Posted on 10/14/2009 6:57:56 AM PDT by Ooh-Ah
Sen. Daniel K. Inouye, the head of the Senate Appropriations Committee, came out Tuesday in strong agreement with the Afghanistan assessment put forth by General Stanley McChrystal and promised to fully fund any forthcoming troop increase there.
The stance of the powerful Hawaii lawmaker is the opposite of his House counterpart, Wisconsin Democrat David Obey. Inouye is also taking a starkly different tone from the Senate Armed Services Committee chairman Carl Levin, D-MI, who has said he opposes sending more combat troops there.
But after returning from a weekend trip to the region, Inouye said that his meetings with troops, officials, and military leaders convinced him that the mission in Afghanistan is not only winnable, but should be pursued under the counterinsurgency strategy that McChrystal has called for, which is necessarily troop intensive.
“At this time, I believe General McChrystal’s assessment of the current situation and his conclusions, including his assessment that coalition forces must have more daily contact with the people of Afghanistan, is correct and is what is needed if we are to achieve security and stability in Afghanistan,” Inouye said.
He also promised to use his chairmanship to fully fund any new strategy the administration submitted to Congress, but declined to say exactly what his position on specific troops increase options would be.
“I will make certain that our men and women in uniform have everything they need to accomplish their mission,” he said, “If, after further consultation and deliberation we decide we need 40,000 more troops or 50,000 more troops in Afghanistan, that’s what we’ll send but much more discussion has to take place before a final decision on troop levels can be made.”
(Excerpt) Read more at thecable.foreignpolicy.com ...
Say what you will about Inouye’s politics, his heroism on behalf of this nation is beyond dispute.
(....HI....)
Okay...His politics SUCK....and even a clock is right twice a day. Turns out Danny may be too.
This is not surprising. Hawaii is more dependent on the military industrial complex than any other state. Why in the heck are so many here so bound and determined to hand Obama a blank check of American blood and treasure for a futile nation-building crusade in Afghanistan?
He’s right? Why? Because he wants to hand a blank check to Obama?
I vote pull them out. I don’t share your faith in the alternative. Generals are not gods. They always want more troops. My case in point is Westmoreland who despite the fact he had 500K in 1968 wanted 700K! I agree on one thing. Obama’s middle policy is the worst of all world.
The fact that Americans have understood this and have spent their blood and treasure to preserve this right around the world, for people that hate us, is what makes us who we are.
You can spit on us, call us names, ridicule our morals, and we still know that everyone has the right to liberty and we will do what we can to make sure that right is preserved.
Not good news for dems, Inouye is up for re-election in 2010. I doubt he has a serious challenger, yet something in the polls must be prompting him to take this stance against obama/dem ideology
I don't think anyone here wants to hand O a blank check. On the 23rd of this month, we'll be observing the 26th anniversary of the Beirut Barracks bombing. Shortly afterwards, a commentator said of our Marine presence, "If they are there to fight they are too few, if they are there to die, they are too many." I think that is the overwhelming opinion on this board in regards to Afghanistan. Pulling out will be worse than our premature withdrawal from Viet Nam: not only will there be a blood bath, but al-qaeda will once again have a safe base of operations. This is not (or should not be) a nation building exercise, but about taking the fight to the enemy. I know many are skeptical about McChrystal's ties to the CFR, but I suspect he's far more the warrior than he is the diplomat.
Nice purple prose there....then why aren't you on your hind legs screaming for us to end to aid to such Islamo-fascist regimes as Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan? I prefer an America that promotes liberty by example (as we did with great success in the nineteenth century) not one that is an empire that props up dictators.
I wish we would strike a stronger stand in those areas, along with supporting dissidents in Burma and Tibet. When we decided to go after the Taliban in Afghanistan, we did so with the purpose of destroying a government that not only provided aid and comfort for Al-Queda, but also was among the most actively oppressive in the world.
Once the dagger is thrust, we must finish the kill. To fail to do so is to encourage dictators around the world with the idea that America can’t stomach a hard fight.
The world believed that after Vietnam and it took us a long time to overcome that perception. Bush refused to allow Iraq to become another Vietnam and we have a stablizing, democratic government in Iraq.
We can have the same in Afghanistan if we don’t have wobbly leadership.
Daniel is probably the last of the real democrats not like John Kerry or Murtha, who disgraced our military after they left the service. Daniel was a documented war hero unlike the phoney Kerry.
Of interest also, is Bob Kerrey, who appears to be supporting how to win in Afghanistan instead of another Viet Nam.
“In 1943, when the Army dropped its ban on Japanese-Americans serving in the Army, Inouye curtailed his premedical studies and enlisted in the Army. He was assigned to the Nisei 442nd Regimental Combat Team {COA at right}, which became the most highly-decorated unit in the history of the U.S. Army. During the World War II campaign in Europe he received the Bronze Star and also the Distinguished Service Cross, which was later upgraded to the Medal of Honor.
While recovering from World War II wounds in Percy Jones Army Hospital, Inouye met Bob Dole, then a fellow patient. Dole mentioned to Inouye that after the war he planned to go to Congress. Inouye beat him there by a few years. Despite being members of different political parties, the two lawmakers remain life-long friends. Percy Jones Army Hospital later became a Federal Center and, in 2003, was renamed the Hart-Dole-Inouye Federal Center in honor of the two men and another senator who had stayed in the hospital, Philip Hart.
Although he lost his right arm in the war, he remained in the military until 1947, discharged with the rank of captain. Due to the loss of his arm, he abandoned his plans to become a surgeon and returned to college to study political science on the GI Bill.”
Say what you will about Inouye’s politics, his heroism on behalf of this nation is beyond dispute.
***
Inouye was part of the Army’s 442nd Regimental Combat Team - I think he knows a little bit about combat and tactics ...
FYI: If you wanna see a good film about the 442nd - Rent “Go For Broke”. The scene about storming the hill against the Germans is supposed to be extremely accurate ...
uh la la :-D
Nice attempt at a smear but it won’t work anymore. The terrorists are growing stronger in Afghanistan under your policy. Their are more troops there now than ever before. If you want to fight in Obama’s war, why don’t you volunteer and put YOUR life on the line?
their=there
No, CAPTAIN, because he agrees with a GENERAL.
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