There’s quite a discussion going on in the blogosphere regarding President Obamateur’s Afghanistan plans, which Surrendie suggests you can view over at Memeorandum (here and here), but here is some information the Surrender Monkey is thrilled with, and thinks people are missing, and it takes the far left UK Guardian to show
The Obama administration believes it has only a small window of opportunity, possibly just a year, to turn around the situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan before US public support begins to erode, diplomatic and military officials say.
An official said yesterday that Obama’s planners thought they had about 12 months to show measurable progress in Afghanistan before public support would wane and the policy turn into a Democratic-Republican political issue.
The planners fear the war could become an election issue as the mid-term Congressional elections in November next year draw near, and that Congress might be reluctant to fund the strategy.
So, President Perpetual Campaign is more concerned with politics and elections then actually doing all he can to fighting against Islamists. Unsurprising, to say the least. Especially since he took no questions on Iraq nor Afghanistan at his little presser Tuesday night, and the only one he responded to during his campaign Internet Town Hall Thursday was about out of work Afghanistan and Iraq war vets. All this as he is set to send 17,000 more troops to Afghanistan, the war he said was the right one hundred, if not thousands of times, since he hit the national stage. The one he said we would win. The one he said he would escalate into NW Pakistan (not that I am against that, but he and his admin need to learn to shut their yapps and keep certain things secret.)
Public support for the strategy in Afghanistan, Pakistan and the US is seen as a crucial factor that could determine its fate. US cross-border drone attacks on targets in Pakistan are seen, in places, as damaging to public support. The US is not now expected to launch more cross-border ground raids.
Hopefully, that last part means they have learn to shut it, and will continue with the raids. But, I wonder if Gallup, Zogby, et all will now dictate military action in Afghanistan? Anyhow, once he makes his announcements today, which are supposedly not going to include any timelines (look up), it becomes Obama’s war.
More: hey, speaking of Afghanistan, which organization, which President Neophyte wants to give billions to under his Global Poverty Act (which, humorously, even as president he can’t get it passed. Yet.), had an employee swindle around half a billion dollars for his own personal benefit?
Russia stayed for 10 years before they left. At some point Teach could you see the Russsians aiding the Taliban like we did ?
Russia got kicked out. As to them helping the Taliban, I doubt it. We were not really helping Islamist jihadi’s, but Muslims fighting against Soviet aggression.
But, let me be clear: I want Obama and the US to succeed in Afghanistan in our fight against Islamists.