Docudharma:: Obama will send tens of thousands more troops to Afghanistan

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Obama will send tens of thousands more troops to Afghanistan

by: rjones2818

Mon Nov 09, 2009 at 00:17:08 PST
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(9 am. - promoted by ek hornbeck)

Original article, by Patrick Martin, via World Socialist Web Site:
According to US press reports Sunday, President Barack Obama has decided to send tens of thousands of additional US troops to Afghanistan in an attempt to suppress growing popular resistance to foreign occupation.

rjones2818 :: Obama will send tens of thousands more troops to Afghanistan

Not that we shouldn't be surprised. On the other hand, I doubt the US Chamber of Commerce will be running ads saying that the Afghan war is too epensive.
The New York Times reported Sunday on its web site that the White House had narrowed its options in Afghanistan to three-all involving troop increases of 20,000, 30,000 and 40,000 respectively. The plans for escalating the war have come in response to the urgent request by General Stanley McChrystal, the US commander in Afghanistan.

Maybe they'll build walls around Afghan cities, towns and villages.
According to the New York Times account, Obama is leaning toward the proposal to send 30,000 troops because it is backed by Defense Secretary Robert Gates: "His view is thought to be pivotal because of Mr. Obama's respect for him and his status as a holdover from a Republican administration."

I'll let you read the rest of the article. Keep in mind that Obama's pretty much been a supporter of the Afghan war. The only time he voted against funding for the wars (Iraq included) was in October a year before the election when it wasn't clear he'd be nominated (which turns out to show us how cynical Obama is). He's not a peace President, he's a war President. All the more reason to see him to the curb in 2012.

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Obama will send tens of thousands more troops to Afghanistan | 14 comments

Pony Pen (4.00 / 9)

Blech.

The Kucinich Plan (simplified):
1) Be a Democrat.
2) Think like a Democrat.
3) Vote like a Democrat.
4) Lead like a Democrat.
5) Live like a Democrat.
http://kucinich.us

by: rjones2818 @ Mon Nov 09, 2009 at 02:18:06 AM CST

by: you @ soon

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For a smart guy, Obama's one big stupid ass. n.t (4.00 / 7)

We told you so...

by: dkmich @ Mon Nov 09, 2009 at 04:39:07 AM CST

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Stupid? Or scared? I'm not sure which. (4.00 / 3)

by: Wom Bat @ Mon Nov 09, 2009 at 07:05:28 AM CST

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What happened to (4.00 / 7)

the last President who tried to go against the MIC?

by: Edger @ Mon Nov 09, 2009 at 08:03:21 AM CST

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by: you @ soon

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had some problems in Dallas, I recall (4.00 / 3)

by: bigsurtree @ Mon Nov 09, 2009 at 09:26:24 AM CST

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The JFK Example does suggest itself here, (4.00 / 3)

doesn't it?

by: Wom Bat @ Mon Nov 09, 2009 at 09:31:36 AM CST

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Willfully Blind (4.00 / 4)

Obama is ignoring all chances to escape Afghanistrap. If ultimately he decides to send more troops, how is he any different regarding Afghanistan than McCain?

by: Magnifico @ Mon Nov 09, 2009 at 12:23:39 PM CST

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Well, he doesn't want (4.00 / 5)

to bomb Iran. That is somewhat of a plus..I suppose. Snark aside, I don't see that he is all that different that Hillary either.

"By the pricking of my thumb, something wicked this way comes.", Wm. Shakespeare, "Macbeth"

by: TheMomCat @ Mon Nov 09, 2009 at 13:39:36 PM CST

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Well, he's better looking (4.00 / 1)

But other than that .....

"Never let a serious crisis go to waste. What I mean by that is it's an opportunity to do things you couldn't do before." -- Rahm Emanuel

by: Inky99 @ Tue Nov 10, 2009 at 00:01:46 AM CST

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From here it seems the WH hasn't the guts to confront the generals, who (4.00 / 3)

are literally bullying Obama to cede policymaking to the Pentagon. That's de facto military rule; imagine Eisenhower's comment. And the already unpopular AfWar is a great way to undermine O's and the Dems' popularity, fostering a Repug resurgence. It's not much like 53 weeks ago anymore, is it? Washington is eating Obama.

by: Wom Bat @ Mon Nov 09, 2009 at 07:02:37 AM CST

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It's also looking more and more (4.00 / 4)

like it may be the last US war, at the rate they're going....

