Now Afghanistan Is The Quagmire
by Big Dog on Apr 9, 2009 at 23:40 Military, Political
After 9/11 the United States went after terrorists in Afghanistan and then moved into Iraq thus fighting a war on two fronts. The Democrats were up in arms. Remember how Afghanistan was the right war and that Bush took his eye off the ball in Afghanistan and allowed bin Laden to escape because he was focused on Iraq? Iraq was the quagmire, the new Vietnam, the wrong war in the wrong place at the wrong time. If we wanted bin Laden all we had to do was follow GI Joe Biden into Afghanistan where his helicopter was forced down. Though it sounds good the reality is the chopper was forced down because of bad weather. It was snowing. The only thing Biden would find is Yeti.
Now that the sainted won is in control he has settled on some sort of draw down of troops in Iraq and he is beefing up the forces in Afghanistan, the right war, in the right place, at the right time. Or is it?
Now that Democrats have what they say they wanted, focus back on Afghanistan, they are changing their tune. Now Afghanistan is a quagmire.
“I can’t imagine any way I’d vote for it,” said Rep. Lynn Woolsey, a California Democrat and leader in the 77-member congressional Progressive Caucus. It would be her first major break with this White House.
Ms. Woolsey fears the president’s plan for Iraq would leave behind a big occupation force. She is also concerned about the planned escalation in Afghanistan. “I don’t think we should be going there,” she said.
Similar sentiments echo across the House. Rep. Jim McGovern (D., Mass.) said he fears Afghanistan could become a quagmire. “I just have this sinking feeling that we’re getting deeper and deeper into a war that has no end,” he said.
Rep. John Conyers (D., Mich.) dismissed Mr. Obama’s plans as “embarrassingly naive,” and suggested that the president is being led astray by those around him. “He’s the smartest man in American politics today,” Rep. Conyers said. “But he occasionally gets bad advice and makes mistakes. This is one of those instances.” Common Dreams
These statements are from people who are part of the party that claimed Afghanistan was the right war. This is where Bush failed to get bin Laden and where he took his eye off the ball. Though Resident Obama vacillated at first, to his credit, he is sending more troops and asking for more money to get the job done. This is something he said he would do when he campaigned and, for now, he is doing just that.
He will face opposition from his own party because now that they are in power and we have victory in Iraq (no thanks to any of them) they have decided that Afghanistan is now the wrong war as well.
It would appear that as long as Afghanistan could be used against President Bush in order to beat him up over Iraq, it was the right war. Now that we have won in Iraq and can refocus on Afghanistan that is no longer the right war.
I know that Democrats are in office and hold the majority and I know that the only thing they know about war is how to lose. They only care about winning one thing and that is elected office. Regardless of who is in the White House my attitude is still the same. There is only one way out and that is VICTORY.
Democrats should keep in mind that Bush won Iraq. Afghanistan now belongs to them. That was the war they wanted and that is the one they got and they will be responsible for the outcome. If they pull out and lose it will be on them.
Patton said it best. Americans love a winner and cannot stand a loser.
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Tags: afghanistan, Democrats, funding, Iraq, Obama, quagmire, vietnam
Having just had my first cup of coffee of hte morning, I may be somewhat fuzzy, but the only reason that bin Laden was able to escape was that there were Democrats that hesitated to send troops into Afghanistan at first, Democrats being what Democrats are, so Bush was having to fight the was with CIA assets, and there were not enough boots on the ground.
Afghanistan is a hard enough nut to crack, because there is really only civilization in Kabul- the rest of it is tribal in the extreme, and Democracy is a concept that is, by and large, disdained. Why would a tribal leader, who has power for life (brief though that might be) give up power for the people?
The Russians lost in Afghanistan in the ’80s- what makes us believe, (especially with a Democratic president) that we will prevail? I know that conspiracy nuts are still waiting for Cheney to appear with the head of bin Laden, but the truth is that we wold have to send in Delta Force, the seals, and Green Berets, all with orders to kill on sight whoever got in their way, in order to get Osama, and any Taliban leader.
Do we have the political will to do this? I highly doubt it, so this “Overseas Contingency Operation” will be nothing more than a distraction, so people might not notice what else the Anointed One is doing to rape our country.