US troop build-up in Afghanistan may be gaining favor

[masuki bance]

06 Oct 2009 22:08:27 GMT
Source: Reuters

* Gates' remarks suggest he is likely to favor more troops

By Adam Entous and Phil Stewart

WASHINGTON, Oct 6 (Reuters) - The Obama administration is strongly considering a war strategy that incorporates at least some additional forces in Afghanistan alongside a stepped up campaign against al Qaeda and Taliban targets in Pakistan.

...

Combining an expanded counterinsurgency campaign in Afghanistan with more counterterrorism operations inside Pakistan's tribal areas would be consistent with the administration's existing strategy, launched in March.

Stephen Cohen, an expert at the Brookings Institution think tank, said it was "inconceivable" that Obama would abandon a counterinsurgency strategy so soon after launching it.

...


Obama has shown a disposition for the middle ground when other policies have run into trouble, and his Afghanistan strategy could follow the same pattern.

This approach could have political advantages at home, even if opinion is divided about whether it would be successful in the field.

Sending as many as 40,000 additional troops -- an option advocated by the top commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, according to congressional officials -- could spark a backlash within the president's own Democratic party.

A smaller increase of between 10,000 and 15,000 troops, a large portion of whom would focus on training Afghan forces, would provoke some opposition from Democrats but probably not enough to force a change of course, analysts said.

Some analysts see the middle ground as the worst possible way forward, because it risks maintaining a status quo in which McChrystal has too few resources to turn the tide against the Taliban and to stem rising U.S. and NATO casualties.

Breaking ranks with fellow Democrats, the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, Ike Skelton, told Obama last month he would be making a mistake if he adopted a "half-ass it and hope" strategy like his predecessor, George W. Bush.

...

In a roundtable with CNN aired on Tuesday, Gates warned of the consequences of letting the Taliban and al Qaeda claim victory over a "second superpower" -- the United States -- two decades after U.S.-backed mujahideen fighters forced the Soviets to withdraw.

GATES'S SHIFTING VIEWS

Gates has been a strong advocate of a counterinsurgency strategy focused more on securing Afghan public support than killing insurgents, but had expressed concerns that a larger force risked being viewed by the population as occupiers.

In recent weeks, he has said McChrystal had addressed some of those concerns.

A proposed 40,000 troop increase next year, the soonest Pentagon officials say such a build up could be carried out, would push the U.S. military presence in Afghanistan to 108,000, just below the 120,000 deployed by the Soviets in Afghanistan in the 1980s.

...

Seeking to allay worried Pakistani and Afghan leaders, Gates said on Monday: "We are not leaving Afghanistan."

...

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N06444277.htm

It's time to end the occupations.

[IndianaGreen]

1. This is what happened in Vietnam in July 1965

Wednesday 28:
Vietnam War: US President Lyndon B. Johnson announces his order to increase the number of United States troops in South Vietnam from 75,000 to 125,000.

http://www.spiritus-temporis.com/1965/

[ShortnFiery]

2. Propaganda and Disinformation + Outright Lies and Fear mongering.

http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/talk/blogs/oleeb/2009/09/attack-iran-hell-no-another-re.php?ref=recdc

Our ruling elites have no credibility left at all with the public. If you don't think so, look at the total disconnect on the healthcare debate in Washington and the preferences of the vast majority of the American people. Or, if that isn't enough, take a look at the completely out of touch policy discussions going on in DC versus the very well established fact that the majority of our citizens oppose the war in Afghanistan and want us out of there as soon as possible. Take a look at the complete and total disgust and disapproval by the American people for what both parties did to steal from the taxpayers in order to pay off the bad debts/bets of our financial industry and banking barons. And now we are expected to trust this pack of untrustworthy swine when it comes to how much of a threat Iran poses to us and what we should do about it? It is simply mind-boggling how out of touch, arrogant and unworthy are ruling class has become.


Any military strike against Iran is not only unwise, but profoundly stupid and could be catastrophic for the United States. Chinese leaders are undoubtedly toasting the stupidity of the American rulers as they see the future being a completely open field for them once the Americans bankrupt themselves on their endless imperial wars and equally endless government subsidy for the corrupt and criminal financial industry.

[masuki bance]

3. kick.