U.S. to put "exit strategy" in Afghanistan policy

U.S. to put "exit strategy" in Afghanistan policy

au.news.yahoo.com

KABUL (Reuters) - The new U.S. policy for Afghanistan to be unveiled soon will contain an exit strategy and include greater emphasis on economic development, President Barack Obama said.

(visit the link for the full news article)

at least talibama is making an effort to bring some light to the tunnel. though commiting another 17,000 troops isn't really proving this.
perhaps its just disinformation presented by the media so as to hide his true intentions from the public.
pakistan appears to be next on the hit list with india pressuring the unstable nation to relinguish ties with the taliban.

au.news.yahoo.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

Yeah sure. Like Bush ``we're going to be back home by christmas 2003``. Or Obama ``I'll vote against FISA immunity``... LIAR.

I predict the US will be in Afghanistan for at least another 7 years.

I predict our bankruptcy will prevent us from continuing any conflict or military presence anywhere in the world by the beginning of next year..Our most dangerous enemy is the one we refuse to recognize.

These lines inspire me with little confidence in the belief of a speedy resolution:

With violence rising ahead of elections in August, Obama has already committed an extra 17,000 troops to Afghanistan

Analysts say Washington is going to have to engage in dialogue with Taliban elements,

"This is not going to work out smoothly," said C. Raja Mohan, Professor of South Asia Studies at Singapore's Nanyang Technology University.

"Each step there are going to be complications."

India has been wary of any political accommodation with the Taliban , which were close allies of Pakistan before they were toppled by the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001.

Pakistan in turn has resented growing Indian influence in Afghanistan which it sees as an attempt by its much larger neighbor to put pressure on it from both east and west.

U.S. air strikes on militants on the Pakistan side of the border have raised tensions with Islamabad , and the deaths of hundreds of Afghan civilians caught up in the conflict have turned ordinary people against foreign forces and the government of President Hamid Karzai .

More than 2,100 civilians were killed in Afghanistan last year, 40 percent more than in 2007, the United Nations said. Around a quarter were killed by international forces, it said.

The "Forgotten War" has so many elements to it's successful completion, it's just unfathomable for Obama to reasonably expect it'll be over within a few years.

It's going to take a 5-pronged approach to close this sad chapter once and for all:

1. Most importantly, clearing out the Pakistani Autonomous Provinces of the Taliban safe heavens and not letting Sharia Law, and Fundamentalist groups take power there and use it as a staging ground for attacks in Afghanistan & Pakistan.

2. Getting rid of Karzai and his hopelessly corrupt and useless government, which is in essence a front for Afghani drug-smugglers, Northern Alliance warlords and exercises no influence outside of Kabul.

2. Keeping India well and truly out of the situation, and not pointing the finger at Pakistan for every firecracker that goes off and further stirring up the powderkeg. Pakistan's unstable political climate is the perfect time for it's arch-rival to undermine and threaten Pakistan to even out old rivalries and that's something that America can't afford.

4. Making sure that the Pakistani government is capable of quashing Radical Political Parties who if they ever got into power, through various legal and not-so-legal means, would mean the end to a Western-friendly Pakistan and the mushrooming of the Middle East's problems into the Indian subcontinent.

5. Actually inspiring confidence in the population of Afghanistan in the prospect of a new, American-backed government that will solve their problems and provide them security most importantly.
Right now there is little incentive keeping many Afghans from turning to the Taliban, especially in the Southern areas.
American occupation has meant Afghanistan has fallen from it's place of #178 on the GDP index of the world, to even further lower on the scale.

[edit on 23/3/09 by The Godfather of Conspira]

hear hear mr godfather. but that approach would cost a lot of money.