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Subscribe to RSSThe top commander in Afghanistan said Thursday he prefers a robust U.S. combat force of 68,000 in 2013, signaling a potential halt in the drawdown and complicating any effort by President Barack Obama to accelerate the timetable after more than a decade of war.
"My opinion is that we will need significant combat power in 2013," Marine Gen. John Allen told the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Pressed by the panel's top Republican, Sen. John McCain, on whether a force of 68,000 would be sufficient, Allen said, "Sixty-eight thousand is a good going-in number, but I owe the president some analysis on that."
In his second public hearing on Capitol Hill this week, the commanding general of the war in Afghanistan argued that the war can still be won, and he warned that a withdrawal of coalition forces would create a vacuum in the region.
"Should the U.S. leave Afghanistan, should ISAF, NATO leave Afghanistan, that would create in my mind, for all intents and purposes, a geopolitical vacuum," Allen said, as the Afghan National Security Forces prepare to take over responsibility.
Allen's comments represent a marker for the military. Obama faces increasing political and public pressure to accelerate the timetable after more than 10 years of fighting and recent incidents that dealt a major setback to the fragile U.S.-Afghanistan relationship. Afghan outrage over the burnings of Qurans and a shooting spree that left 17 Afghan civilians dead have been blamed on Americans.
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, tried to get Allen to admit how much money the U.S. will have to pay to fund the Afghan National Security Forces over the next decade, but Allen said he could not say. He did acknowledge that the current annual cost to fund the ANSF's 352,000 troops is between $4 billion and $5 billion, but the entire annual revenue for Afghanistan is only $2 billion, so the international community will be helping the Afghans for some time.
Allen said he remains optimistic that the war can still be won.
"If I didn't think it was do-able I would tell you, and I would tell you very quickly because I wouldn't want to spend another life in this fight if it wasn't do-able," Allen said.
Asked later by Sen. Lindsey Graham whether the current strategy in Afghanistan represents "the last best chance for success in Afghanistan," Allen said quietly, "I concur with that, senator."
NBC News' Courtney Kube and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Where will these additional troops come from? A fifth tour of duty? Or do we just keep sending them back until they die or break?
The ONLY thing we need to be doing in Afghanistan is preparations to leave.
Bush invaded 2 wrong countries all over oil and oil and gas pipelines.
The terrorists were always headquartered in Pakistan. And still are.
Obama got us out of Iraq and he's on target to get us out of Afghanistan.
The sooner the better.
.
No we can't win! Gen. John Allen doesn't remember Vietnam. As some have said, what is there to win. Once we leave, the country will fall back into the cesspool.
Bring our troops home. Send a message to Obama and Congress. Write your representative, tell them, get out! Sign the petition. Support our troops.
http://www.change.org/petitions/bring-our-troops-home-from-afghanistan
This dude needs to go home and get laid. This war should have ended 9 years ago. During these 9 years warmongers like him flushed several trillions of dollars down the toilet in Afghanistan, along with 2000 US servicemen lives. Shame on them for giving our country another Vietnam.
Al Qaeda operated openly in Afghanistan prior to Bush's invasion and Saddam Hussein was a huge sponsor of terrorism.
Bin Laden's base of operations was Afghanistan, not Pakistan; he only relocated to Pakistan when the US started openly attacking his training camps in Afghanistan. If anything we're in this mess today because Bush stopped one short and didn't also knock over Pakistan's tribal region.
Despite Saddam's activities I'm not sure we're better off today for having disposed of him, at least he was keeping Iran in check and if the trade off for the war in Iraq was not stamping out the militant haven of Pakistan we definitely took our eye off the ball all our current problems in Afghanistan can be blamed on that.
What the hell is a win? They never have an answer, they are trained to fight, and that is what they want to do. To hell with what the American people want, to hell with the costs, financially and deaths, and horrible injury. Over 10 years, and they haven't been able to "win" yet. Bring them home, now, not 5 or 10 years from now. The people should still have some say in ending this useless war, the only country making out like a bandit, is China. We die for China's mineral rights? No more, no more.
