In an effort to reassure Americans ahead of next week’s speech in which President Obama will announce the esca
lation of the Afghan War, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs wants Americans to rest safe in the knowledge that the war is not going to last forever.
“We are in year nine of our efforts in Afghanistan,” Gibbs noted, “we are not going to be there another eight or nine years.” This would mean that the administration is at least hoping at this point to be out of Afghanistan by 2017.
Recent polls have shown Americans increasingly opposed to not only the Afghan War, but to President Obama’s handling of it. In spite of this President Obama is expected to commit another 34,000 troops to the conflict in next week’s speech.
When the US invaded Afghanistan in 2001, the military presence was comparatively limited, and even in summer of 2008 only about 28,000 American soldiers were on the ground. When the latest escalation is approved the US will have over 100,000 troops in Afghanistan.
That's sixteen years by my count. Were only halfway there….assuming the government isn't lying of course.
the US will never leave afghan or iraq…..and try to invade iran syria lebenon…ect ect etc..anyone see a pattern here
THIS IS CHANGE WE CAN BELIEVE IN??? If I had wanted this, I would have voted for McCain!!!
COUNT ME OUT!!!
Obama is having his LBJ moment. Highly recommend reading DERELICTION OF DUTY by Brig. Gen. H.R. McMaster.
empire needs war…no surprises here. unless people get in the streets and make it clear they don't want war, the war party will always have a war going or in the works…
Follow the money!
It' requiredes a process like that of Nuremberg for murderers of innocent civilians
Records show our country has caused the deaths of over 700,000 in Iraq, and 20,000 in Afghanistan. Our government has already spent one trillion dollars of taxpayer money. The average American has no idea what the entire matter is about. If Obama feeds this Bush lunacy, he has been corrupted by special interest , and no longer represents the American people.
Wow, 2017 ! It's right around the corner, isn't it. And at only $40 billion a year, it will be a bargain. Too bad most of it will go toward killing people and destroying things.
Sorry, I should have written, $40 billion EXTRA per year.
Unless somehow the International Criminal Court grows some fucking BALLS and prosecutes Bush / Blair, and Obombya, nothing is going to change. Internationally, just like in the U.S.S.A., the concept of Rule of Law is totally shattered and torn asunder. The new rule is; “Invade, kill, and take over..and if nobody stops you, the new turf is YOUR TURF NOW”, and the Rothschilds owned and operated REST OF THE WORLD will just sit back and grin like idiots while you do it. After all, they need the oil you’re stealing too, only they’re not balsy enough to KILL AND MASS MURDER like you are to get it….but make no mistake, this has destroyed the U.S.S.A., and Britain, and the outcome of this will be the end of any further charade about democracy in North America. Canada may well be the only remaining country where unless Harpoon man (harper) gets his way, it ends up being the only semi sane part of the continent, in any person’s estimation.
Unless our beloved leader refuses to leave at the end of his one and only term, with the support for Obama's war falling like a stone,, this administration shouldn't be making any plans that extend beyond 2012. Of course, by then this country might be irrevocably broken .
FYI;Andy, the USG has been engaged in Afghanistan since 1979. THE OPTIMISTS say the USG will exit Afghanistan by 2017 and the pessimists agree that they may be right.
This article is misleading. There is no plan in place that says we'll be gone by 2017. It was just a flippant remark by an arrogant moron.
If they want to send troops somewhere, they should send them to the West Bank and Gaza. The root cause of all the trouble in the middle east has been the Ziono-fascism of the past century.
I highly second the reading of "Dereliction of Duty" – details all of the LIES that got US into the Vietnam War – a great book. As long as the Neocons and Zionsts control the United States, we will continue to accelerate towards our self destruction. It should be remembered that "the first casualty of war is always the truth." Even Wilson LIED the US into WWI – LBJ also LIED the US into the Vietnam War – and Bush is the greatest LIAR and moron of all – having LIED the US into wars with Iraq and Afghanistan – Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, etc should ALL be on trial for war crimes. Sadly, the American people have turned into dumb, ignorant, uniformed and ill informed SHEEP uncaring that we are murdering hundreds of thousands of innocent people as we spread our 'empire."