Actually, he didn't break a promise.

btco

Your right, he stated in the campaign he would refocus on Afghanistan, and take the fight there. It won't do any good trying to explain that to people who listen to the radios of hysteria and the televisions of crisis.

While they are sending more troops to kill and be killed they should realize that they are making decisions that will haunt them for eternity. All life is precious and killing is wrong. I realize that McCrystal and Obama know this and are ready for the effects of their decisions not only for themselves but for many generations to come. The impact and weight of taking life is enormous. Ask any veteran. Wars should only be sanctioned in order to defend our soil and should never be exported.

Ben- 182373 you sound like a propagandist? Where are you from? You can't type correctly so I'm guessing English isn't your first language. Anyway Obama has to send more troops, the US isn't gonna leave this thing undone. I would probably have voted against him but at least he isn't being a wimp and just laying down and dying. Imagine if when some group or country attacked your country and you did nothing about it.

Peter:

I can agree with you to some extent, but never say never - should we have exported our troops in the first and second world wars? How about the action in Croatia? Should we go into Somalia and wipe out the pirates that are preying on ships commerce?

On the other hand, I can agree with you on Afghanistan - we are doing the intelligent thing with the drones in Pakistan - how many suicide bombers does it take to shoot down a drone at 20,000 ft? In Afghanistan, the people will have the government they want and deserve. The British and the Russians both figured out that you cannot pacify and rule Afghanistan. And if you DID, who really needs to rule a dungheap at the top of a pile of rubble? Just enforce peace around the border of the country and let them kill each other at will. When the average person there gets tired of the killing, they will change themselves - not before.

Peter Jacobs

Agree, Those are thoughts of a human being, unfortunately it appears a declining species.

I know I'm going to get hit from both sides on this...

But this is yet another instance where Obama has shown decisions based less on pleasing the left OR the right and, instead, deciding based on what's needed.

He's used the same approach on most of what he's done, but the right cannot even fathom such a thing... not a political decision? Is there any other kind?

We ALL need to support this decision.

why are we propping up the corrupt Afgan regime. this is crazy! protect us here. putting a timeline out there is pure arrogant stupidity. the appeaser in chief is going out soon.

As I recall, we had already spent over 800 Billion when Obama came into office.

As long as we're setting timelines for exit, let's set a timeline for the current administration to stop blaming Bush for Obama's decisions. Personally I like the idea of packing up and leaving. Let the people in the Middle East do what they do best, kill each other. Who cares? They hate women anyway. I guess most leftists would agree with me.

frank,

Its easy. The Bush blaming stops when the right stops blaming Obama for Bush deeds.

LMarcT,

Not so easy. The left spent 8-years undermining President Bush and destroying or bastardizing his policies; why on earth would they stop now? Pres. Obama stated that he wanted to rebuild the confidence of the American public. The ruling democrats can't stop bashing Bush without taking their share of the blame for our tattered economy. No president operates in a vacuum and neither political party wants to unite the People. They must divide, insult and outrage the public to keep the voters clinging to their party loyalities.

Vote D or R; "our crook is better than theirs". Look at the politicians in either party (take your hate-filled blinders off first); you do not need to look too hard to see their corruption and greed. I for one want to see a 100-year plan, not a 2-year or 4-year electorial plan, or a "fixed" 10-year CBO score.

TaxMule,

Actually, I'd be happy with a 100-year plan, too. The West and Islam are already into a plan that's over a thousand years old. There's no end in sight becasue there is no end.

I started voting Libertarian when Ford pardoned Nixon and Carter was the other choice. I see about as much difference in Democrats and Republicans as in Pepsi v. Coke. I prefer uncola, to borrow a phrase. LmarcT is obviously partisan and can even blame the right for the Bush blaming. There can be no end there either, I guess. Change, my A**.

We are in the process of pulling out of Iraq. Now, there is the time line for both a surge and a withdrawal in Afgan. There are clear goals and expectations. I fail to comprehend what is wrong? I am tired of status quo.

