The way the Dems are working this angle its as if they wanna be there in Iraq for many years to come, which doesn't sound like the smartest thing to do if we're not actually needed there. I thnk they think it resonates well with the American public if they say they're fighting terrorists by putting more troops in Afghanistan but Afghanistan's major threat now is opium not terrrorism.

I think the biggest problem is Al-Qaeda which is still in Afghanistan and Pakistan and is now in Iraq thanks to the lawlessness that the situation we created has brought. I think some Dems want to be stuck in Iraq at least until the 2008 elections because they think it helps them politically. That's why they are not going to cut off the funding. They are thinking about getting elected and the best way to handle Iraq with regards to that. Shame on them. I was against the war in the first place personally and I want out but I think it's a damn shame what might happen to Iraq if we leave but I do not really see it looking like that isn't going to happen anyway whenever we leave. The people in that area are not know to let their rivalries go away very fast. It's just a matter of the crisis happening now or later and how much we are willing to sacrifice to put off the inevitable.

__________________
"Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

No it's not.

Varus

It has been clearly demonstrated to be untrue. No matter how long you hold your hands over your ears and cry, it's still going to be untrue.

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So many cowards.

You know who you are.

Apparently Obama realizes that as far as allies go, Musharraf sucks.

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"Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God."
Matthew 5:9

Don't forget Reagan and Bush Sr.

__________________
"Shake off all the fears of servile prejudices, under which weak minds are servilely crouched. Fix reason firmly in her seat, and call on her tribunal for every fact, every opinion. Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason than that of blindfolded fear."

"An honest man can feel no pleasure in the exercise of power over his fellow citizens."

-Thomas Jefferson

He does. The only problem is if he goes it could be much worse. We do not have any great option in that country especially since they have nukes. Nobody seems to be following or caring about he non-proliferation treat these days. Anyway, he is cracking down on Islamic militants slightly but with all that has been building up their it's a wonder why he is doing so little so late. I think Pakistan is going to be where the action is for some time.

__________________
"Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

What kidnapped americans are you talking about during the Carter administration?

Or do you mean hostages?

I give you Operation Eagle Claw.

__________________
"Shake off all the fears of servile prejudices, under which weak minds are servilely crouched. Fix reason firmly in her seat, and call on her tribunal for every fact, every opinion. Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason than that of blindfolded fear."

"An honest man can feel no pleasure in the exercise of power over his fellow citizens."

-Thomas Jefferson

What's preposterous is to think we can approach this on the cheap, that's the mentality that has given us a protracted conflict in Iraq. Overwhelming force is the only way to go.

I say we need 200,000 troops in Afghanistan, on 15-month rotations.

Afghanistan should become our new base of operations on the war on terrorism.

The painful thing about all of this, is with the right leadership, all of this could be turned around, but we're stuck with a bunch of brain dead monkeys at the helm.

__________________
"Shake off all the fears of servile prejudices, under which weak minds are servilely crouched. Fix reason firmly in her seat, and call on her tribunal for every fact, every opinion. Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason than that of blindfolded fear."

"An honest man can feel no pleasure in the exercise of power over his fellow citizens."

-Thomas Jefferson

Precisely, with elections coming up soon if Islamists take over the country we have a real problem, then everyone will be begging for Musharraf again.

Which is why i don't exactly know what Obama was thinking! Invading a country with known and tested nuclear weapons??

In a post 9-11 world i think more and more developed nations and western world nations will want to develop more weaponary and stronger defences. Pakistan is unique in the sense they have it not to attack the west (of the islamic states) but to defend themselves from India. However that's only the position of this government, should there be a shift in power things may well be different.

He has to balance things out, if he overdoes it then he will surely be voted out of office and if he doesn't do enough he comes under pressure from us, also if he goes after folk in retaliation his capital city seems to be bombarded with car bombs he next day. Its a very tight rope he has to balance on.

The 'leftwing' blogs are lighting up with praise for Obama's speech right now. Do you just make stuff up when you post?

Liberals have generally supported the Afghanistan mission since day one. Obama's remarks on Pakistan are made in the context of the Afghanistan mission. This is quite expected doesn't surprise anyone who follows either the Afghanistan campaign or Democratic party politics.

Btw, if anyone is looking for the warmonger in the Democratic leadership ranks, that would be Edwards - he's officially endorsed military operations against Iran.

You think we need 200 000 troops in Afghanistan???

We're not doing this on the cheap but if we do put too many troops in then we most definately be seen as an occupying force, and unless it comes to a worst case scenario we don't need to put vietnam level forces in the ME, and its nowhere near that stage right now.

Occupation of Afghanistan would, unlike Vietnam or Iraq, have a rational goal and potential for success.

I don't think that we created terrorists in Iraq, they were long there before we went in.

They may think politically it looks good for them to stay in Iraq but more and more people are saying the surge is working and things are getting better. Even if they win in 08 no way can they pull the troops out immedietly so they might wanna be careful what they wish for, the better things get the more gradual the troops might come out anyway but if they don't get any better even in 09 the Dems are gonna have no choice but to stay there with significant numbers.

afghanistan was done with minimal troops based on HISTORY
the soviets went in too heavy and became too much of a target and got picked to death by the mujahadeen have been two 3 soviet air strips in that country and the positions told the tale.....the soviets had close in and then pushed farther and farther out to no avail the muj still handed them their hats

in the end going in small worked, and kept casualties down which was the first thing of concern since that war started right after the clinton admin which sole purpose was to do wag the dog foreign policy but get no one killed , thus it took time to get out of that methedology which is partly to be blamed for the shit storm we sit in now IMO and we still due to politics dont go in hard enough or with enough troops for the daily media liberal soap box with the casualty count tote board which makes the public further go into the mode of war with no casualities