So .... who is NOT in favor of escalating our Afghanistan involvement?

[Stinky The Clown]

Threads espousing getting out get unreced as soon as they're posted. So what's the deal? Are we now War Manger Underground? Or maybe a softer term ..... Its a nicer war cuz the 'good guys' are running it?

No one opposes war anymore?

[spanone]

1. i am not in favor of war. bu$h*s seven year neglect made afghanistan an impossibility

[yurbud]

46. history has shown that Afghanistan is winnable with bullets

If we had tried to do it with schools and economic alternatives to the heroin trade, we might have had a chance, but only if our real goal was reducing terrorism.

[bertman]

57. Didn't you mean to say "NOT winnable"?

[yurbud]

97. yes I did. thanks for catching that.

[Altoid_Cyclist]

118. I posted this in another thread earlier today but it pertains to this one too.

An escalation or status quo involvement has a good chance to end the way it usually does in Afghanistan. Not good.
Not sure when this was written, but nothing's changed.

http://www.afghangovernment.com/briefhistory.htm

[yurbud]

143. excellent history! Here's a take on their present:

http://professorsmartass.blogspot.com/2009/02/were-figh...

[Altoid_Cyclist]

151. Thanks for the link!

I skimmed through it but there's so much more in depth info. that I'll have to get back to it when I have more time.

The ever present theme always seems to be greed or hubris. Of course they do go well together as long as you're not one of the victims.

[yurbud]

160. hubris is from getting their way too often

[Altoid_Cyclist]

163. If they get their way this time that means that we are sending another 40,000 to fight an unwinnable

war. If that happens, I say that we get out our pitchforks and torches and pay a visit to DC and the people responsible.

Then we can go get Cheney & Idiot Son for screwing this up in the first place. Hell, we might as well include Rumsfailed.

[JDPriestly]

150. I think Afghanistan is not what this is about.

Take a look at Afghanistan's neighbors. Afghanistan is one huge military base from which the war lords can survey the entire area. I don't think the point is "winning" something vague in Afghanistan.

For those who haven't looked at the map lately, here is a link:

http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&tab=wl

With military presence in Afghanistan and Iraq, guess what country we have surrounded?

[MNDemNY]

2. I am a proud "cut and runner"!!!

[FirstLight]

147. +1000 !!! Fuckin-A!

I think Rachel coined it best when she called it "Demise-istan"
GTFO has always been my strategy, say "sorry" to the folks who we have screwn, give the UN the aid and say we're sorry for killing your civilians and JUST BAIL...

There will always be crazy shit going on in those mountains, best to just leave them to their 4th Century thinking and get on with our recovery...if we aren't too far gone with the damage the wars have cost us ON ALL fronts (economic, peacekeeping, image, torture, etc..)

We can watch out for attacks better than ever now because we know where to look, we have security we didn't have before... and have yet to implement good disaster strategies at HOME and secure our electrical grids and water facilities.... shouldn't this be the focus and where the money should go? Surely not to Blackwater & the like?

And for that matter...why hasn't President Obama pulled the plug on ALL the Ind. Contractors, either?


oh, dear.... so much for a pacifist to do, so little time

[FiveGoodMen]

3. I certainly oppose that war.

It'll never accomplish anything good.

We should get out ASAP.

[Kaleva]

4. This isn't Cindy Sheehan Underground

[bahrbearian]

34. This isn't the Keleva underground!

[Hannah Bell]

83. yeah, democrats *love* war!!!!

[The Green Manalishi]

152. My republican father always pointed out

ww1- Wilson, Democrat
ww2- FDR - Democrat
Korea - Truman Democrat
Vietnam Kennedy/Johnson - Democrat

One could argue that Ike laid the groundwork for us getting into Vietnam, but let's be honest the Democratic Party has had it's share of warmongers in the last 100 years, and we still have a few

[Ken Burch]

123. Martin Luther King would be against escalation in Afghanistan, too.

Escalating there HAS to doom any chance of progressive change at home. The Johnson administration proved that there can't be a militarist liberalism.

[The_Casual_Observer]

5. Seems like the rest of the world is pretty much leaving it up to us to do this

[Democracyinkind]

11. and what is "this", if I may ask?

It's our mess, why should the rest of the world care?

[EFerrari]

28. Well, it looks like "this" is buffering the proxy war between India and Pakistan. nt

[InfiniteThoughts]

121. can't understand your statement ... can you explain?