Gen. Allen, Afghanistan was a geo-political vacuum when we got there, which was the problem. There is no winning this. Al Quida is gone. Watch them from the sky and hit them with drones when you can. If it gets serious, then use spec. forces on them. The people don't want us there and we can't rebuild a country that was never built or wants to be built. It's over. Keep pulling out troops and manage it from the outside.
We are looking at Saigon helo's on the roofs anyway.
BS....Bring them home now...don't wait!
It sounds like it's time for a new commander.
General Allen should be fired for making political statements. He's in the military. He's not a politician. Congress should be asking the General their questions in private. Not the public forum.
This guy says he's convinced this war can be won. I'd dearly like to know what his definition of victory is.
NO MORE DEATH-bring OUR people home!!!!!!
We can win? Really? ...what the hell does that mean?
I'm sure Alexander the Great thought so too...and Genghis Khan...and Great Britain...and Russa.
Folks this is Afghanistan, you know tribal, warlords perpetual civil war. We, just like those who came before us are just "in the way". We're not going to change them. As to the Taliban taking control when we leave, yes, more than likely they will. The Taliban are Pashtun (ie, tribal, ethnic Afghans) so unless we're prepared to spend the next 10 years committing genocide in most of Afghanistan and a large chunk of Pakistan ...it's time to leave.
Isn't winning this war sort of like saying you will be able to save your marriage as your wife walks in with her new boyfriend?
It ain't gonna happen!
General Allen must be nearing retirement. If he can get us to stay he can move over to a consultant job and make big bucks. @!$%#.
In World War II, "wining" was defined as Unconditional Surrender. Everyone knew what constituted the ending of the war and our troops coming home. Every solider knew what that meant and had no confusion or misunderstanding of what the mission was.
Since that time, every conflict we have been in has never had a defined definition of what "wining" means.
We should never commit combat troops without a clearly defined stated mission statement that will state just what "WINING" looks like.
Well said noiwontyesiwill. If you don't know what victory looks like, you'll never find it (think Afghanistan).
Win? Win what? How do you win there, General? ... Obama? Some of us are starting to wonder what is going on that we're not made privy to. Are you running and capitalizing on the opium market there? There has to be something going on over there to keep you in a "no-win" situation, and to me, that's beginning to be the only thing that makes sense. If not, then please tell us, what is the definition of "win in Afghanistan"? Is that an unreasonable request of an American citizen?
I'm as pro-military as you'll find, and I was first in line to support going into Afghanistan and killing Al Qaeda, and I still am, but frankly to me there doesn't seem to be any more realizable gain worth the risk and cost if you're only going to drag it out and play half-ass war games for a "nation"that doesn't even care if we are there or not.
This need to 'win' is just blind ambition backed by weak prayers and on the point of 'winning'... what is it they want to win? Why is the US there? They say it's to prevent terrorists from using Afghan-land as a base to conduct activities from. So what? Even if the US stays another 10 years they'll come back around and take things over again in this backwards country of goat herders.
WIN?!?!!? Win WHAT?????
There is nothing to 'win' in that desolate left over of the planets makings. The Chinese are the one's who are going to benefit from all the shed U.S. blood. Let THEM 'win'. Bring our troops home NOW!!!
Charlie Sheen talked about "Winning" too. General Allen is just as wacky. (No offense intended to Charlie.)
Simply put, the war was declared and very smartly so. On terrorism. Damn that's a war we can fight forever, because one country's terrorist is an-others patriotic hero!
Really they have us turning on our own soldiers and we still need to be there? I mean punishing one of our own for burning the quran. Com'on time to get out. I guess just another way of creating worlds police force, by the name of NATO coalition force.
There's always the draft.
Actually, the terrorists will always be exactly where we need them to be, i.e. wherever there's oil, gas or some other strategic interest. If oil were to be found in Lesotho, Lesotho would become the next grave terrorist threat to the United States.
WIN WHAT? We got Bin Laden. GAME OVER. WE ALREADY WON.
WHAT IS THERE LEFT TO WIN? WHY ARE WE STILL IN AFGHANISTAN?
I've been doing some studying up on this - starting with a book by Ahmed Rashid called Pakistan on the Brink. He has convinced me that more soldiers and more guns will not produce a better result as long as the structural political and econmoic problems remain unaddresssed.
