Posted on 01/25/2009 11:24:43 PM PST by FocusNexus
Vice-president Biden reveals US forces will step up operations in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The Obama administration warned the US public yesterday to brace itself for an increase in American casualties as it prepares to step up the fight against al-Qaida and the Taliban in Afghanistan and the border regions of Pakistan.
Against a background of widespread protests in Pakistan and Afghanistan over US operations since Obama became president, the vice-president, Joe Biden, said yesterday that US forces would be engaged in many more operations as it takes the fight to its enemies in the region.
The Obama administration is to double the number of US troops in Afghanistan to 60,000 and when asked in a television interview if the US public should expect more American casualties, Biden said: "I hate to say it, but yes, I think there will be. There will be an uptick."
(Excerpt) Read more at guardian.co.uk ...
Wouldn’t it be just like the new president to let someone else do all the heavy lifting so he can swoop in and take credit for the victory. Remember this story...
http://sweetness-light.com/archive/obama-told-iraqis-to-wait-until-after-elections
I just haven't been very impressed with him in his first week. He has gotten a lot of things done, and I don't think I've agreed with any of them. And he sure isn't leading according to his "bipartisan" stuff about "listening to those who disagree with me."
I think the problem is that with President Bush, we could be 100% certain, that whatever he did, it was what he considered in the best interest in the country, NOT for political reasons, and he made those decisions based on the best available information at the time.
In case of Obama, I don’t think we can trust him to make his decisions based on what’s best for the country. If he has any concern for the country, instead of the terrorists, he would not have dismantled the interrogation techniques used on TERRORISTS PLANNING TO ATTACK US.
Obama is making this decision for the “surge” in Afghanistan, but did not tell us whether the commanders in the field are supporting it, and exactly what does it entail. I find that very suspicious, that he made his decision “for show” and to take troops out of Iraq prematurely.
Yes, I remember it. The guy is a ding bat to be sure.
Yes, you are quite right with your assessment.
I doubt we’re going to find more than a few isolated instances where we might support him. More often than not he’ll muck things up, even when we could have supported him if he had done things the right way.
It’s going to be a frustrating four years.
I don’t disagree with your take on it. The one minor difference is this.
While I do think Obama will be much more prone to do things for political gain, I do think he’ll do what he thinks is best for the nation. Now, the major problem I see there is somewhat akin to a ten year old trying to handle grown up situations. The ten year old may be trying to do the right thing with all his heart. He still won’t have the savvy to make all the decisions he would be faced with.
Obama will not have the savvy to handle all he will be faced with. He’s going to make monumental mistakes often. Obama’s moves regarding Gitmo and the other terrorist prisons and abortion have been only the first of those.
Obama is too smart by half. He’s going to destroy himself by implementing policy that he thinks is solid. The problem will be, that it isn’t at all as solid as he thinks.
Our problem is that the policy he thinks is sound and best for this nation, is extremely flawed and absolutely terrible for this nation.
I’m not convinced he’s trying to destroy this nation, as much as I am convinced this pretender is in way over his head.
This guy gives all the appearance of being a puppet. He may agree with what his puppet masters want him to do, but I don’t think he’s sharp enough to be doing this all on his own. He just doesn’t have the background experience to be able to do it on his own IMO.
No, the first question was serious.
Look Lori, I’ve been here to long to be questioned about whether I support Bush’s efforts in Iraq or not.
The length of time you've "been here" is irrelevant. I've run into many folks here with dates since 98, who have not been what they seem.
What effort at humor took place after that wasn’t going to be received warmly.
You made your point clearly. Then you said: "Any questions?" I then responded with something I thought would lighten up the conversation. My bad. I wasn't trying to offend you. I was trying to get you to possibly chuckle a bit.
Perhaps we’ll get a chance to agree on another thread.
Where on THIS thread did we DISagree? For heaven's sake! I asked a simple question and you answered it! I had no idea the answer would come with brass knuckles!
“This guy gives all the appearance of being a puppet. He may agree with what his puppet masters want him to do, but I don’t think he’s sharp enough to be doing this all on his own. He just doesn’t have the background experience to be able to do it on his own IMO.”
I do tend to agree with you on that.
However, I also believe that his puppet masters do NOT want what’s in the best interest of the nation.
We’re in agreement on that. I don’t think Bozo will have the mental faculties to comprehend that though.
Obama suffers from the 14 to 20 year old no father in the home, but lots of women around praising him constantly, syndrome.
He has been made to think he is the most brilliant person in any room. It’s a destructive thing to have this happen to any young kid, but they generally grow out of it over time.
Obama picked politics. And now he seems to still be convinced he’s the cat’s meow. It’s what happens when you’re a politician who as luck would have it, the party has decided to back no matter what.
Imagine his shock, when his policies blow up in his face. What, you mean I’m not “The One”?
No Barack. You’re the one alright. You’re just not the one you thought you were. And so you’re in for a lot of grief. And so are we.
Lori, if you said you were willing to back Obama when he did decent things, and I piped up to ask you if you ever did that for Bush, I think you would have taken some offense at it.
The implication was that I was someone who backed leftists more easily than people on the right side of the isle. I didn’t care for it. I generally express my thoughts when I reply to people.