[EFerrari]

138. India and Pakistan seem to be fighting a proxy war in Afghanistan.

We seem to be buffering that as much as we're doing anything else.

[InfiniteThoughts]

162. can you please back your claims?

if you are going to point to Pak sources that says India is acting 'rogue' in Afghanistan, forget it. Pakistan has a disease of making wild statements and not being able to back it with facts.

For eg: In Egypt, they made a claim that they handed the Indian PM a dossier of rogue Indian activities in Baluchistan. 2 months later & after endless badgering by media, Pakistan accepts that they handed no dossier to India, a 180 degree turn from earlier stance ...

Even if you look at history - Northern Alliance, the ground force that defeated Taliban (supported by Pak) in 2001 was funded by India, Iran & Russia before the US joined post 9/11. If Pak was/is on the side of Northern Alliance, they would be allies to India not opposing them.

In summary, don't drag India to muddy the waters here. If anyone is to blame, can you look into the eyes of Pakistan and assess if they have been fair to US, Afghanistan in the post 9/11 war or did they subvert a lot of funds to strengthen the bank balances of their corrupt politicians

[mzmolly]

72. IF this is actually about terrorism and breaking up Al Qaida cells

then it's a world problem.

[Mr Rabble]

92. Do you believe that this is about terrorism or Al-Qaeda?

There is one piece of evidence that this war is about stopping terrorism:

our leaders say so.

Aside from that, there is nothing to suggest that is even a goal, and in fact the case would be easy to make that the war has done exactly the opposite.

[mzmolly]

136. I don't think at this point we're there because Cheney is making

money. I think our current leadership has good intentions.

[quiller4]

77. I think if you look at how many Canadians have died in recent weeks

you might re-think that comment.

[Autumn]

6. Get the fuck OUT NOW

No unrec here.

[slay]

76. I couldn't have said it better

http://rethinkafghanistan.com/videos.php

[wroberts189]

79. +1 and Iraq as well. Bring them all home. knr nt

[CherokeeDem]

7. I'm For Getting OUT Today....

I don't see how there will be any difference in what's going on there whether we are there or not.

[robinlynne]

8. a lot of Aghanis, I would guess!

[maxpower]

9. I want them out now.

I hate war. Mighty nations go to the Middle East to die.


Peace,
Max

[autorank]

10. It's crazy. I'm NOT in favor k*r

The Pakistani Army (regular army) is mopping the floor with the Taliban consortium. They're ready to
roll on Warizistan, the stronghold. The last time they tried this, it was half effort and they ended
up cutting a deal. This time it's the regular army, which is pretty decent, and they've wiped out the
Taliban power sources elsewhere with enough efficiency to let the 2.0 million refugees return.

I'm betting on them.

So what's our problem? imho, we want to be there and the longer the better. The more troops the longer
and so forth. It's a load and time to say adios!

[SIMPLYB1980]

12. Pull them out of Iraq as soon as possible and

double or triple down on Afghanistan with NATO, and the UN. With possible backing from Russia and China.

[TheKentuckian]

13. You can count me in. Though, I'm not sure about pulling out completely

like I keep saying if there is a clear mission to beat down organized terror and help secure Pakistani nukes then I might buy it but a counter insurgency for a failed non-state and nation building...No way.

[kestrel91316]

14. Bring the troops home. Beat the swords into bedpans and surgical scissors.

We need to spend our money providing actual care for actual Americans rather than tilting at windmills in far off lands.

[jeffbr]

15. We need to get out of that shithole yesterday

What a waste.

[maxpower]

16. I K&R to put you on the greatest page

Now back under 4. Point proven.



Peace,
Max

[spaten]

17. its not a war

it is an executive action.
No declaration of war tells me that it is unjust, also a waste of money.

[cali]

18. I recced your thread because I am for getting out of Afghanistan. That said

I think you're wrong about threads against the war being unrecced.

[Stinky The Clown]

31. This one's been up and down like a yo-yo

Since it is my thread, I'll link to it.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

I won't link to anyone else's threads so you'll have to find them yourself. But they're there. And then there are the subthreads within threads.

[bvar22]

35. Try the new "Top Tens Page".

Unrecs work AGAINST the anonymous Centrist Political Correctness Commissars.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

Now my homepage.

[Stinky The Clown]

52. Heh .... GMTA .... I commented on this a few days ago!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

I laugh every time I see this new page!

