In his Monday night speech on the Afghan War, President Trump committed the US to an essentially open-ended escalation of the conflict without any specific limitations, while granting commanders broader authority to unilaterally target “the enemy.”
President Trump stressed that his first instinct was to withdraw. He added that “historically I like following my instincts.” However, he said that “decisions are much different when you sit behind the desk in the oval office.” He added that he’s committed to “an honorable and enduring outcome” worthy of the longest war in American history and the large number of dead.
What that outcome looks like, or how specifically he plans to get there are anyone’s guess. Fox News reported that White House sources told them before the speech that Trump was going to announce 4,000 more troops for Afghanistan.
But President Trump said that the US strategy would be secret, saying the US is removing any timetables for ending the war in Afghanistan. He said that he will not talk publicly about troop numbers in Afghanistan or plans for ongoing military activity there. While arguing that “America’s enemies must never know our plans.”
Trump’s secrecy also means the American public will have no idea how the Afghan War is being prosecuted.
This mirrors the decision to make troop levels in Iraq and Syria officially secret, but is also a much broader commitment. He set the stage for general escalation of an Afghan war that, over the past 16 years, has shown itself to endure through more or less any escalation conceivable. In committing to continue that war until victory, Trump effectively made the war permanent.
Trump presented continuation as both about 9/11, and about how opposed he is to the 2011 US withdrawal from Iraq, each presented as a reason not to withdraw, but seemingly each an excuse that’s never going to not stand in the way of ending the war.
The broad message of Trump’s speech seemed to be that the US wasn’t aggressive enough in Afghanistan so far, criticizing President Obama for “micromanaging” the conflict. Trump said he believes that US military victories come from “judgement and expertise of wartime commanders.”
Trump gave some lip-service to economic aid for Afghanistan, particularly pushing India to “do more.” But he insisted that the US had abandoned nation-building, declaring “we are not nation-building again, we’re killing terrorists.”
This declaration also gives the impression of a permanent war, claiming 20 distinct terrorist organizations between Afghanistan and Pakistan, and vowing to lift restrictions on “our warfighters.” He vowed that “no place is out of the reach of American might.”
Ultimately, an escalation of 4,000 troops and a re-commitment to the status quo likely would’ve been much milder than what Trump appears to be proposing. Trump’s determination to keep troop levels secret leaves the door open to a series of endless escalations down the road, which the American public are liable to never hear about.
“Trump’s determination to keep troop levels secret leaves the door open to a series of endless escalations down the road, which the American public are liable to never hear about.” The door is open to troop draw downs too. He sort of used the very strange missile attack on Syria to cover his sort of ending at least aid for the al queda rebels.
The generals will never agree to troop level reductions, and it’s their war now, isn’t it?
There is the following sentence in the speech: “As the prime minister of Afghanistan has promised, we are going to participate in economic development to help defray the cost of this war to us”.
I have not the slightest idea what that means. There is no oil in Afghanistan to take.
There are minerals.
But more importantly, there are “bad guys” that will keep our military-industrial complex very profitably busy for…. well, forever.
There is opium.
Ahhh yes…. forgot that. Probably as valuable as the minerals.
It’s interesting that from the time the Taliban took over Afghanistan until the American invasion, opium production in Afghanistan dropped to literally zero.
No wonder we invaded.
Picture being an Afghani, trying to mind your own business but always in fear of the death-from-above… just normal people being dragged
into this, not only in Afghanistan, but Pakistan, and all “South Asia”, as the theatre of operation
has been so widened. Even if they stop fighting, they will be pursued and murdered.
Shame on America, chasing monsters of her own imagination and creation -obviously many more troops won’t be enjoying their retirements. If the Taliban gets hold of that new GPS spoofing tech that can shut down the US Navy and make Russian ships in the Black Sea appear 20 miles inland, there will be a lot more “accidents”….cheers, to “South Asia”.
Ouch… that’s worse than I could possibly have guessed. The American people are no longer cleared to know the basic elements of what America’s foreign policy is towards a country we are occupying militarily, apparently forever?! And forever is the right word, because the Afghan people will never give up until they once again chose their own future. Or it’s the wrong word, because someday a US president will get a clue and withdraw. Apparently not this president, though.
