DoD Secretary Panetta surprised many – including the Karzai government – when he announced yesterday in Brussels that coalition combat operations in Afghanistan would be wound down by the middle of next year, 18 months before the scheduled withdrawal of US troops. He did so despite the fact that captured Taliban continue to believe that time is on their side, and that their movement is prepared to sweep back into power as soon as coalition forces withdraw.
They may even be right. But in between that time and this, the US Marine Corps is on the hunt for Taliban in Sangin and Helmand provinces. And in the meantime they will fight, and some may die. Writing sympathetically and evocatively in the New York Times Magazine, Luke Mogelson describes what that fight looks like, and will look like in the intervening time.
It’s a great read.
I hated being over in AFGHN but in retrospect, the time I spent there with our best & brightest was a privilege few will ever get. The time in Helmand with the USMC especially….what a great group and what a great time. None wants to be there but they are doing a herculean task.
Obama now displays his FRENCH heritage as he is declaring ” retreat”. What a horse’s arse. We pin the Taliban down, get the country standing (shakily) on it’s feet then turn it back over to the bastards who will go right back to using it as a base for terror? This is all being done so Obama can get on the stump this Summer and declare he is the only one to bring the troops home from IRAQ & AFGHN.
The VILLAGE IDIOT FROM CHICAGO is an embarrassment to our country and make us look weak. He is the sole cause of our losing stature with our allies.
We have declared to the world we will start a fight but in the end, turn the defenseless back over to the murderers. The Taliban must be rejoicing as all they have to do is wait it out. What will we do in 2014 when they start hanging 7 year children like they did previously in Kandahar ?
This invalidates the sacrifices of all who fought there and wanted to see a free nation. Obama will be chastised as a coward for the rest of his life, and rightly so.
I admire the Marines’ sense of duty and am absolutely in awe as to their continued willingness to do their duty despite the fact that their civilian leadership has now decided upon a “when-to-lose-date” for Afghanistan (after dithering for so long leading up to it). So, the Marines will probably keep losing men and limbs and it will all be meaningless and useless. From this point in time when the civilians “leading” the military have declared ‘it’s over as of’ whatever date, the Marines, in fact all in the military, should refuse to go further: No more volunteering just to become wasted statistics.
I just finished reading Robin Olds’ autobiography and he had it right: When asked ‘How to end the Vietnam War?’ He said, “Win it.” We’ve apparently learned little since LBJ & Co. misused and misled the military and our society into and throughout Vietnam. Either we are in it to win or we should not be involved at all. And we owe it to those who have volunteered to do the unbelievably difficult military tasks for us to make certain that we use their service in an honorable and realistic fashion. We should never waste the lives, limbs, or minds of those who serve to protect us. Yet this latest decision seems to do just that by saying ‘we’re done next year’ (despite whatever the Afghan status is then). So, which Marine or other service members get to be the last ones to die or be maimed over the next months? And the key question is ‘why’? Why any more if we’re cutting and running? Our government makes me so sick and angry so often. Good thing we aren’t letting any Taliban out of Gitmo, too.
Afghanistan was lost when we invaded iraq and made a sideshow of the country from 2003. We only stayed because osama bin laden was lurking in the area (not a cave but a pakistan hacienda). The pakistanis have cut off an important supply route for nato troops (i meant american troops). As a tired taxpayer, it seems the marines are suppose to patrol a stretch of territory, get bombed and killed or injured , watch the corruptness of the “interim government” and go out and patrol again. A very costly version of the movie “groundhog day”.
Some things are not winnable–particularly in a tribal area. And for all the congressman who say stay there where are their kids serving?
So if we could have “won” in 2003 without the “distraction” of Iraq, what keep us from winning in 2012? Other than you are just tired and want to quit. Please. Inquiring minds want to know something more than the cackling of the choir at MSNBC.
Unfortunately, “quitting” is not an option for my second born – currently residing at one of the places mentioned in this article, dressed like the guys in these pictures, stepping in the same steps as them.
Mission creep: originally we went into Afghanistan because the Taliban, the de facto government of Afghanistan, were harboring Al Qaeda. Now we are fighting against the Taliban, a group supported by many Afghans, because–why? Because they don’t like us? Because we don’t like them? Because some day Al Qaeda might return? The Taliban are murderous bastards: and interestingly, many women’s libbers, not usually friends of the DOD, want to see the Taliban GONE because of their mistreatment of women. Not sure this is a good reason for a war, though. And I’m not aware of the Taliban having any capability to execute terror operations beyond their own territory. Basically, we decapitated their country, plunging it into chaos, and now we’re combat operations against this stealthy foe just because we don’t have any better ideas. Bring ‘em home.
My money’s on Panetta and his buffoon of a boss “winding down” far sooner than the middle of next year.
So Leon has announced the date. Since the Taliban / AQ etc. now know when we’ll depart the AO, what’s really to be lost by leaving immediately? We already said “we quit”, why wait? Like the vets that preceeded me say, “I don’t know what happened, we were winning when I left.” I used to see humor in that. It brings me to tears now.
So Leon has announced the date. Since the Taliban / AQ etc. now know when we’ll depart the AO, what’s really to be lost by leaving immediately? We already said “we quit”, why wait? Like the vets that preceeded me say, “we were winning when I left.” I used to see humor in that. It brings me to tears now.
I had hoped we would declare victory and depart, leaving the locals to resume their endless intramural killing at their leisure.
However, it now seems that our national “leadership” has decided that instead, we will stage a full scale surrender ceremony and retreat in abject and apologetic defeat. Undoubtedly with commitments to dump billions of borrowed dollars into that cesspool of Islamic backwardness.
Why does Obama hate our country? How stupid are the people who voted for him once? And how many will be stupid enough to do it again?
“Why does Obama hate our country? How stupid are the people who voted for him once? And how many will be stupid enough to do it again?”
To answer these questions, which are really all pretty much the same question or at least they share the same answer: It’s not just Obama who hates the traditional USA and its values and norms….so do a lot of the people who voted him in and who will vote for him and his like again and again. Those hardcore Obama supporters don’t have the same ‘investment’ in our country being special the way we see that it is. They’ve been mis-educated, or they plainly lack education, and they support the idea of others doing the work to support them. The other voters who put him over the top and into office likely won’t be fooled into voting for him again just because they can be ‘historic’ by voting for a black man – hopefully they will also get beyond their soft racism so that they can actually critically view Obama’s performance.