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Flagstaffsooner
3/8/2009, 04:55 AM
The latest from our stupid prez....
Obama considers reaching out to Taliban
3 hours ago
WASHINGTON (AFP) — US President Barack Obama said, in an interview published Sunday, that the United States is not winning the war in Afghanistan and hinted at possible talks with moderate elements of the Taliban.
Highlighting the success of the US strategy of bringing some Sunni Iraqi insurgents to the negotiating table and away from Al-Qaeda, Obama told The New York Times that "there may be some comparable opportunities in Afghanistan and the Pakistani region."
The strategy in Iraq had been developed by General David Petraeus, then commander of US forces in the country.
"If you talk to General Petraeus, I think he would argue that part of the success in Iraq involved reaching out to people that we would consider to be Islamic fundamentalists, but who were willing to work with us because they had been completely alienated by the tactics of Al-Qaeda in Iraq," Obama said in the interview published in the online edition of the Times.
But Obama warned that Afghanistan was not Iraq, and that reconciliation efforts could face difficulties.
"The situation in Afghanistan is, if anything, more complex. You have a less governed region, a history of fierce independence among tribes. Those tribes are multiple and sometimes operate at cross purposes, so figuring all that out is going to be a much more of a challenge," he said.
During his presidential campaign last year, Obama told Time magazine that opportunities to negotiate with some Taliban elements "should be explored."
Asked by the Times if the United States was winning the war in Afghanistan, which he has called the "central front in the war on terror," Obama simply replied: "No."
"You've seen conditions deteriorate over the last couple of years. The Taliban is bolder than it was. I think in the southern regions of the country, you're seeing them attack in ways that we have not seen previously," he said.
"The national government still has not gained the confidence of the Afghan people."
US-led forces ousted the Taliban regime in Afghanistan shortly after the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States, but Islamist militants regrouped in recent years and are waging an intensifying and spreading Taliban-led insurgency.
Shortly after taking office in January, Obama launched a review of US policy toward Afghanistan and Pakistan that is set to be delivered before he heads to Europe on March 31 for a round of international meetings.
In his first major decision as commander-in-chief, he ordered the deployment of 17,000 additional troops to Afghanistan, saying they were needed to stabilize a deteriorating security situation.
Part of the troops' role will be to help boost security during Afghan presidential elections now set to take place in August.
"We've got to recast our policy so that our military, diplomatic and development goals are all aligned to ensure that Al-Qaeda and extremists that would do us harm don't have the kinds of safe havens that allow them to operate," Obama said.
Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden is widely believed to be hiding in the mountainous border region between Pakistan and Afghanistan, a known haven for Taliban extremists.
"At the heart of a new Afghanistan policy is going to be a smarter Pakistan policy. As long as you've got safe havens in these border regions that the Pakistani government can't control or reach, in effective ways, we're going to continue to see vulnerability on the Afghan side of the border," Obama said.
More than two dozen suspected US drone attacks have been carried out in Pakistan since August 2008, killing more than 200 people, most of them militants.
Pakistan is a key ally in the US-led "war against terror" but the missile strikes have fueled anti-American sentiment in the country, particularly in the tribal belt bordering Afghanistan.
US Vice President Joe Biden, who visited Southwest Asia recently, heads to Brussels on Monday for consultations with top NATO allies on a new US strategy in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Harry Beanbag
3/8/2009, 05:40 AM
It's alway good to tell the world you are losing and then say you hope to negotiate with those you are losing too.

What a ****ing maroon.

LoyalFan
3/8/2009, 07:44 AM
With every passing day we are confronted with yet more proof that this America-hating SOB is going to be the death of the United States Of America.
The plan:
Make everyone dependent on Big Brother.
Disarm the citizenry.
Encourage and embolden those sworn to destroy and/or enslave us...and rest of the world.
Demoralize our military and reduce it's capacity to fight, both in spirit and materiel.
Turn our beautiful nation into a hellhole for all but a few of the closet imams (Pelosi, Reid, Waters, Clinton[s], Durbin, etc.) who are every bit so evil as he.
In the meantime, allow the illegals from the hellholes to the South to take over what remains of our state and local governments.
Turncoat on our allies, thus reducing their will to resist the Plague of Radical Islam.
Oh, make no mistake. He has other tricks, every bit so lethal to America, up his sleeve.

LF

JohnnyMack
3/8/2009, 08:30 AM
It's alway good to tell the world you are losing and then say you hope to negotiate with those you are losing too.

What a ****ing maroon.

In all fairness, when was last time a foe was "winning" in that region? Ask the Soviets and Alexander the great how that worked out. And let's not forget W's strategy in the region, make a half-assed effort at pushing the Taliban back, pay off the warlords and then get distracted like a cat playing with tinsel and allow them to rebuild. Now that's not to say I agree with Obama on this, cause I do happen to think that the best way to negotiate with these people is with a tactical nuclear strike.