Assume for the moment that we can "win." Exactly what have we won? Western style democracy? Doubtful. Eliminate AL Queda? Not even remotely possible.
We can win what? A pile of sand and heat along with the hillbillies of the mideast.
An other genaral that is looking for a fast promotion over his soldiers dead bodies.
Like that idiot Westmoreland in Vietnam.
GET OUT NOW, SCR*W THEM ALL
@Stesilaus I agree with most of your point. But where oil is concerned (Iraq), I don't feel we we're "in it for the oil" per se but more like trying to protect and stabilize a vital source of the world's crude market and there is a big difference. If Iraqi militia was able to destroy many of the oil fields and the distribution infrastructure in Iraq, we'd have suffered $5.00 gas back in '02-'05 time frame which would have killed many economies throughout the globe and severely set back the US economy. I don't see us "commandeering" Iraqi oil today ... perhaps we have the right to to help remiburse us for the costs and lives, but we were simply trying to prevent a major oil disruption which would have cost global economies far more and for that I feel the world owes us a debt of gratitude because the unseen and unrealized costs that were eliminated or defrayed because of our actions would have been extremely costly to US interests as well as other innocent national interests around the globe.
Win WHAT? Afghanistan is the very definition of a 'cluster f*ck'. What the hell do we want with that mess? We have our own issues that need resolving.
Time to fire another general in Afghanistan. Generals want to fight, even if there is no real mission, like now. Generals are supposed to follow the orders of the civilian government. We have a civilian leadership for no other purpose then to let generals introduce mission creep, like Allen wants to do.
We are done. Counter terrorism is what we went in for. Stan McCrystal pushed counter insurgency, got fired, then Pateous went in and gave money to a bunch of drug lords to do the work of policing the landscape. Sound like mission creep? Yep, the very definition.
The president needs to get under this, so we don't end up with another MacAurther/McCrystal moment, where the Pentagon is driving policy. They have one goal in the Pentagon: find a war and stay there.
"Winning" in Afghanistan would mean killing the entire population, because you can't tell the Taliban from the warlords. That's not an appropriate mission for the United States. We don't do genocide.
Well Libs and Dems, this is the Commander In Chief you elected. How many more of our troops will you let him send to their deaths?
The "Country" of Afghanistan that wants a "government" is a couple of cities. The rest of the country has no idea or desire to have a GOVERNMENT! No one, yet, has been able to UNIFY these diverse groups and the attempted installations of government have never and will never been able to provide even the most basic services to these people, like sanitary drinking water.
VILLAGES often comprise fewer than 100 people who are self sufficient and rely on their local, resident Imam to provide guidance and justice in their lives. The inhabitants are, for the most part, totally illiterate. They don't have any clue why we are in their country killing their citizens. They don't know anything about 9/11 or able to conceptualize a sky scraper, let alone the World Trade Centers. The idea that 3,000 people could congregate in an area only a few city blocks square is way over their heads. Most of them never travel further than a couple of villages away from where they are born!
Take a look at Bin Laden, a city dweller who was well off! His "Palace", as it was described, wasn't much better than ghetto housing here in the USA except he had a "compound". How do you drag this mind set into the 21st Century?
The answer is, you DON'T! That is why we, or anyone else, will ever WIN a war against them short of mass genocide!
OK. So what is the desired "win"?
We got bin Laden ... isn't that why we went to Afghanistan in the first place? Didn't we already "win"?
So, what are we to "win" now? If "hearts and minds" is the answer, forget it. Not happening.
PappaDave-956353 I think your on to something about how you win wars. Ask Japan
An other idiot general like Westmoreland in Vietnam.
Must want an extra star and pay raise before he retires over his soldiers dead bodies
WHY ARE WE STILL IN AFGHANISTAN? Well, lets just see if all these insurgent networks like the Haqqanis and the Mesuds are competent enough like they say they are to start attack the US mainland like they did with the failed Times Square Bomber.
I guess as soon as we have bodies lying around outside your local Starbucks due to a competent suicide bomber youll have your answer.
