Ok, so (in plain English) we agree that the current Administration is blaming the Bush administration for having no plan for Afganistan.
Las week the former vice pres stated that the Afganistan plan presented by our current administration in March very closely resembles what was given to them by the outgoing administration.
"Myers said he wasn't surprised that Obama hasn't spoken to McChrystal more than once.
"The president gets advice not only from Gen. McChrystal but Gen. Petraeus, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, from Secretary Gates, and you have to believe that's going on all the time whether or not he's talking directly to Gen. McChrystal.
"Gen. McChrystal's thoughts and advice is being pushed up to the president through the chain of command. And so I don't find it all that surprising."
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Tuesday he doesn't think Obama has spoken to McChrystal since he issued his report on Aug. 30, but he added that Obama reads a daily memo from him and Gen. Ray Odierno in Iraq updating him on both wars, and the president meets regularly with Gates and Mullen."
OK then Obama is getting advice "all the time" from his commanders who are using the "chain of command", they meet "regularly" receives a "daily memo".
Has that been happening since he took office? Seems as COC that would be happening....so what could be the delay?
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Yes, but Mr. Do Nothing promised the troops he talked to in Jacksonville today that he would not send them in harm's way without a clear plan, and without the majority of the American people behind him.
The message to the troops currently serving in Afghanistan is that your help is not on the way, and Mr. Do Nothing doesn't care about you.
So, you people in Afghanistan whose force strength is 14 fewer today, and shrinking a littl more every day, keep putting your women soldiers on the wall with a .50 cal serving sentry duty, in clear violation of current policy, because there aren't enough men over there to get the job done.
On the lighter side I heard the POTUS had decided not to send additional troops to Afganistan......instead those troops would be used to attack FOX News.
Originally posted by jacoastie: On the lighter side I heard the POTUS had decided not to send additional troops to Afganistan......instead those troops would be used to attack FOX News.
I heard the plans will be finalized in 2011!
Kidding aside, I just don't understand what he's waiting for. I'd hope that the delay is not for political reasons. Commit to winning or pull our guys out. With morale in the dumper, a perceived indecisive CinC could create some serious problems the guys on the ground.
Eight U.S. troops killed in Afghan bomb attacks Tue Oct 27, 2009 10:28am EDT Featured Broker sponsored link
KABUL (Reuters) - Eight U.S. service members working for the NATO-led force and one Afghan civilian were killed in multiple bomb attacks in southern Afghanistan on Tuesday, the alliance said in a statement.
The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said several troops were also wounded in the "multiple complex (bomb) attacks" but would not give further details of the attacks, which come a day after 11 U.S. troops were killed in two helicopter crashes.
U.S. official resigns over Afghan war Foreign Service officer and former Marine captain says he no longer knows why his nation is fighting
Matthew Hoh was asked to stay in the job.
Washington Post Staff Writer Tuesday, October 27, 2009
When Matthew Hoh joined the Foreign Service early this year, he was exactly the kind of smart civil-military hybrid the administration was looking for to help expand its development efforts in Afghanistan.
But last month, in a move that has sent ripples all the way to the White House, Hoh, 36, became the first U.S. official known to resign in protest over the Afghan war, which he had come to believe simply fueled the insurgency.
"I have lost understanding of and confidence in the strategic purposes of the United States' presence in Afghanistan," he wrote Sept. 10 in a four-page letter to the department's head of personnel. "I have doubts and reservations about our current strategy and planned future strategy, but my resignation is based not upon how we are pursuing this war, but why and to what end."
The reaction to Hoh's letter was immediate. Senior U.S. officials, concerned that they would lose an outstanding officer and perhaps gain a prominent critic, appealed to him to stay.
U.S. Ambassador Karl W. Eikenberry brought him to Kabul and offered him a job on his senior embassy staff. Hoh declined. From there, he was flown home for a face-to-face meeting with Richard C. Holbrooke, the administration's special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan.
"We took his letter very seriously, because he was a good officer," Holbrooke said in an interview. "We all thought that given how serious his letter was, how much commitment there was, and his prior track record, we should pay close attention to him."
Meanwhile a Major Offensive was launched this weekend aginst FOX News. FOX and Friends has been reportedly taking hits as well as shots fired at SH and BO.
A senior Administration official has vowed to fight to the bitter end. The official who asked to remain annonomous also denied that Code Pink was being used for flanking manuvers and states that accusations that MSNBC were "tools" were completely false.
Originally posted by jacoastie: Meanwhile a Major Offensive was launched this weekend aginst FOX News. FOX and Friends has been reportedly taking hits as well as shots fired at SH and BO.
A senior Administration official has vowed to fight to the bitter end. The official who asked to remain annonomous also denied that Code Pink was being used for flanking manuvers and states that accusations that MSNBC were "tools" were completely false.
