From the AP:
Five American troops were killed within 24 hours in southern Afghanistan, where Taliban militants have conducted an unrelenting campaign of bombings and attacks against U.S. and NATO forces.
This has been the deadliest year of the war for international forces and the Obama administration is debating whether to add still more troops to the 21,000-strong influx that began pouring into the country over the summer.
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The U.S. is on track to have 68,000 troops in Afghanistan by the end of 2009, but the Pentagon said McChrystal would ask this week for as many as 40,000 new forces. Some question the wisdom of sending more troops to support a government facing allegations of widespread fraud in last month's disputed vote.
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In a report to the White House, McChrystal argued that military commanders need to be less preoccupied with protecting their troops and send them out into Afghan communities more. He acknowledged this "could expose military personnel and civilians to greater risk in the near term," but said the payoff in terms of forging ties with the Afghan people would be worth it.
"Accepting some risk in the short term will ultimately save lives in the long run," he wrote.
I hope that Obama realizes that he is taking ownership of the war in Afghanistan.
According to Operation Enduring Freedom the total number of US troop deaths in Afghanistan is at 848. Total number of coalition fatalities stands at 1415.
Countries which have lost wars in Afghanistan in the last couple of hundred years: Britain twice in the 19th century, the Soviet Union in the 20th century. What is the end game in this war?
More troops equal more casualties for the coalition and for the Afghans.
Pray for peace in Afghanistan.
H/T to TPM.
At first I was not sure about going into Iraq, but then became totally against it. At first I was for going into Afghanistan but now am unsure.
ReplyDeleteJust got done with Three Cups of Tea (I recommend it). I also recommend both books The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns. They are great until you get to the lame endings.
If we pull out, what hope is there? If we stay, what hope is there?
I agree.. what is the End Game?
Brian, I was against the Iraq war from the beginning because I knew that Bush & Co. were lying to us.
ReplyDeleteI was for the war in Afghanistan, but then we pretty much abandoned it to fight in Iraq. With the wisdom of hindsight, I doubt that even if we had concentrated our efforts there, we would have had success.
Anyway, it's time now to see if we can figure out a way to extricate ourselves within a decent time period, while doing the least harm to the coalition troops and to the people in the country.