[bvar22]

67. I see you got UNreced to

Where did all the "Centrists" (I'm being polite) come from?

LOL.

Now I don't have to scroll through pages of GD looking for "<0" to find something worth reading.

I also posted a couple of days ago about how much I like the Top Tens:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

Dropped like a rock.
As soon as more people find out about it, it will have more traffic than The Greatest Page.

[YOY]

19. K&FukkinR.

Even past the human cost...the damn things are wastes of money to the nth power.

[newtothegame]

20. No but Obama made 'history,' so it's ok. n/t

[bigwillq]

21. I am against this war.

and the one in Iraq. We need to pull out now.

[RedCloud]

22. Another no. War. Good God you'all. What is it good for?

[onehandle]

23. Bomb! Bomb! Bomb!*...

...Saudi Arabia.

Stop kissing their ass, U.S. Government**.






* not really.

** yes really.

[Myrina]

24. Out of Afghanistan, Out of Iraq, and enough of the trash-talking

... with Iran.

We need to settle the fuck down as a country and deal with what's left of our domestic infrastructure.

[EFerrari]

25. Me. n/t

[thunder rising]

26. Get 'em outta there!

[JUPITERXX]

27. Money rules the material world

Theres big money in keeping the American war machine going forever. Its all about keeping the bullet/rocket/bomb/tank/submarine/aircraft carrier/nuclear warhead/etc. farms going full tilt 24/7. The world has been at war for thousands of years its in our DNA by now.Heya man the devils on the loose yeah better run through the jungle whoa and dont look back at me,better run through the jungle CCR. Watch MAD MAX yeah The Wasteland thats our future,when will it happen is the only question. Snake Pliskin remember him ?

[slipslidingaway]

29. I do - knr nt

[Warpy]

30. Afghanistan is where empires go to die.

I sincerely hope Obama has picked up on that bit of history.

[subcomhd]

37. And some have gone there and thived - that whole line of "grave yard of empires"

ignores real history. And besides, unlike Iraq, Af War is NOT imperialistic and unlike Iraqis, the locals want us there.

[ieoeja]

110. Oh yeah? Like who?

Sure, the Greeks ruled it for centuries. But they were finally kicked out by the Afg..., er, Persians. Oh. Right.

Well those Persians didn't last more than, what, 800 years! You call that a success? And eventually the Afg..., er, Arabs kicked them out.

Fine, but the Arabs didn't do shit. They only lasted 600-700 years before the Afg..., damn, it was the Mongols this time.

Mongols really didn't last all that long. Only a couple centuries. You gotta admit that by Afghan standards ruling over them for only a couple centuries is relatively weak. Ditto the Indians and Brits.

Afghanistan has been under indigenous control about 100 years over the past 2300 years. If you can't see where that proves the invincibility of Afghanistan, then I wish you were around when I was selling swampland in Florida fifty years ago. Actually, I was able to unload it onto some sucker from Hollywood anyway. Walt somebody. Sucker!

[ShortnFiery]

32. Here! Escallating this OCCUPATION is pure insanity. eom

[tavalon]

33. I was against it from the start

And I haven't changed my mind since.

And I rec'd this puppy, too.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

84. Ditto!

[onethatcares]

36. I support that war as much as I supported the invasion of Iraq

not at all.

As General Smedley Butler said, "War is a racket".

Bring the troops home now and let's start working on our own countrys' problems.

[Solly Mack]

38. .

K&R

[UpInArms]

39. me

we should never have been there in the first place.

How many afghanis were on those planes?

zero

this was strictly about a gas pipeline for Enron's Dahbol plant (which fell apart anyway)

[Individualist]

40. Out now!

[PuraVidaDreamin]

41. Troops Home NOW!

And I love Cindy Sheehan too

[bvar22]

42. Wrong when Bush did it.

Wrong when Obama escalates it.

Invading and Occupying a country to capture a handful of Saudi Arabian criminals was definitely a HUGE over reaction. Most (if not all) of the Afghanis who have been slaughtered had absolutely NOTHING to do with 9-11. The proper course would have been an International Police Action. If we REALLY wanted to decapitate Al-Qaeda, we would have gone after the Saudi Arabian funding. Bin Laden and his handful of criminals would then have starved in the desert.

No Military Objective + No Exit Strategy = bloody, useless, Quagmire

This is NOT a Pottery Barn model.
It IS a Bull in a China Shop model.
Before rebuilding the China Shop, one must first remove The Bull (US Military).

