Worldfocus

09/04/2009 :: 01:36:52 PM
Aztec Zen Says:

We started an invasion and efforts in the wrong country and lost our chance 8 years ago in Afganistan where we needed to take care of business! So, Is time to welcome back our soldiers from our 4rd Vietnam (if you count Korea)fiascos.

09/03/2009 :: 10:01:07 PM
tomroy Says:

our presence is drawing in and uniting the hornets vietnam was a focused nationalist unrelenting attack on any and every foreigner in their country.afgan is being united and focused by our presence……why can’t we learn form not so far away history the lesson Russia suffered…t

08/26/2009 :: 04:31:45 PM
Flawed Afghan poll may undermine government legitimacy | Democracy Digest Says:

[...] observers were operating in a “very difficult” environment, said Eric Bjornlund of Democracy [...]

08/26/2009 :: 08:28:05 AM
derrick Says:

Get troops out get humanitarian aid schools jobs work roads housing food make friends not enemys dont you get it how long

08/26/2009 :: 03:17:57 AM
The Melancholy Poet Says:

What use camouflage
when some of those
using such blends
are not well Hidden
but are inexplicably…

Exposed?

Of what use are hills and mountains
if not for use with the rivers
that run through the landscapes
just as physically as the six-staged
hexagrammatic intuitional symbols
flow through psychological terrains
in order to denote the Hidden
in what seems now
to be quite quietly
Obvious…
but enigmatically
remains…
as yet…
Unseen
or
Unperceived?

08/25/2009 :: 06:29:03 PM
touchstone for Christ Spirit-Led Church Ministries Says:

Faith as small as a mustard seed can say to this mountain move from here to there, and it will move. Everything is possible for him who believes. I believe, and I have faith. Send me, Holy Spirit. I know how to get started once I get there. Glory to You, O Christ! Maranatha!

08/25/2009 :: 12:08:09 PM
Paul Marion Says:

Nick Ramus is correct. Islamic fascism has been growing since WW2. Islamic fascism is violently opposed to the world banking, mercantile and cultural realities. Islam is violently opposed to Christianity which it sees as Crusaders. There is not a cultural parrallel in Western culture for the Islamic ideas of the Ummah. The Ummah is the world wide body politic of all Muslims. Radical Mullahs view Christians and Jews as viruses that are damaging the health of the Islamic body, an organism called the Ummah. Islamic emmigration into the West is a reality that Western peoples do not understand. Islamic emigres have a responsibility to the Ummah as warriors for change. They are obligated to the conquest of any system they emmigrate to for the sake of Islam. They are the first line warriors to changing the governments to which they move. Islamic conquests when Islam is weak is always assymmetrical. Islamic world domination is the demand of the current Islamic expansionism. Islamic terrorism has been growing in fits and starts since the 50’s. Islamic terrism will increase no matter what the United States or any other Western power does. Even China has problems with their ethnic Muslim population. It is really naieve to think that we will be free of Islamic expansionism if we leave Afghanistan. Afghanistan/Pakistan is the center for the world wide Jihadist movement. The Taliban are only one flavor of this world wide Islamic movement. These movements exist in every Islamic population world wide. The West has been very diletente in facing the Islamic threat. The reasons for the US going to Afghanistan is different than any previous attempt. The US came to Afghanistan to put a stop to the training camps that were sending 70,000 trained terrorists world wide. There is a lot os silly thinking going on, that the US or the West or even Israel created the Islamic condition. MUslims and their desire for world domination is the exclusive source of this struggle. Those that claims US mistakes cause terrorism are really ignorant of the other side, the Islamic side. Those at the heart of the world wide Jihadist movement come from wealthy or upper middle class homes where there was no suffering. Our struggle with Islam has more to do with Islam than the West unless it is the economic and cultural successes of the West that has made Islamic hatreds rise. Please people, stop acting unilateral and seek a clear grasp of Islamic purposes and realities because only after you do that will you understand this struggle. Don’t listen to propaganda, listen to what Muslims teach each other in Mosques then you will understand their so called Jihadist death cult.

