Petraeus to replace McChrystal
News breaking out all over. I hope Gen. Petraeus is well-rested.
He needs a clone.
How far we’ve come from the MoveOn/General Betray Us heydays, eh?
Next gig for McChrystal…Columnist for Rolling Stone? Celebrity MTV tweeter? Milblogger?
***
Here’s the AP:
A senior administration official tells The Associated Press that President Barack Obama has accepted Gen. Stanley McChrystal’s resignation as the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan and is replacing him with Gen. David Petraeus, head of U.S. Central Command.
McChrystal was pushed out over his blistering remarks about administration officials quoted in a magazine interview.
After an Oval Office meeting with McChrystal in the morning, Obama huddled with his war advisers and planned to announce his decision on the general’s fate to the nation at 1:30 p.m. EDT in the Rose Garden.
***
B-b-b-b-but didn’t Obama say a vote for his opponent would be a vote for four more years of Bush?
Another Emily Litella moment.
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What happened to all the “General Betray-us” sentiment from the Far Far Left?!?!? Change of heart?
who cares? Did you SEE that World Cup win? Classic American drama.
What an unbelievable game to win. So many chances lost, but in stoppage time finally getting it done.
We have the best athletes in the world but our game IQ isn’t good. We can beat anyone. GO USA! WooHoo!
Prediction – Petraeus will be pushed out by Christmas.
I don’t know why Teh One is appointing anybody to the task – just like the oil leak their heart is just not in winning this war. Our poor troops, I grieve for them.
That was more about Bush than about Petraeus, not that I’m defending the Democrat hypocrites, but it is what it is. When it comes right down to it, the appointing of Petraeus is the ultimate admission that Petraeus is the more than competent general that we’ve always said he was.
This the answer to “how did this guy get elected?” Distraction by shiny objects. (I was feeling generous)
The President had no choice. There is no way he could remain in command.
As CINC CENTCOM, (McCrystal’s immediate superior) General Petraus, is the logical choice to replace McCrystal given the current tactical situation.
I would speculate Petraus is actually an interim commander. Once the replacement is selected and works with General Petraus to get up to speed, the new commander will be announced.
This will work. Drive on.
FIFY
Well, if you could ever fantasize a French win in anything.
Gorman: Hicks, meet me at the south lock. We’re coming in.
Hicks: Roger.
Hudson: [to Vasquez] He’s comin’ in. I feel safer already.
I feel so sorry for McChrystal. It’s a terrible way to end a brilliant career. One thing I do fault him for though, was that he let the enemy in his camp (the Rolling Stone reporter). This reporter was a modern day male Mata Hari. I bet they’re high-fiving over at the Rolling Stone. They brought down a general when the Taliban couldn’t.
I really did feel bad for General McChrystal-the unguarded tongue has destroyed many. But I do not believe anyone can make a silk purse of that cows ear of Afghanistan. They were fierce and independent tribes before we came and hopefully will be when we leave. If they do set up a Taliban government again we bomb them again. We won the initial battle, we should have left well enough alone.
Now for Chicago……..
Bin Laden been hiding there?
Gorman: Any questions?
[Hudson raises his hand]
Gorman: What is it, private?
Hudson: How do I get out of this chickensh!t outfit?
Apone: You secure that sh!t, Hudson!
Even though Gen. Petraeus did an awesome job in Iraq, but that was under different situations. First of all it was an answer to reverse the crap of what the CPA under Bremmer had done (I saw it first hand as I was part of his military convoy security, his personal security was Black Water and I would work with those guys in particular any given day of the week).
If Gen Petraeus is not allowed to get rid of the handcuffs (i.e. ROE) that are screwing our troops over then it really would not matter who took over the position as commander of forces in Afghanistan.
Yes, Soros is too busy drilling for oil off Brazil to slander U.S. patriots these days.
The article stated (that’s what I’ve read online, I don’t care to read their tripe) that McChrystal voted for Dear Leader. I’d like to ask him this…how’s that hope and change working for you now, General?
