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Forum Post: If you're against the war in Afghan here is a group that still protests. Pick an event and make your objection heard!

Posted 7 months ago on Oct. 3, 2012, 5:56 p.m. EST by VQkag2 (16482)
This content is user submitted and not an official statement

http://www.unitedforpeace.org/2012/10/03/afghanistan-11-years-too-long/

6 Comments

6 Comments


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[-] 1 points by Nevada1 (3216) 7 months ago

Thank You VQ----This Is Good

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[-] 3 points by VQkag2 (16482) 7 months ago

You are very welcome. It is a shame that the anti war movement went to sleep thinking everything would be fine now that Bush was gone & Obama was here, some still protest.

And we MUST protest against war. We MUST make our voices heard.

That is our responsibility. That is where WE have failed.

Peace.

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[-] 1 points by ZenDog (15984) from South Burlington, VT 7 months ago

I think 11 years is too long - at the same time, I think we need to provide the population the option and the means to stand up for their own freedom and independence from the Taliban - if that is their will.

I realize the President has had four years behind this effort, but I think it is important to note that much of the first two years was spent in correcting errors in thinking and practice that had been institutionalized by the previous administration.

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[-] 1 points by jrhirsch (4704) from Sun City, CA 7 months ago

Pure partisan poppycock!

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[-] 1 points by ZenDog (15984) from South Burlington, VT 7 months ago

pfft

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From Wiki

The Washington Post described the replacement as one of several replacements of Generals who represented the "traditional Army" with Generals "who have pressed for the use of counter-insurgency tactics."[6] The real reasons may be much more complicated, according to reports. The discussion to replace him started in March 2009, after a routine video conference with Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff, and Defense Secretary Robert Gates. A battlefield update was followed by a series of questions on reconstruction and counternarcotics operations from Mullen and Gates, which Gen. McKierman was not well prepared to answer. This amplified the belief Gates and Mullen already had about McKiernan, that he is "too languid, too old-school and too removed from Washington", and lacked the "charisma and political savvy" that Gen. Petraeus had.[8] Adm. Mullen was unhappy with the answers for his questions during that meeting, and after discussions with Gates, Mullen traveled to Kabul the next month hoping that he could convince McKiernan to retire. He refused to resign, as he had not disobeyed any orders and believed that he was doing what the administration wanted. Two weeks later Gates relieved him of command although he was the primary architect who changed the strategy in Afghanistan by requesting 30,000 additional troops that was later endorsed by the administration and implemented by Gen. McChrystal (at an additional level of 21,000 troops). According to Washington Post, Gen. McKiernan spent only a year in Pentagon, most of the time he was deployed outside the U.S., he did not develop strong relationships with Afghan leaders, he did not "fawn" over lawmakers who visited him as Petraeus in Iraq, he was too deferential to NATO, and he was perceived as more involved with battlefield in Afghanistan and not dealing with Washington enough at a time when Pentagon seems to expect top generals to be skilled diplomats also.[8]

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By Ann Scott Tyson / Washington Post Staff Writer / Tuesday, May 12, 2009

"We have a new strategy, a new mission and a new ambassador. I believe that new military leadership is also needed," Gates said at a hastily convened Pentagon news conference. Gates also recommended that Lt. Gen. David M. Rodriguez, a former head of U.S. forces in eastern Afghanistan who is serving as Gates's military assistant, be nominated to serve in a new position as McChrystal's deputy. Gates praised McChrystal and Rodriguez for their "unique skill set in counterinsurgency."

McKiernan, an armor officer who led U.S. ground forces during the 2003 Iraq invasion, was viewed as somewhat cautious and conventionally minded, according to senior officials inside and outside the Pentagon.

Gen. David H. Petraeus, the top commander of U.S. forces in the region, has pressed aggressively to broaden the military's mission in Afghanistan and Iraq beyond killing the enemy to protecting the population, overseeing reconstruction projects and rebuilding local governance. Petraeus played a key role in the Obama administration's strategic review of the Afghanistan conflict and was involved in the decision to remove McKiernan, which Petraeus said in a statement he "fully supports."

The decision to fire McKiernan represents one of a handful of times since President Harry S. Truman's removal of Gen. Douglas MacArthur in 1951 that U.S. civilian leaders have relieved a top wartime commander, and is in keeping with Gates's style of demanding accountability by dismissing senior military and civilian officials for a host of problems, including nuclear weapons mismanagement and inadequate care for wounded troops.

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What this indicates is the change in philosophy from one of overwhelming a battlefield with superior fire power to that of counter insurgency and nation building.

It's a significant philosophical change within the DoD,

BBC Afghanistan civilian casualties fall, says UN / August 8, 2012

Civilian casualties in Afghanistan have fallen for the first time in five years, the latest UN figures show.

I can't at the moment find news reports illustrating the difficulty of using a Howitzer as a counter insurgency tool. The fact is it has been a difficult road in getting the DoD entirely on board with the new program instituted by Gates early in the Presidents admin.

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Do I support the President?

absolutely.

It has nothing to do with partisanship. It has everything to do with competence in shaping military strategy - the difficulties of implementation stem primarily from rigid adherence to both methodology and ideology that is typified by conse(R)vatives where ever they are

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[-] 1 points by VQkag2 (16482) 7 months ago

I'm with you. Certainly Bush abandoned this Afghan/Al Qaeda effort in favor of the illegal oil war in Iraq. And obviously I am against war in general and Pres Obamas effort in Afghan specifically.

I do support Pres Obamas efforts to end the Afghan war. And I absolutely support the reduction in US military killings from 1 million+ to thousands. Even though, I will still be protesting against this war.

Peace

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