08/25/2009 :: 10:49:44 AM
R. Stroup Says:

History has shown that Afghan wars are long, protracted, and rarely decisive. The US should not waste human resources in Afghanistan. There are other ways the US can support democracy in Afghanistan without sending troops: intelligence, infrastructure aid, humanitarian aid, and political support. Save our troops for when they are really needed.

08/25/2009 :: 07:13:09 AM
jill Says:

No more troops should be sent. We shouldnt be there in the first place. The Brits didnt win, the Russians didnt win, what makes the US think they can win. It’s a useless waste of good lives.

08/25/2009 :: 04:58:38 AM
yousry amin Says:

afgan people are barbic people . they are not deserve for one solider to lose his lives for these people. Treaditional war methods will not able to win the war because these people are hiding in caves.the obama has to two choices . the first choice is withdraw all troops. cut all militry and economic aid . let them slove their conflict by themselves. the second choice is to use chemical weapons . chemical weapons is fit for this type of war. gas can pentrate in caves and end the war

08/25/2009 :: 12:32:09 AM
Jacob Griesmer Says:

rethinkafghanistan.com

“If we kill the terrorist father, the son may become a terrorist; the more we kill, the more terrorists we may create. That has been the course of history.” - Thich Nhat Hanh (page 198 of “Creating True Peace”)

“If I were given the opportunity to be face to face with Osama bin Laden, the first thing I would do is listen. I would try to understand why he had acted in that cruel way. I would try to understand all of the suffering that had led him to violence.”
http://www.mindfully.org/Reform/OsamabinLaden-ThichNhatHanh.htm

08/25/2009 :: 12:02:36 AM
Jacob Says:

The creation of the Afghan/Pakistan border, the creation of Israel, the coup in Iran, Suharto in Indonesia, the use of Somalia as a garbage dumpster, the fact that over a million Iraqis have died since the US invasion, the millions of displaced Afghans, The US propping up dictators in Arabia, Egypt and Jordan etc. are all legitimate reasons for the Muslim world to dislike and distrust the west.

until the US admits this these people’s violent religious fervor will grow along with the number of recruits that join their cause.

the US needs to do every single last thing it can to try and get these people not to hate the west.

1953-1979 Shah of Iran (Muslim nation)
1974-1999 Suharto in Indonesia (largest Muslim nation per capita)

The CIA trained SAVAK Nazi torture techniques.

Suharto’s Kopassus were worse than the Taliban.

UNTIL the US admits this there should be NO TROOPS IN AFGHANISTAN.

I think anyone would agree with that. I’m still waiting for that “humility” and “responsibility” Obama liked to talk about so much.

***

Also the US NEEDS to talk with the world about their space program.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/bronwen_maddox/article605583.ece

“But America has rejected the desire by 160 other countries to have United Nations talks about banning an arms race in space, an extravagantly unilateral approach whose appeal you might have thought would have been tarnished by its experience in Iraq.”
-Times of London

EXCERPTS:

http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=45289

Full-spectrum dominance means the ability of U.S. forces, operating alone or with allies, to defeat any adversary and control any situation across the range of military operations.

“To build the most effective force for 2020, we must be fully joint: intellectually, operationally, organizationally, doctrinally and technically,” the report states.

http://www.fs.fed.us/fire/doctrine/genesis_and_evolution/source_materials/joint_vision_2020.pdf

For the joint
force of the future, this goal will be achieved
through full spectrum dominance – the ability of
US forces, operating unilaterally or in
combination with multinational and interagency
partners, to defeat any adversary and control
any situation across the full range of military
operations.

The label full spectrum dominance implies
that US forces are able to conduct prompt,
sustained, and synchronized operations with
combinations of forces tailored to specific
situations and with access to and freedom to
operate in all domains – space, sea, land, air,
and information. Additionally, given the global
nature of our interests and obligations, the
United States must maintain its overseas
presence forces and the ability to rapidly
project power worldwide in order to achieve
full spectrum dominance.