Hillary Clinton was sent to go check on the progress and it is rumored she dodged sniper fire while getting to her vantage point!
On Special Report, one of the guests said the early intel is the Prez will come out soon and offer up to 20K in troops. If true, that is roughly half of the total General McChrystal would like to get. It is known as McChrystal Light. It was noted that will be a political compromise and has nothing to do with strategy. Again, if it's true that Prez Obama did (or will do) this with a hidden political agenda to appease a constituent base (like the Pinkers)....we're in trouble. At that point, I say pull the troops out.
The longer the Prez "dithers", as noted by VP Cheney, questions on his leadership will continue to grow both here and abroad. This is where I see some use from Sen John McCain. I do agree with him on this AND he called it right in Iraq. This is a teachable moment for the Prez. If the Prez was smart, he would involve McCain as a military advisor and heed his and the General's advice.
Below is an article from a UK paper. It's pointing the finger at VP Biden as the roadblock within the Administration.
Nato defence ministers signalled their backing for the Afghan strategy put forward by the American commander General Stanley McChrystal yesterday in an implicit rejection of the alternative plan proposed by US Vice-President Joe Biden.
The general had made an unscheduled appearance at the meeting of ministers in Bratislava, Slovakia, to give a presentation behind closed doors. Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the Nato secretary general, said: "What we did today was to discuss General McChrystal's overall assessment, his overall approach, and I have noted a broad support from all ministers of this overall counter-insurgency approach."
The US Defence Secretary, Robert Gates, said he was at the summit "mainly in a listening mode" with his Nato counterparts. Significantly, he added: "Many allies spoke positively about General McChrystal's assessment."
The general has asked for between 20,000 and 40,000 extra troops to implement his counter-insurgency strategy. This is being opposed by an influential faction led by Vice-President Biden who has spoken against sending large-scale reinforcements and wants, instead, to concentrate on a counter-terrorism mission hunting al-Qa'ida across the border in Pakistan.
Diplomatic sources say Nato endorsement of General McChrystal has led to anger in the Biden camp. They had criticised the commander for promoting his strategy, including on a visit to London, while President Barack Obama is still weighing up the options.
In Britain, the head of the Army, General Sir David Richards, has led allied military leaders in stressing that "more boots on the ground" were needed to establish security. The UK is already committed to sending 500 extra troops although the actual deployment will not be mounted until President Obama announces his decision.
Mr Gates said the announcement was still two or three weeks away, and he cautioned that it was "vastly premature" to draw conclusions now about whether the President would deploy more troops. He added that some countries had indicated a willingness to add to both their military and civil aid. Spain, Germany, the Netherlands and Denmark would not send more troops just yet. A further Nato meeting on Afghanistan is planned next month.
Originally posted by TVCJohn: On Special Report, one of the guests said the early intel is the Prez will come out soon and offer up to 20K in troops. If true, that is roughly half of the total General McChrystal would like to get. It is known as McChrystal Light. It was noted that will be a political compromise and has nothing to do with strategy. Again, if it's true that Prez Obama did (or will do) this with a hidden political agenda to appease a constituent base (like the Pinkers)....we're in trouble. At that point, I say pull the troops out.
C'mon Master Chief, shouldn't you as a Flight Mech (and for that matter any PIC you've flown with) be happy to just fly on one engine? 1/2 of what is needed is just as good right? It would save fuel and hours on the other and your AIRSTA CO would have less heat to deal with from above about "conserving" resources.
Just let the cards fall where they may there but let whoever wins over there know that the USA will make sure they stay in the stone age if they mess with us.
Originally posted by TVCJohn: On Special Report, one of the guests said the early intel is the Prez will come out soon and offer up to 20K in troops. If true, that is roughly half of the total General McChrystal would like to get. It is known as McChrystal Light. It was noted that will be a political compromise and has nothing to do with strategy. Again, if it's true that Prez Obama did (or will do) this with a hidden political agenda to appease a constituent base (like the Pinkers)....we're in trouble. At that point, I say pull the troops out.
C'mon Master Chief, shouldn't you as a Flight Mech (and for that matter any PIC you've flown with) be happy to just fly on one engine? 1/2 of what is needed is just as good right? It would save fuel and hours on the other and your AIRSTA CO would have less heat to deal with any heat from above "conserving" resources.
Ha! I use to do the one engine thing with the H-52. With the twin engine going single....a smaller carbon footprint! It will be a sad day in Whoville when the CG has to budget for carbon credits...but that's for another thread.
For Moe.....that's a good question...what is over there to fight for? Off the top of my head I would respond to prevent the terrorists from having a homebase and we don't want them to get access to the nukes in P-Stan.
It will be a sad day in Whoville when the CG has to budget for carbon credits...but that's for another thread.