I guess General Wesley Clark was too busy.
It’s not going to matter. We are supposed to have the mightiest military in the world and the General gets knocked out by ROLLING STONE MAGAZINE?
The whole episode is so lame it is a shame that we even consider what we are doing over there to be ‘fighting a war’.
We are only there to spend money this year. We will come home next year anyway and it doesn’t matter (except it will show a cut in the budget). There is nothing to win in Afghanistan now and there never will be anything to win.
Our soldiers can beat anyone, but there is no mission to be accomplished. Open ended nation building is not our responsibility.
the longest game in Wimbledon is more interesting now. Isner is up 41-40 in the 5th set of a game they started yesterday and they are still playing
Hudson: Game over man! Game over!
Agreed.
In fact, I’d bet that their heart is in losing.
Remember, according to The Manchurian President, and I have no reason to believe that it isn’t accurate, B. Hussein Obama has lots of 60s radicals/leftovers/retreads whom he’s appointed to positions of more than a little influence/power, and who advise him.
The America-haters/fascists/communists/anarchists/statists/socialists/collectivists have been “boring from within” for decades.
When I read:
, my first thought was, “Now, that’s a joke, right?”
Daily I ask God to be with our men and women who choose to serve in our military. To have this bho as cic, a man who has not a clue how to deal with anything and seems to hate everything in his sight, makes me so tired. I sure hope to goodness our Republic makes it till 2012 and get rid of this bho!
L
McChrystal just said whats on his mind -for good or ill. I cannot be sure but, can you imagine fighting under the rules of engagement that I have seen issued to the soldiers? I have no doubt in my mind the General was issued those from some Sock Puppet hack. The General has to stand there and watch soldiers get killed because of this regimes lack of caring and the whole thing makes me sick. Will there be another wall to join the Vietnam Memorial? When people go there will it be the same feeling that all of us have that went there – it was all for nothing! Hate is not a strong enough emotion to describe this Kitty Litter Box of …………
I am surpirsed the Obama didn’t send Biden in to run things in Afghanistan. After all he saw comabt in Afghanistan before….
I have a willing suspension of disbelief.
Gorman: [Calling Apone over the radio] Look, uh, Apone.
[Apone snaps his fingers]
Gorman: Look, we can’t have any firing in there. I, uh, I want you to collect magazines from everybody.
Hudson: Is he f@#$%n’ crazy?
Frost: What do you expect us to use man, harsh language?
Gorman: Flame units only. I want rifles slung.
Apone: But, sir…
Gorman: [Interrupting] Do it Apone, and no grenades.
Is it too late for the Rolling Stone reporter to accidentally fall out of a helicopter? I have heard rumors such things happen-helicopters being inherently dangerous with that big wide door.
Noone cares about the World Jockstrap!
Oh alright, Go USA!
Obama is nothing if not predictable. I think we all knew McC was gone after yesterday’s press briefing. The president shows once again, how thin skinned he really is. He will not stand for anyone, especially someone in the military, to think he is incompetent. Right.
The president declared that his decision was not personal…take the opposite meaning of everything this man says to see the truth of it.
Ignore the underlying reasons for the spoken insubordination, and nothing the General anguished about will be resolved. They’ve now put yet another great soldier in a position where he undoubtedly will have to fall on his sword as well…unless we get the national leadership changed…and fast!
Not personal? No, VERY personal!!!
He found lint on his sweater and is taking the rest of the day off for remediation.
Hudson: Let’s just bug out and call it even, OK? What are we talking about this for?
Ripley: I say we take off and nuke the entire site from orbit. It’s the only way to be sure.
An interesting hypothesis, if Petraeus were to have any political ambitions, what better way to snuff them out than to force him to retire in disgrace as well?
However, I agree with Flyoverman that this is just an interim fix. Petraeus is McChrystal’s boss. So they temporarily assign him to the job until a permanent replacement can be found.
