The surge did a lot of good....it helped to get us out of Iraq2.
I thought we were talking about Afghanistan. I agree with John and have from Day 1 that there is no way the US can win in Afghanistan. It's a stupid place to be and a terrible waste of human life. NO ONE has EVER beat the Afghans and we will be no exception.
I have no doubt that Biden loves his country or that Cheney does for that matter. They just both have really odd ways of going about demonstrating it. As a result, no one really cares what either one of them thinks.
Since the Korean War we have allowed politicians, particularly globalist politicians in the case of the UN, to direct our wars. We now fight "wars of containment" rather than all-out, fight it to win it, take no prisoners kind of war. 0bozo himself said he's not out to win a victory prize in Afganistan or some such nonsense; he'd rather arrive at an agreement. We need a strategic nuclear option where we drop a few nukes in the mountain nests where they're hiding. Send em all to allah and their 27 virgins and be done with it. It's what they want anyway.
posted by arteach
about 1 month ago
Actually, most the analysts, bloggers, opinion pieces, etc. say it was not so much the surge as the paying off the war lords that wulled violence in Iraq to the point that our soldiers there are joining book clubs, etc. to quell the boredom. I have been following this issue very carefully.
For this reason, we are considering the same tactic in Afghanistan. Some say that if we do this, we can leave and keep paying, thus ending the war. Others say we need hundreds of thousands more troops there for a long time to keep up with a counter insurgency.
I was money tamed the beast.
Cheney was good with words and didn't beat around the bush (no pun intended), Biden is not good with words and should stay in the background as much as possible. Most people that know him say he is an expert in foreign policy, he should stick to that instead of foot in mouth sound bites.
And I agree 100% with MtnGirl, we should get out of Afghanistan, it's a no win situation.
posted by Pluto50
about 1 month ago
The surge did enough to allow Obama to move troops from Iraq to Afghanistan--his war of necessity. Paying off warlords alone would not result in much.
I agree that we don't belong in Afghanistan. It's fool's mission, But the fool has embraced it, so he should either get all in or all out. Stop being weak and indecisive.
posted by noel54
about 1 month ago
Paying off the warlords and militia leaders quelled the violence in Iraq.
That is why those opposed to the counter insurgency, which will require hundreds of thousands of troops are thinking about doing the same in the corrupt pit of Afghanistan.
That's interesting. At what point do we stop sending them our money? Sounds like a never-ending money pit. Either we do the job or get out all together. We were supposed to be in there looking for bin Laden. How does sending money to warlords find him? Hasn't there been a $25 million bounty on him head for 8 years? Money does not appear to be producing any results on tha front.
If, as Obama stated, this is a war of necessity, we should listen to our experienced warriors. Bush made the same mistake in ignoring them when he decided to invade Iraq and listen only to Rumsfeld.
posted by noel54
about 1 month ago