"Should the U.S. leave Afghanistan, should ISAF, NATO leave Afghanistan, that would create in my mind, for all intents and purposes, a geopolitical vacuum," Allen said, as the Afghan National Security Forces prepare to take over responsibility.
This Idiot's brain is operating in a vacuum. Same story in Vietnam with westmoreland. Give me more troops and I can win this war.
Well you have seen the results of that.
I remember a story from Russia in WW2. Zukov one of Russian greatest generals, did a front line visit and asked where the command post was. He was told it was way way back behind the lines. End of story is he had them all excuted for deriliction of duty by not being in the front line with the soldiers.
Should be a lesson in this for our generals.
I could swear I just recently heard Gen. Allen tell Congress that everything is on schedule for the draw-down. So where does this come from all of a sudden?
What does WINNING in Afghanistan mean? What do we win? What is winning supposed to look like? I thought we went there to kill bin laden. We did, even though He was in Pakistan when we did. What are we doing there?
Oh no, another General who will be "ordered" to early retirement.
This "vacuum" will be added to all the OTHERS (Arab Spring countries) in the ME.
And which organizations are going to fill these vacuums? You guessed it.....the Muslim Brotherhood or some other rogue militant group which have NO INTEREST in the West. Seems time to "rethink" our military strategies.
This General evidently has not gotten the word that we are pulling back yet. He claims we can win that which is not winnable. What would victory be? We are an occupying nation right now and their people want us to go. The General has no idea what it is going to cost us in dollars.
The Defense Industry does not want to quit milking the cow. The Afghans are signing contracts with China to mine minerals. Let them use the money from that to prop themselves up. The mission was to unseat the Taliban government. That has been accomplished. We wanted to get Bin Laden and disrupt and dismantle Al Qaida. That has been done. We are not there to rebuild the Country that was not all that built up to begin with.
Close it down now, 2013 and 2014 is to far in the distance. End the occupation now. The Generals who are lying should be dismissed. They pulled the same crap in the Viet Nam mess. We have no further business there so we should leave now before another American life is not spent. So another American does not have to lose their legs or arms whatever.
Someone should have asked the General what he considers a win. If they had asked that question I bet the General would have not been able to answer it. Leave now and quit lying to the American People. Pakistan has already told the Iranians they would come to their aid. They have told them publicly they would give them a nuclear bomb if it became necessary. I say let them and the Afghan's do what ever they are going to do and be done with them.......bc
We are doing much the same as the Soviet Union did by trying to ram our ideology down everyone's throat and plunder their resources even if we have to kill them all to do it. The Soviets did it until they were going broke as we are going to do, or have done. This has been going on since the end of WW2. Before that war we were already into empire building but since the big war we have given up on peace completely. Asking generals if we should continue to fight a senseless war is not going to ever end war. Just tell them to pack up and get the hell out of there and the nearly thousand bases we have all over the world. I don't think people realize that we leave troops everywhere we've been with no end in sight.
We need to ask ourselves, why are we about to end entitlements? Because we have to spend the money on more wars. We call it our Defense department when actually it is the Offense department.
Ever think about how much fuel we burn keeping an Army all over the world?
It is way past time to get with fixing our seriously wounded country because of dumb dodos getting rich over death and destruction.
PAX AMERICANA is over. Do we want to quit with that crap now while we can do it right, or are we going to keep it up until the world gangs up on us like we had to do with Germany and Japan? History proves that empires ALWAYS lose in the end.
The "top commander" needs to define what he means by "win".
Politicians like George Bush, Sr and Jr were dumb and too much guided by the Saudis, oil companies and their lobbyists.
Bush, Sr did not learn much from Vietnam experience. Same applies to the John McCain and the current Iran and Syria scare and war mongers.
At least, these Generals should study the history, religion, tribal, regional and sectarian differences, previous wars and other details needed for wars of a nation before jumping into wars. This is applies to more to Muslim nations.
Instead, if they play war games and video games and go to wars, they are also proving that they are equally dumb!