Keane said 2060+ “multi-generational war” right on Fox News. The war on terror was always nothing less than a fabrication and instigation set to usher in permanent global hegemony for the new Babylon. Sick people.
Peace with honor. Dick Nixon before he dicks you. Memories.
Don’t know how old you are, wars, but I was a teenager when Nixon used that line, and I remember well. Fortunately, I was just young enough to escape draft registration when the Vietnam war finally ended.
62 my friend. You asked me that previously. And thankfully I too was too young to be drafted.
You missed some fun.
So how is Justin going to spin this one? “Trump betrayed by Trump? Or, perhaps, will he finally admit that it is Trump, himself, who has betrayed the American people?
No, not Trump betrayed by Trump, Trump rolled by the MIC.. & needless to iterate, the various domestic & foreign lobbies, some of which are within the Trump “tent”. Along with the seeming fixation on winning, it was an Bellicheck moment for the MIC and its legions various camp followers.. The positive thing we antiwar crusaders can take from this, is that in reality, it’s pyrrhic victory in every sense. Giving the military 3900 (the number in various news reports) is like giving a guy with a 20 story building $50.00 after it burns to “secure” its rebuilding. Combined with the parsimonious number of troops, I think we can look at this as a stralth repudiation, and that this is a fools errand he has set out for all to see. If 100,000 troops did not turn the tide, how is 3900 going to make more than squat…???? There is an Afghan army spokesman on the BBC at this very moment saying Trump just gave them what they need, but he is saying they need to negotiate with the Taliban to end the fighting. The whole Trump speech and attendant PR is all soap suds, and saving face for the military and their long long record
Trusting a man with no core convictions is suspect at best…incomprehensible at worst. Trust a man that lies faster than his lips moves is even more questionable. He is simply learning like every other president who thought he was going to be the tail that wagged the dog. He will be no such thing. He has abdicated most of his authority to the generals, who now know that Trump can be easily maneuvered and led astray. The fact that he is a total ignoramus doesn’t help. If he represents the last Great White Hope of non-interventionalism then we may need to change the very definition of the term.
A “stealth repudiation”???? Holy sh*t, you are loyal.
These last few days have been great for neocons–you know, the guys who actually lost the election. Trump looking more like Bush/Obama/Hillary by the minute.
Trump afraid of the JFK moment…????? So he gives them what… 3900…
Maybe more nightmare than dream, but they have learned to love losing. It’s where the money is…..
Maybe Trump could have given a fact-based reason why the USA is in Afghanistan in the first place, since the original attack in 2002 was based on the lie that Osama Bin Laden orchestrated 911. I voted for Trump but he is slowly but surely looking like the rest of the war criminals in DC! How much blood has to be on the USA’s hands before its enough? The USA is NOT fighting terrorism but spreading it like wildfire all over the world with Israel. War is the ENDS and not the MEANS. War is more vulgar profits for the already-wealthy military/industrial elite. The crime of mass murder goes on and the world sits and watches and waits and the crooks continue to profit by mankind’s silence. May God mete out just punishment to these monstrous criminals!
The US invaded Afghanistan in 2001, not 2002.
He didn’t even need to do that. He was elected to put America first and to end all these ridiculous foreign involvements. Instead as usual the US President will put the interests of israel and the weapons mafia executives first.
Poor Trump can’t disobey His Masters/Lords, otherwise, they will assassinate him like John F. Kennedy and put the blame on Osama Bin Laden’s Son or Who ever closer to Osama is Alive. So, All, please for Trump’s safety from All Those Wolves.
It is possible Trump is playing a chess game with the Deep State. Give a little to get a little. Wishful thinking I know but any proof otherwise? Lots of Americans are patiently waiting for Trump to take off his suit jacket and show his “S” so he can start saving the Republic!
I think so too, and Mattis could be the key there since he decides how many troops will be sent.