Out NOW.

K&R

[tekisui]

43. US out fo Afghanistan, NOW!!~

The escalation will add decades to this conflict.

[Shandris]

44. I am not in favor of escalation either.

Its time to get our servicemen and women out of Afghanistan. Not only is it where Empires go to die, and the only tract of land that has never truly been conquered, but we have no pressing reason to be there militarily. A proxy war between Pakistan and India? Proxy wars aren't exactly in our interest, and are typically Pyrrhic to begin with.

Since before the Afghanistan 'war' I have supported limited Special Forces operations against those responsible for 9/11, if that were ever even the real intent of the 'war'. Personally, I think it was more about money as these things tend to be with the lightest veneer of 'justification' to pull the electorate along. Much like Kuwaiti Princesses, invisible PT boats in the Gulf of Tonkin, and the shocked outrage of a liner being torpedoed despite a warning being run in the country's largest newspaper.

[yurbud]

45. you just now noticed the work of PR trolls here?

[gleaner]

47. I oppose war ....

I can't see that anything the U.S. is doing in Afghanistan is changing things for the better. I don't see the purpose for it and I never did. I'm a Quaker and that may be my particular bias, but I don't think war solves problems. I think it creates them. Look at the terrible damage that has been done in wars of attrition. It seems like all we are doing in Afghanistan is creating larger graveyards for both sides and generating more hatred toward us in the Mid East.

Oh, and I reced your post. Anti war is just as important if not more important than many other issues we discuss here on a daily basis. You're one of my first Recs. I didn't want to start doing that until I had been here for long enough to understand what is going on, but this was very important to me and I think others should be able to see it and comment, whatever side they are on.

[Skittles]

48. it's just the cheerleaders, Stinky, doing the unrec

fuck them all

[Paper Roses]

49. Time for us to put America first. Troops home now, no more wars.

[chimpymustgo]

50. K&R.

[bigtree]

51. I saw a DU poll here that was about evenly split

I think it's a matter of education. There's still an assumption that everything Afghanistan has to do will prosecuting turrists.

[RoccoR5955]

53. Oh to the contrary, MANY of us still oppose ANY war!

Myself included, and I will be until my last days.

[subcomhd]

54. I supported Bush's decision to invade Af., decried (protested) his invasion of Iraq

and support Obama's decision to finish the job Bush gave up on to go chase non-existant WMD.

[Sebastian Doyle]

55. I didn't buy this bullshit when Chimpy sold it

And I'm not buying it now. End this occupation, and all the others. Bring our troops home NOW, and never deploy them again for any reason except the ACTUAL defense of the United States of America.

Not corporate interests. Not paranoid assholes in a third party country. ONLY the defense of the American people.

[glitch]

89. Amazing that anyone would buy anything bushcorp sold.

The war on Afghanistan isn't the only thing they're still buying from bushcorp, to the tune of trillions.

[Thickasabrick]

56. We can never win there - time to go. nt

[L0oniX]

58. The Afghanistan war is for the MIC and those who hold stocks in the MIC.

[bertman]

59. OUT NOW!! Same button I wore when I came home from Vietnam in '69. I don't want

to see thousands of Americans dying for this already lost cause.

Vietnamistan for President Obama.

Recommend.

[Octafish]

60. War Party has run the show since November 22, 1963.

It's been, with a few notable exceptions, constant war since.

It's what happened to the peace dividend we were to enjoy upon the end of the Cold War.

It's why our way of life is rapidly going to hell.


It's why the Bushes and their cronies are doing so well.

[busybl]

61. I don't even know what we're doing there.

I'm tired of war.

[Jack Sprat]

62. me.....I'm not.

[flyarm]

63. I OPPOSE BOTH WARS! seems the war mongering now has taken it's rightful place among dems ...

but not this dem..never ever will i support escalation or being there in any terms!

Bring our troops home now!!!!!!!!!!!!

[flyarm]

64. oh and K&R ..!

[blues90]

65. Not that it matters but I want out

Lets just cut our loss and get out , people are dying for a damn lie and we know it.

Blow the equipment in place and get the hell out before one more human dies for a damn lie . My God ho how can we not see this ?

[bvar22]

68. But the TERRASTS are coming !!!

You got to fight them over there, or they will come here.
BOOGA!...BOOGA!...BOOGA!
BULLSHIT !