If the Afghan resident thinks we are there to protect them, then they are sadly mistaken. We are there to destroy the AlQaeda network and the Taliban that are destabilizing Pakistan (region). It is clear that our military will have a clear agenda of dismantling the AlQaeda during this time frame. So get it done, and we're out.

As for the people who thinks that the Talibans will simply hide out and chill till 2011. I can't help you, because you don't have common sense. Extremists must be in front of people, recruiting and surging against existing power. Anything less will reduce their revenue and recruits. So for them to hide out for 1.5 years is unlikely. In fact, this will force them to alter their game and recruiting plans. They now can no longer use the Americans, the occupiers, as a tool...

With 1 speech, we have now effectively turned this Afghan war into a search and destroy mission for Al Qaeda, and Afghan war into an Afghan civil war. As a civil war, it will now force the the Pushdens toward decisions... With whom will they lay, their government or the Taliban.

We have effectively removed ourselves from their internal ambiguity.

People presumed that Obama would stop the war when they stepped into those voting booths last Novermber and pulled the levers for him ... make no mistake about that.

However now that He is determined to send more Americans, the enemy forces will gain opportunites to inflict many more casualties in this target-rich environment and you will see the numbers of dead Americans coming home in body bags increase. Packing conventional troops into a primitive combat situation greatly favors the guerrilla forces much more than it favors those seeking to defeat the insurgents. No one has ever conquered Afghanistan militarily by sheer numbers ...we need to stop claiming to be looking for a small bearded man rumored to be hiding in a cave over there somewhere, admit our mistake and bring the troops home with some kind of honor before it is too late.

That Taliban spokesman in the article immediatly brought to mind another mouthpiece of our enemies from long ago....Tokyo Rose....most of you here must remember her? And I'm sure not surprised that some of you are actually falling for it once again. It's an old trick that our enemies hope you will fall for every time. Think people! Think! The enemy reads these blogs too.

I believe the Candidate Obama promised pulling out of Iraq and re-address/re-engage/re-focus on Afghan. Never, did he stated that he will pull out of Afghan once he is elected. This is something that has only recently surfaced on Rush L and Glenn Beck shows.

Honor is defined by duty, while duty is define by attempts at accomplishments, while accomplishments are defined by goals and strategy. So in my opinion, our President clearly outlined our objectives and goals on Tuesday night. Therefore I believe our brave young men and women will be honored and clearly appreciated. The ambiquity is over.

this will please the tea baggers, higher taxes

grunt, you need to get some coffee before posting. Democrats have a monopoly on higher taxes. Obama will let the Bush tax cuts expire. The Dem Congress is contemplating reinstating the death tax. Government healthcare will be a huge tax increase on the middle class. Obama is heading to Copenhagen to promise the world more taxes on American workers via CO2 caps. BTW, the Dems had control of the purse strings the last three years and continued to fund the two wars.

Ben-182373

In 1993 the Republicans said if Clinton raised taxes on the wealthy the economy will collapse...the economy grew the middle class started to grow again for the first time in 13 years and we payed down on the debt, you better try a new argument for the failed Republican philosophy, as we can see today in the economy and the wars you left this nation with. The health care bill raises taxes on the upper income ..not the middle class...read the proposals that are out there...and none of the proposals out there are a bill ..yet.

Since 1980 -1992 and 2000 to the present, the middle class has been shrinking and poverty growing, all those years guided by Republican administrations and congress, so tell me where is the proof of Republican economic philosophy of success for the middle class and the poor ?

The GOP confuses small government with cutting taxes and growing deficits. I don't mean they're confused, I mean they confuse voters. The Dems have the same policies...heck these are two identical parties...even Guantanamo is still open.

Last night was party night at Haliburton, Blackwater, and other war vendors.... and I imagine this surge will be enough to carry Dems through the 2010 elections... Healthcare can fade away now...nothing like an aggressive war to scatter the "other side". Campaign contributions shall flow like snake oil at a tent revival....