08/24/2009 :: 11:52:47 PM
Alan S. Godber Says:

If the commanders are saying that more troops are required to achieve stability in Afghanistan, then we need to provide them. The alternative of the Taliban being free to run that country and to plan to damage or destroy our civilization in the USA and in Europe is unacceptable. That would also encourage other violent outlaw groups to cause mayhem.

08/24/2009 :: 11:52:06 PM
cybrgrace7 Says:

No empire lasts forever. And Afghanistan, as the graveyard of empires, is uniquely qualified to end US imperialism. Please God, save all innocents of our sisters and brothers, please do not allow the strong to kill the weak for “mere” empire… empower us to love our neighbor as ourselves…

08/24/2009 :: 11:51:31 PM
cybergrace Says:

No empire lasts forever. And Afghanistan, as the graveyard of empires, is uniquely qualified to end US imperialism. Please God, save all innocents of our sisters and brothers, please do not allow the strong to kill the weak for “mere” empire… empower us to love our neighbor as ourselves…

08/24/2009 :: 11:50:24 PM
L. Spaiser Says:

We need to keep troops in Afghanistan because of the threat of the downfall of the current Pakistani regime. This would put nuclear material in the hands of all the terrorist groups courtesy of the Taliban.

08/24/2009 :: 11:47:10 PM
cybergrace Says:

WHY and HOW is Afghanistan the “necessary war”?? Resources are needed in the U.S. So many are dying of diabetes, AIDS, high blood pressure and preventable diseases. Why flush our money overseas — and kill innocents in Afghanistan and Iraq?? The surge in Iraq was over when the US stopped paying Sunni terrorists — how much was promised and not payed out? Is there any other strategy in Afghanistan besides paying insurgents? Killing is wrong. I can’t stand being American and watching my tax dollars going towards murder and unsustainable “solutions”… There haven’t been reparations for Vietnam, much less Iraq… and now Afghanistan… this is too terrible for words…

08/24/2009 :: 11:44:50 PM
Don Says:

Harry Truman didn’t worry about collateral damage. He used it as a means of defeating the enemy. Thank you Harry! Time to end this war with some serious collateral damage! Send in the drones, drop the bombs, fire the missiles, and no worries with IED’s. Taliban barbarians gladly kill anyone, especially women and children. A dead Taliban will save lives.

08/24/2009 :: 11:39:36 PM
L. E. Edwards Says:

Afganistan cannot be defeated or won, as a war. The British in India tried, and were defeated at the Khyber Pass, the Russians were defeated also. Instead of putting more troops on the ground to be killed, we need to win the war in educating women, building schools and roads into rural areas. Create Marshall type plan to get education and infracstructure put in place. Follow up in the south with those people who dared to vote despit the Taliban. Find those whose fingers were cut off and give then job training so they could work and help their families.

In areas of ignorance ad fear,the Taliban thrives. The light of education need to be shone there.

Throwing more troops into the breach is like taking us back to the case of the Australians at Gallipolli, or the allies at Normandy. We can take a “beach head” but be unable to hold it. We need to show them other crops that can be grown, even if we subsidise them, so that they would not grow opium as a cash crop.These are a beautiful poetic people, whose lives are being destroyed by the Taliban; and by our efforts to defeat them.Both sides are reducing the country to a rubble pile.

08/24/2009 :: 11:31:03 PM
EDWARD J. CUBERO, JR. Says:

ABSOLUTLY! DO WE NOT LEARN FROM 9/11.

08/24/2009 :: 11:07:48 PM
Joe Hock Says:

Whether we should be there or not is irrelevant. We are there. We should be very careful about committing troops but once we do, the world (including organizations whose primary goal is to do serious harm to us) watches to see what we will do. We have garnered a not undeserved reputation of not finishing what we start. The strategy of deploying additional troops in Iraq thereby showing local leaders we would not desert them garnered significant progress and cooperation. A similar strategy might also work in Afganistan.

