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OH YEAH… OH YEAH… OH REALLY… OH YEAH… BOOOOOOM!
The White House has confirmed that Barack Obama will announce an American exit strategy from Afghanistan (with short term troop increases, no it doesn’t make sense to me either) next Tuesday. I wonder will it be anything like this?
November 25th, 2009.
November 26th, 2009 at 5:56 pm
Funny. Missed that first time around.
“If the real reason we’re here is to let the Iraqis run their own country, I have the perfect solution: my ass on a plane to St. Louis.”
Afghanistan is nearer a Vietnam comparison for the US than Iraq though, and even then its very different. There is a definite shift from the US that they would like to get out of there, but after convincing other NATO countries to go in the first place, which most of them are only offering to stay to keep the yanks sweet, they would not easily forgive a u-turn now that made them look even more slavish by having to u-turn also. The troop increase seems to be designed to allow everyone to get their house in order and get the fuck out, let the Chinese defend their own mines. I really hope they are not trying to bluff Karzai into not being a crook, he won’t blink. The locals have a noose for that fuck
November 27th, 2009 at 12:04 am
Like Tony Blair, Obama appears terrified of being branded a pussy by his domestic opponents (and probably for good reason too.) It’s a variation on the Only Nixon Can Go To China principle – Only Not-Nixon Can Not-Go to China.
Like Vietnam before it though, Afghanistan is now at a point where a fair minded, neutral observer would be hard pressed, if asked to put themselves into the shoes of an ordinary Afghani, to decide which side was less repugnant to his interests than the other.
November 27th, 2009 at 12:35 pm
Re only Nixon. You mean only Obama could have increased the troop levels like this? I don’t know, I could see a McCain going for another surge.
Re Afghani interests, women are ordinary Afghanis also, some of the Taliban will have to be brought in from the cold and compromises will have to be made that are repugnant to us. The country deserves a happy ending, but its hard to even see a satisfactory one