30,000 more troops. Smaller than other proposals, but an escalation nevertheless. Some items through this link, including a letter from Michael Moore and some threats from progressive House Democrats.
Will it build democracy in Afghanistan? No. Will it make Afghan women safer from acid throwing crazies? Probably. Will it defeat Al Qaeda and the Taliban? No. Those aren’t forces which can be defeated militarily.
Watching the Republicans on television over the past week has been kind of comical. They’ve been dodging the question entirely. Do they want to be interpreted as supporting anything from Obama when they’re so invested in anti-Obama rhetoric? Where will the tea partiers fall? I’ve already debated a neo-con on Facebook who argues that Obama’s policies are all part of a Bernsteinian Marxist program of incrementalism, boosted in part by a policy of “gunboat liberalism.” But that’s a fairly complex narrative for political purposes.
In the meantime, my sister-in-law’s 19-year-old nephew is to be deployed to Kandahar at the end of the month. I’m not sure if he’s officially part of the surge.
Democrats seem to be scratching their heads as to why their base is unmotivated for 2010.
14 comments
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November 30, 2009 at 3:18 pm
Chris Crawford
This was the right move. The fact it is pissing off people on both sides of the aisle is probably a good indication of its wisdom.
November 30, 2009 at 4:44 pm
anon
it might be a good move politically but it will end badly, as all invasions of afghanistan end, capice?
November 30, 2009 at 5:48 pm
Fred Mangels
I agree with Anon, (and maybe Eric?). I don’t think anything good will come of this, but I understand and am sympathetic to the decision that has been made.
November 30, 2009 at 6:42 pm
Moonshadow
Carolyn Lochead in a column on SF Gate tells the story of Tora Bora and how Bin Laden got away. It makes a case that the “surge” is what needs to happen.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/nov05election/detail?blogid=14&entry_id=52585
November 30, 2009 at 9:46 pm
mresquan
I believe that there is some sort of vigil/protest set up for Wednesday evening at 6:30 at the county courthouse.
December 1, 2009 at 8:01 am
Dave Kirby
I reserve judgement on this until I hear what the over all strategy is. This a much more complex engagement than simply getting in or out. The regional picture has to be considered. But all the troops in the world will do no good if the current regime in Kabul doesn’t clean up its act. The Taliban came to be as an answer to corruption and lawlessness by the warlords.
December 1, 2009 at 9:14 am
Anonymous
the taliban came into power because of the usa. we do not know how to have a peaceful economy.
December 1, 2009 at 9:25 am
DeJah View
Can anyone tell me how many troops are still in Iraq? I know that is old news and if the corporatocracy wanted us to know they would put it in the papers, right?
When America starts closing its Imperial overseas bases I will believe that something has changed in Washington. As if the biggest military in the world is going to turn swords into plowshares…right. Once again, this is probably about an oil pipeline.
My bitter personal opinion is that any lunkhead who supports this surge oughta be over there laying his ass on the line.
December 1, 2009 at 9:46 am
Moonshadow
I see from an email alert from CNN that . . .
December 1, 2009 at 6:10 pm
DeJah View
Whew!
December 2, 2009 at 9:44 am
Fred Mangels
Can anyone tell me how many troops are still in Iraq?.
I’m not sure about now but I believe I’ve heard numerous times that there will be something like 50,000 troops (not sure if that also includes civilian personnel assigned to the military and diplomatic mission) left even after we’ve supposedly withdrawn. I believe I also read the U.S. embassy being built in Iraq will supposedly be the largest in the world.
December 6, 2009 at 10:01 am
Ashley St.Claire
“The Surge”
December 6, 2009 by politicalsnapshots.wordpress.com
“The Surge”
The war in Afghanistan is also a continuation and expansion of the corporate welfare policy of the Bush administration, which interestingly is not only wholly accepted by President Obama, but is raised to a higher level (surge). The more private contractors sent to Afghanistan, the better for the bottom line (surge) (profit). The more the merrier. Bush or Obama, as always, the interest of the corporate elite is paramount.
The decrease in violence in Iraq was not a result of President Bush’s strategy of sending 30,000 more troops to Iraq (surge), that President Obama is so desperately trying to duplicate, but it was mainly a result of the U.S. government’s payment of about $10 a day to about 70,000 Sunni insurgents.
During his speech to the nation explaining his reasons for the Afghanistan “surge”, the president said:
“So, no, I do not make this decision lightly. I make this decision because I am convinced that our security is at stake in Afghanistan and Pakistan. This is the epicenter of violent extremism practiced by al Qaeda. It is from here that we were attacked on 9/11, and it is from here that new attacks are being plotted as I speak. … In the last few months alone, we have apprehended extremists within our borders who were sent here from the border region of Afghanistan and Pakistan to commit new acts of terror. And this danger will only grow if the region slides backwards, and al Qaeda can operate with impunity. We must keep the pressure on al Qaeda, and to do that, we must increase the stability and capacity of our partners in the region.”
I thought I was listening to President Bush. Word for word the same message, but, a different messenger, one who is more articulate. He also used Bush’s tactic of scaring the American public, the danger to America “is no idle danger, no hypothetical threat”. The only thing missing from his speech was that, he didn’t use the threat level colors. It is too early in his presidency; we might still see him use the threat levels in the future.
The president’s troop” surge” in the Afghanistan war has made his Conservative Republican friends temporarily happy, but members of his own political party and the American citizens at large are not supportive of his so-called “surge”. While America is facing a massive unemployment, millions of citizens without health insurance, the country burdened with cumbersome and chocking growing debt, to say the least, the president’s choice of the Afghanistan “surge” at this particular moment, seems to be unwise.
Professor Mekonen Haddis.
December 6, 2009 at 2:47 pm
Moonshadow
Interestingly enough this reply to the discussion also engages in repeating the same tired message . . .
I am not a militarist, but I do believe there are times, however distasteful, when the USA should use its military might. This is one of those times. There is no perfect answer. Obama is trying to find a middle way through this. Should we just pull out wholesale, the situation is likely to deteriorate in a way that would allow Al Qaeda to operate with impunity and the Taliban to further oppress the people of Afghanistan . . . particularly the women. It must be noted that there are different views from within Afghanistan and Pakistan as to what needs to be done, and how, by the US troops. The “left” prefers to listen to those who fall closest to their viewpoint and others of us may take a more “macro” view.
Do I want to see any more people lose their lives and families? No . . . obviously. But the realist in me tells me that now we are in this we have to continue. Perhaps in the long run a better approach might be to expand on the what Greg Mortenson has been doing with his school building in the region.
As to the unemployment and debt in the USA . . . some problems cannot be dealt with in isolation as they’re all part of a much larger whole. The war in Afghanistan exists and will simply not go away because we would like it to nor will the unemployment and debt we face because of the financial meltdown. If we turn our back on Afghanistan is that going to magically solve the problems here at home? I rather doubt it!
For too long we in the USA seem to yearn for the easy, short-term, solution. We don’t seem to have the stomach to stick with things, to do the hard work, and most of all to realize that most solutions and situations are not often either/or problems.
December 6, 2009 at 4:46 pm
Moonshadow
There is a good article on the LA Times website talking about the troops in Afghanistan and withdrawal . . .
Robert Gates says Afghanistan withdrawal will be gradual