Seriously done voting now. Got burned in 08 by Hope and Change and vowed never to vote again. I thought voting Trump would stop our immoral wars. Burned again. Time to be at peace with letting our corrupt poohole country rot. From the inside out.
“The Afghanistan area has been invaded many times in recorded history, but no invader has been able to control all of its regions at the same time, and at some point faced rebellion. Some of the invaders in the history of Afghanistan include the Maurya Empire of ancient India, Alexander the Great of Macedon, Umar, an Arab Caliphate, Genghis Khan of Mongolia, Timur of Persia and Central Asia, the Mughal Empire of India, various Persian Empires, the British Empire, the Sikh Empire, the Soviet Union, and most recently a coalition force of NATO troops, the majority from the United States,…. ”
[ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invasions_of_Afghanistan ]
As Pete Seeger [and especially Peter, Paul, and Mary] once put it in “Where Have All The Flowers Gone”: “… when will they ever learn.”
Contrary to all the wailing and moaning that Trump and Trumpatismo has somehow been trumped by the so-called “Deep State, ” permit me to pose the following working hypothesis:
……….That the election of Donald Trump was Part 3 of Phase I of The Coup that began with Part 1 back on 9/11, and continued with Part 2 in 2008 with the financial “crisis” and bailouts, paving the way for Obama and his part in the whole process. From 9/11 to ‘008 to 11/9.
Any who would peremptorily dismiss this concept as flapdoodle need only ask themselves the following question: How has the focus, thrust, and action of this government under Trump changed in any substantive way that has not left the military-industrial/petro-financial/techno-infotainment/surveillance-secrecy-security complex, network, and matrix better off than it has ever been before? Certainly since September 10, 2001.
And any who would deny Trump’s complicity in all this need only ask themselves: Who surrounded himself with all those The Generals?
The neo-cons ~ and their partners in crime, the neo-lib) and their buddies in Langley, Ft Meade, and Silicon Valley, and on J Street, Wall Street, and Beyond ~ aren’t somehow surreptitiously returning to power. They never lost it; let alone relinquished it.
Had they not wanted Trump in the White House and felt that he would be more conducive to their aims and objectives than Clinton, in the first place, he wouldn’t be there. And when he has served his usefulness, he will be gone, in the second.
Phase II of The Coup will be essentially a replay of Phase I: a massive Terror Event; an even more devastating financial “Meltdown,” this time with artfully choreographed, attendant social meltdowns as well, and, ultimately, Regime change. Although not necessarily in that order.
Any who find this conclusion to be ridiculous need only to ask themselves the following question: if those who benefited most from 9/11 or ‘008 or 11/9 determine that they have even more to gain by another iteration of these events, who and or what is going to stop them? And 9/11-XVI is just a few weeks away.
A nation and a people get the government the government they deserve. And for our sins, we got Trump,
Until the very early morning of 11/9, it was almost peremptorily simple and easy to be convinced that he was but a patsy in the conspiracy to put Clinton in the White House.
It has now become increasingly evident that to come to suspect that The Hillary was but a ploy in the plot to ensconce The Donald at 1600, is not at all all that totally absurd.
“Any who would peremptorily dismiss this concept as flapdoodle need only ask themselves the following question: How has the focus, thrust, and action of this government under Trump changed in any substantive way that has not left the military-industrial/petro-financial/techno-infotainment/surveillance-secrecy-security complex, network, and matrix better off than it has ever been before? Certainly since September 10, 2001.”
Actually, not since 1947 at the latest. But inertia and an aggregate of small conspiracies seems more a more likely explanation than One Big Conspiracy. There’s a reason Eisenhower called it a Military Industrial COMPLEX.
Thank You, Mr Knapp, for reading, acknowledging, and elaborating upon my screed.
Lots of folks all around the Net ~ and this country ~ honestly and sincerely believe that none of this nonsense didn’t start until Obama occupied the White House [or, at best, with Clinton… with no mention of Cheney/Bush the Lesser, in between].
All those “small conspiracies” ~ as You put it ~ have been so artfully, carefully, and effectively carried out and, somehow, quite brilliantly coordinated, that Occam’s Razor mandates that there is ~ behind it all ~ One Big Conspiracy.