***
I’m not sure why we need a fighting general in charge. If we are going to “cut and run” in a year on the date Comrade Obama (PBUH) set–anyone who can make a safe withdrawal should do just fine.
***
The Taliban is stupid to fight now. They should go into safe areas and into hiding and “arm up” for the takeover after we leave. The Afghan “president” Kharzai knows that his head will be on a pike when we go–he will be leaving before we do.
***
Vietnam II type pullout coming soon.
***
John Bibb
***
Dear Leader thinks this is a win-win situation for himself…he canned a disgruntled employee; and he named a well-loved General in his place. I can just see those little wheels winding in his head….this has to get my poll numbers up, gee, I showed leadership.
Do you suppose they will bring back General Clark and make him the Political Officer for Petraeus?
They obviously can’t afford to let him make decisions. He might win…
And what about the psychological implications of this decision? Frankly, Obama’s decision to fire General Stanley McChrystal reveals a great deal about Obama’s relationship with his mother.
How could a loving sone fire a general with the same first name as his mother?
Call in the shrinks!
What does it say for our armed forces that we have Flag Officers that would vote for Obama?
So this takes Petraeus out of the running in 2012?
Isn’t the real problem the dismal prospects for success in Afghanistan.
And McChrystal actually voted for Obama.
Something’s wrong with this picture.
I guess if the Secretary of the Navy can take over the Gulf recovery ops, Petraeus can do McChrystal’s job too. What’s the big deal?
This drama is not over. Too many folks attempting to reach too many conclusions before the fat lady has sung…
And people wonder why the United States has such problems fighting this kind of war? But hey, who am I to question civilians with regards to military matters? I’ll just keep that to myself, as directed by the Constitution, which I swore to support and defend.
Was GEN McChrystal wrong? Sure. I suppose he shouldn’t have allowed his folks to call National Security Adviser James Jones a “clown”. It’s amazing what effect the title of an article in a rag can have on one’s career, especially when most readers never read past that title.
I’m sure if you followed anyone with a Polaroid camera, you could make that person look like the devil. But I ask, if one were to follow this General with a video camera, what would they find? I’d venture a guess that folks would see a lifetime of honorable military service to this country, most of which is virtually unknown to 99.9% of Americans, not that they care about the military anyway. If they did, they’d take the time to understand the military, learn about the art of war, much less man-up and join the military.
granite #20
Somewhere down the pike is going to be a glorious tell-all book. Can’t wait.
‘Bambi’s presser earlier on Fox w/Megyn Kelly – lecturing the American public on the meaning of war and how much bigger it is than one man, himself included….snooze. So, he’s playing humble and thoughtful today.
I wonder if McChrystal will retire at the permanent rank of General, or will he retire as a MajGen. or LtGen.? I would think that the man in charge of a theater would be a permanent promotion.
It is and somehow it seems to me like Petraeus could care less about politics. If he did care about a political career he would be very wary of being put into a situation that could end any sort of political aspirations.
I still would like to here from Petraeus and see if he will change the ROE. If he unties the hands of our troops then we could have a chance, but then again if the Taliban is smart they will just hold out until next summer when Obama has arbitralily set a pull out date regardless of what the situation in Afghanistan is.
Rush was just making a great point. With Gen. Petraeus going to Afghanistan that leaves a spot open as Gen. Petraeus was the head on CENTCOM (which oversees Iraq and Afghanistan). So who will replace him at CENTCOM or does it mean that Obama will speed up the withdrawl of troops from Iraq?
Being a retired Army Officer, my view is that what McChrystal did earned him the boot. If his comments had come out of the mouths of company level leaders, they would be facing courts martials.