08/24/2009 :: 10:58:37 PM
Phillip Josselyn Says:

The US created the conditions that lead to the rise of the Taliban in order to bog the Russians down in the 1980s. To accomplish that, we backed the pre-cursors of Al Qaeda and when that project succeeded in displacing the Afghan government, the US walked away and let the country disintegrate. When it came back to bite us, our government thought they would replace the Taliban with the old ex-patriot ruling elite and prop them up with a rag-tag bunch of war lords and mercenaries: nation building on the cheap. Now that that project has begun to unravel, the security establishment is asking for an open ended commitment and many more resources. Without a new strategy, this seems like a foolish thing to do and I don’t see a new strategy anywhere on the horizon.

08/24/2009 :: 10:49:28 PM
Don Says:

Our troops cause terrorist like pencils cause spelling errors. These killers must be dealt with. Clean out the Taliban and be efficient about it. Civilians? A Taliban combatant tosses aside his gun, now he/she is a civilian. Get it?

08/24/2009 :: 10:43:55 PM
Democracy International in the Media IV | Democracy International Afghanistan Election Observation Mission Says:

[...] Bjornlund, a DI co-founder, appeared on PBS’ Worldfocus, which is also carried by The Huffington Post and Herald de [...]

08/24/2009 :: 10:43:43 PM
MAUREEN O'ROURKE Says:

Get out now. We are not wanted there. It is not worth sacrificing our young American men and women. this is another war we cannot win.

08/24/2009 :: 10:26:03 PM
Drew Olewnick Says:

War is big business for America these days as other industries falter. It keeps people “employed” as troops, many of whom would otherwise be jobless here. It keeps some industries busy here producing gear and weapons. Obama fears pulling out more for economic reasons, than political reasons.

08/24/2009 :: 10:17:41 PM
Jean Pierce Says:

The US presence is fueling the growth of the Taliban. The Afghans do not want our help. Get out now!

08/24/2009 :: 08:51:10 PM
Jim Dikes Says:

We have to win this thing. Taliban ambitions are tied to Islamic militants in other parts of the world. Their past reign proved oppressive and barbaric, and discriminatory. If we lose, Afganistan becomes a base of operations for training terrorists from other countries. Twentyone thousand additional American troops is a pittance. We need to make a commitment of overwhelming forces. We also need to commit to helping the Afgans establish a school system that will help educate their people. Ignorance makes fertile ground for the Taliban to gather new recruits. Ignorance and fear are their main weapons.

08/24/2009 :: 08:43:17 PM
Julie Says:

More U.S. troops = more innocent civilian deaths = more U.S. insanity.

08/24/2009 :: 08:18:54 PM
Goooooober Says:

After the Tall One surrenders in the name of Goooooober the drones will question their own dreams of self distruction

Even an illiterate fool will see the Tall One is a true coward and is unable to lead by example

The smell of goat dose not mask the smell of a coward. That’s right Tall One the day I bumped into you I could smell your fear and see your future

You will throw your hands in the air and surrender in the name of Goooooober

08/24/2009 :: 08:14:19 PM
Virgil Bargiol Says:

There is no civilized legal or moral justification for our invading the nations of Iraq and Afghanistan and attacking, wounding and killing the innocent citizens–men, women and children–of those two nations for the attack on the World Trade Center by some few criminals. All civilized legal codes dictate that only the individuals involved in a criminal action should be tracked down, arrested, tried in a legal Court of Law, and–if found guilty–properly punished. We are making the same uncivilized, immoral and unjustifiable mistakes we made in our war on the citizens of North Vietnam. Our war against the people of Iraq and Afghanistan will end in the same tragic manner as it did against the North Vietnamese–we will lose! So, we should get all of our troops out of Iraq and Afghanistan.