... not that it's Vietnam... nothing like it, as Barry pointed out. In Vietnam we were fighting an indiginous insurgency in the jungle, while training the South Vietnamese to one day fight on their own. In Vietnam we had France, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand as allies... among others... and we were there because Communist China kept sneaking in to fight us. "If we don't fight them over there, we'll have to fight them here" as I recall Joe Pine saying...

In Afghanistan, it's a desert, not a jungle.

It's okay though. There's no overt draft so there won't be a meaningful peace movement. (All we are saying is give [The back door draft] a chance)

One thing is very different... during Vietnam we didn't have a large Vietnamese population living in this country. Word is the Swiss are shipping all their nail polish remover here... You know.... just to be safe....

Now I realize we're really there to be near Pakistan and Iran... good grief, we have avenged 9/11 a thousand times over... and being near those places might be a good idea... and I know we can't come out and say it... but geez..

Anyway...I'm busy these days running Bernie Madoff's campaign for congress. "A Crook We Can Believe In". I figure with his expertise in Ponzi schemes, he can save Social Security... I have no time for wars.

what are you on?

Ben says "read my lips" The democrats have a monopoly on higher taxes.

Palco, the national debt continued to climb through Clinton's terms in office:

http://130.94.230.21/debt_history.htm

Can we finally put this myth to bed?

east coast

I said we were paying down on the debt, the forecast in 1999 was within ten years we would have lowered or eliminated most of the debt, 2000 elections changed all that. There are many things Clinton did I disagree on ...especially signing the Gramm/Leech/Bailey act, he should have vetoed it and let congress override it, it has been a disaster.

I noticed you used to support any war during Pres. Bush, but now you oh you remember taxes, Did you read what Taliban spokesman told NBC (American TV Station) They know how people like you think, and they are afraid that their time is up. They may surrender or be killed, and that's what Obama will do.

jke911

To whom are you referring ?

KGinIndy

Not sure who you are referring to, but in the fifty's the corporate tax rate and the tax rate on the wealthy were much higher than today's rates, yet the highest capitol reinvestment occurred, although some of the success of our economy was due to the fact that we were basically the only strong industrial nation left after world war two, we had very little competition.

That was well put palco.

We are very near our lowest corporate tax rates ever, trickle down does not work, because it depends on a flood up. Support your president. We're all Americans here.

Our corporate tax rates are some of the highest in the world, what incentive to keep companies here?! Trickle up poverty is not a good idea!

Crystal

Our most productive growth years ever came at a time of much higher rates. We are at a historically low rate now.

These are just the facts, regardless of how we compare to the rest of the world. High corporate tax rates do not historically impede economic growth.

This is FACT. You do understand what an actual FACT is don't you?

And if you hadn't noticed, it's a FLOOD UP, not a trickle down.

I will not support Obama when I disagree with the direction he is taking this country. It is my right and my responsibility as an American to speak up when I disagree.

Clarke ong, out of curiosity, did you support Bush? We were all Americans then as well.

Actually I did Go. Not that I agreed with all his policies or decisions, but he was my president, and a country divided cannot stand.

It is absolutely your responsibility and right to speak up when you disagree.

So vote them all out! Get some young people in there, they after all are the ones inheriting this mess, NOT Obama.

Exactly right. Not only is our congress the dumbest in history,they are also the most corrupt.

eh... congress is not dumb... it's just that their motivations are much different than yours. Since they do not answer to voters, (approval rate 20% reelection rate 95%) They are free to serve their Lobbies...and they do it very intelligently. Congress can't be dumber than the voters who reelect them time after time after time.

I am busy these days running Bernie Madoff and Scott Rothstein for congress. ("Crooks We Can Believe In") You should join the campaign. Tell your friends.

Though technically speaking they won't be crooks anymore, as congress is entitled to run Ponzi schemes, they have the "Right Stuff".

These "wars" are actually police actions that can not be won in the sense of conquering the enemy. Today we want to change our enemies to make them look like us, without killing them.

