A responsible end

[MajGenl.Meade]

So that war thing, the one that ended responsibly in December? The one that last May was announced as being "over" and US forces were not engaged in war anywhere at all on the planet? That one?

My son recently told me that more troops were deploying to Afghanistan - his newly assigned regiment has already arrived and he's hoping not to have to go for a third time. I guess he must have told Obama. Because he (Obama), the man that announced the war was over as in the first sentence there, has just announced that (guess what?) it isn't over at all. Troop numbers to increase by 25%.

Thank goodness they are only there to train the army of South Vietnam

[Big RR]

Watch out, Tet is coming up.

[MajGenl.Meade]

I think this administration is already tets up

[oldr_n_wsr]

I'm praying for your sons safe deplyment and return MGM.

[rubato]

So that war thing, the one that ended responsibly in December? The one that last May was announced as being "over" and US forces were not engaged in war anywhere at all on the planet? That one?

My son recently told me that more troops were deploying to Afghanistan - his newly assigned regiment has already arrived and he's hoping not to have to go for a third time. I guess he must have told Obama. Because he (Obama), the man that announced the war was over as in the first sentence there, has just announced that (guess what?) it isn't over at all. Troop numbers to increase by 25%.

Thank goodness they are only there to train the army of South Vietnam

We backed a government (Karzai and family) who were so thoroughly corrupt that everything they did recruited more people to the Taliban for almost 10 years.


WTH did anyone think was going to happen? The people of Afghanistan were so raped, robbed and demoralized by Karzai that there was never a hope of a peaceful country after that.


Iraq was worse, if anything.


Read Sarah Chayes book; "Thieves of State". And you will understand what the real stakes are.


If we don't deal with the corruption there is no point to sending more troops. None at all.


yrs,
rubato

[MajGenl.Meade]

Those are good points, rubato and you may be spot on.

But of course, you missed the actual point.

[wesw]

the two current leaders of Afghanistan seem to be good men. Abdullah Abdullah, I for sure have a high opinion of.

[Econoline]

Why repeat our own Vietnam mistakes when we can repeat the USSR's Afghanistan mistakes?

• “There is no single piece of land in Afghanistan that has not been occupied by a Soviet soldier . . . no single military problem that has arisen and not been solved, and yet there is still no result.”
  
  - Sergei Akhromeyev, Soviet General Staff Chief 1986

[Lord Jim]

I applaud President Obama for his willingness to reverse at least one (one of many) horribly ill advised foreign policy decisions before complete disaster sets in.

What he said here is the crux of it:

now it should be clear to the Taliban and all who oppose Afghanistan’s progress the only real way to achieve the full drawdown of U.S. and foreign troops from Afghanistan is through a lasting political settlement with the Afghan government.

https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-of ... fghanistan

It was absurd to let the Taliban know, well in advance, a date specific for a complete US withdrawal. What possible incentive could they have to come to terms knowing that?

By removing this, he's given the new Afghan government, (which shows every sign of being a worthy partner in the fight) a real chance and he's created a realistic possibility that this:

Afghanistan to be used as safe haven for terrorists to attack our nation again.

can be averted.

It was the right move.

And BTW, it's not just the "remnants of Al Qaeda" that Obama referred to that are a US security concern in Afghanistan:

Experts said a continued U.S. presence in Afghanistan serves more than just a tactical goal: it was also necessary to bolster the morale of Afghan security forces while re-evaluating the situation on the ground. At a time the Taliban has seen significant gains and the Islamic State group has established a new stronghold in the country, they said a U.S. withdrawal would risk allowing Afghanistan to slip deeper into chaos. Yet analysts were skeptical that the government had a plan moving forward, and some said a successful strategy would require greater communication of goals with Afghan civilians.

http://www.ibtimes.com/afghanistan-us-t ... is-2142695

Obama is finally yielding to the reality of the situation, and attempting to avoid repeating the disastrous consequences that our complete withdrawal from Iraq and failure to act early on in Syria have wrought.

I give him credit for that.

[MajGenl.Meade]

Oh, I agree LJ. And right amidst the Democratic debate in which, if I make an accurate guess, if the subject of 'war' came up the contenders were falling over themselves to boast about it all being over on the democrat executive watch

[rubato]

Those are good points, rubato and you may be spot on.

But of course, you missed the actual point.

I understood your motive in posting I chose to respond to a different part of it. The part where we could learn something and do it differently next time.


I am sorry that you son's life is being put at risk in such a poorly considered effort. I did not think the obvious needed underlining, I was wrong.


yrs,
rubato