Panetta: We have al Qaeda 'on the run'

[mia]

Source: CNN Wire Staff

Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) -- The United States "is within reach of strategically defeating al Qaeda, newly appointed Defense Secretary Leon Panetta on Saturday.

"I think we have them on the run. I think now is the moment, now is the moment following what happened with bin Laden to put maximum pressure on them because I do believe that if we continue this effect that we really can cripple al Qaeda as a threat to this country," Panetta said....



Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/07/09/afghanistan.panetta/index.html?eref=mrss_igoogle_world

---

Good. Now how about focusing on the individuals who really are a threat to our country.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

1. Cue the next boogeyman. n/t

[lib2DaBone]

2. Good. Declare victory and bring our troops home.

We give guns to the Al Queda "Freedom Fighters" in Lybia, yet the Al Queda in Afghanistan are enemy?

So we are keeping both sides of the war going?

I'm confused.

[mia]

14. "So we are keeping both sides of the war going?" Yep. That's what we do.

Wars "R" Us

[villager]

3. well, on the other side of that coin, they have the American people on the run, too

n/t

[mia]

22. That's the idea. The war profiteers have us all on the run.

The war is not meant to be won.

[Tutankhamun]

38. Exactly. We don't fight to win.

We don't even fight with any stated purpose (that remains constant).

[yourout]

4. Mission Accomplished........again?

[sudopod]

5. Light at the end of the tunnel, hearts and minds.

Herp derp derp derp derp.

[awoke_in_2003]

8. "Light at the end of the tunnel:...

hope it isn't a train.

[Fearless]

6. Sounds like his excuse to keep pouring money into this cash cow.

[TomClash]

7. Channeling Pogo

We have met the enemy and he is us.

[EFerrari]

9. LOL

:)

[Sal Minella]

10. Dubya used that phrase -- "on the run" -- and it's so absurd,

because how could one possibly say more clearly --

We have no clue where they are and no fucking idea of how to catch them.

Like, a man-eating lion has gotten loose from the circus, and we have no idea where he is, but everything's going just dandy, because we've got him on the run!!!

wtf

[bhikkhu]

11. But are the social/ideological/inequity problems that created it on the run too?

Otherwise, we're just playing a very very long and destructive game of whack-a-mole.

[Bucky]

32. Think about the Arab Spring. Al-Qaeda was "strategically defeated" long ago.

Of course the problems that allowed al-Qaeda to briefly thrive will never fully go away. But the proper conditions are pretty ripe for declaring victory and coming home. The Caliphate won't arise and America won't withdraw its presence or influence from the Middle East. In the big picture, we won and they lost. So, yeah, it's a good time to quit screwing around over there.

[StarburstClock]

12. They're tracking bigfoot on the animal planet too

I hear "now is the moment".

[dmosh42]

13. Afetr ten years they're finally running?? n/t

[rwsanders]

15. Reminds me of the history of WWI

I read an excellent book called "A World Undone: A History of the Great War".
It was interesting to see how military leaders on both sides would say they only needed a few more men and a little more time and victory was assured...

[bemildred]

16. Emmanuel Goldberg sighting. nt

[liberation]

17. Running after 1 trillion dollars spent chasing them, has to be the most expensive fitness program

in human history.

Think we could have gone to Mars (and back) with all that money, how many diseases we could have either cured or treated, how many people could have been lifted from poverty, we could have had another industrial revolution revolving around clean energy which could have created untold numbers of jobs at home. All of which are, apparently, not practical and utterly ridiculous goals, because... the only "realistic" and not idiotical option with all that money, effort, and dead people was.... to get a bunch of goat herders to jog.

Yay!

We're so fucked up as an species it is not even funny.

[somone]

18. We must continue our trillion-dollar struggle against the "50 to 100, maybe less" cave dwellers

:sarcasm:

[mia]

26. Make that "at least $3.7 trillion and counting"

(Reuters) - When President Barack Obama cited cost as a reason to bring troops home from Afghanistan, he referred to a $1 trillion price tag for America's wars.

