Karzai 'would fall in weeks' if Nato pulls out

[Bozita]

Source: Guardian UK

Karzai 'would fall in weeks' if Nato pulls out
David Miliband says UK needs more time to shore up Afghan government
Julian Glover
guardian.co.uk, Friday 20 November 2009 19.24 GMT
Article history


The Afghan government could fall within weeks if Nato pulled out troops now, David Miliband warned today as he urged British opponents of the war to give the fight to rebuild the country more time.

In an interview with the Guardian at the end of a visit to Kabul for the presidential inauguration of Hamid Karzai, the foreign secretary said: "If international forces leave, you can choose a time – five minutes, 24 hours or seven days – but the insurgent forces will overrun those forces that are prepared to put up resistance and we would be back to square one."

At the end of a day spent visiting British troops and officials at the headquarters of the international military effort, Miliband said that Afghans were "sad that they need anyone, but they are passionate that my goodness they do – because if we weren't here their country would be rolled over".

He agreed that public anxiety about the war is growing in Britain as a result of rising casualties. "Afghanistan wasn't on the front pages until the last six months for obvious reasons," he said. "Now for tragic reasons there is a lot of interest. What we have to do is explain to people that the costs of staying are real but they are less than the costs of leaving."

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/nov/20/miliband-warns-karzai-fail-nato

[aquart]

1. Not a good enough reason to stay.

Staving off an inevitable massacre is not a good reason to bleed ourselves to death. Will we look bad? YEAH. And we earned it in spades. Waiting to look better so politicians can get re-elected IS NOT A GOOD ENOUGH REASON TO STAY.

We have to go. They will likely die. But not all. And the day will come when the enemies ranging against them require new alliances. And enough time will have passed that we can return as saviors not invaders. But not in this decade and not in the next.

[Turborama]

6. That's what we did when the Russians pulled out

And look what happened 12 years later.

I just watched Charlie Wilson's War again and the moment at the end - when he's trying to get $1million for schools just after the Russians had left - when he says “We always leave. And the ball keeps bouncing" was very pertinent to this whole idea of "pull out now". It is a lesson from history that we should heed.

[YouTakeTheSkyway]

7. Very much agreed.

[saigon68]

12. amerikan children dying to Prop Up a Corrupt Drug Lord and Thug

This creep needs his 700 Black-Water mercenaries to keep his rival drug lords from "greasing" his sorry ass.

Get Out Now

[Arctic Dave]

2. Eight years and billions and billions of dollars and this is all that has been accomplished.

[Bozita]

5. Thom Hartmann said we've spent enough $$$ there to give everyone there $18,000 US

Heard it today.

[tekisui]

3. Would that be a bad thing?

He's as crooked as they come.

[Libertas1776]

4. Well, then topple away Karzai.

[kristopher]

8. A clear violation of the First Law of War

The Art of War
By Sun Tzu

Translated by Lionel Giles

I. Laying Plans

1. Sun Tzu said: The art of war is of vital importance to the State.

2. It is a matter of life and death, a road either to safety or to ruin. Hence it is a subject of inquiry which can on no account be neglected.

3. The art of war, then, is governed by five constant factors, to be taken into account in one's deliberations, when seeking to determine the conditions obtaining in the field.

4. These are: (1) The Moral Law; (2) Heaven; (3) Earth; (4) The Commander; (5) Method and discipline.

5,6. The Moral Law causes the people to be in complete accord with their ruler, so that they will follow him regardless of their lives, undismayed by any danger.

7. Heaven signifies night and day, cold and heat, times and seasons.

8. Earth comprises distances, great and small; danger and security; open ground and narrow passes; the chances of life and death.

9. The Commander stands for the virtues of wisdom, sincerely, benevolence, courage and strictness.

10. By method and discipline are to be understood the marshaling of the army in its proper subdivisions, the graduations of rank among the officers, the maintenance of roads by which supplies may reach the army, and the control of military expenditure.

11. These five heads should be familiar to every general: he who knows them will be victorious; he who knows them not will fail.

12. Therefore, in your deliberations, when seeking to determine the military conditions, let them be made the basis of a comparison, in this wise:--

13. (1) Which of the two sovereigns is imbued with the Moral law? (2) Which of the two generals has most ability? (3) With whom lie the advantages derived from Heaven and Earth? (4) On which side is discipline most rigorously enforced? (5) Which army is stronger? (6) On which side are officers and men more highly trained? (7) In which army is there the greater constancy both in reward and punishment?

14. By means of these seven considerations I can forecast victory or defeat.

[unhappycamper]

9. You could put a different date on that article and reuse it:

Source: Guardian UK

Karzai 'would fall in weeks' if Nato pulls out
David Miliband says UK needs more time to shore up Afghan government
Julian Glover
guardian.co.uk, Friday 20 November 2010 19.24 GMT
Article history

or

Source: Guardian UK

Karzai 'would fall in weeks' if Nato pulls out
David Miliband says UK needs more time to shore up Afghan government
Julian Glover
guardian.co.uk, Friday 20 November 2011 19.24 GMT
Article history

or

Source: Guardian UK

Karzai 'would fall in weeks' if Nato pulls out
David Miliband says UK needs more time to shore up Afghan government
Julian Glover
guardian.co.uk, Friday 20 November 2012 19.24 GMT
Article history

or


(you get the idea).

[Hulk]

10. He better warm up his airplane now....

I'm sure he isn't going to stick around once President Obama announces his plans with this fiasco. A shame w and darth ignored the situation...drawing this needless "war" into EIGHT F*CKING YEARS for our troops.

Who loves the troops? It sure as hell is not the chicken-hawks at the right wing propaganda networks.

[Octafish]

11. Golly. That would mean no UNOCAL pipeline, right?

Maybe the Chinese will want to occupy Afghanistan and help them out.

[conspirator]

13. You mean a puppet cannot stand without strings?!! I am shocked I tell ya nt

[mbperrin]

14. Never should have been here in the first place.

There's a fine reason it's called the graveyard of empires.

Never should have been a war on terror. A crime was committed, should have been investigated, arrests made, trials held.

I know, I know, leaves Halliburton and other "important" corporations out of the profits loop.

Everyone who promoted and extended this murder for hire scheme should suffer the full consequences.