In Afghanistan, the folks there have been "Pass Protectors" for thousands of years. Historically they made their livings on charging funds to go through the Khyber Pass to and from India.

They are not about to change their procedure for any Country unless we give them some type of way to bring prosperity to their region. Let's find ways to give them jobs.

We should ask China to get involved with Afghanistan. They would send millions of people to the region and literally turn it into a garden. They have the need for space, will grow the food by bringing in water, build shelters which all humans need and end the need for feudal warlords and fighting.

This is a very simple solution to this problem.

helping, you're only referring to basic training, and not the advanced MOS-specific training.

Remember, we are building the armed forces from scratch. You need to train the initial forces who train those initial follow-on forces. Come on, you try it. You try raising an army from your neighbors, especially if half of them disappear every month and can't read or write.

That's a great question and one that the author, Thomas Friedman, brought up yesterday. He questioned our training of the Afghan military and police and asked, "who is training the Taliban?"

Exactly,you and I know there is NO POINT. As the Al Queda rep said,we are only providing more targets." Hearts and minds" is a job for psycologists and psychiatrists,NOT for our military. Our fantastic young men and women in the military should be sent for one and only one reason--"total annihalation of the terrorist scumbags"that would destroy us.

Ron

How do you suppose they will find them in order to annihilate them? They cannot be beaten by force of arms alone. They aren't going to fight us in massed pitched battles.

Let Afghanis solve Afghanistan's problems. They are not now and never were a threat.

how can obama say we will be out in a year and a half while telling the Taliban they can quit with dignity. they can just wait until the US is gone and take over again. as far as training, americans have years of training Afghanis don't necessarily have, it's called school.

American kids also have another very inexpensive training tool. We are a free society, hunt, camp and do other outdoor activities that help in developing better soldiers than do countries that force their people to join a rag tag outfit that can barely feed themselves and do not have the equipment they need to sustain a war.

Most of the time a well trained soldier can out fight a number of combatants from a rag tag outfit and come out ahead. The problem we have in Afghanistan is the tying of the soldier's hands and limiting their ability to fight.

To truely win this war, we need to give the Afghan people jobs just like Americans need today. By giving them jobs and an education you would never have to fight them again as there would be no more Taliban.

An example of where these militants come from: The Saudi family has about US $80 billion in the bank. The Saudi family in Saudi Arabia do not work, they get a stipend each month from this oil money (mostly from the old Standard Oil Company).

The non family members will work at minimal wages. Not counting the Saudi Family, there are about 36% of the population out of work at any one time. Where do the Taliban and al Qaida fighters going to come from? This pool of people that have no hope. Maybe President Obama should have run for President in Saudi Arabia and given those people "The change they can believe in."

What President Obama is doing today is nothing more or less than what President Bush did in 2001. In 2001 we had President Bush, Johnny Cash and Bob Hope. Today we have President Obama, No Cash and No Hope.

Most post here, am sorry is due to ignorance. Work or no work, a Muslim will kill a non Muslim. Saudi Arabia, is the sponsor of most terrorism that US should be ready to deal with. No, how can we, what about the oil? Cut off their oil by buying from other non-Muslim nation. We must win the war in Afghanistan because of 9/11.

Who are you referring to as a dumbass?

Do you not read well? In thiis particular instance I am referring to Biden.

The people 'over there' just want to live their lives like we do. Difference is, they got the Taliban telling them HOW to lives their lives. What jobs they can take, how to dress, what music they can listen to, what to eat, even how to behave...Don't think for a second most people agree with that 'over there'.

Gloria

This is there fight not ours, we need to let other countries take care of ther own messes and we need to take care of our mess here at home. The money we are throwing away could be helping the guy living under the bridge here. AND THERE ARE PEOPLE LIVING UNDER THE BRIDGE.

Capitalism is the reason some will continue to live under bridge.