08/24/2009 :: 08:08:27 PM
David Ray Says:

All we are doing is making ourselves the targets of terrorism & earning the hatred directed toward the US. Many of us voted for Obama to end the war, not expand or move it around. Containment, yes, but we cannot settle these issues with violence. Bush’s (deceitful) excuse for going into both Iraq & Afghanistan was to solve and resolve a crime; and that’s how 9/11 should have been treated. Had Osama not been such a reliable rationalization for US war ambitions he’d have long since been brought to justice. (That’s documentable, viz., the order from Washington NOT to kill him when there was a chance, or earlier when the Sudan gov. was surveilling him & offering help in dealing with him. (Oh, no, we wouldn’t) A war with Iran would also be disastrous though the Military is talking just as they did before Shock & Awe, & contrary to what some bloggers say here, it is Vietnam again, just the geography different. Meanwhile at home we deny basic needs, horrified at the costs which could not possibly add up to what we squander on war, not to mention the lives not only of Americans but of others we sadly don’t care about. Enough already! We elected Obama to live up to the ideals this nation has long professed, all too often hypocritcally.
David Ray Tucson, AZ http://www.davidraypoet.com

08/24/2009 :: 08:00:05 PM
Citizen Coya Says:

Afghanis are even crankier than Americans. They sent the Soviet Empire packing and they’ll do the same with the American Empire - the U.S. cannot win. American strategy now seems to seek control not only of Afghanistan but also Pakistan. If an unmanned drone bombs your house, have you been invaded?

08/24/2009 :: 07:54:48 PM
Jane Heron Says:

The war in Afghanistan is very important to the US, the West and the world at large. It’s regrettable that many people don’t understand why and how. It’s unfortunate that Afghanistan itself is so nearly unble to muster troops to work alongside troops from other countries. That might make a huge difference in the effect on Afghani people. If we can send more troops and make more of a difference, that scenario might begin to evolve. It would be a wonderful thing, if it can happen. Jane Heron, Chicago

08/24/2009 :: 07:45:35 PM
Frank Galish Says:

We should send as many troops as it take and as much hardware, planes, bombs,tanks,rockets and wipe out the Taliban-they are just evil! And for evil to thrive, all good men have to do is nothing-we are more than nothing!

08/24/2009 :: 07:44:38 PM
RCS Says:

We were fully justified in entering Afghanistan, and we need to do the job right there. Even though my sister will ship-out there in December, I say we need to stick-it-out.

08/24/2009 :: 07:19:01 PM
richard scheiber Says:

If we are ever to break free of the vise that compels individuals to form enduring groups who then dissipate the violence that bubbles up from within those same enduring groups by acts of murder, terrorism, genocide, and war against another, then we need to walk away from this conflict now.

Leave the indigenous people, Pashtuns and others, copies of Aristophanes “Lysistrata” in their native tongues, as we depart.

08/24/2009 :: 07:16:25 PM
Yates Hafner Says:

To render the Taliban powerless throughout Afghanistan appears hopeless. American security does not depend on eradicating the Taliban. At most, we should simply help Pakistan secure its borders from Taliban infiltration.

08/24/2009 :: 07:07:53 PM
Netizen Says:

What do all good dimished and/or defunct empires (Spanish, French, Romans, British, Russians, soon-to-be-America…) have in common: that foreign wars were the economic and eventual downfall. So, if our own self-made economic and credit collapses–or China calling in their 1/3 ownership of U.S. debt–don’t herald the 21st century decline of America, then surely our Endless Middle Eastern Wars will.

08/24/2009 :: 07:06:14 PM
Jerry Henderson Says:

I’m not ready to give up in Afghanistan. This is not like Vietnam. There is way more at stake here. Sadly, the Bush administration abandoned Afghanistan to fight a needless war in Iraq. We can’t say, yet, that we’ve failed in Afghanistan because we haven’t really given it our all. My concern is that I’m not convinced we know how to win. I hope I’m wrong on this account.

08/24/2009 :: 06:57:39 PM
Irmgard C. Taylor Says:

It is not possible-and has not been possible in the past-to change the tribal culture in Afghanistan through foreign attempts. Change must come from within. Hopefully it will happen through gradual emancipation of women influenced by global changes in women’s status.
I feel bad about abandoning the women now but do not believe that continuing the war and/or increasing the troops will help bring this change about. Protection from terrorists must be done by other means.

