Obama to Explore New Approach in Afghanistan War

[Wretched Excess]

this is BS for a bunch of reasons.  first of all, deep down, obama isn't any less opposed to the aghanistan front of the global war in terror than he is the iraqi front;  he was simply trying to create a distinction between himself and republicans to use as a campaign issue.  and it also gave him a war to be "in favor of", so he didn't look like a pacifist.  but the notion that he is somehow a supporter of our efforts in afghanistan is just wrong.

I don't see how a surge would work for us in afghanistan when it didn't work for the soviets.  iraq can be pacified by a surge in troops, because iraqis are used to a central government (or at least they know what one is), and will respect it once it is stable and secure.  the afghans, on the other hand, have been governed by factious warlords since God scattered the rocks all over that forlorn country.  before they would respect a central governemnt, they would first have to be able to spot it when they see it, and then they would have to overcome the irresistible urge to blow it up.

afghanistan is a much more complex equation than iraq.  President BarackStar! had it totally backwards on the campaign trail.  but it sounded pretty reasonable, and it wasn't much different than mccain's position . . . so, it flew.

Obama to Explore New Approach in Afghanistan War

The incoming Obama administration plans to explore a more regional strategy to the war in Afghanistan -- including possible talks with Iran -- and looks favorably on the nascent dialogue between the Afghan government and "reconcilable" elements of the Taliban, according to Obama national security advisers.

President-elect Barack Obama also intends to renew the U.S. commitment to the hunt for Osama bin Laden, a priority the president-elect believes President Bush has played down after years of failing to apprehend the al-Qaeda leader. Critical of Bush during the campaign for what he said was the president's extreme focus on Iraq at the expense of Afghanistan, Obama also intends to move ahead with a planned deployment of thousands of additional U.S. troops there.

The emerging broad strokes of Obama's approach are likely to be welcomed by a number of senior U.S. military officials who advocate a more aggressive and creative course for the deteriorating conflict. Taliban attacks and U.S. casualties this year are the highest since the war began in 2001.

Some military leaders remain wary of Obama's pledge to order a steady withdrawal of combat forces from Iraq, to be completed within 16 months -- an order advisers say Obama is likely to give in his first weeks in office. Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has called a withdrawal timeline "dangerous." Others are distrustful of a new administration they see as unschooled in the counterinsurgency wars that have consumed the military for the past seven years.

But conversations with several Obama advisers and a number of senior military strategists both before and since last Tuesday's election reveal a shared sense that the Afghan effort under the Bush administration has been hampered by ideological and diplomatic constraints and an unrealistic commitment to the goal of building a modern democracy -- rather than a stable nation that rejects al-Qaeda and Islamist extremism and does not threaten U.S. interests. None of those who discussed the subject would speak on the record, citing sensitivities surrounding the presidential transition and the war itself.

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[Thor]

He's going to **** up everything GOOD we've accomplished in the Middle East.

[SSG Snuggle Bunny]

He's going to **** up everything GOOD we've accomplished in the Middle East.

Change you can believe in.

[Chris_]

Change you can believe in.

Nope; I refuse to believe in those American buildings tumbling to the ground (with all hands) a year from now.

[Chris_]

He's going to **** up everything GOOD we've accomplished in the Middle East.

...and they'll still be blaming Boooosh for anything bad that happens for the next 10 years.   

Notice the economy started heading for the tank about the time Barry beat out Hillary?  The dims needed the economy and the war to go badly.  They got one out of two and it was just enough.  Now any kind of improvement will be atributed to Barry.

[DumbAss Tanker]

Well said, WE, an additional complication in Afghanistan is the neighboring and essentially lawless tribal uplands which are nominally part of Pakistan.  It is essentially an arid and cold version of the Viet Nam problem, a large enemy sanctuary and base area, immune from attack and immediately adjacent to our zone of operation with no natural geographical feature to mark the border.
Such situations can only be addressed by inflicting so much pain in the sanctuary that further hostilities become unsustainable (fat chance in Afghanistan and the Pakistani frontier, they have a long tradition of being willing to engage in murder and mayhem in preference to eating, drinking, or screwing).  That requires an enduring and heavy commitment of forces, as well as a certain indifference to the nominal sovereignity of the sanctuary territory, which is just not going to foreseeably be a part of the Obama administration's palette.