You do not bad mouth your chain of command, and most particularly, your civilian leadership, no matter how inept. Shortly after I was commissioned, Jimmy Carter became President. We were constantly reminded of our duties as officers to keep a lid on our personal opinions, or else. There is no freedom of speech in the military, no minimum wage, no overtime pay, no OSHA protecting your workplace, no guarantee of living conditions equal to those in our prison systems. Your civil liberties are suspended during your term of service. But that is a trade we gladly made for the honor of defending this great country. And for me anyway, it was worth it.
Those that do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. MacArthur got the boot for running his mouth, despite his record in WWII, and of course George Patton’s dog house had a revolving door. And frankly, allowing any reporter around when your staff is getting hammered in Paris and letting them run their mouths is criminally stupid.
General P is top notch, and is trusted and respected by the troops. Frankly, the morale in the sand box has taken a big hit under McChrystal’s watch, and I think the news of their new CO will be most welcome. Hopefully, they will no longer be ordered to avoid patrolling in areas with a risk of enemy contact – this is a freaking war, and you do not win wars by avoiding contact – you make contact, destroy them and drive on.
Those are the ROE that a Marxist Commander-in-Chief sets to ensure defeat of U.S. forces.
Pray for our military.
Bho doesn’t know what he’s doing. The left already dislikes Petraeus. Bho would disband the military if he could, except that he needs them to fly him around in air force 1. Mr. no drama obama had a thin skinned hissy fit again. By the time his term is up, Bho will have high blood pressure from all the screaming fits he has due to his insecurity complex. I’m surprised that anyone is willing to work for someone with so little going for him because of the lack of true accomplishments. We need a true commander-in-chief, not this juvenile party whimp.
Shrinks have been called.
I think we will discover that General Petraeus is actually and interim commander until new commander is selected and comes up to speed. Then he’ll go back to CENTCOM.
Do people realize that this is a demotion for GEN Petraeus?
“Calling Doctor Howard, Doctor Fine, Doctor Howard….”
Apone: All right, sweethearts, what are you waiting for? Breakfast in bed? Another glorious day in the Corps! A day in the Marine Corps is like a day on the farm. Every meal’s a banquet! Every paycheck a fortune! Every formation a parade! I LOVE the Corps!
Let’s take a poll to see how many people, military or not, think the nit wit in chief is incompetent. I do, I do!!
Rogue: Hey Spacy, have you ever been mistaken for a man?
Spacey: No. Have you?
Of course you mean CORPSE, right?
Game Over
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsx2vdn7gpY
(language warning)
McChrystal has been around long enough to know the consequences of speaking out, whether true or not, especially against the Commander in Chief. That’s just a fact of military life in the officer corps.
The sad part is if he trully felt that way about Obama, once he said it, he should have submitted his resignation and stood by his convictions. Instead, he meekly apologizes and says he has the deepest respect for Obama and his National Security team. He lost all credibility by groveling when the article came out. What a wimp.
If I were Petreus, if he’s not allowed to fight the war the way it needs to be fought, without all of the restrictions, I’d resign too.
With Obama’s track record of in-your-face to America appointments, I’m surprised he didn’t elevate the head of Code Pink to run the Afghan war.
Maybe Obambi wants to be able to blame Petreaus for the failure in A’stan when these pansies in this admin cut and run next year. They hate ‘General Betray us” and by winning in Iraq he showed them for the buffoons they are. Watch for some Obamalite to take cent com command.
I can’t way for General McChrystal to write a book! That should be interesting reading, unfortunately it’ll be years before he can write it.
The Aliens dialog is so perfect for our current military situation.
Isn’t sad that we only have two Generals to go to to get the job done these days? Where is today’s Schwartzkopf?
General McChrystal should have seen it coming. Obama throws all his “friends” ie Rev Wright, Gran Ma, Bill Ayres,and now General McChrystal under his bus
.
…and BP contributed a ton of $’s to OilBambi’s campaign, but didn’t stop the criticism from O-SorryA$$. What gives? is I-WON thinking he can take the Training Wheels off now?
“The conduct represented in the recently published article does not meet the standard that should be set by a commanding general.” —Pres. Obama on relieving McChrystal of his command for showing disrespect to team leaders.