08/24/2009 :: 06:55:45 PM
pm flynn Says:

i am almost 60 yrs old. as such i exoerienced the vietnam debacle. lets nit send more troops, lets pull them out of both countries!. deja vu all over again & i voted for obama but for this & his legislative pusillanimty l’m reconsidering if the better of 2 evils is good enough!

08/24/2009 :: 06:50:00 PM
Ann Adams Says:

Has the US learned nothing. This is escalation all over again and what is the goal? Obama was supposed to be smarter than Bush, but he has chosen advisers who have no new thinking to change the course of US dissemination of power, and that is not smarter no matter how well it is articulated.

08/24/2009 :: 06:49:39 PM
Netizen Says:

The western world needs to lessen its dependence upon foreign-sourced fossil fuels. Since that’s why we are drawn into wars to secure the resource, and then our Western countries are terrorized by Middle Easterners because we put troops in their countries, essentially acting as the militistic arms of our Capitalist Corporations. It becomes a loop. Let’s all lessen our need for oil, foster home-grown renewable energy sources (wind, solar, biomass, hydro, algea, etc.). That way, the West can sever it’s dealings with the Middle East, once and for all.

08/24/2009 :: 06:46:10 PM
Tom Siracuse Says:

We’ve been told that we’re in Afghanistan to fight the Taliban and Al Qaeda who we lump together as “terrorists”. If that is true, I believe we’re strengthening the “terrorists” because the majority of Afghans perceive our military as well as other foreign troops as foreign infidels trying to dominate their country. Even the American military admits that the Taliban has gotten stronger since we’ve increased our troop strength. If we send more troops more Americans and Afghans will get killed am\nd more resentment will grow among the Afghans as well as among the American public. We’ve negotiated with the Taliban before, in fact we had even supported them. We should negotiate with the Taliban and start pulling out all our troops now. There are some who say that if we pull out, the terrorists will be emboldened throughout the nworld. A similar argument was made during the Vietnam War–that if we pulled out, Communists would be emboldened throughout the world. Once the U.S pulled out, this did not happen and the Communist movement had a severe setback with the subsequent fall of the Soviet Union. The greatness of a nation does not come from its use of military power but from its wise use of reason and diplomacy.

08/24/2009 :: 06:46:09 PM
Charlie Gesenmaier Says:

The United States cannot win the war in Afganistan and must remove our troops now. I was stationed in India during world war 2 & know the area well. There is no defined enemy. he will hit you from the front,side or rear. They drove out the Russians,English and now the Americans.

08/24/2009 :: 06:42:47 PM
Nick Ramus Says:

I really get sick and tired of all the superfluous political banter, ranting and plain ignorance. Why is it when our country needs to use our military against a sworn enemy left leaning people highly politicize what is a military situation. Al Qaeda and Islamists made over 800 attacks on civilian targets worldwide killing many thousands. Those that carried out those attacks were trained in Afghanistan. I lived and worked in the Middle East in the 70’s. I listened then to wild Islamist anger and propaganda against the West, Christianity, Jews, America. Depending on their flavor of radical Islam their basic unity redefines Islamic reality to become ardent Jihadists to slaughter the West. I like the idea that we are fighting them over there and not over here. If you don’t think that is our only option go over there, find the Jihadists and go talk with them, you will be lucky to keep your head on your shoulders. The Jihadists anger has no logic we will accept. The seeds of this violence lie as endemic Islamic qualities we do not accept nor understand. They are illoglcal, emotional, impatient and enthralled with the cult mysteries of death for Allah.

08/24/2009 :: 06:42:33 PM
Bob Guzauskas Says:

Has Obama read, “Horse Soldiers”? In late 1991 fewer than 100 US Special Forces personnel overturned the Afghan Taliban in three months.

Yes, Afghanistan is Obama’s Viet Nam. You can’t tell a mortal enemy you don’t want to fight, you’re going to quit - then expect to win. Our president has betrayed his supporters, his opponents, and his troops - the living and the dead. This president is not a warrior so get our warriors out of Afghanistan and Iraq.

