No Afghanistan pullout, White House says

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama won't walk away from the flagging war in Afghanistan, the White House declared Monday as Obama faced tough decisions — and intense administration debate — over choices that could help define his presidency in his first year as commander in chief. The fierce Taliban attack that killed eight American soldiers over the weekend added to the pressure. The assault overwhelmed a remote U.S. outpost where American forces have been stretched thin in battling insurgents, underscoring an appeal from Obama's top Afghanistan commander for as many as 40,000 additional forces — and at the same time reminding the nation of the costs of war. Obama's defense secretary, Robert Gates, appealed Monday for calm — and for time and privacy for the president to come to a decision.

news.yahoo.com...

Well it looks like it's official. I was hoping he'd do something right and start pulling our troops home. That's not happening anytime soon.

I think you were well aware that wasn't going to happen. Wishful thinking on your behalf but nothing wrong with wishful thinking.

I am really eager to see what kind of objectives or goals he sets for the military and whether he will side with the commander on the ground.

I am surprised that the article ask that we give him time and privacy. IMO, he has had time since the end of the elections to figure out what to do with Afghanistan. I know people will say that he did have a plan and it was implemented by adding more troops. But it takes more than troops to make a successful plan.

So far the action I have seen in Afghanistan is similar to how it was handled under Bush.

Wait a minute. I swear I heard Obama say he will bring the troops home. Was that another lie?

Originally posted by Chovy
Wait a minute. I swear I heard Obama say he will bring the troops home. Was that another lie?

Actually I believe he said he was going to reduce the troop concentration from one country to another...and that "other" country is Afghanistan.

Before he was elected, I saw a car with many bumper stickers. One said Anti-War, and the other said something about supporting Obama.

Guess he didn't know Obama didn't have it in his play book to withdraw the troops?

This surprises anyone? The pipeline isn't done yet

So, "sticking it out" in the war in Afghanistan is the "Obama cure for premature emasculation"©.



[edit on 10/5/2009 by abecedarian]

Well if they won't pull out they should ask other countrys to help meet 500000 troops needed.

Are troops need to be home protecting the HOMELAND not other countrys and next OBAMA is going to want to start the real WWIII
when they attack IRAN in the next few years maybe even months .

The war on terrorism is not working thier making it worse and worse for this country and other countrys too I wonder whos after IRAN if we even have enough troops to send to NORTH KOREA then what happens when Japan wants to protect NK or Russia protecting IRAN whats after that oh I forgot we protect Isreal and our troops get nuked to .

If we have nuclear weapons why can't they have even 1 to protect thier selves, I think our country is just being a bully as always why don't we see Russia worried about Iran or Japan over NK why don't they handle that country why us we need to backdown before we start WWIII with ARMEGEDON with lots of nukes

reply to post by David9176


When former CIA director Robert Gates remained on as Secretary of Defense/War

(the first time in US history BTW) it became apparent to me that things as

far as the wars were concerned weren't going to change anytime soon,

regardless of what Obama says/does.

The CIA runs the show and JFK's assassination demonstrated what happens

to POTUS who don't adhere to the CIA's agenda.

Obama never said he would withdraw the troops from Afghanistan (Iraq, yes) to concentrate on Afghanistan... He said this all along, well before the Presidency. This isn't new news...

From Aug. 2007-

When I am President, we will wage the war that has to be won, with a comprehensive strategy with five elements: getting out of Iraq and on to the right battlefield in Afghanistan and Pakistan; developing the capabilities and partnerships we need to take out the terrorists and the world's most deadly weapons; engaging the world to dry up support for terror and extremism; restoring our values; and securing a more resilient homeland. The first step must be getting off the wrong battlefield in Iraq, and taking the fight to the terrorists in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Obama site

reply to post by LadySkadi


Never?

“Make no mistake: we do not want to keep our troops in Afghanistan,” the US president said. “We seek no military bases there.”

link

reply to post by stevegmu




I "meant" he didn't promise a time line of withdrawal as he did for Iraq. In fact, he had promised to escalate Afghanistan and Pakistan pressures...