A Conspiracy of Thieves, as someone once put it.
But a Hydra-like Conspiracy… with not just one head.
Orwell spoke of “Oceania,” “Eurasia,” and “EastAsia.”
He’s either rolling over in his grave right now, or puking his guts out, eh?
Thanks again.
Interestingly, the original version of my comment — before I edited it — cited Occam’s Razor as mandating that there is no One Big Conspiracy.
I guess we’re just going to disagree on that point 🙂
Hmmmm…. because a small conspiracy is easier to pull off than a big one, and a bunch of [presumably, by definition, separate] small ones would also be easier, i guess, eh?
That makes sense. But How and Why do all those small ones always seem to mesh and work together so well, over such extended periods of time; almost like there in fact WAS a Big Conspiracy?
Or am i just projecting?
heh…..
“But How and Why do all those small ones always seem to mesh and work together so well, over such extended periods of time”
Well, what do all bank robbery conspiracies have in common? Bank robbery. And they mesh and work together well, over extended periods of time. Banks keep getting robbed. That doesn’t mean there’s some central Guild of Bank Robbers orchestrating the whole thing.
Interesting analogy. i’m not sure i completely follow it, but maybe i do.
Let me share with You something i wrote back in the Spring, when “alternative facts” and “fake news” was first emerging as the new dominant paradigm:
The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists posted a 2 May on-line article that was a survey, analysis, and proposed explanation regarding the apparent growing propensity of an increasing number of Americans to take “conspiracy theories” seriously, particularly in this age of “post-truth” alternative facts, fake news, and alt-fake news: “Has the Deep State hoodwinked Trump?” [Source: http://thebulletin.org/has-deep-state-hoodwinked- trump10730 .]
Within the context of whether or not some “Deep State” is trumping Trump and Trumpatismo, it might be a good place to start ~ in considering why so many more folks seem to be so more prone to believe in conspiracies and their theorists ~ to start just by looking at some MSM headlines over the past 50 years, and to ask a few pointedly impertinent questions. For example:
“America is Attacked in the Tonkin Gulf by North Viet Nam” It turns out that that did not, in fact, actually happen. Was this just a simple, innocent little lie this government told to the nation and the world? Or was it part of a conspiracy to get us into a little war down in the tropics?
“This Nation is doing Nothing to help the Contras”
Was this not exposed as a conspiracy conceived, crafted, resourced, and run from and by the highest levels of that same government?
“Kuwaiti Babies in Incubators Were Killed By Iraqi Troops.” Another lie. Perhaps part of a conspiracy to get a full US military presence in the Middle East, something we’d been trying to do since the end of World War II?
And, who could forget “Saddam has Weapons of Mass Destruction”? Just another intelligence blunder? Or perhaps part of an even bigger conspiracy perhaps begun some twelve years earlier in Kuwait and who knows where else?
Other headlines that come to mind include: “Without the Bank Bailout, This Economy Is Going Down”; “The United States government is Not surveilling American citizens’ cell phones…”; and of course, “al-Qaeda did 9/11, and We have Proof.”
One manifestation of paranoia is the suspicion that there are conspiracies afoot that will bring You ~ and all that is important to You ~ to harm.
What is it called when the evidence of the historical record demonstrates quite clearly that there HAVE been conspiracies all over the place all along, and that, by them, a lot of people and places have been brought to great harm, indeed? And not just Americans.
###
Given the recurrence of the central actor and factor in all these “small conspiracies,” and all the different results of all these different small conspiracies just seem to fit together and build on each other so well, are You not led to at least suspect the possibility that they all may in fact be intimately and intricately related?
But there COULD be. Maybe not just one; maybe more like Chicago back when Eliot Ness was on the beat.
Ha, Ha, hahahah…. The American people bamboozled by 1 more speech…1 more time….. I guess the “Don'” got the memo… Only by endless war do we (financially,,) survive….!!!!! Its all kabuki to confuse the majority. Bubas….
By this means WE secure the future… If there be ?one….. !!!!!!!