08/24/2009 :: 06:35:07 PM
Joseph A. Kenny Says:

As the bumper sticker on the Maryknoll Missionaries says on their front door the famous quote of F.D.R. “More than an end to war we want an end to the beginning of all wars”; I believe we should be living the lessons of World War II President. Eight years later into the conflict it can’t be seen as a war of necessity as President Obama claims.

08/24/2009 :: 06:31:10 PM
Bob Says:

We must do what it takes to destroy the Taliban — increasing troops is a necessary part. If we do not prevail in establishing a viable state in Afghanistan, we will will loose strategic credibility, the Taliban will become the world’s leading narco-terrorist scourge, and we will further embolden Iranian ambitions for regional hegemony. We would loose an opportunity to meaningful engagement with India. A failed narco-terrorist region will follow, with very bad consequences for the Afghan people and all of the targets of al qaeda. We should apply the doctrine of overwhelming force coupled with effective economic development (mining, basic industry, medical opium, logistics) to displace the incentive for opium production and deny its cash to the terrorist, and drop the ludicrous notion that our military should act like it is the Peace Corps. If we do not, expect to see your fellow citizens murdered by the tens of thousands, followed by smirking insults courtesy of Al Jazzera.

08/24/2009 :: 06:25:26 PM
Robina D'Arcy=Fox Says:

We have a history of abandoning our allies in this region when the going gets hot. We brought the war to them and have made promises to bring democracy and freedom to this region . We dressed it up in righteous anger. When will we regain our integrity in the eyes of the world?Fighting terrorists is awful, dirty, and sad work and we cannot abandon our allies again without shame. They will live with our broken promises long after we go back to our malls and backyard barbecues.

08/24/2009 :: 06:25:11 PM
C Hinson Says:

This is a lost cause. Lets get out now. This is bringing our country down and we can not change this situation with war.

08/24/2009 :: 06:24:39 PM
Valerie Smith Says:

I have two thoughts when it comes to Afghanistan. Part of me says that we need the right tools to do the job, and that presumably necessitates more troops in Afghanistan. The other part of me ardently wishes that we would utilize and support the talents and efforts of Greg Mortenson and focus on educating the people of Afghanistan, as that would have a more lasting effect.

08/24/2009 :: 06:20:50 PM
Lee Ferrell Says:

NO foreign occupier has ever defeated the fighting ability of those in the Hindu Kush area.
The more troops w/ alleged “smart” weapons, the more careful and precise they are in their response, depending on conditions, EXACTLY, how the “Rabble” defeated the Redcoats in 1777. Rain bogged them down at Saratoga Wood and frontier sharpshooters picked them off one one by one. We too would use the same tactics if we were occupied by a powerful foreign presence. No “advanced precion weapons” will change the inevitable outcome, vivid throughout history from the Spartan domination of Greece til the Thebans could not take it any more. There is no way to measure the resolve of defenders of their homeland.

08/24/2009 :: 06:20:37 PM
Charles R Says:

We should not have gone there to begin with. If we can’t control the drug lords in our cities on our home ground, how can we dream of controlling a large region dominated by drug lords and religious tribal factions and the foreign language further complicating intelligence work? The net effect is they are killing Americans both in Afghanistan and, with their heroin, in every city in this country. The Russians were incapable of gaining control as well as the French and the British.

08/24/2009 :: 06:19:56 PM
Jim Haigney Says:

We are unable to provide our own people with healthcare. Why are we destroying and rebuilding other countries with our interference? We have to be less egotistical and recognize that we cannot make other people live the way we would like them to. We need to get out of Afghanistan now.

08/24/2009 :: 06:18:39 PM
Carola and Guy Walton Says:

Understandably, Americans are weary of wars and the prospect of throwing more resources into Afghanistan without success against the Taliban is scarey. However, both for our own security and for the Afghans, whom we have let down in the past, we need to remain involved.