Staggering as it is, that figure grossly underestimates the total cost of wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan to the U.S. Treasury and ignores more imposing costs yet to come, according to a study released on Wednesday.

The final bill will run at least $3.7 trillion and could reach as high as $4.4 trillion, according to the research project "Costs of War" by Brown University's Watson Institute for International Studies.

Those numbers will continue to soar when considering often overlooked costs such as long-term obligations to wounded veterans and projected war spending from 2012 through 2020. The estimates do not include at least $1 trillion more in interest payments coming due and many billions more in expenses that cannot be counted, according to the study....




http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/29/us-usa-war-idUSTRE75S25320110629

[Turbineguy]

19. We've got the blues on the run!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ir95Edc5Ku8&feature=related

[Scottybeamer70]

20. Now, if we only knew who

al Qaeda is, we could really be successful.
"I think...."..........what an idiot.

[frylock]

21. whoop-dee-fucking-doo

[izquierdista]

23. What a maroon!

[dotymed]

24. Our American enemies are much more dangerous

to average people, than Al Qaeda. Hell, before we invaded their country they were probably hospitable to Americans. Nineteen of the twenty hijackers on 9-11, came from Saudi Arabia, The House of Saud. You know that small country that is completely controlled by the "Royal Family?" the one that supplies our oil and vacations with the Bush family.

These "people" getting wealthier every day that our troops have to stay in the Middle East, know they are creating more "terrorists" than they are killing. And they are killing a lot of people and labeling them "terrorists." Those people are the real terrorists.

Now that we have a "service economy", "our government" makes their political, financial supporters unbelievably wealthy allowing them to inadequately do what our armed forces have always done for themselves.

Seriously, $500 Billion dollars a year for air-conditioning?

Naturally, they have to steal this money from somewhere. So, fuck the poor, elderly and finally the middle class. Okay, after they have drained everyone else, and there are the very wealthy and the poor, then what?

They have "Think Tanks" that work on these scenarios. Why do you think the FEMA camps were built? Why go on?

[blkmusclmachine]

25. World War III: The War on Terra (Firma)

[Stinky The Clown]

27. I am so fucking sick of this shit

He sounds like a bush administration official.

[Capt. America]

28. Weve always been at war with Eurasia, Pacifica is our ally,

[Enrique]

29. the next six months will be crucial! n/t

[On the Road]

30. I Hope This is True

and we can forget about that bogeyman. Al Qaida was always a Mickey Mouse operation with a limited following.

[Solly Mack]

31. Yeah?

[CountAllVotes]

33. Good! Send the troops home now!

Cry VICTORY and get the USA the hell out of there NOW!



:kick:

[jwirr]

34. Is this a weak attempt to declare victory and leave? Shouldn't the

President be the one to do that? In my memory I think it was LBJ who had the guts to do that.

[givemebackmycountry]

35. Meet the new asshole, same as the old asshole.

And stupid fucking tea bagging Republicans go out and buy "Support the troops" yellow ribbons made in China, to tack on their 12 MPG SUV's.
How about we bring them home and send some my way.
Maybe I'll hire a couple.
NOW THAT would be supporting the troops.
We are an extra stupid country, I swear to Christ.

I'm pissed.

:grr:

[krabigirl]

36. Lol sure.

[McCamy Taylor]

37. Well isn't that special. I thought they had the middle class on the run.

[Tutankhamun]

39. Last I heard, there were supposed to be fewer than 100

Al Qaeda stooges in Afghanistan. Bin Laden is dead. How much more "crippled" can they get?

[daleo]

40. A trillion dollars more ought to do it.

Two, maybe three at the most...

[Baclava]

41. What??? - U.S. would keep almost 70,000 troops in the country until the end of 2014?

Save the poppy!