hell, my bookie coulda told me that...
Posted on 03/13/2014 6:16:59 PM PDT by xzins
The top U.S. commander in Afghanistan said Wednesday that al-Qaeda’s network in that country is in “survival mode,” but warned that a full American military drawdown after the end of the year would allow the terrorist group to regenerate there.
Marine Gen. Joseph F. Dunford’s remarks to the Senate Armed Services Committee appeared intended to shape the White House’s deliberation over whether to leave behind a contingent for training and counterterrorism missions beyond 2014 or pull out entirely. The decision has been delayed by the Afghan president’s refusal to sign a security pact with Washington.
“A withdrawal, in my mind, means abandoning the people of Afghanistan, abandoning the endeavor that we’ve been here on for the last decade, and then providing al-Qaeda the space within which to begin again to plan and conduct operations against the West,” Dunford said.
The general said a U.S. pullout in 2015 would be a “huge moral factor for al-Qaeda,” and would allow it “to once again establish preeminence in the region and become the vanguard for the al-Qaeda movement from the region.” “If we leave at the end of 2014, the Afghan security forces will begin to deteriorate,” Dunford said. “The security environment will begin to deteriorate, and I think the only debate is the pace of that deterioration.”
Dunford testified that he supports leaving a residual force of 8,000 to 12,000 NATO troops — made up mostly of U.S. forces — and a separate contingent of a few thousand special forces to carry out counterterrorism operations.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
The issue with Afghanistan is blood and treasure...mostly blood. Many Americans have given their lives in that piece of earth. As one mother lamented about the results in Iraq after our withdrawal...”as if my son died for nothing.”
I deeply regret that this was fought wrong from the beginning. What should have been a reprisal and exit became a war and nation building of endless numbers of years with continued American blood shed.
If we don’t intend to go all in and achieve an unconditional surrender, then we should stop shedding US blood.
But who will listen to him?
I believe in a nearly full withdrawal, but I want us to leave behind a base which could house up to 300,000 soldiers. It also has 100+ drones that monitor Iran and a contingent force of about 10,000 troops.
No one. If it’s contrary to Obama’s wants, this general just showed courage. I think he’s right about al Qaeda, but I think he’s wrong about the solution.
What mushrooms?
I believe in beating your enemy’s head in with everything you’ve got ‘til he cries uncle, and if you’re not willing to do that, then don’t get involved in a long-term war.
What if we have to go solo?
May the force be there!
See #2 & 7
Ain’t no real big secret/
hell, my bookie coulda told me that...
You have a responsibility to tell the President and Congress this is not winnable with the objectives and ROE as is.
I have no desire to shed our blood to save Afgani’s, Iraqi’s or muslims in general. At the end of the day, we’ll still be infidels and they will still hate us.
Around 15 thousand there forever.
That's the way we should have handled Iraq.
But why Afghanistan?
I don’t think we ever defined the enemy in Afghanistan. However, Russia, China and Iran are our enemy, and having a large base there, makes us more capable with dealing with such threats.
Who cares. There’s real shit brewing in other parts of the world that take precedence over this hell hole.
Bush did when he went in: The Terrorist training camps and the "State" that supported them.
Both were eliminated within the first few months and that's when we should have got out.
Back for occasional killing sprees, of course.
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