“That f—er is trying to steal a line from my speech.” —Sen. Obama slamming the party leader, John Kerry.
Rahm: Look, man, let’s just bug out and call it even, okay?
Petreaus: I say we take off and nuke the entire country from orbit. It’s the only way to be sure.
BHO: Now hold on a second. I’m not authorizing that action.
Petreaus: Why not?
BHO: Well, I mean…I know this is an emotional moment, but let’s not make snap judgments. Let’s move cautiously. First, this region has a substantial dollar value attached to it –
Petreaus: They can bill me. I got a tab running.
Hicks: I say we nuke the site from orbit. It’s the only way to be sure.
The worm has turned, hasn’t it? I mean, wasn’t Obummer asserting how Petraeus’ surge in Iraq would never work? Say it ain’t so!
Sorry, but I don’t think the likes of Petraeus will be able to fix Afghanistan. One thing that many, both in the military, and the civilian leadership and larger society refuse to acknowledge, is that Afghanistan is so tribal that it has no national or territorial unity. I mean, hell, Karzai doesn’t even have control of the entire country.. that’s why he’s called the Mayor of Kabul for a reason.
I disagree with McChrystal being relieved of command. Somebody had to confront this incompetent, bumbling administration. Even if it was “unseemly” and broke the rules of military conduct, it was still brave. And I say this as someone who thinks that McChyrstal is an a$$hat who let his ego get the better of him. He broke the cardinal rule that used to be the norm in the military:
Don’t speak to the press. Ever. Period.
Can they promote Ayers to General and put him in charge of withdrawal operations? Wouldn’t put it past them to try.
Can’t wait for the book.
Well Obama figures he already has General Motors on the payroll, but he’d like to have a chat with General Mills as well.
BTW – have we begun encrypting the video feeds from our Predator drones yet, or are the terrorists still tuning in to see what we’re watching? Which reminds me – is Obama still using that Blackberry?
Maybe “clowns” are in charge.
Chickaboomer headline
Obama Caps The McChrystal Gusher
As we draw down, there has been an uptick in bombings there as well… expect that trend to continue.
Afgan is not going well… and will continue to degrade because we don’t have enough troops there to really to the job.
Soon, the ECONOMY will be Obama’s excuse to cut and run from both countries… and with America “humbled” Islam (the real problem our government will not admit to) will be in an even stronger position.
Gird your loins…
Petraeus is a win for our troops.
He is very skilled and competent and he cares about them all. (I cannot elaborate, but I do know from personal experience that he does go above and beyond and he does care about the soldiers.).
McC- I don’t really feel either way for him. He was a punk when he went in a commanding general- and he was a punk when he got kicked out.
I think it’s stupid that he “retired” due to not liking Obama…
Then again, you can’t say anything negative about the antichrist and expect to get away with it. (sarcasm: I don’t really believe Obama is the antichrist. The jury’s out on that one.)
We don’t need any more troops there! We need to break out some of those wonderful toys that we have! Where the hell are our “Daisy Cutters” and “MOABs”?!
Only problem is what the hell would we bomb? We already tried bombing the hell out of the cave complexes in the mountains and we still had to send troops in to clear them out.
We need to get serious about this being a war and let loose our military so they can kill as many of these SOB’s as possible, but I will not hold my breath expecting this Administration to do either.
I am kinda wondering if Obama picked Gen Petraeus as the replacement so that if things continue to go bad he can blame them on Gen Petraeus and claim that he (Obama) was right about Gen Petraeus back when being against Gen Petraeus was the in thing to do. I mean he still blames Bush why not set up a General that he has bad mouthed in the past to be the reason for failure in Afghanistan. We all know the one will have to blame someone other than his own incompetence.
There is nothing like voting for a candidate and then learning that he’s a huge loser. Buyers remorse causes weird things.
