Barack Obama 'to reject Afghanistan war options in favour of plan with clear exit strategy'

Telegraph ^ | 12 Nov, 2009 | Ben Farmer

[XHogPilot]

Barack Obama is to reject all of the options outlined for increasing troop numbers in Afghanistan in favour of revised plans which include a clear exit strategy, it has been claimed. The report came from a senior administration official close to the high-level deliberations Mr Obama is holding with his war cabinet over the refocusing of the Afghan war effort. The President is said to have raised questions at a meeting on Wednesday that could alter both the size of any possible troop increase and the length of time they are in the country before they can hand over to responsibility to the Afghan government. According to US reports, it is not the first time he has asked for the four options thought to have been presented to him to be rewritten and he is putting up considerable resistance to the strategy put forward by the Gen Stanley McChrystal, the US Nato commander in Afghanistan, to increase troop numbers by 40,000 for a counterinsurgency drive. Other options on the table include sending between 10,000 and 15,000 troops who will focus on training Afghan forces. The latest development came as it emerged that the US Ambassador in Kabul, Gen Karl Eikenberry, has told Mr Obama that a surge of troops was "not a good idea" unless the Afghan government suceeded in reining in the corruption which spurred the Taliban insurgency. Gen Eikenberry, a former military commander in Afghanistan, reportedly cited the erratic behaviour of Hamid Karzai, who was sworn in as President of Afghanistan after his rival Abdullah Abdullah pulled out of a second round of elections because of ballot-rigging concerns.

[ridesthemiles]

The Killing Fields will be back. The Taliban will kill whole villages that backed us. They will kill every woman/girl who learned how to read.”

That will be Part A.

Part B will be infiltrating Pakistan and getting their mitts on the nuclear weapons there.

It will all be NObama’s fault.

[marron]

Accordingly, I'd favor a plan that recruited (i.e., paid) the bandits to help us root out and ruthlessly exterminate the Taliban -- the guys we were originally after when he entered Afghanistan. The benefit of such a policy would be that everybody would then be aware of what happens to crazies who dare to attack us. We will come halfway around the world to kill every one of them. It makes a powerful point.

Worth repeating. We've left a few important details undone. No peace for the Talibs until Omar's, and Bin Ladin's, and Zawahiri's DNA has been delivered to us in 33 gallon garbage bags.

[SuziQ]

The Killing Fields will be back. The Taliban will kill whole villages that backed us. They will kill every woman/girl who learned how to read.

Then he won't be able to blame it on George W. Bush, though he, and the lapdog media, will try mightily to do so.

[SuziQ]

Essentially, its the same strategy that worked in Iraq. It will take longer, because there is less to work with. No point in getting in a big hurry.

The MSM has a short memory. Iraq was in dire straits, until the surge. After than, when the Iraqi people realized we weren't going to pull out, and abandon them to the terrorists, they started helping our military root out the bad guys. Then they started working harder to improve themselves and their neighborhoods, knowing that they would be less vulnerable to those same bad guys.

Afghanistan was in a lull, because most of the attention was on Iraq. Those bad guys who were run out of Iraq, went to Afghanistan, and so the violence is up there. If we do a surge in Afghanistan, I believe the Afghani people will do as the Iraqis did.

At this point, especially with this feckless President of ours, why would they stick their necks out to try to make the country a better place? They have no idea whether we're going to stay or go, and they don't want to put their families in danger if they can't count on us as back-up.

[Candor7]

Karzai will take refuge in Mother Russia. Putin wins, Obama loses.Thats about Russians 4, Obama Zero, but who is keeping Score?

[okie01]

No peace for the Talibs until Omar's, and Bin Ladin's, and Zawahiri's DNA has been delivered to us in 33 gallon garbage bags.

I'd settle for one pint baggies.

[jacknhoo]

You can choose to not accept that, but stop the casitgation newbie.

First, I refuse to accept your weakness, yes I do. I certainly do not ask your permission to have my point of view, gaffer.

Second, I am hardly a newbie although I've not been around here as long as yourself. One would think you may be a little more wise than you are...considering how long you've been here.

It is not your place to judge the resolve of others and to cast aspersions about being Axlerod Astroturfers, whatever. Christians don't do that.

I see you, gaffer, are about as conservative religiously as you are socio-politically...LOL. For you choose to accept the judge not lie, when you want deflect criticism...you cherry pick and you also judge freely yourself when it suits your own whim...LOL. Judge and judge righteously, gaffer, that's what true Christians do, we are not politically correct heretics and we are not weak cowards and we are resilient and we do not speak out of both sides of our mouths...but, then again, I don't see you claiming Christ, so that whole aforementioned point may be moot with you.

[surfer]

Better to have our soldiers home then fighting under his command. We can never win while he is in office.

[surfer]

Better to have our soldiers home then fighting under his command. We can never win while he is in office.

[Gaffer]

Look, you can judge however you like. And, you can leap to whatever conclusions you want - even abandonment of Afghanistan to the rest of the free (and dictated) world getting nuclear bombs and using them against us as a result of that abandonment. You’re perfectly free to do and think that. Where I took issue with you is in your blanket condemnation of everyone on the thread who dared utter their thoughts on it simply because they couldn’t see the logic of your conclusion. I’m done, to tell you the truth, it isn’t worth arguing about anymore. Have a great day.