OK, so I’m trying to get this straight. Obama wants to pull ALL troops out of Iraq, and INCREASE the troops in Afghanistan, and then ADD operations in Pakistan? As for the casualties — well, he’s damn right about that. There is a reason the tribal areas of Pakistan have remained in the control of those tribes for hundreds of years (if not centuries, really). And, what about Pakistan — is he really thinking that they will just let us waltz in and take action in these areas? Again, there is a reason Bush didn’t force soldiers into Pakistan and recognized that country’s border with Afghanistan — whether it was frustrating or not for our soldiers to let these fighters flee into Pakistan and regroup, and whether in a perfect world we should’ve ignored the border and followed them ANYWAY is a completely separate issue... It’s not as if Musharraf is in control anymore, and it seems that this plan will NOT be kindly regarded by the Pakistanis who currently support the administration of Bhutto’s husband — many of whom it seems are the more hardline Muslim theocrats, and not the likes of which are too friendly towards the U.S. in the first place.
I would hope I’m wrong, but I think I can already see where Obama’s plan will go from here...
1.) The tentative alliance we have with Pakistan will be completely dissolved. We will be facing open war in Pakistan — not just from those people who are Al Qaeda sympathizers either. And, any gains Musharraf got his country through our alliance (decreased power of the theocratic groups, etc...) will be lost as well (translating into even LESS freedom for their people, and understandably turning them against us for our “interference” as they will term this).
2.) Soldiers will NOT be coming home even if we leave Iraq — just where does everyone think the soldiers for the surge in Afghanistan will be coming from... Not to mention the “extra” troops that will need to be brought in for operations in Pakistan.
3.) The Iraqis who right at this moment are still trying to stabilize their country have basically been told — Yeah, so we came in and bombed your country, took out your dictator, restored Freedom to your People, but in a year we’re leaving and you know your enemies are still just outside the gates of the city, but we don’t care anymore... “Good luck”... As if this is not going to make the good citizens of Iraq hate us — to just leave them before they are stabilized, and before we have helped them eradicate the terrorists among them? As if they aren’t just going to bide their time in an effort not to stall the withdrawal, and then go back to bombing women and children, and/or start a civil war? If the intent is to gain “hearts and minds” in order to foster a better relationship between these people and the West, and it the intent right now is to get them on their feet so that they can continue being allies in the Middle East then this action would have the OPPOSITE effect! Liberals like to argue that the War in Iraq has caused more young Muslims to be recruited, but their actions in pulling us out like this - with the full knowledge of Iraq’s enemies is what will REALLY do it. Imagine you are a teenager in Iraq right now - you’re trying to hold out hope that your children will grow up in peace and freedom, but all around you are rumors and propaganda about how the U.S. is the bad guy. Do you really think that after we pull out and this teen’s world becomes another horror of bombings and such that he isn’t going to blame the U.S.? Nope - he’ll say to himself... You know, those terrorists were right all along, and I’ve been a fool... And the next thing you know he’s attending a training camp somewhere looking for revenge bolstered in his actions by the propaganda he’s heard since a young boy...
I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not one to look to for military advice, but geesh - how could Obama be so STUPID!?!? What a bunch of BS.
We respect our President. He sticks to his words and does what is needed to beat those middle east throwbacks... brings our troops back home... I’m all for it! God Bless America!
“why go after Afghanistan? HOW MANY AFGHANI CITIZENS WERE INVOVLVED IN 9/11???
WHY AREN’T WE GOING AFTER THE REAL GUILTY ONES???”
Simple, honest and basic questions......and BRILLIANT!!... as well.
Considering how he (in my view) came out of nowhere to run for President, and then got elected, I've felt that he had some powerful backers who are running things behind the scenes. I'm not saying that he doesn't have some great abilities as a speaker (there is a thread about his use of hand gestures and phrases and NLP tehniques that are useful for getting anyone who watches and listens to you to start thinking whatever you're saying is right) but he is obviously out of his league dealing with real problems and other threats to our nation on a national and international scale.
Stop Jihad Now!
Yes, there be a ‘uptick’ in casualties especially after the democrat congress stops funding the war. It’s hard to win a war with no weapons.
Someone might be getting a big chunk of bailout cash to give up Osama.
The spending portion of the stimulus, in short, isn't really about the economy. It's about promoting long-time Democratic policy goals, such as subsidizing health care for the middle class and promoting alternative energy. The "stimulus" is merely the mother of all political excuses to pack as much of this spending agenda as possible into a single bill when Mr. Obama is at his political zenith.
So too, I don't think the aim is winning in Afghanistan -- the aim is pacification of Pakistan, in reward to some major wealthy Paki donors, at least two of whom Obama's known since his years at Occidental, and are now major campaign contributors and bundlers.Consider also all those millions of unknown origin donated anonymously through his website -- not necessarily from Pakistanis, but not necessarily from American citizens, either.
Obama's goal is not governed by left-wing ideology -- those are simply means to an end: power, and the money that feeds power. He's an extremely dangerous man, and it remains to be seen if anyone in the retreaded Clinton cabinet will be able to rein him in. A healthy dose of skepticism is in order for any move he makes, especially in the early going, while America's head is still spinning in the misplaced euphoria of mythological "hope and change."
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