Only these dumb and their gun slingers can go to 2003 Iraqi war without stabilizing in Afghanistan.
sure, so all the lives that were lost, were lost for nothing....
ill informed koolaid.... Bush invaded Afghanistan, because thats where Osama was at the time, Iraq was invaded because Saddam possesed WMD's. Yes he did, possess these, just ask some of the 1st sets of troops deployed that took part in the invasion. of course a good chunk of idiots refuse to accept the fact when Saddam was toppled from power, there was mass looting of weapons depot's we didnt have troops to secure before raided. then not to mention, unless someone can prove bomb making material can be produced out of thin air, ill go with dis-assembled wmd's because there was no possible way for these to be deployed, without a launcher. not to mention, the exsplosives, and any dry fuel contained in these wmds just never exsisted right? because the WMD's never exsisted.
duh, what fairy tale book did you hear that from?
Nobama the clown bailed out of Iraq because he is a balless wuss who needed a few more votes.
indeed the sooner the better, but REAL AMERICANS dont quit. just the wannabe Americans with that yellow stripe on their backs look forward to another loss... political loss at that even mind you. Question, how long, and how many wars will Nobama bail out on that doesnt suit HIS agenda, will it take before our troops salute from the back of their heads? wanna hang with losers, go to some loser country and live imo. This here is America, land of the free, home to the mis-informed.
Hello folks, since the British East India Trading Company in the 1600's the India Afghanistan area have always been the largest suppliers of Opium which has carried on today and is a multi-billion dollar business. In 2000 the Taliban had taken over and created a law that stopped the growing of poppies all the while storing vast quantities of Opium in warehouses to increase the price. Well that didn't sit well with the powers who previously controlled the opium trade. In 2001 we went to war with Afghanistan and we will be hard pressed to give back these enormous profits back to the control of the Taliban. If America was anti-drug we would have destroyed the poppy fields, we haven't!
Here is a snippet of an article on the war on drugs:
The “War On Drugs” Is A $2.5 Trillion Racket: How Big Banks, Private Military Companies And The Prison Industry Cash In
News // Jul 11 2011
By David DeGraw – AmpedStatus Report
For a further understanding of how the War on Drugs is deeply intertwined with the War on Terror, the invasion and occupation of Afghanistan has led to an explosive increase in drug trade profits:
Afghanistan as a Drug War
“From a modest 185 tons at the start of American intervention in 2001, Afghanistan now produced 8,200 tons of opium, a remarkable 53 percent of the country’s GDP and 93 percent of global heroin supply.
In this way, Afghanistan became the world’s first true ‘narco-state.’ If a cocaine traffic that provided just 3 percent of Colombia’s GDP could bring in its wake endless violence and powerful cartels capable of corrupting that country’s government, then we can only imagine the consequences of Afghanistan’s dependence on opium for more than 50 percent of its entire economy.
At a drug conference in Kabul this month, the head of Russia’s Federal Narcotics Service estimated the value of Afghanistan’s current opium crop at $65 billion. Only $500 million of that vast sum goes to Afghanistan’s farmers, $300 million to the Taliban guerrillas, and the $64 billion balance ‘to the drug mafia,’ leaving ample funds to corrupt the Karzai government in a nation whose total GDP is only $10 billion.”
Why is the USA footing the bill for ANSF in the tune of $4 Billion ? It's not US taxpayers obligation to prop up an inept Karzai, his relatives and corrupt Afghan government. Corrupt Karzai and his cronies needs to find the money themselves to fund their own government, after all he's been badmouthing the US. Karzai et all will never be able to lead afghans out of their dooldrum it will get worse after all international forces leave and he will blame USA for his shortsightness and ineptness to go forward. Get US out of Afghanistan leave Karzai fight the talibans they are crazy savages that do not understand what rights are, let them kill each other. With all the funds the International nation been pouring in Afghanistan a wall around the border could have been build and once it's completed fill it with sea water, that takes care of 75% of the problem.
Looking at the picture you can clearly see the general has a worm eating his brain.
Remember when Bush & the UK turned the Afghan 'Nation Building' over to the UN and 52+other countries??? It was Dec 2001...
It was Obama that doubled and then doubled again the US Troop levels for POLITICAL gain. He then had to place his 'Hand Picked' Generals in charge, because the US would/could not fight under the NATO/Geneva Convention restrictions...
