It doesn't take a rocket scientist to conclude that Obama escalating in Afghanistan is teh stoopid. I mean if you're all about alienating your base and repeating the mistakes of a certain Democratic president who pushed sweeping social change but whose mandate was undermined by a certain unwinnable war...
Anyway, see my take on the whole failure at the Kos.
But really, if Obama wants our support, he should really sorta figure out that that Iraq thing was sort of a mess. And killed 4k of our little cohort. I understand that the defense dept. & co. need to make their profit, but erm... we don't really want to send more of our friends and loved ones to die without cause. That's so Bush Admin.
12.02.2009
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Hey Ben,
ReplyDeleteI agree that the escalation is a fail and I do agree with your asessment on the Kos, but to play devil's advocate here, Afghanistan and Pakistan dot't have the motivation,resources nor the political capital that is going to allow them to be a functioning nation. While I agee that the United States cannot provide all of this, we can at the very least provide them a chance.
Don't get me wrong, I don't want to see our brothers and sisters,husbands and wives, fathers and mothers going to war, but the reality of the world unfortunately is that if the United States doesn't step up against insurgency, no one steps up.
I think that Fareed Zakaria was on the right track last night when he spoke of working ($) mainly with the tribal elders to identify and ouster the Taliban and Al Queda fighers.
Granted, this strategy alone will not deter the enemy, but it will allow the people of these war-ravaged nations to gain an element of trust that they currently do not have in us. This combined with targeted raids of insurgent strongholds and continued political pressure on Pakistan to feed us intelligence, can make a difference. It is unfortunate, but any strategy short of leaving the country alltogether, is going to require an escalation of troop levels. As the president said, the status quo is not acceptable.
hope your well,
Blake