Can anybody tell me? http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-afghan-violence7-2009aug07,0,6266361.story The plan is not clear but what is clear is that 5 Marines got killed there today. Where are the democrats who were screaming for troop pullout timelines? Where is Harry Reid to declare that the war has been lost?
US is a young and immature country as far as foreign policy is concerned learning to stay away from afghanistan is a lesson that needs to be learned the hard way. Afghanistan is a hell hole, a dollar spent there is a crime. When idiot Rumsfeld was talking smack about how easily US won in afghanistan, he failed to realize that "fun" in afghanistan begins later. US should have simply bribed taliban to get bin laden, but it was never about him in the first place. It is about control of central asia.
Worth the price? A couple hundred marines get killed in Lebanon, for what nobody can remember now, and Reagan counterattacked on an island in the Caribbean that I bet you can't find on a map. Neither can I. Just like Osama attacked NY and DC, planning and training for it in Afghanistan, and Bush counterattacked in Iraq. Obama is cleaning up the mess left behind by Bush. Republicans love to wave the flag, but they seem to have no idea that it's called the Department of Defense. A little history: back in the day, the Air Force used to actually defend the continental US. One base from which it did this was Stewart AFB in Newburgh, not too far from NYC. This was closed in 1972. Come 9/11, the closest AFB was up in New England. They responded as fast as they could, but got to lower Manhattan only in time to watch it burn. Sorry if you think defending the actual people of the US is a low priority. Some of us think it's the highest priority there is.
If we had concentrated all our resources in Afganistan after 911, we would have killed OBL by now and finished up the conservative Talibans. Instead we go to Iraq, and have fewer troops in Afganistan. The government gives tax cuts instead of using the money to fund our soldiers. For seven years Bush could not finish what he started and now it is time to blame Obama as if he created the mess.