Obama and Afghanistan

[Erik]

"Off the top of my head ..."

... and almost everything on that list is irrelevant when it comes to fundamental political or economic issues.

Most Americans are too dumb to understand those, so they argue about that other stuff instead.

[johnnya24]

Most Americans are too dumb to understand those, so they argue about that other stuff instead.

It's not just Americans. This is becoming the way of things everywhere.

[The Feral Slasher]

I thought this was a decent article. 14 years in and we still have no idea what we are doing or how we are going to win. Unless the whole point is for people to make money off it, that seems like a reasonable explanation.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/barry-lando/americas-greater-middle-east-disasters-pt-1_b_8264068.html

[Fresno Bob]

there is no "winning" in Afghanistan, at this point, we should consider it our permanent "live fire training" zone

[The Feral Slasher]

there is no "winning" in Afghanistan, at this point, we should consider it our permanent "live fire training" zone

The world is our live fire training zone

[johnnya24]

The world is our live fire training zone

You'll be on Mars soon.

[nots]

I thought this was a decent article. 14 years in and we still have no idea what we are doing or how we are going to win. Unless the whole point is for people to make money off it, that seems like a reasonable explanation.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/barry-...b_8264068.html

I think a lot of Sanders platform isn't feasible fiscally, but he is the only one of the 20 candidates that is against all of this war mongering. That alone is making me seriously consider supporting him.
I had high hopes for President Obama being less of a war hawk than he turned out to be (how many different countries have we bombed during the last 7 years?). I am confident if any of the GOP people got it in, they would go way beyond what Obama has done. Hillary would likely be too. Maybe 4 years of a Commander-in-Chief that isn't itching to blow stuff up is what we need.

[DMT]

http://harpers.org/archive/2016/01/a-special-relationship/1/

[nots]

How so?
I think my position of us having less of a footprint in the world is a logical one. I keep the same view regardless of which party is in charge. The sooner we stop bombing stuff, I think the better off things will be in the world.

I think a lot of Sanders platform isn't feasible fiscally, but he is the only one of the 20 candidates that is against all of this war mongering. That alone is making me seriously consider supporting him.
I had high hopes for President Obama being less of a war hawk than he turned out to be (how many different countries have we bombed during the last 7 years?). I am confident if any of the GOP people got it in, they would go way beyond what Obama has done. Hillary would likely be too. Maybe 4 years of a Commander-in-Chief that isn't itching to blow stuff up is what we need.

Bump.
I can't find any of my other posts on drones, but I think this thread sums up my thoughts. The post is from Oct, 2015.

[The Feral Slasher]

The administration's current plan (announced last June) is to reduce the troop levels to 68,000 by this September, and to have a full withdrawal by the end of 2014. The Press Secretary said that the recent events have not led to a change in the timetable.

The shit is hitting the fan now, as it always was going to do. What a fucking waste.

https://apnews.com/article/middle-east-business-afghanistan-43d8f53b35e80ec18c130cd683e1a38f

[DMT]

The shit is hitting the fan now, as it always was going to do. What a fucking waste.


https://apnews.com/article/middle-ea...130cd683e1a38f

It's just sickening, and hilarious hypocrites slamming Biden after praising Trump for setting the table.

[The Feral Slasher]

It's just sickening, and hilarious hypocrites slamming Biden after praising Trump for setting the table.

I suppose that is par for the course. The whole 20 years was nothing but a bunch of lies and bullshit. Biden has no responsibility at all in my opinion, he got handed a clusterfuck. Nothing he could do. Just ripping off the bandaid.

[The Feral Slasher]

I thought this was a decent article. 14 years in and we still have no idea what we are doing or how we are going to win. Unless the whole point is for people to make money off it, that seems like a reasonable explanation.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/barry-...b_8264068.html

this article was from almost six years ago. Below is the second paragraph, it's worth reading again, although somewhat infuriating. I'm mostly just shocked that someone in our government was willing to accept the reality of the situation and get out. A lot of people made a lot of money supporting this shitshow.

What prompted the incredibly lethal hospital attack was a call for air support by Afghan troops battling to retake Kunduz from the Taliban. Incredibly, just a few hundred Taliban fighters had been able to capture the city a few days earlier. This despite the hundreds of billions of dollars, the U.S.-led coalition had spent to train and equip the Afghan army, local militias and police over the past few years.

[The Feral Slasher]

The administration's current plan (announced last June) is to reduce the troop levels to 68,000 by this September, and to have a full withdrawal by the end of 2014. The Press Secretary said that the recent events have not led to a change in the timetable.

also, lol. Who believed that ?

[Bene Futuis]

I'm not sure what could have been done to avoid this outcome. I'm not sure what the fuck we were doing there for 20 years, either. Absolute train wreck for two decades all the way to the end. Poorly handled by four administrations and at what cost?