it would've been a major headline.

My Way News - Obama OKs about 17,000 more troops for Afghanistan

Yes, I saw that on the news this morning. Um, what happened to pulling out of there???

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Doing the right thing isn't always the same as doing the easy thing.

Afghanistan is a different country than Iraq (I know you know that AIA, I'm building up to something....)

And we've never been at war w/ Afghanistan per se; thus, I think that's how the current administration is justifying this deployment of troops.

That said, I agree w/ both of you. And am terrified that this will cause one of my best friends to be sent over there for a 4th time!! I know he knew what he was signing up for 20+ years ago (and 2.5 years ago when he accepted a commission) but dammit, it doesn't make it any easier....
*sigh*

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Mental that one, I'm telling you. ---Ron Weasley, "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets"

Yes, I do realize it's not Iraq, and there has been a different sentiment about Afghanistan since that is where the Taliban training camps, and where OBL was able to have a base of operations.

Still, OBL isn't there anymore (based on anything we know), and it's just interesting to me that if Bush were building up troops there today, I think he would face a lot of criticism from those who think we have no business over there in the first place, especially given that we toppled the Taliban a long time ago.

I honestly don't know what sort of pledges about troop withdrawal from Afghanistan Obama made, but it does seem like everyone's a critic until the buck stops with them... and then they do what they have to do.

This scares me to death since Dh just got home. From what I saw of this on the news, I understood that the 17,000 troops were to be just the beginning.......



Just found this story, 30,000 troops were requested, 17,000 are being sent at this time.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/02/...tml#cnnSTCText

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Nicole

This should come as no surprise. On the campaign trail Obama repeatedly said he would send more troops to Afghanistan.
PolitiFact | Ground conditions have changed, too

Yet another promise kept in President Obama’s short time in office!
PolitiFact | No. 134: Send two additional brigades to Afghanistan

Thanks for that!

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"When you're drowning, you don't say 'I would be incredibly pleased if someone would have the foresight to notice me drowning and come and help me,' you just scream."

John Lennon

If Obama wants to really win me over, his administration needs to find a better way to rotate the troops in and out. It seems (from what I have seen firsthand) that many of the same troops are being sent time and time again. This bothers me, because DH and I both know several who have not been to Iraq or Afghanistan. These are troops with no medical or other issues, not ones with legitimate issues. The Armed Forces is getting wore out, we are losing many of our better and more experienced people because they just can't take anymore.........

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Nicole

Iraq was a side bet to get our economy into the Middle East via a weak, yet potentially rich country. Iraq was NEVER a part of anything to do with terrorism/911 other than the fact our invading it probably made it worse. If you had paid any attention at all during Obama's campaign, this would be no surprise to you.

YES, thank you for clearing up my memory. Note to self: don't post before having coffee Yes, Obama did say he would send troops to Afghanistan. This was not played up in his campaigning, all we really heard about was how he would withdrawal from Iraq (and then send them to Afghanistan, apparently). It's all coming back to me.

NOPE, no surprise here now that I think about it.

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Doing the right thing isn't always the same as doing the easy thing.

If you'll notice my OP, though... I didn't mention anything about Obama's campaign promises (and in a subsequent one, said I didn't know what they had been - I ignored him a lot!)... and I didn't mention Iraq.

My point was that Bush was criticized for military build-ups and would've been today were he the one sending 17K more troops into there. During his presidency in the latter years of our presence in Afghanistan, the uber-left became critical of our presence there, and I have to think the would have been critical of him for doing something for which Obama is getting praise.

If Bush had not gone into Iraq, I don't believe most would have questioned the use of more troops in Afghanistan. Most of the country supported chasing down OBL.

The "fact:" that we have toppled the Taliban is news to me and I suspect others as well. I think someone forgot to mention that to them.

What??? Either you have selective hearing or you have selective memory. Sending troops to Afghanistan was repeated over and over again.

They have experienced a resurgence in recent months, but for a time there they seemed to have been defeated. It was during that time that the left was saying we needed to pull out. Unfortunately, even with a continued presence there, they were able to stage a comeback.

You beat me to it.

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Oh, it would have been headline news for Bush -- the novelty of him doing something smart would have assured that.

Thank goodness for a president who knows where the war is and needs to be and isn't distracted by the shiny allure of a neighboring country.

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Reading is Fundamental.

Amen to that!

I didn't listen to every speech Obama gave, do forgive me I don't think I'm alone here in that I don't think the surge into Afghanistan was not played up. Here's a section of President Obama's speech. Nothing screams "PEACE" like 17,000 troops showing up in your back yard.

"We are the keepers of this legacy. Guided by these principles once more, we can meet those new threats that demand even greater effort — even greater cooperation and understanding between nations. We will begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people, and forge a hard-earned peace in Afghanistan. With old friends and former foes, we will work tirelessly to lessen the nuclear threat, and roll back the specter of a warming planet. We will not apologize for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defense, and for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken; you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you."


Here is a good article from USA Today.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2...n-forces_N.htm

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Doing the right thing isn't always the same as doing the easy thing.