The United States government has abandoned the sovereignty of this part of the U.S. to drug gangsters/terrorists.
http://www.sangres.com/arizona/wildlife-refuges/buenos-aires-nwr.htm
If Al Queda set up training camps here, would we not go after them out of fear of offending Hispanic voters? What, really, is the difference between
Al Queda and Mexican drug cartels? I wouldn’ really want to live under the control of either.
The Congress, the Courts and the President have abandoned the American people.
POTUS
Obama had to fire him, but I still respect the man.
Toys don’t win wars, boots on the ground do.
Before I hit submit, I looked up at Truesoldier’s comments. I too am skeptical – a little different take tho:
Interesting pick for this kind of war where you are encouraged to use restraint (no I don’t mean medals).
Set-up??? just in case the GOP considered Petraeus for Pres in 2012???
Reminds of what a friend who served in Viet Nam once told me.
There were lists of targets ordered from most valuable to least valuable. When it came to selecting the targets to hit, the civilian leadership wanted to start with the bottom of the list.
So hit the pile of coal rather than troop or SAM installation.
While I have no real proof that this is how Johnson ran things, it seems to me the Obama’s military doctrine is quite similar to what I just described.
Has General McChrystal announced his retirement? I didn’t hear anything about a “reassignment” position…or, is it understood that in submitting and having his resignation accepted, his career is over (Obama so repects the man, the hero, the warrior General?)
I assume that the General, having bit his tongue in the presence of “The One”, will be honored with a medal for “showing restraint!”
None-the-less, Obama’s policies will add at least one more to the rolls of the unemployed…………….
I remember being “encouraged” by our Higher HQ Public Information Officer to attend training on how to interact with the media.
My response was, I do not need any training when my reply to any question up to and including my name would be, “No comment,” before having them escorted out of my unit’s area.
Media relations was not on my Mission Essential Task List. The General should have remembered that. Follow the lead of the Madagascar penguins, “Just smile and wave boys; smile and wave.”
After accepting McChrystal’s resignation, I’m actually surprised Obama did not appoint himself a 4 Star General and put himself in command of the Afghan operation. For some reason I’d bet he’d be digging his look in a General’s Uniform.
Anyone want to photoshop Obama’s face onto a Chavez image?
So I guess the people over at Rolling Stone are high-fiving and patting each other on the back for this one. Regardless of ultimate outcome of all this, right here and now America is looking weak.
They should be so proud.
Kick em when theyre up
Kick em when theyre down
Kick em when theyre up
Kick em when theyre down
Kick em when theyre up
Kick em when theyre down
Kick em when theyre up
Kick em all around
Nope, he’s been reassigned as a temporary Census worker. /sarc
The Mouth of Sauron: And who is this? Isildur’s heir? It takes more to make a king that a broken Elvish blade…
[Aragorn cuts off the Mouth of Sauron's head with one stroke of Anduril]
Gimli: I guess that concludes negotiations.
Tru dat, but no soldier should be placed into jeopardy until all other avenues of coercion have been explored, and I don’t believe they have been.
Rogue: You fool. No man can kill me. Die now.
spaceycakes: I am no man.
I am kind of curious as to how Obambi defines “victory” at this point.
I still believe Obambi is caught in a dilemma on this issue. He doesn’t want the US to win but he doesn’t want to be the first President to lose a war…
He has to appear to be winning without winning. That should be a real challenge to someone who can’t do anything…
Liberal brains must be melting over this. I will have to read up on the comments at the most notable sites. A quick look took me back to comments made about Gen. Petraeus back in ’07 regarding the Surge. You saw plenty of comments referring to him as, among other things, “neo-con war puppet” and “a war criminal”. Now, of course, they have to support their little tin God’s decision. It only adds to their burden of having to pretend, like their leaders do, that they have always respected and back the military, when in fact they never have and never will.
Let’s start churning out those bumper stickers: Obama/Bite Me. You can’t pay comedians enough to come up with: Vice President Bite Me.