I think he's going to go backwards on this promise like he went backwards with his promise on pulling out of Iraq. He said we would be out of Iraq like by now. Now he just decided to play it safe and follow his general's orders and the CFR's guidance and he's following Bush's SOFA. So now he's going to follow what neocons have been saying all along. Obama is really a neocon. Foreign policy wise that is.

reply to post by LadySkadi


I thought he and the left were all about time-lines for troop withdrawals? They sure were under President Bush. Maybe I'm wrong, but I recall them demanding time and time again for time-lines.

reply to post by stevegmu


For Iraq - yes - that's true. Obama originally campaigned on a 16-month withdrawal time table (to be fair, the time frame was pretty similar to the plan Bush already had in place)... the "plan" was to begin withdrawing troops in Jan. '09.

"I've always said that the pace of withdrawal would be dictated by the safety and security of our troops and the need to maintain stability. That assessment has not changed," he said. "And when I go to Iraq and have a chance to talk to some of the commanders on the ground, I'm sure I'll have more information and will continue to refine my policies." [snip]

"My 16-month timeline, if you examine everything that I've said, was always premised on making sure that our troops were safe," he said. "I said that based on the information that we had received from our commanders that one to two brigades a month could be pulled out safely, from a logistical perspective. My guiding approach continues to be that we've got to make sure that our troops are safe and that Iraq is stable." He added, "I'm going to continue to gather information to find out whether those conditions still hold."

Real Clear Politics (I know, it's a blog, but I'm rushing here...)

As for Afghanistan, I believe Both Gates and Obama have stated that there will be no time line for withdrawal and have both resisted pressure to speculate.

From today:

President Obama won’t commit to sending more troops to Afghanistan, but neither will he withdraw any, he told congressional leaders in a White House meeting today...

Source

Ahh, well, here is one from Gates talking about liberal calls for withdrawal, so, who know's???

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates is pushing back against liberal calls for withdrawal timetables from Afghanistan, saying it is a mistake to set a deadline to end US military action and a defeat would be disastrous for the United States.

Source

[edit on 6-10-2009 by LadySkadi]

The bottom line of this all is, as long as the feds and companys are making money on this...thier not gunna pul out, especially since this financial mess started. i swear, i amn willing to bet, msot of those associated with this on congress, are skimming the money..

Obama is facing his first real test as Commander in Chief . He has only one smart option and that is to follow the advice of his military commander and boast troop numbers in Afghanistan , before too many of the US allies drawn down there troop numbers . To follow Biden advice would be fool hardy and heading back down the road of Rumsfeld disastrous meddling in Iraq .

Cheers xpert11 .

It's almost as if the people in charge are actually trying to destroy America. Afganistan is where great empires go to die.

He needs either to pull out completely OR dig in and do it right. At this time he is doing neither. He's now staying, but he's not listening to what the commanding general says needs to be done.

Shades of Vietnam. :shk:

Originally posted by Jacob08
It's almost as if the people in charge are actually trying to destroy America.

Almost as if? I say ... definately they are.



[edit on 10/7/2009 by FlyersFan]

I would love to pull completely out of Afghanistan, but I have never had much of a hope that it would happen. I'm torn because I'd love to extract ourselves from this messy situation, but when I think of the people, women and kids there who would be under the tyrannical rule of the Taliban, I can understand the US wanting to stay. But if we're going to stay, I think we should do the job and get out!

Originally posted by Frankidealist35
He said we would be out of Iraq like by now.

No. He didn't. LadySkadi has it right.

I am completely disappointed about Iraq, though, because we're not going to be out of there after 16 months, either. I think the current plan is all out by the end of 2011. I'll be happy if he ends the war, though. Even if it does take longer than he said it would.

As far as Afghanistan, I agree with xpert11. He should either go all in or all out. If not, we're going to be there forever. We need to not repeat the mistakes people have made in the past.

How many more troops are going to die before Obama decides to either pull out or send reinforcements? It is ridiculous. Of course the media gives him a pass. How long ago was it now that the Afghan commander asked for more troops? Like 7 weeks?