Of COURSE “Trump’s determination to keep troop levels secret leaves the door open to a series of endless escalations down the road, which the American public are liable to never hear about.”
That’s why it’s a secret.
It will be interesting to see what – if anything ~ our ball-less Congress actually, really does about all this. Altho that’s pretty easy to predict.
War Powers Act, anyone? AUMF Review/Revision/Repeal anyone? Reduction in monies available for Overseas Contingency Operations, anyone?
It will be even more interesting to see how ~ if at all ~ all those die-hard Trumpatistas react and respond to yet another broken promise, yet another lie, yet another betrayal. Altho that’s pretty easy to predict, as well.
Time for Marches In The Street To Liberate Kabul, complete with torchlite parades, anyone? Or Loyalty Oaths to Our President and Our Fighting Men [and Women, we guess], anyone?
A Nation and a People get the government they deserve. And for our sins, we got Trump. Altho it could have been worse. Which it no doubt will be soon, anyway.
Can’t wait to see the goat-rope in Phoenix.
Another deceitful gutless worm of a politician hiding in the protected halls of government while he approves and orders death and destruction in other countries. He, like his fellow and sister corporate financial demicans and republocrats, wouldn’t know what honor is if he was holding in his hands.
Afghanistan “the Graveyard of Empires”. (Rudyart Kippling ?)
Nobody really knows what any of this means. It sounds like a compromise language —
which means that Trump did not cave in to McaMasters, Pence & Co. By not coming out with numbers and plans — face saving device was used. But like in Syria, military will have the decision making role in doimg what it takes to “win”.
Since “win” definition has been the most elusive creature of modern US foreign policy, is it possible that the military, having assumed all the responsibility for outcome — may be more hard-nosed about narrowing the definition of “win”. And the starting point of fighting terrorist groups — may be the beginning of the narrower box for a “win”. In Syria, this was enabled by a big statement — a missile salvo to adress a faker then fake story of chemical weapons. But since it is all about fight against ISIS. in many ways this is letting the new definition to be the litmus test for the choices of methods and resources. Now it is a process of sloughing through the defined objective. Syria may be instructive in what happens.
The key are two things, one explicitely defined — another remained unclear. First, unless support for terrorist groups does not cease, nothing will change. Financing, political support, arms supplies, telecom, fuel, transport, intelligence support — all forms of support provided more or less openly. Many East European countries were coaxed/coerced to participate. Assuming the financing stops, and the lionizing of “rebels” stops — there is one thing missing. A role for the sovereign country that became the proving grounds for terrorist/rebel/resistance/opposition armies. Unless the country’s government — without judging it on any “democratic” scale — is not taking over the control of its territory, securing its borders, and having peace with neighbors, occupation force will remain pointless as well.
The speech is the wake up notice not so much for Pakistan, but for India. Pakistan knows already the score — and internal divisions are ripe for Turkey style clearing of decks. India howwver is in a tough spot — working off Hindu nationalism to move the economic agenda forward, the country is vulnerable to divisiveness. And since US is run by different centers of power, it would not surprise anyone that provications of many types and colors start destabilising India’s multitude of cultures, religions and regional differences. Demand that India take on some costs of stabklising Afghanistan sounds familiar. A subcontractor’s job. And without partnering with China no problems can be solved — not Afghanistan, not Pakistan and definitely not Indian involvement in Afghanistan.
Agreed, not just face-saving but rather a typical page from the Trump play book: do not show intentions, leave the opponent guessing, don’t let them use your own broadcasted limitations against you etc. One can only hope the military command wants a deal with the Taliban pretty badly. But you never get a deal going into it like that. The Taliban have no problem waiting 10, 20..30 years. It’s a different mindset. Carrot & stick could work, so investments from India is not that crazy, if the investments can be protected. All in all it’s not a shocking outcome. Trump’s closest allies these days are military thinkers and planners. But they have not a really great track record when it comes to cleaning up policy mistakes of former administrations. They just…. maintain. Anyone who would have thought of another outcome at this stage, with a rather isolated Trump, was dreaming. Also it might be true that leaving Afghanistan might not improve anything for anyone. Not even on longer term. Not when eying international markets and power bases.