In Western warfare and historical warfare there was merit to letting the other side capitulate with dignity. That was because the wars were over land for the most part and it was symmetrical warfare. Offering one side the ability to walk away in defeat but do so with dignity is great for those kind of conflicts. However, that concept is entirely useless and misplaced in the war in Afghanistan. There is no "frontline" against the Taliban, there is no "honorable defeat" among combatants, there is no "surrender because it is in the best interest of your people". The Taliban is a bunch of terrorists who strike with secreted bombs and hide among the local people. Their goal is not to gain anything, it is only to killl, maim, and destroy to the very last Taliban alive. They have no ambition other than the pride of killing Americans and subjugating the local people to archaic ways in order to gain domination and power (and get rich growing opium to fund new ways to kill us on our own soil). These people do not want dignity - they simply want to kill all of us. So what exactly is the point of offering them the chance to "quit with dignity" when, to the very last man, they would rather die attempting to kill more of us?

The only thing they will ever understand is a bullet to the head.

coleslaw, what you say is largely true, except for their goal. The goal of most guerillas is break their enemies will. This I think is true of the taliban, they know that the usa will soon tire of losses without gains and will capitulate. There is no reason to think they are genocidal as they made no attempt to destroy other tribes while they ruled the country.

No doubt in my mind that they will drive us out and they will retake afghanistan unless most of the other tribes unite against them, pashtuns have a plurality. They have the additional goal of continuing their brand of islam.

I have no doubt that, united, the other tribes can keep them out whether we are there or not. Afghanistanis, not the usa drove them out in the first place, we only helped a little.

I do think that it is important for us to put up a good fight. We need to let the world know that we will not tolerate terrorism without striking back at the root of it. Just like a bully on the school, if you put up a good fight and even if you lose, he will usually leave you alone in the future. Striking back cannot stop terrorism but, perhaps, can mitigate it.

the military sent the taliban to their caves 8 years ago. there was no good reason to stay and nation build to average americans. this was about building a pipe line or some @!$%# for the fatcats.

philip, you may be right, whether yes or no, it was important for us to strike at al-queada's base.

bocceemafia, you may be right, then again, it would not surprise me if they are getting lots of support from syria, saudi arabia, pakistan, iran, etc.

IWonder, you would be correct in that assessment. there are always "sympathizers" to their cause. just as in iraq. but as stated, without a major power backing the insurgency, it is not insurmountable. dangerous for our troops, yes, but overall, i feel that the taliban & al qeada see the writing on the cave wall so to speak. i fear for our men & women on the ground there & cannot express my gratitude enough for their bravery.

Sounds like something the white men said about the american natives, "genocide is the answer"?

Absolutely correct. We are fighting an ideology not a nation. The radical islamists are simply being true to their religion. See Robert Spencer's writings on the subject.

The people that gave Usama support, logistics, and a base of operations are there.

Congress passed the military budget for next year for over $600 billion in which there're lucrative military contracts for this war. If an exit strategy is initiated now those contractors will not be happy as many of these contracts may not be needed. The increase in troops means an increase in support logistics for supplies, equipment, armament and whatever else. $1 million per soldier, $75 billion annually.

"This is not a war for conquest. This is not a war for glory. It is a war to give people a chance."

McCrystal is nuts. We used to have Generals who actually looked like they might have been fighters at one time- but Petreaus and McCrystal look like geeks that played soldier while growing up- that hasn't happened yet if the idiot thinks a war is to "give people a chance".

A chance to die younger than they would have if we had just let them keep their 2,000 year old war going on their own-throwing rocks at each other results in fewer deaths than bombings from large planes

you really think the US has been in Afghanistan for eight years to find Bin Laden? Really????

We need to pound them as much as possible over there. If we leave in defeat, they will be planting roadside bombs in this country as their next objective, staged from Mexico and internally, not to mention suicide bombers/killers (Hasan). These muslim extremists will not stop until they are literally all dead. It may take a WWII type effort to do it unfortunately. They must all be hunted down and destroyed. They perceive our nickel and dime approach as a weakness to be exploited. I agree with #14 above. Radical Islam really has no tolerance for anything, just like Nazism. If we do leave, we must leave a simple message: Don't tread on US again, because we have had it and we are not going to lose any more people for your twisted beliefs. We will end it.

