Posted on 10/04/2009 11:00:18 AM PDT by jazusamo
The White House national security adviser said Sunday that Afghanistan “is not in imminent danger of falling,” a different view expressed from the top U.S. commander in that country.
Retired Gen. James Jones, appearing on CBS’s “Face the Nation” and CNN’s “State of the Union,” said the government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai must improve but he believes it can succeed with a strong U.S. effort to train its army and police force.
“I don’t foresee the return of the Taliban. Afghanistan is not in imminent danger of falling,” Jones said. “The al-Qaeda presence is very diminished. The maximum estimate is less than 100 operating in the country, no bases, no ability to launch attacks on either us or our allies.”
Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, has called for thousands of more U.S. troops, saying that insurgents are gaining strength and that the U.S. is in danger of failing if more forces are not sent to the fight.
Underscoring those concerns was a deadly battle near the Pakistan border, where insurgents besieged two American outposts in eastern Afghanistan on Saturday, killing eight Americans and two Afghan policemen, the deadliest for American soldiers in more than a year.
“I think it would be a mistake to underestimate the importance of other elements of the strategy that were decided on in March,” said Jones. “We do have a strategy. What Gen. McChrystal has done is presented his opinion, is presenting his opinion of what he thinks his role within that strategy is.
“Our strategy is a regional strategy. We focus on Afghanistan and also Pakistan,” he said. “So I think this is what we’re going to tear apart and look at and consider General McChrystal’s input. The president should be presented with options, not just one fait accompli. And we will come up with the right solution, I think.”
Obama is considering a range of ideas for changing course in Afghanistan, including pulling back, staying put and sending more troops.
“It would be, I think, unfortunate if we let the discussion just be about troop strength,” said Jones. “There is a minimum level that you have to have, but there’s, unfortunately, no ceiling to it.”
Additionally, anti-war House Democrats are mobilizing for the possibility that Obama could decide to add U.S. forces in Afghanistan beyond the 68,000 already committed.
Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva of Arizona, a co-chairman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said liberals are planning to draft a letter strongly opposing the troop increase recommended by McChrystal.
Jim McDermott , D-Wash., also joined 55 lawmakers, including seven Republicans, in sending Sept. 25 a letter to Obama protesting a troop increase and warning of a “military quagmire” in a time of economic turmoil.
John P. Murtha of Pennsylvania, the top Defense appropriator, is calling on the White House to limit any additional deployment to no more than 20,000 troops.
Murtha said that level would ensure that the American footprint remains smaller than the 90,000 troops the Soviet Union had fighting in Afghanistan in the 1980s.
“The president is listening to McChrystal. But he’s also listening to history. No one has won in Afghanistan,” Murtha said Oct. 1. Murtha said Obama could win support for additional troops if he seeks a “reasonable increase, with a substantial plan: international support, more civilian input and benchmarks.”
Gads, such a thing exists? That would be all of Congress, right?
I have been extremely upset all day thinking about Bambi and people like Jones throwing our kids out to die. They want the US to fail. They want it to be so bad that there is a clamor to withdraw troops. Then they can say it wasn't their fault, they were just responding to the popular demand.
I hate them. What about all the parents who have already lost children, the people who have lost spouses, for a war that Obama intends to lose? This makes me sick to my stomach.
The CPC is a sick joke just as is the CBC and CHC. They all forget they’re Americans and should be representing for a common cause.
Zer0 should be listening to the commanders that are most informed on the War and that would be the current commanders. Retired officers and idiots in Congress are not the best informed.
There are four elements to Obama’s Afghan Strategy:
1. Do nothing as long as you can.
2. Cut.
3. Run.
4. Blame Bush.
6.Bush's Fault. (continually)
Probably not far off. Zer0 sure has changed his tune since elected, Afghanistan was the real war that was neglected, now he wants it to go away.
I think the secret is...Obama doesn’t care. He doesn’t like the military anyway, or anybody in it, and he’s perfectly happy to sacrifice our soldiers for his agenda (which is to destroy the US).
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