Although they might try one desperate attempt in Venezuela:

The leader of the fifth-largest oil exporter in the world is warning his country's military and citizenry to prepare for war with Colombia and the United States, according to published reports.
Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez issued his warning during a weekly radio address.
"Let's not waste a day on our main aim: to prepare for war and to help the people prepare for war, because it is everyone's responsibility," he reportedly said.
Chavez has repeatedly voiced deep fears of US encroachment in the region.

also see: US's 'Arc of Instability' Just Gets Bigger

The US has already set up three military bases in Colombia, plus a dozen radar stations. Now this will be upgraded by the Colombian government to seven bases, one of them - Palanquero - with air access to the whole hemisphere. Seven bases in Colombia is a natural Pentagon response to the US losing the Manta base in Ecuador, and losing its grip on now leftist Paraguay. Washington already trains the Colombian armed forces, special forces and the national police.
The infamous Fort Benning-based School of the Americas, the flagship US training ground for ultra-repressive military dictatorships, that is, the "School of Assassins", re-baptized in 2001 the Western Hemisphere Institute of Security Cooperation, trained not only over 10,000 Colombians, but the coup leaders in Honduras as well.
Argentine political scientist Atilio Boron goes for the jugular; for him, "To think that those troops and weapons systems are based in Latin America for some reason other than to insure the territorial and political control of a region that experts consider the richest one on the planet in terms of its natural resources - water, energy, biodiversity, minerals agriculture, etc - would be unforgivably stupid."
American political activist and author, Noam Chomsky, in an interview to Venezuelan-American lawyer Eva Golinger during his recent visit to Venezuela, explained how the "rose wave" of South American leftism is scaring Washington so much that it's forcing it to collaborate with every government that would have been summarily deposed a few decades ago.
[snip]
Way beyond Venezuela, this is all about the militarization of the Andes and beyond. Colombia is, yes, the Trojan Horse in charge of policing virtually all of South America, not to mention Central America, now that US political, economic and military hegemony is shrinking by the hour.
The beauty of Plan Colombia is its one-size-fits-all status - from AfPak to Mexico. Few people know that in April 2007, the former US ambassador to Colombia, William Wood, was sent to Afghanistan to implement ... a Plan Colombia, that is, counter-insurgency disguised as a war on drugs. Colombia is a mirror of Afghanistan - and vice-versa. It goes without saying that counter-insurgency-heavy Afghanistan - now under the supreme boot of former death-squad operator to General Davis Petraeus in Iraq, General Stanley McChrystal - still produces over 90% of the world's opium.
And inevitably that's where NATO comes in. The only part of the world where NATO is still not active is ... South America. Few people also know that a few months ago, the head of the Pentagon's Southern Command, Admiral James Stavridis, became NATO supreme commander. Three of the past five NATO top military commanders - Stavridis, Bantz Craddock and Wesley Clark - moved to NATO glory from ... the Southern Command, certainly adding another meaning to the gloomy expression "School of the Americas".
No wonder Bolivian President Evo Morales said in Cuba, in mid-July, "I have first-hand information that the empire, through the US Southern Command, made the coup d'etat in Honduras."

by: Edger @ Mon Nov 09, 2009 at 07:16:56 AM CST

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About Honduras: (4.00 / 5)

No wonder Bolivian President Evo Morales said in Cuba, in mid-July, "I have first-hand information that the empire, through the US Southern Command, made the coup d'etat in Honduras."

I think this is exactly right.

by: wilberforce @ Mon Nov 09, 2009 at 12:37:40 PM CST

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Paraguay's coup prevention program (4.00 / 6)

MercoPress: Paraguay's president ends coup rumours replacing military commanders

Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo put an end Wednesday to rumors circulating the capital Asuncion about a possible coup by replacing all top military commanders. The announcement came from the armed forces themselves, not the president's office.
In his capacity as commander-in-chief, Lugo named replacements for the heads of the three services, army, air force and navy, according to a statement from the armed forces.

Something Obama might want to keep in the back of his mind.

by: Magnifico @ Mon Nov 09, 2009 at 13:23:18 PM CST

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The I Ching says, Retreat. (4.00 / 2)

I cast it just tonight.