Jacie
3/8/2009, 08:51 AM
The Taliban is a problem but not the biggest one, at least not from our perspective. The Soviets took a beating and finally figured out that the best course of action was to get out. If we do that, however, we open ourselves up to an invasion, taht is from herion smuggling. Rather than nuke the Taliban, maybe we should try irradiating the parts Afghanistan where poppies are cultivated. Yeah, the locals will starve or die of radiation sickness. But short of that, I don't know how you solve this one. As pointed out, U.S.S.R. couldn't, the Brits couldn't and so on. Leave Afghanistan to the Taliban. They can have it if we can stop the heroin trade. Sorry girls.

Okla-homey
3/8/2009, 09:26 AM
IMHO, one of the biggest problems in Afghanistan is there is no government worthy of the name with which to negotiate or otherwise support. Karzai, the nominal president, is little more than the mayor of Kabul. The guys running the various regions are all like Jabba the Hut. As near as I could tell, its been that way since time immemorial.

The slick part was we captured the country with only a special forces group and a couple battalions of Marines by providing close air support and C3I to certain war lords we knew hated the Taliban. The tricky part came later.

AggieTool
3/8/2009, 10:33 AM
With every passing day we are confronted with yet more proof that this America-hating SOB is going to be the death of the United States Of America.

Well I didn't vote for him.:mad: You?



The plan:
Make everyone dependent on Big Brother.

As opposed to being dependent on big oil, CITI, and GM. How'd that work out?


Disarm the citizenry.

Please cite viable legislation to accomplish this.


Encourage and embolden those sworn to destroy and/or enslave us...and rest of the world.

You know you're right. Better stay in doors.:D


Demoralize our military and reduce it's capacity to fight, both in spirit and materiel.


You mean back-to-back tours in Iraq over yellowcake and aluminum tubes isn't demoralizing? Especially when we're paying insurgents not to blow up our troops? Hmmmm....have you heard the latest suicide stats on troops returning from Iraq?


Turn our beautiful nation into a hellhole for all but a few of the closet imams (Pelosi, Reid, Waters, Clinton[s], Durbin, etc.) who are every bit so evil as he.

Auntie Em!


In the meantime, allow the illegals from the hellholes to the South to take over what remains of our state and local governments.

What exactly has been done in the last 8 years about this problem? Can you name ONE business owner charged/prosecuted by a Bush appointed Federal Attorney/Judge for hiring illegals?:O Shiite, I 'll even take a local case.


Turncoat on our allies, thus reducing their will to resist the Plague of Radical Islam.


How has this happened again? Please cite source. Letting Israel and AIPAC call the shots isn't always in our best interest you know.;)


Oh, make no mistake. He has other tricks, every bit so lethal to America, up his sleeve.
LF
http://www.ilovebonnie.net/tinfoil-hat.jpg

Curly Bill
3/8/2009, 01:33 PM
The latest from our stupid prez....
Obama considers reaching out to Taliban
3 hours ago
WASHINGTON (AFP) — US President Barack Obama said, in an interview published Sunday, that the United States is not winning the war in Afghanistan and hinted at possible talks with moderate elements of the Taliban.



:rolleyes: :confused:

JLEW1818
3/8/2009, 01:39 PM
He's Obama tho, so it's gonna work. Obama just has ton of experience. ha

Curly Bill
3/8/2009, 01:45 PM
He's Obama tho, so it's gonna work. Obama just has ton of experience. ha

He's a naive clueless ****...

...but he sure does talk pretty (as long as there's a teleprompter involved)

JLEW1818
3/8/2009, 01:56 PM
"I DON'T CARE IF YOUR BLACK ORANGE WHITE BROWN BLUE OR RED, WE ARE AMERICA, AND I'M GONNA TRY AND SCARE THE HELL OUT OF PEOPLE SO I CAN WIN THEIR VOTE!!!!"

Whet
3/8/2009, 02:23 PM
Saul Alinsky would be proud:

"Any revolutionary CHANGE must be preceded by a passive, affirmative, non-challenging attitude toward CHANGE among the mass of our people. They must feel so frustrated, so defeated, so lost, so futureless in the prevailing system that they are willing to let go of the past and CHANGE the future."

"This acceptance is the reformation essential to any revolution. To bring on this reformation requires that the organizer work inside the system, among not only the middle class but the 40 per cent of American families –- more than seventy million people -– whose income range from $5,000 to $10,000 a year [in 1971]."

And what word comes out of Obama's mouth the most -- why, CHANGE!