General Petraeus is very likely to get the same level of support from this administration that General McChrystal received
Let’s face it, Obama showed what he thought of Gen Petraeus at the hearing in 07
Does anyone think Obama is not thrilled at opportunity to very publicly fire a general. He loves the chance to smack the pentagon, wait till he calls for defense cuts.
As for appointing General Petraeus, I am reminded of the Godfather, “Keep your friends close and your enemies closer”
And look for a cleaning of McChrystal accolites at the Pentagon
There could be several quiet retirements over in Big Army soon
I think its more of a Deng Chao Peng moment, “I don’t care if the cat is black or white as long as it catches mice.”
The SEC DEF was Bush’s and respects Petreaus. I am sure he had a lot of influence on this decision.
I doubt anyone other than committed socialist idealogues have much sway with Obama
Are you talking about victory in Afghanistan or victory of American citizens.
last post should have read:
Are you talking about victory in Afghanistan or victory over American citizens.
Interview by Rolling Stone rag? He should have known better
McCrystal insults the president and loses his job. The president insults the American public with every policy and gets to keep his. When does the truth about this president get to stick?
Charges that McChrystal is racist coming in 4-3-2-1…
Anyone that questions the CIC had better duck. He’s thin-skinned and prone to hissy fits. It wasn’t the best PR move I’ve ever seen by a general but placing that kind of load on Petraeus only points to one thing: Teh One wants rid of Petraeus worse than he wants rid of McChrystal.
Karzai loved Gen McC because McC limited the fighting. Karzai got heat for all the fake civilians being killed. I think it was all propaganda by the Taliban but it worked. Karzai tried to protect his behind by criticising the killings and got McC to go along with him.
The soldiers hate it because they are not allowed to kill these “civilians” that are taking shots at them, harboring the Taliban, lying to our faces, and helping set up IEDS that kill our troops.
Karzai’s approach is not helping our war effort. It is severely hindering it. We need someone to stand up to him. Remember when he threatened us with “returning to the Taliban”.
We need to tell Afghanistan and Pakistan that they need to do some things or we will “return to the Diego Garcia Island and just send B52 bombers to Afpak and they will not be dropping supplies.
Even more importantly, where is the rest of the world on this? Are they like ThackerAgency and think we should quit and let the Taliban overrun both countries including getting the Pakistan nukes?
Maybe we should put sanctions on those countries so the Chinese and Russians can make themselves rich by ignoring them. Yeah, thats the ticket.
I still think we need to know what Obama considers “victory” in Afghanistan. I would like to know how other conservatives would define “victory” there. Afghanistan has never been a nation-state in the western definition of the word. We aren’t likely going to make it one in 5, 10 or 20 years.
I am NOT suggesting that America leave Afghanistan abruptly. But I think we need to have an idea of what is realistic. Fighting an endless war of attrition in the God forsaken mountains of Afghanistan is not a realistic option.
Thats the problem. Bringing about fundamental changes to Islam would be victory but its not PC to acknowledge that. Islams goal, as clearly stated in the Koran, is a global caliphate where Islam rules the world. There are no countries.
Thats who we are fighting. That is their goal. How do you defeat them and stop them from obtaining their goal?
They need to change their religious ideology. The Koran has been ammended by various groups over the years. They need to make that change.
Freedom to choose any religion? Yes. Think what that would do to the middle east when people shun the forced religion.
Stopping violence in the name of Islam? Yes. No one should be allowed to kill, maim, or mistreat anyone to further the cause of Islam (or any religion).
Womens rights? Yes. Islam oppresses women although there are many Islamic women who don’t accept that viewpoint. They actually think wearing the hijab or the burka is a good thing.
Getting the world to stand up to the Islamic powers and demand change, that would be victory and the world would be better off for it.
Or maybe just wealth redistribution. We are too rich here in the US. We need to give all our money away to Afghans so they won’t plot our demise anymore.