Obama has been a senator for the last eight years, he was a part of this mess too! Wake up, it's not like he just woke up on Jan. 20th and saw what a cluster the situation had become, he knew exactly what he was getting into and promised you sheep anything you wanted to hear to get elected. DUH! He will be the worst president ever.

Crystal, Obama was a senator for less one term before he started running for president. He was elected in 2004.

Yes Crystral the party of personal responsibilitywont take any for what they have done the last 8 years .All these problems our country faces were caused by Obama , when he was a senator .Your really a sad excuse for being a republican ,oops there are no excuses for Republicans they always take personal responsibility for what they have done good or bad LOL

Barack Obama served 7 years as an Illinois State Senator, resigning to assume U.S. Senate responsibilities. He also worked as a community organizer and a civil rights attorney. Obama was also a Senior Lecturer in Constitutional Law at University of Chicago Law School.
After law school, he aggressively organized one of the largest voter registration drives in Chicago history to help Bill Clinton's 1992 election.

Crystal, what the hell does that have to do with the this subject of Afghanistan . Your not only missing the point, your missing you fearless leader Rush Scum bore, isnt he on the radio right now ,better turn him on so you know what to say and think like the other clueless neo nut.

that should give you a clue that the real reason the US has remained in Afghanistan all these years has not been revealed and what the public is told is bs.

traveler: i suspect the same is true here in the US. most right wingers put their religion or tribe first. the same people who chanted "USA! USA!' when Bush sent our troops to Afghanistan with no plan and inferior equipment are now suddenly anti war because Obama is trying to get the mess cleaned up.

Too funny, sharky. Thanks for the laugh!!

Obama is definitely a Mess-iah! I sure can't wait who's next to clean up the bigger mess Obama's going to leave. He sure knows how to out-do Bush in everything he touches!

At least I believed President Bush. If he said he was going to send the Marines to kick your ass; you could count on an ass-kicking. With the democrats you need to parse the words; "is" he going to, or "is" he only authorizing the threat to do so. I think the decision to send 25% of the requested troops is probably going to help the situation on the ground. But, this is putting more targets for the enemy and does not help with the ROE in place.

Can't we just send bureaucrats and politicians. Let them extend the hand of love and friendship. We will never again need to send them gloves for Christmas.

At least I believed President Bush.

You might want to keep that to yourself away from the computer...

weren't you one of the half wits complaining last week about Obama not listening to his generals advice? now republican radio/faux news has given you the new talking points.

The Commander in Chief is an idiot! I would rather have a president who wants to win the war - not retreat. I sure miss Bush and Cheney.

Obama's speech last night was a dud - shows he's only interested in being popular and does not care about our safety or our troops in harms way.

Cut and run, Obama. It's what you'll be known for in the history books. At least Bush put some fear into them and the troops had a leader. Obama is a miserable excuse for a president. As far as I'm concerned, I am without president until he's evicted from office.

edwardo: Generals don't get more retirement for doing what they are told. Retirement pay is set in law. Look it up. Google military compensation or military retirement.

this place is too much. what war is being conducted in Afghanistan anyway Sue? oh right, the War On Terror. how many people live in Terror? do they have a President or a Prime Minister? what is the tipping point where it becomes clear that we have won the war against Terror? why exactly is it inappropriate for people in other countries to shoot at us when we come into their territory heavily armed and set up camp indefinitely? sorry I'm just a little confused and you seem to have it all figured out

Hoosier,

I loved "Peace with Honor". A great phrase while running for your life under enemy fire. I also love the phrase "winning the hearts and minds"; boy, thats a good one. Love me damn it, I killed your uncle Habib but only maimed cousin Omar.

I hate to see the USA loose again; but we care too much about maintaining the "moral high ground". Another hard sell to the Taliban, their religion give them that honor and our history does not. They may end up as allies against the godless oppressors of the future.