I was watching a show tonight broadcast from the streets of Ho Chi Minh City (fromerly Saigon), South VietNam.
ALL during the 60's and early 70s we had to listen to the SAME bullshit from the warmongers.

WELL we got out asses kicked out of VietNam, and GUESS WHAT?
No "Dominoes" fell, and the "Communists" did NOT follow us to California!
(well, maybe a few...up in SanFran).

SO MUCH LIES and BULLSHIT!
All that BLOOD and Treasure for....NOTHING but making the World a LESS safe place.

Chump Change

[KansDem]

101. I still believe that when the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, we were without a "boogieman"

...and find it just a tad too convenient when the first WTC attack occurred in 1993. I remember folks celebrating the "fall of communism" and looking forward to a "peace dividend." After all, we wouldn't need to maintain defense spending, would we?

But, there were those that said there would not be a "peace dividend." Enter the "terrorist" and we had a new boogieman...

[nadinbrzezinski]

66. DLC, the usual crowd

and we could have made a difference IF a lot of things were done way back in 2002... there was a window... since long closed... thank you Junior... but I guess taking OBL at Tora Bora would really put a crimp on Iraq huh?

[flyarm]

69. You said it!! and You and I were screaming about it then!! And every day since!!

These wars are murder in my book..Murder to our soldiers and murder to each and every civilian that has died in both wars of lies!

Hi Nadin!! ..we go a long way back in trying to stop both wars!! And i will never stop speaking out about the immorality and the illegality of these corporate wars for money , oil,and geo political colonization.

[mzmolly]

70. I'm willing to hear what the Presiden thas to say, but currently I oppose the

idea. IF more troops ARE sent, they need to be international troops, not just US.

[tomp]

71. the war in afghanistan was at least premature...

...as it preceded a full investigation of 9/11, which has still not occurred. it's as simple as that.

[cherokeeprogressive]

73. Me.

[Rude Dog]

74. History shows us...

...that Afghanistan is unwinnable.

We need to get the fuck out of there, now.

[file83]

75. Personally, I think Obama is foolish for NOT pulling troops OUT of Afghanistan

...and the fact that he's escalating Afghanistan has made me lose all hope for this nation.

This war isn't an "issue". It's a no brainer: STOP THIS STUPID BULLSHIT "WAR".

There is no mission. There is no goal. There is no fucking point.

If Obama can't see that, then either he's bought and paid for or an idiot (most likely both).

[Agony]

78. all military, military advisors/trainers, mercenaries, contractors OUT now!

I _am_ opposed to war. AND we need to close the 800 military bases we have on other peoples soil.

Unfort it seems that Americans are not anti-war, they are anti-losing-war. I think Scott Ritter said that...

[wroberts189]

80. I can tell you who is in favor of escalating it....

Pakistan ... they make money and get protected.

Russia... many reasons ..one is to laugh at us ..payback. Why else would they let us fly over their country? "go for it as*ho*es..not so easy is it?..where is your Rambo now?"

China...North Korea ..probably more countries ... they just love our military getting beat up and killed.



People who believe that there is still a small terrorist organization called "Al-Qaeda" ...which despite the fact we created and funded them and almost a decade of war against them...still somehow exists.

[ecstatic]

81. Honestly, I want us to pull troops out of EVERYWHERE

I don't like war or occupations or bases on foreign soil. Is my view realistic? Who knows! If people could just *get along* we wouldn't have to worry about it.

[unhappycamper]

82. I belong to the Get-The-Fuck-Out club.

Both occupations are fucked. We know, they know it, but the M-I-C wants to keep the spigot going.

BTW we are spending around one trillion dollars a year on 'defense' by time you throw in the occupations and black budgets.




Notice those pallets are double stacked.
...and remember those are $100 bills.

So the next time you hear someone toss around the phrase "trillion dollars"... that's what they're talking about.

[D23MIURG23]

85. You can count me in.

[shadowknows69]

86. Got one rec from me Stinky

No more imperial America. These wars have nothing to do with saving our freedoms or spreading it to others. Which should be pretty obvious by now that you can't accomplish the latter with bombs and armies.

[blindpig]

87. Bring them all home now.

k&r

[mopinko]

88. suppose we gave a war, and instead of killing the men, we protected the

women and children? fed them, helped to house them, built schools, ran markets, built a civil culture. crazy, i know.

[polmaven]

116. Sort of like...

As troops are pulled out of Iraq, a better place to send them might be Sudan, focused, of course, in Darfur, to do exactly what you have listed.

