invasion of Pakistan. The military is now offering a fast track to citizenship for immigrants who serve. Next is Charlie Rangel's draft.

Oh, and my enlistment papers? To get shipped off to the Middle East, or to shove my nose in the business of some other far-off land? Not in this lifetime. <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/roflmao.gif" alt="" />

Don't worry SmackShooter, I'll send you a care package full of corncob pipes. <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/smokin.gif" alt="" />
 

Kento

Duke status
Jan 11, 2002
68,691
20,905
113
The Bar
No.
It means that the new president doesn't have a fckn clue.
And hopes that those who voted for him don't have a clue.
A clue as far as making money for Cheney and his friends? <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/shrug.gif" alt="" />
Do you feel better if Obama's friends at GE start to wet their beeks? As if they haven't already?
No. <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/socrazy.gif" alt="" /> Are you trying to deny the corruption (if not treason) of the former administration?
 

casa_mugrienta

Duke status
Apr 13, 2008
43,215
17,648
113
Petak Island
Finishing the job? Removing the Taliban so they're no longer a threat to reclaim power. We obviously can't fix the infrastructure because Bush put us so far in debt or else that would have been second on the list, along with putting a stable government in place. Oh, and if you really want to get technical, good job Mr. Bush on backing a worthless POS that Karzai has become.
The Taliban enjoys support from a sizable number of the Afghan population. Get back to me when you figure out a feasible manner to destroy a religious/political ideology such as this.
 

HopperNash

Billy Hamilton status
Apr 1, 2008
1,451
1
0
Since the Taliban can hang out in Pak at their leisure and in some but not complete safety, dont you think the job of removing them might be a little more complicated than sending a few more bodies?
This aint the San Ysidro border we're talking about here.

Who should Bush have backed?
Can you name someone better suited to the task?

If you're lookin' for someone pure of heart and un corruptible than you'd best start searching other planets because you aint going to find that here.
You’re exactly right, and that’s part of the problem. It’ll be a hell of a lot more complicated these days than it would have been in 2003, had we kept the full weight of our military, and that of our allies, on keeping the Taliban from using Pakistan as their version of Laos. And its even more complex these days since Pakistan’s government, even though they’ve been fighting the Taliban/Al Qaeda in the Swat Valley, still won’t allow us to cross the border legally.

I don’t know who Bush should have backed, but Karzai was a poor choice from the get-go and everyone knew it.

And I agree with you that humanity is of unpure heart and highly corruptible. But if you think about it, we succeeded in rebuilding Japan after WWII, governing it for a while before handing sovereignty back to its people. I think that was the same objective for Afghanistan, had it not been for one administration’s lack of focus.