If this story is indeed true - that President Obama is sending 34,000 troops to Afghanistan - then for what it's worth, he has my thanks. To support him more fully on this issue:
- If you think the Taliban are nice people who are only acting mean because of evil corporations or evil Western values (like many at MoveOn), consider this: Taliban: the Movie
- If you think that the Taliban are a nationalist/Islamist movement with no links whatsoever to al-Qaeda, and that our real fight is with al-Qaeda alone, consider this: Al-Qaeda and the Taliban: together again
- If you're wondering how this war is winnable, consider "Afghan Enclave Seen as a Model for Development" & "Precision Voting" (the latter tells how much more can be done in the war - simpler things like "more helicopters")
- If you think that 9/11 was an "inside job" - that the Taliban and al-Qaeda don't exist - please post your credit card and social security numbers in the comments.
Also, off-topic - there should be universal condemnation from the Right and Left for billboards like these that slander the President and the legitimacy of the United States generally. A lot of people are demonstrating that they don't deserve the right to vote, and consider the money and effort that went into that garbage. At some point, the fringes need to be confronted, shouted down, and put in their proper place. Ignoring them is empowering them; they're taking the silence of those of us who are sane to mean approval.
- Links, “Critical of President Obama Edition,” 11/19/09
- A Quick Note on President Obama and the Nobel Peace Prize
- Briefly Noted: James W. Ceaser, “The Roots of Obama Worship”
- An Open Letter to All Political Scientists: Does the Obama Campaign Represent the Future of Politics?
- Open Thread: Will the Next President Be Abused as Much as Bush Has Been?
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Well…that only took what…3 months? And some hackneyed, chintzy attempts at emotional blackmail to pass a wartime ‘surtax’ towards the end.
As for the Code Pink and MoveOn types portraying the Taliban as heroic, nationalist rebels fighting invaders, you probably wouldn’t be the least bit shocked to learn that the Taliban is utilizing their talking points trying to deflect blame for some of their more high-profile atrocities from them to Blackwater USA.
I believe That If
(1) Mr Obama Changes the Rules of Engagement and Allows unrestricted Air and Ground Support of our Troops,
(2) Takes Command of our troops away from the Pogues in NATO,
(3) Sends The State Department into Kabul, and Pakistan With the message.
(4) Kills terrorists wherever and whenever We can.
(5) Stops persecuting the troops sent to do a job. (SEAL’s)
Then I will consider supporting him on Afghanistan.
David´s last blog ..OSHA Complaint Filed Against Commissioner Randy Leonard | Willamette Week | Monday, November 23rd, 2009
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8380226.stm
why NATO needs to be curtailed.
And the reason that more soldiers may not be the answer…
throw all of the civilian contractors out and our soldiers can do the job they are trained to do and quit baby sitting…
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/11/26/afghanistan.missing.helicopter/index.html
David´s last blog ..OSHA Complaint Filed Against Commissioner Randy Leonard | Willamette Week | Monday, November 23rd, 2009
I am by no means in favor of war, however we MUST finish what we started. To give up now will make the thousands of lives that have been lost… they will have died for nothing. The Taliban is a lost group of people. I think it is hard for Americans and most of us in the western world to understand how dysfunctional they are. We are there for a reason: To ensure that the functional government has the power to keep the country under control without an American military presence. Until that purpose is fulfilled I believe it to be foolish to leave. I’m getting sick of Americans (including myself at times) thinking we know everything about everything. Everybody is a critic in this country, everybody knows how to do everyone else’s job FAR better than the person who’s job it is. Everyone knows more about our national security than our president… I think a lot of us are lying to ourselves about the fact that we may only know how to do the thing we know how to do, be it plumbing, banking, medicine, music, making a hamburger. Let the president of the United States, whom we elected to lead us and represent us and make decisions for us, DO HIS JOB. It seems that everyone in this country is so eager to point their finger and blame simply because we are used to it with our less than competent presidents of the past. President Obama IS DIFFERENT. We know he is different. Remember how happy we all were when he was elected. People were happy for a reason. Because he is an intelligent, honest and hard-working person that cares and supports that which is good. Don’t forget that. So I agree with you : )