08/24/2009 :: 06:18:17 PM
ROB SCHNEIDERMAN Says:

If Nato countries don’t increase their troops presence significantly, the United States should focus their efforts on the Pakistan border and make sure the Pakistan government ends corruption and aiding and abetting insurgencies. A stable Pakistan is more important than any other objective in the area.

08/24/2009 :: 06:17:34 PM
Burt B. Says:

The human spirit intrinsically desires freedom and the right to be and choose. The only reason for being of The United States of America is to bear the torch of freedom to the world. Why else would 5% of the world’s population have the felicity of consuming 80% of the world’s resources? FREEDOM.

08/24/2009 :: 06:14:42 PM
David M Says:

What did Obama not hear from those who elected him? We said we have no business being an occupying force in the Middle East or South Asia. Bush used 9/11 to get us into an unjust war. We lost the chance to regain world respect. Now Obama shows he wants to continue that. He is showing he is no different than Bush.

08/24/2009 :: 06:14:30 PM
Doug Czor Says:

Yes, we must finish the job. Otherwise Americans will be targeted again.

08/24/2009 :: 06:00:31 PM
mensah Says:

Haven’t we sacrificed enough lives for this war? Why not train enough Afghan men to figth their own enemy.

08/24/2009 :: 05:53:54 PM
mensah Says:

I hope president Obama will search his soul; This war will never be won by the west. You are dealing with people who have hate in their hearts, they have no respect for human rights. Why should we invest tons of money and lives in this stupid war? This country needs money for national health care. President Obama, please think.

08/24/2009 :: 05:38:31 PM
Sylvia Farrington Says:

Let’s get out now. Also, Iraq. I hoped Obama would listen to the citizens of U.S. Apparently not. We should stop sacrificing our soldiers in the Middle East.

08/24/2009 :: 05:22:25 PM
anthony bostic Says:

This is one of those rare times that it is critical that America pull all military stops to fight the Taliban/Terorist. Our safety as a nation,at home, as well as abroad, depends on our persistant efforts to defeat those violent people who would destroy good people next door and around the world. We can not feel safe and at peace when those terrorist groups whose only purpose is to destroy free and democratic life.

08/24/2009 :: 05:20:52 PM
John Morgan Says:

It is a no win war, we should get out. Why loose more American lives to fight in a country controlled by tribal ethnic rules.

08/24/2009 :: 04:47:31 PM
Carolyn C Says:

Martin, I am not for war and we should never have gone into one. But I do think that when people are threatened for voting - that is the basic right of citizens - the world should step in and put down the oppressors

08/24/2009 :: 04:45:17 PM
rick tofte Says:

Why are we there;
nation building or creating an enemy?
the last time the cia was in afghanistan we created the evil dooer bin laden.

08/24/2009 :: 04:44:58 PM
b.roberts Says:

I supported the war against El Queda because of the 9/11 attack. At the time I remember the story that the Taliban was not El queda, that they were the locals, not the ex-pat Saudis and that they (the Taliban) had not attacked us on 9/11. They did fight against us early when the Northern Alliance was on our side. Since the Taliban did not attack us, and we were told, they did not want to attack us here, I am for leaving the country and ending the war.

08/24/2009 :: 04:29:35 PM
John Kearney Says:

We should have been in Afganastan instead of Iraq. If we want to stop terrorism by the Taliban we must stop their influence in this area.

08/24/2009 :: 04:16:16 PM
Linda Merrill Says:

I don’t think the government will listen to the American people. Strange because we do alot of talking about democracy. I absolutely think we should leave Afghanistan immediately, as well as Iraq.

08/24/2009 :: 04:16:01 PM
bill scarpetti Says:

There’s no easy choice for the US in Afghanistan. Bush wasted our resources and our will to fight with the unnecessary war in Iraq. Afghanistan and the region is very important to world security. More resources are needed and the all of the NATO allies should provide them.

08/24/2009 :: 04:13:40 PM
C.Kerbel Says:

Remember the history of the area! Remove US troops from this futile battle area.