Now with over DOUBLE the US Causalities that Bush had during 7+years of fighting. Obama has accomplished NOTHING, in 2.5+years...
Obama's quick POLITICAL VICTORY, disappeared with his changing of his Generals. As they bravely stood their ground and stated that a POLITICAL CONFLICT is not winnable. Now Obama has what he wanted in a General, but too late for those votes & other POLITICAL reasons...
Maybe Obama should change this General also, for one who will follow his POLITICAL time-table, and keep his OPINION out of the PRESS...
IMO - Obama must go to the UN & use his golden tongue/voice and convince them that the UN must DO THEIR JOB. And when this has occurred, the USA will be glad to do it's FAIR SHARE to fight WORLD TERRORISM...
Just to comment on one of your inaccuracies:
This came from a site right-wing enough to suit even you! Rightwingnews.com
You might want to check some sources.
Thanks to all for interest in the afghan muddle. McChrystal sold Obama on the 1st surge October, 2008 and Obama sent about 21,000 to 23,000 more American soldiers and marines to afghan beginning March 2009. McC took command mid June. 10 weeks later, late August, Petraeus leaked McC's 2nd surge plan to Woodward and 'dithering' began. Gates screwed Obama. We had NO soldiers available to send. McC wanted soldiers leaving Iraq to go directly to Afghan, not home to USA. We begin sending 33,000+ more to afghan in January 2010 as they are now trained, rested.
Petraeus goes in and hires 250,000 afghan young men. Repeats his hiring 120,000 Sunni young men in Iraq. Learns that half the afghans are illiterate. Spends 400 million borrowed dollars to educate them K thru 3rd grade. The 4 to 5 billion dollar cost to support afghan army and police will likely be ongoing forever. It is our only exit. General on Wdenesday bragged that violence against Afghan civilians is down 74% there.
Marines are leaving now and this force will be reduced in manpower and return to being Navy's assault team onto beaches or land by helicopter.
Lesson learned: Not with Leslie Graham ready and eager to whack Iran.
Please remember that we were promised that Bagdad would welcome us with flowers. Incoming was not firendly there. Iran will be likewise.
I don't understand, what is there to win in Afghanistan?? There is nothing to win, Afghanistan does not provide any resources to the world except opium, there is not actual trade, its been basically an isolated country, its been ruled by terrorists and the Taliban, so what is there to win. History will show that every civilized nation has tried to change Afghanistan and all has failed. The Afghans themselves do not like the US, so what is there to win. Its time for the US to end 10 years of occupation and let Afghanistan rule itself again. Once we leave, it will be business as usual and there really isn't a whole lot the world can do.
Even if there was something to win in Afghanistan, who exactly is there to fight? The Taliban? You can't fight an enemy you can't identify.
So, nothing to win, nobody to fight, and we're doing it to help good Afghans by killing bad Afghans even though we have no idea which are which. Somebody buy this senior military leader a dictionary. Mark the page where the definition of quagmire is shown. He clearly has watched too many Patton films. Some people just can't imagine not being in a war, even imaginary ones.
Our mission there was accomplished when we forced OBL to Pakistan and killed him. Every live lost in Afganistan after that is a life spent for something that isn't doable...whatever it is we are trying to do there now.
There's nothing left to win in Afghanistan, we're wasting time and resources at this point by staying. The result will be the same weather we leave, today, tomorrow, or 10 years from now.
The Taliban, or another group just like them will fill the power vacuum after we leave, it's the inevitable endgame; Pakistan knows this and that's why they secretly have been supporting the Taliban all these years and hid Bin Laden.
The only point in staying is to prevent Afghanistan from being a giant terrorist training camp again, in which case the current status quo is the best you can hope for.
Even this is iffy. We can deny Al-Qaeda Afghanistan all we want, but they have moved on to Yemen, Somalia, etc. So what ground are we defending anyway?
I'm with all the other posters on this thread, there is no "win" to be had. We gotta go.
Popo, so correct, well stated. This worthless backward country has fought for centuries with it's numerous tribes and beliefs and not a single other entity in this world has ever made a difference. These failed muslim states have no interest in democracy, education, quality of lifestyle, or anything, other than continuing thier hate filled, backward killing and corruption. Get out now...not another dime to this worthless country, not another single life, not one!
