Newsweek Cover: RETHINKING AFGHANISTAN - "We're Not Winning -- It's Not Worth It"

[kpete]

Richard Haass In Newsweek: Rethink Afghanistan Because Nation Building Is Not Working And We're Not Winning
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/07/17/richard-haass-in-newsweek_n_650091.html



SIREN -- BREAKING FIRST LOOK -- Cover of the NEWSWEEK closing tonight is “RETHINKING AFGHANISTAN … We're not winning. It's not worth it. Here's how to draw down in Afghanistan,” by Richard N. Haass: “GOP chairman Michael … Steele's critics are the ones who are wrong: the RNC chair was more correct than not on the substance of his statement, if not the politics. The war being waged by the United States in Afghanistan today is fundamentally different and more ambitious than anything carried out by the Bush administration. Afghanistan is very much Barack Obama's war of choice, a point that the president underscored recently by picking Gen. David Petraeus to lead an intensified counterinsurgency effort there. After nearly nine years of war, however, continued or increased U.S. involvement in Afghanistan isn't likely to yield lasting improvements that would be commensurate in any way with the investment of American blood and treasure. It is time to scale down our ambitions there and both reduce and redirect what we do. … The war the United States is now fighting in Afghanistan is not succeeding and is not worth waging in this way. The time has come to scale back U.S. objectives and sharply reduce U.S. involvement on the ground. Afghanistan is claiming too many American lives, requiring too much attention, and absorbing too many resources. The sooner we accept that Afghanistan is less a problem to be fixed than a situation to be managed, the better.” Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations, is the author of “War of Necessity, War of Choice: A Memoir of Two Iraq Wars.” Cover image http://politi.co/9JZCXv Article online Sunday

more:
http://www.politico.com/playbook/0710/playbook1113.html

[Bloofer_Lady]

1. I honestly don't think we'll pull out.

I think our twisted obsession with not ever wanting to 'lose' anything determines that. We should get the hell out of there in my opinion.

[WinkyDink]

7. See: Saigon.

[Bloofer_Lady]

9. I can totally envision that happening there.

Sad as that is.

[ixion]

2. Talk about stating the obvious

I wonder what year their first clue kicked in. :eyes:

[Warpy]

3. This is a good sign

Obama had consensus from the public on increasing troop strength in Afghanistan when he took office.

He has since said the 2011 is "firm" for withdrawal.

This is just trying to change that consensus that Afghanistan is somehow a "good" war that we can win, somehow.

Expect the press to be full of this stuff.

Steele was right again, again for all the wrong reasons.

[mike_c]

4. but will tens of thousands of troops be left in Afghanistan after we "withdraw..."

...like in Iraq?

[Warpy]

8. I can't imagine so

because Afghanistan was always kind of an afterthought, a war Stupid got distracted by when he really wanted to go after oil.

The oil boys still fantasize about all that oil and that's the reason our empire will still have a large presence in Iraq.

Well, until they get it together and kick us out. Which they will.

[Oceansaway]

5. K&R...n/t

[kgnu_fan]

6. finally, newsweek is saying something worthwhile

all chicken media, say something true, otherwise, worthless!

[TheCowsCameHome]

10. Now if only someone would do something about it.......

[Robb]

11. Council on Foreign Relations: Steele was right, Obama is wrong.

:rofl: Ooookay, DU. :D

[Fuzz]

12. Um, Duh.

[Kablooie]

13. Ok, get out your tie dyes. Time to go on the antiwarpath again.

One big problem though.
There is no draft to threaten youth directly.
Without that, Vietnam protests might not have been as urgent.

[Festivito]

14. more like: Nation Building Is Not Winning Profits And Neither Is Ground Warring

What good is a war when you no longer can control who gets all the contracts, I ask ya.