SoonerProphet
3/8/2009, 02:28 PM
:rolleyes: :confused:

Surely people realize that this movement, much like all of political Islam, is a loose organization that has a diverse and evolving political leadership. I really doubt we'd be able to get Mullah Omar to sit down in some kind of jirga. These are diffuse groups with a brand name who represent varying interests and tribes in the region. It is imperative for any political settlement, cause that is ultimately what is neeeded, to be reached these groups must be included.

swardboy
3/8/2009, 04:05 PM
Nuke Wazirystan.

bonkuba
3/8/2009, 07:58 PM
Can't reason with 'em (any of 'em)........now way no how. I hate to say it but it is true. Anyone that believs otherwise is just kidding themselves.....seriously.

Whet
3/8/2009, 08:08 PM
Jimmy Carter gave away Afghanistan, too!

SoonerProphet
3/9/2009, 09:08 AM
http://www.uexpress.com/georgieannegeyer/?uc_full_date=20090302

Somehow I just don't think the "bomb back to the stone-age" or the "don't trust brown people" mentality is gonna solve the problem there...if there is a solution that is.

JohnnyMack
3/9/2009, 09:15 AM
http://www.uexpress.com/georgieannegeyer/?uc_full_date=20090302

Somehow I just don't think the "bomb back to the stone-age" or the "don't trust brown people" mentality is gonna solve the problem there...if there is a solution that is.

It's a region that's almost impossible to wage a traditional campaign in. The terrain simply doesn't allow for it. Sure the bigger cities can be toppled as we proved in 2002, but the main areas that the terrorists use as a base of operations are such remote hard to access towns/villages that short of bombing them they're a bit hard to get to.

And as far as "bomb back to the stone-age", I'm a pretty laid back fellow, but had I still think we let Al Qaida off the hook. I often ask myself what FDR or Harry Truman would have done had 09/11 happened on their watch.

Jacie
8/19/2009, 07:28 PM
The Taliban, though largely indigenous to Afghanistan, was nurtured by Pakistan's military and intelligence services. The Taliban "would have never been able to take over Afghanistan without that support," says Peter Bergen, CNN national security analyst.

"The Taliban has to be viewed as a creation of Pakistan intelligence with the objective of taking over Afghanistan and putting in a Pakistani-friendly government," says Elizabeth Gould , author of "Invisible History."

Afghan women's activist, Zieba Shorish-Shamley: "There is no such thing as a moderate Taliban," she said. "If you will show me a moderate Nazi, I will show you a moderate Taliban."

Shorish-Shamley agrees with Gould and says it is useless to negotiate with the Taliban.

tommieharris91
8/19/2009, 09:21 PM
http://www.uexpress.com/georgieannegeyer/?uc_full_date=20090302

Somehow I just don't think the "bomb back to the stone-age" or the "don't trust brown people" mentality is gonna solve the problem there...if there is a solution that is.

I've heard from a few sources that many Afghanis are about as smart as Neanderthals. How can we bomb them back to the stone age when they are already there? ;)

GottaHavePride
8/19/2009, 09:32 PM
It's not a point of intelligence - it's infrastructure. As in, they don't have any. There aren't roads, the only electricity they have is wherever they can carry a portable generator to, etc. etc.

Best option would be to wall them off and let them continue as little regional tribes and fight amongst themselves...

OUMallen
8/19/2009, 10:14 PM
IMHO, one of the biggest problems in Afghanistan is there is no government worthy of the name with which to negotiate or otherwise support. Karzai, the nominal president, is little more than the mayor of Kabul. The guys running the various regions are all like Jabba the Hut. As near as I could tell, its been that way since time immemorial.

The slick part was we captured the country with only a special forces group and a couple battalions of Marines by providing close air support and C3I to certain war lords we knew hated the Taliban. The tricky part came later.

Don't be humble with that, Homey, because that might be the single-biggest problem. There's a power void. Great point.

landrun
8/19/2009, 11:02 PM
I'm trying to figure out what this administration is fighting for over there? Heroin drug lords or are we trying to kill Bin Laden still? If not Bin Laden, then someone explain the difference between fighting Al Qaida in Iraq as opposed to fighting them in Afghanistan?

And the Shorish-Shamley woman from Afghanistan is right. There's no such thing as moderate Taliban as there is no such thing as a moderate Nazi. It shows the ignorance of this administration to even think there is. :rolleyes: :mad:

OklahomaTuba
8/20/2009, 09:58 AM
Maybe Dear Leader should spend more of his energy focusing on how to get our two wars won and done with instead of trying to engineer more massive takeovers of the private sector?????

Veritas
8/20/2009, 10:02 AM
I think Obama was one of those kids whose mommy told hiim that the schoolyard bullies are just misunderstood and that if you talk nice to them, they won't kick the **** out of you and take your lunch money.