::::::::::::yawn::::::::::::::

Same whining, different day.

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I'm the kind of woman when my feet hit the floor in each morning, the devil says "Oh crap, she's up."

You didn’t have to listen to every speech. You could have checked out his website, watched a Presidential debate or even read the MC political board. I think any informed voter would have known.

The first debate:
“The question is, was this wise? We have seen Afghanistan worsen, deteriorate. We need more troops there. We need more resources there. Senator McCain, in the rush to go into Iraq, said, you know what? We've been successful in Afghanistan. There is nobody who can pose a threat to us there.

This is a time when bin Laden was still out, and now they've reconstituted themselves. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates himself acknowledges the war on terrorism started in Afghanistan and it needs to end there.” -Obama

and

“And the point that I originally made is that we took our eye off Afghanistan, we took our eye off the folks who perpetrated 9/11, they are still sending out videotapes and Senator McCain, nobody is talking about defeat in Iraq, but I have to say we are having enormous problems in Afghanistan because of that decision.

And it is not true you have consistently been concerned about what happened in Afghanistan. At one point, while you were focused on Iraq, you said well, we can "muddle through" Afghanistan. You don't muddle through the central front on terror and you don't muddle through going after bin Laden. You don't muddle through stamping out the Taliban.

I think that is something we have to take seriously. And when I'm president, I will.” -Obama

The second debate:
“I'll be very brief. We are going to have to make the Iraqi government start taking more responsibility, withdraw our troops in a responsible way over time, because we're going to have to put some additional troops in Afghanistan.

General McKiernan, the commander in Afghanistan right now, is desperate for more help, because our bases and outposts are now targets for more aggressive Afghan -- Taliban offenses. We're also going to have to work with the Karzai government, and when I met with President Karzai, I was very clear that, "You are going to have to do better by your people in order for us to gain the popular support that's necessary." -Obama

The Vice-Presidential debate:
“…. The fact of the matter is that again, I'll just put in perspective, while Barack and I and Chuck Hagel and Dick Lugar have been calling for more money to help in Afghanistan, more troops in Afghanistan, John McCain was saying two years ago quote, "The reason we don't read about Afghanistan anymore in the paper, it's succeeded.

Barack Obama was saying we need more troops there. Again, we spend in three weeks on combat missions in Iraq, more than we spent in the entire time we have been in Afghanistan. That will change in a Barack Obama administration. “ -Joe Biden

I think people hear what they want to hear.


I remember him having MORE emphasis about how troops were going to come OUT of Iraq and more on a btw sort of statment, Afganistan is where they need to be.

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"A true friend is someone who thinks that you are a good egg even though he knows that you are slightly cracked." ~ Bernard Meltzer

Yes, as you said -- people hear what they want to hear.

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Reading is Fundamental.

It seems that very few are getting your point and just want to argue.

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Square dancing is friendship set to music!

I think that very few are getting the point of the people who are saying the OP is being untruthful. Obama repeatedly said that we would be returning to Afghanistan, a country Bush all but ignored once he got himself excited over Iraq and, further, that even the most rabid anti-war people here have always said that we belonged in the war in Afghanistan, that it was right and just and needed to be completed. It is a flat-out lie to say that the uber-left was critical of our presence in Afghanistan.

But, then, maybe OP just wants to argue.

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Reading is Fundamental.

Edit: at the email request of several mycoupons members.

Memory is the darndest thing.

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Reading is Fundamental.

Edit: at the request of fellow mycoupons members.

From before his first campaign, I never liked or trusted Bush and thus, anything he did was suspect. He did nothing in over 8 years to change my opinion. I felt then, and I'm being proved right now, that going into any of those countries was going to end up like Viet Nam. I think we actually could have won in Viet Nam, but we executed the war in such a manner that it was not winnable. I do not really believe we can win a war in either of the two current countries. At least, not without massive casualties, which everyone is reluctant to do, or massive spending on their economy, which everyone is reluctant to do. At this point, we as a nation, are not willing to do what needs to be done. Afghanistan, IMO, is going to be next to impossible to change, but we can and probably should continue to try and do something about the Taliban and Bin Laden.

When possible we should remember, "One war at a time!" Sort of like the Octomom and diaper changing. Don't try to do them all at once. One change at a time or you end up with crap all over the place.

You can search the political board with the MC advance search feature. Just enter your keyword(s) and highlight “My ShoppingBoards Community”

Yes, good thread. The one where you blamed Obama for the deal Bush made.

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Reading is Fundamental.

Where is all the “back and forth with several Democrats” regarding Afghanistan that you set straight?

I just got back online a few minutes ago. I will try to use the search function (here on mycoupons) that you mentioned earlier to find the post I am thinking about. Thank-you for pointing out that function.
I will be offline most of this evening because I will be watching my step-grandchildren. Hopefully, I will be able to search some time tonight.

I have received several emails that requested that I refrain from posting "political" discussions on "the cafe" board. I will go back and edit my post because of these requests. I am sorry that I posted an old post from a different board. I understand that some do not want to rehash the "politics".

What an amazing coincidence.

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Reading is Fundamental.