[eleny]

90. me

[Soylent Brice]

91. not in favor.

[elleng]

93. Points of view on GMA today:

'"We need to stabilize Afghanistan," retired general and ABC News consultant Jack Keane told "GMA" today. "We have a deteriorating situation right now because we have never applied a sufficient amount of resources since the priority became Iraq." Keane, a driving force behind the military surge in Iraq, is backing McChrystal's recommendation for an immediate troop increase, saying the U.S. military risks failure otherwise.

More troops in Afghanistan would mean more training for Afghan troops, which he said should be doubled in size before U.S. troops would be able to begin pulling out.

"We cannot get those soldiers to sufficient numbers until 2012, 2015 at the latest," Keane said. "That's why McChrystal has come forward and says I have to stop the bleeding now. I have to use U.S. forces to help do that.". . .

The fight in Afghanistan is complicated by the fact that insurgents have a safe haven across the Pakistan border. Pakistan is carrying out its own battle with the Taliban, but is unwilling to allow the U.S. to enter Pakistan to chase al Qaeda or Taliban fighters.

Keane said the two battlefields are "inextricably linked together" and "you can not lose in Afghanistan and hope to win in Pakistan."

But Clark, former NATO Supreme Allied commander and the general who oversaw the U.S. war effort in Kosovo, told "GMA" today that there is no reason for Obama to rush.

"I don't think he has to make this decision tomorrow," he said. "Get the American people behind it, get our allies behind it."

"I'm saying we better be sure we're doing whatever it takes. And it's really about al Qaeda, not Afghanistan," Clark said.

Clark said the U.S. government would be wise to remember the lessons learned in Vietnam. More U.S. troops mean more casualties, "and that reduces public support even faster."

And like Vietnam, the enemy has a sanctuary across the border safe from U.S. troops, and Americans cannot expect to the Afghan government to look like American democracy. "Those are three clear lessons from Vietnam," said Clark.'

http://www.abcnews.go.com/GMA/Afghanistan/afghanistan-w...

[Stinky The Clown]

99. I saw that segment

Clark, as usual, was pretty much right on the money. I say "pretty much" because he stopped short of saying we ought to simply get out. But he DID say that much more police action and much less military action is in order. Be also got on our European allies to step up. Specifically Germany.

[elleng]

108. Glad to hear it, Stinky.

[newtothegame]

94. I'm ok with it because 'Obama made history' in November. n/t

[Ken Burch]

126. Er...I think you forgot your "sarcasm" smiley.

n/t.

[Echo In Light]

95. Let the greedhead's War Machine go the way of the dinosaurs...and god speed

[DesertDiamond]

96. NOT!!! We can't solve their problems with war. All the problems Bushco claimed were solved ...

in Afghanistan by our first assault in the early 2000s in fact were never solved.

[pleah]

I am totally against both wars!

Always have been and always will be.
K&R

[Dr.Phool]

98. Dismantle the empire!

Stop all the fucking wars!

And, what's a War Manger?

[pauldp]

100. We have an Iran Contra insider running the Department of Defense.

Helloo!! We are never pulling out of Afghanistan or Iraq unless there is massive civilian revolt. Too much money is being made consuming weapons and human flesh. The American presence in Afghanistan fuels the insurgency and as long as that keeps the war in simmer - that's just fine with the war profiteers.

[Stinky The Clown]

122. That begs the question I have been asking for a while now: "Why?"

How did this Iran Contra guy get there? How has he managed to stay?

[NorthCarolina]

102. I'm all for pulling out of Afghanistan AND Iraq

and you can throw in closing foreign military bases too. America needs to butt out of the affairs of other countries, and to concentrate on attending to it's own issues here at home.

[masuki bance]

103. It's time to end the occupations. nt

[PADemD]

104. Me

[KamaAina]

105. Remember the Soviet Union?

They got bogged down in Afghanistan, too, once upon a time.

"Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it"...

[bc3000]

106. I trust Obama to make the correct decision here

If that decision is to stay in Afghanistan I will accept it.

This war was just from the start. We attacked a nation that was harboring terrorists who had attacked our nation. If we leave now, it will most likely become a terrorist haven again.

[Ken Burch]

124. That sounds like what Jack Valenti said in 1964:

"I sleep better at night knowing Lyndon Johnson is my president".