Trump joins the list of lying presidents elected with a pledge to keep us out of wars–Widrow Wilson, FDR, Bush II, Obama. Same stuff, different day.
They invade a country and then label the people there terrorists if they resist. Only in the USA is such logic deemed acceptable.
The israelis seem pretty good it too.
I believe that would be the “chosen”.
Trump is now best buds with McCain, Miss Lindsey & Bill Kristol. He is purring with contentment.
If Trump had any honor he’d give a speech and tell us why he couldn’t fulfill any of his campaign promises and why. Then he’d resign that day.
Sad that we are the only ones who will be able to clean up this mess.
Dear What’s left of the American Left, and all You SJWrs, and other conscious, caring, and concerned citizens out there:
Is there going to be an anti-Afghan War Movement, a la the 60s and Viet Nam?
Mr Trump had arrived at a critical decision point: whether to cut this Nation’s losses and leave Afghanistan to itself, or to listen to his Generals. Monday nite, he delivered to the American people that decision.
The last time some politician had a “Secret Plan” to end a War was candidate-Nixon in 1968. Those old enough to remember [and care] may remember how that turned out: the Secret Plan to end America’s War in Viet Nam amounted to starting a new War in Cambodia.
And now we have Mr Trump and “his Generals” with a Secret Plan all of their own to ~ once and for all, actually, no kidding, really go out there and WIN a War… this particular War in Afghanistan, in particular. At least for starters; the whole dang Global War on Terrorism [or GWOT] comes next.
It should be remembered that none of these Generals who came up with this Plan has ever won a war. Or even come close. Or, on the other hand, saw a war ~ or a chance for a war ~ that they didn’t like, as long as they could fight it their way: in secret, unhampered by international laws of war and peace, Congressional oversight, and/or whether or not the American people wanted it or not.
Tasking a bunch of Generals with figuring out how to win a War [the GWOT] that they have had almost 16 years and close to $5 trillion and counting to win ~ and who are no closer to “winning” today than they were back on Day 0, September 12, 2001~ is a waste of taxpayer money and Presidential time.
Rather, Trump should detail his Treasury Department and ~ if he can get permission from Wall Street ~ the United States Federal Reserve Board, with the simple task of “following the money.” Give them 30 days to identify exactly who is footing Radical, Fundamentalist, Islamo-Fascism’s’s bills, and providing for all its material and financial support. Give them 30 days to positively identify which individuals and families (Royal or otherwise), along with which transnational petro/financial corporations in which Arab nations. While they’re at it, they could probably pretty easily determine which non-Arab transnational corporations and nations ~ in or out of the region ~ are also involved.
Then ~ once that information is secured and confirmed ~ confront The Money Folks Behind ISIS, al-Qaeda, the Taliban, etc, and give them a choice: either terminate immediately ALL financial, logistical, administrative, and operational support to radical, fundamentalist, Islamist jihadists and their organizations; or confront the full force, fire, and fury of American financial [and as necessary, cyber] warfare, giving that new Command a chance to prove its mettle.
And, if the threat of cyber/financial warfare doesn’t work, Mr Trump can always gather some of Obama’s drones and a few of our Special Ops guys from Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Somalia, the Sudan, and the like, and park them in the airspace outside of Riyadh and a few other regional capitols and cities, until those folks get the message.
Such a plan would go a long, long way toward bringing this whole so-called “war” against so-called “global” so-called “terrorism” to a complete, total, and screeching halt. The mission, intent, and objective? In a word: To find, follow, locate, target, and then cut off ~ even at the testicular level, as necessary ~ the money.
Such a project is naturally fraught with peril; for, one must be careful about where that money trail actually leads. THAT could get really embarrassing for some folks who would naturally prefer ~ and ultimately demand, and no doubt get, given some of Mr Trump’s Cabinet appointments ~ anonymity. Or, if, failing that, at least a preemptive Presidential pardon [or at least acquiescence], when that trail leads to outside the Gulf region. What with “too big to fail,” and all that.