Popo-1692537
Actualy your are not correct. Afghanistan has massive mineral resources.
Trouble is they already sold the mining right for a lot of it to India and China. America was NOT invited to the table for that.
Just like all the oil is going to Russia and China.
Wish you people had screamed to politicians and generals like this before 1991 and 2003 Iraqi wars and Afghanistan war.
1991 resulted in 9/11. Responsible: Saudis, Pakis and UAE financers.
Nations attacked: Iraq and Afghanistan.
Allies on war on terror: Saudis and Pakis!
Our bankrupt economy, huge unemployment and poor Sgt Bales are suffering.
We have politicians, who don't know whom to have friendship (take Russia on side as is being done now) and attack.
We have war games Gens, who don't know how to attack and deploy forces.
The same Sgt Bales was badly injured in Iraq and to deploy him in another mad place can be done by only video games Gens.
Sorry general..but the AMERICAN PUBLIC don't agree with you..problem is these are our sons,daughters,husbands,wife's,boyfriends,girlfriends,fathers,mothers or just plain friends and there is no need for this war to go on anymore. Yes we understand what you want..you went through schooling all your life for this and a military general now..of course you want ***WAR*** be a fool not to with all your training..but we had enough of you and your kind for three decades now..its over!
lol, i wonder....
how many of you think if you close your eyes very tight so you cant see, that other people can not see you? it seems about the intelligence level.
popo as ear as suffering goes, how much suffering should we let the people of Afghanistan go thru from insane idiots stoneing, butchering anyone who doesnt think like they do? you dont think other people suffer when they lose children, and familt members to IED's, or any other type of aggresion, maybe suffer when this happens? YOU have no clue to the meaning of Suffer, or SUFFERING. come see me, i can show you the meaning of the word these people live in day after day. ooooo good thing they have gun laws, lmao!
This is totally ludicrous! What does it mean "win the war"? Our troops are suffering from infinite deployments, it is costing us too much in lives and dollars, and what do we have to show for our 10 years of involvement? Our soldiers and families are suffering and we are in debt up to our eyebrows! And this jerk seems to want his gravy train to continue. I thought all these generals went to military college and studied the history of war. If so, he should have learned that no one has EVER won against the Afghanis on their home turf--including the Soviets with their incredible war machine. What is so hard about learning from history? Besides, the American people are sick and tired of 10 years in this quagmire! Bring our troops home--NOW!
"We have met the enemy and he is us!" Pogo by Walt Kelly
With all due respect, YOU need to get your head out of your a$$, commander.
No, NOTHING can ever be won there and we need to get our troops out of that kraphole NOW.
These warmongers never quit!!! Osama bin laden is dead and our mission is complete time to go and dont forget the Aid!!!
It's not a war,it's a police action,and a clean-up.Which can never be won.Taliban and Al qeada lost outright combat,so they use guerilla tatics.You can't win that because they hide within the population, and the people don't want to turn them in,even if it would help them.They're to scared for retaliation on thier families.Until the Afghans are willing to sacrfice more for as a whole themselves.Which I don't see happening anytime.There is no winning.Facts, no dis-respect intended.
I got a better idea, why not just come the hell home.
Already heard some commanders complaining about military strength going back to where it was before Bush jacked it up for the Iraq war. There's a lot of money to be had with government contracts, GI boots, ammo belts, smart bombs, Hummers, flack vests, etc. DOD is very much a huge conglomerate with one of the biggest paychecks coming out of the Federal Government. Now that the Cold War is over and we're fighting Arabs in the desert, the price of war continues to rise. Why is that? Do we really need to keep feeding our children into this big machine just to make sure the Tan Man can keep making spare jet engines in his district, and Alabama can keep making rocket fuel, and Texas can keep making deals with Halliburton to run overpriced chow halls for the troops? This all started because Saddam threatened the profits of the "Oil Bidness" when they took Kuwait. We weren't there to save people. We were there to save Exxon-Mobil, Texaco, etc. from dropping their stock another 15%. At the prices gas costs in California, they can burn the oil fields up for all I care. Bring the troops home. There isn't any oil where we are fighting these days. A little reality check please. Would you spend billions to save the hundreds of miles of desert in central Nevada from some unforeseen problem in nature. Earthquake, erosion from too much rain, etc.? Hell no. No one lives there. Let God do her thing.
