KABUL (AP) — Five American troops were killed in attacks in southern Afghanistan, where the U.S. and NATO have ramped up operations against the Taliban and seen casualties rise quickly in what has been the deadliest year of the war for international forces. […]
The Pentagon said the U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, would ask this week for additional American forces — a number that officials said could reach as high as 40,000 troops. […]
In his report to the White House, McChrystal argued that military commanders should worry less about protecting their own forces and get out into Afghan communities. Although he acknowledged this “could expose military personnel and civilians to greater risk in the near term.”
One day we will leave Afghanistan. That much is certain. The only question that remains is how many people will die before we do leave.*
* McChrystal is beginning to remind me of this guy:
Despite the bombing of the North, ARVN losses grew steadily, and the political situation in Saigon became precarious as one unstable government succeeded another. General William C. Westmoreland, commander of MACV from June 1964 to March 1968 urged the use of United States combat troops to stop the Communist advance, which he predicted, could take over the country within a year.
well, at least we aren’t doing search and destroy missions.
that we know of…..
I’m suspicious/paranoid enough to believe we’re only getting a small fraction of the whole story…and that you and I will be old and grey before the rest comes out…
That’s what the drones are for.
Drones are a far-sight better than napalming villages.
Sickening. I do hope the President puts his foot down and tells McChrystal to take a hike.
Yep, but Petraeus, with his presidential ambitions reminds me of him more.
And the 500,000 number looks a lot like the 1965 escalation. Spencer Ackerman says that McChrystal is really talking about 100,000 US troops and 400,000 mythical Afghan troops and police, but even that looks foolish.
One has to grasp that we are talking about a land area the size of Texas with the topography of Colorada, Utah and Nevada to appreciate how foolish it seems. Add to that the fact that the population is between that of Texas and that of California and you see how American ignorance of geography can create a disaster.
The population of Afghanistan is larger than the population of Iraq. Did you know that? 32 million it is.
And how many fluent Pashtun and Tajik speakers are there in the US military?
Yep, PetrChrytal are very much like William Westmoreland. I hope that Obama does not double down based on a argument based on the sunk costs. Sunk costs can never be reclaimed one way or the other. Making decisions based on sunk cost is using fallacious logic.
It’s a dickhead male thing. Their primitive egos won’t let them admit that they are in a bad situation and it’s time to leave.
We’ve seen this movie. We’ve seen umpteen reruns of this movie. We’ve seen the remake and reruns of the remake. Now we’re seeing the remake of the remake. Jesus, Mohammad and Buddha, somebody change the channel.
could i ask a question???
did the general simply ask for more troops or did he attempt to point out tht a military solution wouldn’t solve the problem and that the solution rests in supporting the establishment of a honest government thru the use of non- military personell?
More troops
We need 300,000 troops in Afghanistan at minimum. Is this country will to send that many troops, and commit years to this cause?? Hardly!!! This is what it’s going to take though. On 9/11, the American people were willing to do anything and go anywhere to root out the terrorists who attacked us. Do we feel that way now?? again, hardly!!!
there’s a very good essay on McChrystals’s…oughta be a rappers name, eh…strategy over at counterpunch: A Pathway to Disaster
l’ve said it before, but it bears reiteration, it took the russians 10 years to realize their mistake and gtf out. given the vietnam fiasco, why are we going down this path again?
the dfh’s were right. [h/t to Connecticut Man1]