While admitting their previous support for President Obama’s massive December 2009 escalation of the Afghan War, the Council on Foreign Relations today released a report calling for a major scaling back on the conflict, citing the lack of progress, enormous costs and political unpopularity of the nearly decade-long war.
The report, penned by a task force headed by former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, urged the president to take a clear picture of the war in his December review and, barring unforseen progress, should start removing large numbers of troops from the nation.
“We ought to not wait until July 2011 to change directions,” warned Armitage, citing the promised drawdown date that the administration has already disavowed on several occasions, adding that “absent a much better situation in Pakistan, we cannot prevail in Afghanistan.”
Though the report stops well short of a call for a full pullout from the nation it says of the war that “it is not clear that U.S. interests warrant such an investment. Nor is it clear that the effort will succeed.”
President Obama has dramatically increased the number of troops in Afghanistan since taking office, and officials are now publicly talking about a 2014 transition date, and acknowledging that the war could last another decade. The huge costs and the lack of meaningful progress have made such a protracted war a very tough sell, even for the usually war-friendly CFR.
This is Obama's chance. He can order that the members of the CFR be assassinated by the CIA immediately for trying to stop the U.S. spreading democracy and human rights around the world.
I mean, he has every right. You can't have penny-pinching people standing in the way of progress. How will the U.S. show leadership in the world if it can't bomb foreign nations whenever it wants to because it's running low on stock or marines.
Off with their heads, I say!
P.S. Does the CIA have guillotines?
http://www.dangerouscreation.com
lol brilliant!
Short of a possiblity of nuclear weapons from Pakistan falling into terrorists' hands, I see little reason for staying in Afghanistan. Given the choice of killing more civilians with troops there as well as losing more American soldiers for no good reason, I am resigned to using drones but very carefully. Pakistan is in such a bad way we should offer more help to flood ravaged areas but through the UN. We should aid Afghanistan in rebuilding its land, not maintain a standing army there. Ask other nations what to do. We are not the only people who will be killed and are being killed by terrorists.
It is a very strange notion, that is upheld indirectly in the critical report: That if only it serves USA's interests, it is ok to kill anybody, anywhere for any "private" reason. In fact it is the rather late discovery of the value of the omnipotent kings, that Europe got away with completely hundred years or so ago, while the US adopted it from the time of Abraham Lincoln, and has honored that rather mafia-like and criminal premise whenever it was deemed expedient.
What is hard to bear is with what offensive pride this idiotic, humiliating and human degrading regime is upheld. Boasted as the best the world has ever known!
It is surprising how succesful such plain fascism is accepted by Americans, as if the false shine from government proves they are even better people, when it clearly makes them smaller and treats them as inferior.