We keep acting like war zones are police zones instead of war zones. Our troops aren't cops, they are soldiers and let them be soldiers. We did it in Korea, we did it in Vietnam, we did it in Iraq, we're doing it in Afghanistan. Then they wonder why we're in a quagmire. Fight them like they are soldiers we are fighting and kill them all and get it over with instead of always trying to rebuild them.
Hilarious..... How long has it been? What are you gonna win? What has America gained? How's Iraq any better off? Don't give me the speech of fightin' for my freedom either..... I protect myself the best I can from a lying, scandalous and out of control government the best I can.
I am very uncomfortable with a senior military officer engaging in staking out a position that limits or challenges the Commander in Chief's proper role. No military officer will ever say "it ain't doable" or that given more of this and that he cannot succeed. Military officers are entirely trained and selected for never giving up and seeing all things as doable with military power.
Please note that nowhere in the article is "winning" defined. What are the steps leading to "winning"? If these 68000 are just for 2013, are we then pulling out? How many years will we be paying for the Afgan Army when we do NOT control anything about said army?
I am amazed that the SecDef allowed this general to testify as to said general's opinion re troop levels and time remaining in Afganistan at a time when it is very clear that Americans want only one thing re Afgainstan: we want OUT.
Like we won anything in Iraq - now a country, which effectively kicked us out, and notably less than an ally of ours and more an ally of Iran. Like we won anything in Libya - which is fracturing into autonomous regions and which has already been caught exporting fundamentalists to destabilise neigbouring nations - Tunisia being an example. It seems the generals want to pretend they are winning while loosing - perhaps so they can spend more of the taxpayers dollars while buffing up their image. Given the forgoing I am afraid as to what a generals concept of winning is?
See there...those of you who missed out on suiting up earlier have yet another chance to get yourself killed in vain...perhaps santorum could raise an army of christian crusaders to go fight...lmao
The General is delusional. He must have received some kind of offer from a big defense contractor or one of the big arms manufacturers to recommed that we stay engaged. Bring our troops back and let the Afghans solve their own problems.
This dude needs to go home and get laid. This war should have ended 9 years ago.
The Taliban has been there and will continue to be there long after we leave. There is nothing to win!
The General is a victm of a wicked combination of social isolation and target fixation. He is clearly not able to see that there is no such thing as "win" in Afghanistan.
We will make them all tolerant lovers of equality and democracy or goddammit we will kill them trying to.
Sign the petition, get us out of Afghanistan. Please share, support our troops, our Government and military leaders are lunatics.
http://www.change.org/petitions/bring-our-troops-home-from-afghanistan
We have been at war in Afghanistan for more than a decade now!! It is ridiculous, we already got bin-laden last year, so why are we still there, isn't that the reason we went there in the first place?!! Those people have to learn to take care of their own country and deal with their own problems. We had to solve our own problems, We had to beat the British, create our own government.
We have no right to be there anymore, the Afghan people don't want us there, so lets just leave and everyone will be happy!
Let's bring our troops and money back home. Let Japan, Germany, S Korea, and all the other ungrateful freeloaders start contribuing.
A typical general who has been on the front lines. We need to get the hell out of Afghanistan and give it back to the camel turd shovelers.
Military Industrial Complex is too big to Fail.
Win what?! The Taliban will always be there and if we couldn't stop them in 10 years certainly the Afghans won't no matter how much we train them.
Stupid Obama! a Afgan killing americans cannot be executed, BUT a US soldier can be executed for killing an afgan! BS, Obama is a Muslim and terrorist lover and an America hater.
Incredibly ignorant comment. The rules of engagement don't include killing 8 sleeping children. What happened is tragic, for the Afghan families, the soldier's family and the American people. You make it sound like a bad "Rambo" movie. With that attitude, it makes me wonder exactly how much you hate America...or is it just Americans?
"When they show you who they are...believe them!"
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you are so stupid. go join the other idiots at faux news dot com.