So the newly won nobel peace prize president barack obama is more or less doubling the size of US forces in afghanistan.

Originally posted by KSPigpen
McChrystal has come out today and said that 80 thousand more troops might not help.

The 'war' in Afghanistan is doomed to failure. I wish our troops the best, but wish they were never sent.

That's not what he said....



I don't know how you function sometimes. An optimist would see the glass as half full. A pessimist would see it as half empty while an engineer would say the glass is twice the size necessary...

You on the other hand would say it's a lost cause.

A still-secret document by Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal that requests more troops is expected to be among the topics discussed Wednesday when President Barack Obama meets with his national security team to hash out a strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Even with additional troops, McChrystal concluded that corruption still could let terrorists turn Afghanistan back into a haven, according to officials at the Pentagon and White House.

His request outlines three options for additional troops — from as many as 80,000 to as few as 10,000 — but favors a compromise of 40,000 more forces, the officials said. They described it to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss it publicly.

Rampant government corruption may derail the fight against the Taliban and al Qaeda in Afghanistan even if as many as 80,000 additional U.S. troops are sent to the war, the top military commander there has concluded, according to U.S. officials briefed on his recommendations.

Originally posted by KSPigpen
reply to post by Freeborn

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I don't really like that alternative either, but the truth of it, is it's not really any of our business. Are there Afghanis coming to the United States to 'save' US from the oppressive regime? If the Afghan people are satisfied to live under oppression, that is their business. They got along fine for a couple dozen years before America showed up.

Originally posted by SLAYER69

Originally posted by KSPigpen
reply to post by Freeborn

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I don't really like that alternative either, but the truth of it, is it's not really any of our business. Are there Afghanis coming to the United States to 'save' US from the oppressive regime? If the Afghan people are satisfied to live under oppression, that is their business. They got along fine for a couple dozen years before America showed up.

Wrong again....

After the Soviets left we helped create a mess by not sticking around and helping the country rebuild it's self for that we are guilty. It created a medium in which the Taliban flourished. Afghanistan was in the middle of a civil war between the Northern alliance and the Taliban also the Pashtun had issues with both.

Who with the aid of American Air power and Spec forces pushed the Taliban out? The Northern alliance! {Afghans}

Hows the functioning going?


[edit on 14-10-2009 by SLAYER69]

The Chinese workers – several hundred technicians – are part of a multibillion-dollar Chinese investment in Afghanistan’s largest-ever infrastructure project, the Aynak copper mine. Discovered in 1974 but virtually dormant since the start of the Soviet War in 1979, the Aynak mine is believed to contain the world’s second-largest untapped copper deposits and could propel Afghanistan into the ranks of the world’s top 15 copper producers.

After wooing Afghan officials from as early as 2001, a Chinese mainland joint venture finally won the rights in 2007 to develop the site over 30 years. So far, it has sunk more than $4 billion into the project. The joint venture – between majority partner China Metallurgical Group Corp. and Jiangxi Copper Corp. – expects production to begin by the end of 2011 with an initial annual output of 180,000 tons of copper that will eventually grow to 320,000 tons. China will have rights to half that output, which it needs to fuel its own massive economic growth.

China – of course, not being a member of NATO – has no troops on the ground in Afghanistan.

In making the case for converging U.S. and Chinese interests in Afghanistan, Robert Kaplan wrote last week in a New York Times opinion piece that, "The problem is that while America is sacrificing its blood and treasure, the Chinese will reap the benefits. The whole direction of America’s military and diplomatic effort is toward an exit strategy, whereas the Chinese hope to stay and profit."

Originally posted by David9176
reply to post by StinkyFeet

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You forgot number 5....

5. THE NATION GOES BROKE and can no longer finance the war. Happened to the USSR.....in Afghanistan as well....