[dem mba]

107. I would like to see the Taliban dismantled and disarmed

but I'm not sure the best way to do that is to have tons of ground forces there. seems like covert and special ops would have more success, from what i've read on the subject.

that being said, the Taliban is fucking evil. i don't think it's our job to police the world, but we're there. the Taliban did in fact harbor terrorists that attacked us. if we leave, we'd be kicking the can down the road for things to get fucked up more in Pakistan, Europe, or even our own country again. so its either do something shitty now, or something maybe even shittier later. like most tough dilemmas, its choosing between what's bad and what's worse.

[peace frog]

109. Moi

Escalate the Afghan war? Thanks but no thanks. And I sincerely hope Obama agrees.

[kenny blankenship]

111. Attempts to encircle China will fail. Attempts to "corner" oil and gas in Central Asia will fail

Very expensively in both cases. China and Russia and the Gulf Arabs will no longer subsidize their own imperial subjugation. Pushing the Empire no longer defends US dollar hegemony but invites direct and accelerated assault upon it. Killing folk hand over fist in Central Asia and the Middle East will not make them love us, but rather increases the chances that small bands of fanatics over there will want to find ways to hurt us in our "homelands". People who speak of changing the way distant foreign people think and live in their own lands are either mentally retarded or insane, and should be ignored as such by adults still in possession of their wits. Religiously based craziness has persisted for centuries in places like Iraq and Afghanistan; belief that it will all change now for us, the 200 year old United States of America, because we can send a few soldier boys in for a couple of more years is only proof of one's own religiously based craziness. The appropriate follow up to 8 years of Bush-Cheney madness is not 4 years of Obama led madness.

[Royal Sloan 09]

112. Get the F' out, like yesterday

NO MAS to WAR, WE don't need no more WARS!

Bring'em HOME alive, not in a Box.

Save OUR money for Americans that need help NOW!

Never support A WAR without a clear plan, so what's the plan?

Oh what the bloody hell, nobody listens or cares unless their ass is on the line! NO MAS to WAR, simple

[The Green Manalishi]

113. What any sovereign nation does to anyone

other than American citizens is no business of mine.
No American troops overseas, anywhere, for any reason; the only Americans overseas should be diplomats/spies and tourists.
Maybe -*maybe* we should have done something in WW2, but I would have limited it to making a deal to allow the Jews, Gypsys, gays and others to emigrate here.
The only concern I have with other nations it the pollution they may emit. IF we used the UN to negotiate some sort of mechanism that people who wish to get out of an oppressive theocracy (talk about a redundancy) then fine, but I could not care less about the relationship between the citizens and the government of any other nation.

[ChiciB1]

114. NO, NOT, NAY, NADA, NIX, NINE.. On & On... Let's "Cut & Run!" If That's

what it's going to be called, then so be it! I'm SICK to DEATH of all the DEATH and trimmings that come with WAR!!!

We have war brewing here at home, fix this country NOW!!!

[timtom]

115. Having been in Vietnam, I am of the very, very

strong opinion that:

1)We should never have gone there in the first place.

2)We need to get out -- IMMEDIATELY!!

I am deeply ashamed for America over Afghanistan and Iraq.

Bin Laden. Feh!

[BlueJac]

117. Get out NOW

[dlfuller]

119. OUT NOW

We should never have been there to start with. GET OUT NOW.

[Stables2010]

120. Obama the neocon? whats all this talk of war

[AllyCat]

125. I largely voted for Kucinich...oops I guess that had to be Obama

to end the war. Instead he has escalated it. I still have my "end this war" bumper sticker on my car.

[Altoid_Cyclist]

165. This saddens me to say this.

I'm afraid that your bumper sticker is going to be relevant for quite some time. The characters might change, but the MIC will always find someplace to test their newest gadget.

[AllyCat]

166. Maybe it will need company like:

I'm already against the next war (another fave I see around town)

[joeycola]

127. i am for withdrawing down our troops as much as possible.

[Upfront]

128. Me.

It is not possible to win. Get out now.

[Orsino]

129. Bring 'em home. n/t

[obxhead]

130. I am not only against the Afganistan war....

I'm for the full removal of any troops on foreign soil anywhere in the world. Lets bring our money home, where it is badly needed.

[Viking12]

131. Get the fuck out!

now!

[mule_train]

132. One of the best Reagan era policies was letting the Soviet Union cut their own throat in Afganistan

some real lessons there

and now we're doing the same thing the USSR did

we didnt need to be there in the first place