In any event, militarily “exterminating ISIS” [as President Trump promised in his Inaugural Address] and “killing terrorists” [as he explained it in his national address clarifying his apparently evolving position on Afghanistan] will accomplish just about as much as overthrowing the Taliban back in 2001 and Saddam in 2003, and “killing” bin-Laden in 2011 did: absolutely nothing. Global Islamo-Fascist Jihadist Terrorism will just keep popping back up again and again, all over the place, until a newer, bigger, badder, and thus better “Threat” shows up to consume our leaders’ and their centurions’ attention [and the taxpayers’ money and the citizens’ futures]. Russia and China coming immediately to mind.
But at least the proposed financial/cyber warfare approach may cut down on the number of new Americans to be remembered on future Memorial Days. It would certainly reduce the number of new non-Americans ~ who have also died in all those Wars ~ to be forgotten.
For, as Wikipedia put it:
“The Afghanistan area has been invaded many times in recorded history, but no invader has been able to control all of its regions at the same time, and at some point faced rebellion. Some of the invaders in the history of Afghanistan include the Maurya Empire of ancient India, Alexander the Great of Macedon, Umar, an Arab Caliphate, Genghis Khan of Mongolia, Timur of Persia and Central Asia, the Mughal Empire of India, various Persian Empires, the British Empire, the Sikh Empire, the Soviet Union, and most recently a coalition force of NATO troops, the majority from the United States…,” [ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invasions_of_Afghanistan ].
Evidently, Trump and his Generals don’t read Wikipedia, eh?
In any event, What’s left of the American Left, and all You SJWrs, and other conscious, caring, and concerned citizens out there: IS there going to be an anti-Afghan War Movement, a la the 60s and Viet Nam? Y’All’ve only had 16 years to make one happen, but maybe it’s never too late.
Open ended secret war in the land known as “the graveyard of empires”. What could possibly go wrong?
I am perplexed by Tilllerson’s comments saying “peace talks” were possible with the Taliban and this was only moments after Trump’s war speech…
There might be another explanation for the strange sentence buried in his speech: “As the prime minister of Afghanistan has promised, we are going to participate in economic development to help defray the cost of this war to us”.
It could be a ‘wall-Mexico will pay’ redo that is to say a reassurance to his base: “do not worry about the cost, Afghanistan will pay”. There is only one way Afghanistan can pay. With minerals.
Or their biggest industry – Heroin. I suspect the USA is already running that.
John McCain is now happy, that’s the important thing. Old cancer head can die a happy man. Hopefully that event is coming soon. I know I will celebrate that day.
> He added that “historically I like following my instincts.” However, he said that “decisions are much different when you sit behind the desk in the oval office.”
This man has absolutely no brain
Looking at all those phony medals on those generals chests had the Donald all flabbergasted.
More Insanity from the Trump/Kushner/Soros Alliance – and suggesting attacks on Pakistan will be escalating. Years ago the peaceful Chinese stated an attack on Pakistan will be treated as an attack on China. WW3 keeps getting closer.
The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have been providing $100 billion a year in windfall profits to the military-industrial complex for a decade but they’ve been winding down since Obama (more or less) “withdrew” from Iraq.
Until he can engineer some NEW war to replace the lost profits, the MIC and the Pentagon have forced him – without much forcing since he basically couldn’t care less about anything – to escalate the existing wars.
It’s all about the MONEY.
President Trump is making A Big Mistake by giving India a big role in Afghanistan, because India’s Rulers & India as A Country, are CURSE ON HUMAN DIGNITY: The Way They are Treating/Torturing Their Minorities, burning their religious leaders that include Christian Priests & People, their places (Churches also), even Their Own Low Cast Hindus and also Creating Problems for India’s All Neighbours, a small example, India’s Prime Minister, Late Rajiv Gandhi, during A Parade was Severly hit on his Head by An Angry Sri Lankan Solider – for Making Terrorist Troubles in Sri Lanka. Now, thinking Indians as American Partners, Afghanis will start punishing/killing poor Indians in Afghanistan, which will be very destructive Indian people but Indian Rulers: A CURSE ON HUMAN DIGNITY, won’t care for their poor public.