Trump Sends More Troops to Afghanistan

[Malacrass]

I do remember Trump saying that deploying troops in Afghanistan in the first place was a mistake, but pulling them out prematurely even more so.

So I don't quite get the criticism here tbh.

[A dot Ham]

He killed Bin Laden...

Supposedly. We had no problem filming the hanging of saddam hussein. But Obama... nah drop that body in the ocean. Who was btw... just chillin in some Mansion in Pakistan. Fishy?

I'm not putting that on any one person or political party... but rather our government in general. That "win" was fishy.

In any case, what did that do for the war? Did we win? Doesn't the Taliban control more of the region NOW than when Obama took office?


The point is that its a shitty situation, and to pin it on Trump, or Obama, isn't fair at all. Afghanistan is our generation's Vietnam. No one believes there is a clear "win" here (except maybe Trump).

[Aggrophobic]

I agree that HE is an idiot. Trump no more represents ME than Obama did. Assuming anyone voted for Trump solely because they thought he would end the Afghanistan conflict does not make them gullible. It makes them hopeful. Hope... wasn't that Obama's campaign? Perhaps dems and repubs aren't all that different. But you'll never see that.

Perhaps you are right.

In any case, I am pretty sure the democrats would have done the same thing as Trump here. Hillary, Obama, Trump, none of them know much about what needs to be done in order to handle a conflict such as this. They have advisors, generals and such that probably know much more about the matter.

The thing is, Trump said he would do the opposite and mocked people that wanted more soldiers abroad. He thought he could just jump into the white house and "fix" things. So yes, he is an idiot. A dangerous one at that.
There must be better conservative candidates that could actually do the job right.

Maybe not though. If you voted for Trump out of "hope" then you must be pretty damn desperate.

[Arril]

Obama had over 100,000 troops in Afghanistan in 2011 and we still could not control that country because the Afghan government (Hamid Karzai) had little interest in changing the power dynamic. Until you remove all the local and regional warlords and get rid of the opium trade, you won't fix Afghanistan. Obama realized that this would be an endless war and began planning for the drawdown to get our kids out of there. With a new leader in Afghanistan, that dynamic could change, but we'd need to get back to 100,000+ troops to reconquer all the Taliban-held regions and institute a stronger central government rule.

Trump is talking about going from 8,000 to 11,000 troops in Afghanistan as if this number will frighten the Taliban because of his photo with a mean face? Ha Ha Ha. They survived far worse and they'll survive Trump as well. Trump's main concern is optics - he wants you to believe that everything done by the Presidents before him was a massive failure because nobody but him was "tough" enough.

Hardly. But then again, who knew it would be this hard?

[A dot Ham]

Laughing in the face of those who believed Trump's lies and spat vitriol at anyone who told them they were being stupid is pretty cathartic.

It's enjoyable to see idiotic zealots forced to come to terms with realising how blind they are.

Who spat vitriol? So tit for tat huh? Democrats have all the answers right? Never believed a single lie from a politician. In fact I think its on the label when you buy into Democrat Party, "comes with built in lie detector" know truth at all times, never believe another lie again. You're ridiculous.

What "lies" did Obama tell the American people? Should I start a list? Or can we just agree that politicians lie and the American people (democrat or republican get duped) it isn't funny, and if you somehow think we are living in a world where claiming you are democrat not only absolves you of responsibility but also you keeps you safe from the policies of a republican president/government, then you are of course living in a fantasy world. Let us not forget who the alternative was, Hilary Clinton, also a pathological liar, who would have done anything to be President. We knew SHE was lying, we knew Trump was lying. There was hope that one was lying less than the other. That isn't/wasn't a win for anyone.

Let me ask you this. Who did you vote for in 2014? Those are the elections that matter. Did you even vote? Can you remember their names? Can any of you name a senator/representative for your state without looking it up? Do you know where THEY stand on certain policies? I'd bet my retirement that most of you wouldn't be able to answer that.

Some democrat policies I can get behind.
Some I cannot.

But Hillary? Really Hillary? To this day, the idea of casting my vote her direction puts a sour taste in my mouth. Surely among you, there is a better champion. There was actually... Bernie and your party screwed him... and that is why there is no winning with Dems.

(1) Either your party has corruption and Hillary unlawfully stole the vote from Bernie (i believe this option)
(2) Or you are too damn stubborn to go with someone like Bernie, who may not be FULL democrat, but is close enough for a Democratic President, and would have been better than a republican president.

[Acidbaron]

We can't let Afghanistan descend into chaos. The first time Afghanistan descended into chaos we got Osama bin Ladin, who came to Afghanistan to kill Russians but soon got the idea of starting a Caliphate.

Today we are fighting the Caliphate in Syria.

If Iraq 2 didn't happen we most likely would not have been fighting a Caliphate at this time. Or if Iraq 2 was actually managed well after dropping bombs on it.

[Sky High]

If Iraq 2 didn't happen we most likely would not have been fighting a Caliphate at this time. Or if Iraq 2 was actually managed well after dropping bombs on it.

there is no way you can foist the importance and merits of secular democracy onto people, they have to see it for themselves. the failing of the Iraq war and the Arab spring make this abundantly clear.

[A dot Ham]

Maybe not though. If you voted for Trump out of "hope" then you must be pretty damn desperate.

Guilty.

I can't say that I felt represented by Obama... likable guy. Probably did more good than bad.

I can't say that the shit spewing Donald Trump represents me either. He does nothing I would expect of a President. Even when he says the right thing... it feels scripted.

The alternative was Hillary. Just wasn't gonna happen, as much as I hate her. I would have voted for her if she would have worked Bernie into her cabinet. But that wouldn't have happened, her electoral votes, her campaign... all of it was predetermined long before that election or campaigning ever got underway. That never sat well with me, it didn't matter if the democrats had BETTER people for the nominee... she was going to be the next president. You can speculate what that was, probably most were paid... but I wasn't going to get behind that, not ever. She wasn't the best liberals/democrats had to offer. We should be nominating our best.

[jackofwind]

Who spat vitriol? So tit for tat huh? Democrats have all the answers right? Never believed a single lie from a politician. In fact I think its on the label when you buy into Democrat Party, "comes with built in lie detector" know truth at all times, never believe another lie again. You're ridiculous.

What "lies" did Obama tell the American people? Should I start a list? Or can we just agree that politicians lie and the American people (democrat or republican get duped) it isn't funny, and if you somehow think we are living in a world where claiming you are democrat not only absolves you of responsibility but also you keeps you safe from the policies of a republican president/government, then you are of course living in a fantasy world. Let us not forget who the alternative was, Hilary Clinton, also a pathological liar, who would have done anything to be President. We knew SHE was lying, we knew Trump was lying. There was hope that one was lying less than the other. That isn't/wasn't a win for anyone.

Let me ask you this. Who did you vote for in 2014? Those are the elections that matter. Did you even vote? Can you remember their names? Can any of you name a senator/representative for your state without looking it up? Do you know where THEY stand on certain policies? I'd bet my retirement that most of you wouldn't be able to answer that.

Some democrat policies I can get behind.
Some I cannot.

But Hillary? Really Hillary? To this day, the idea of casting my vote her direction puts a sour taste in my mouth. Surely among you, there is a better champion. There was actually... Bernie and your party screwed him... and that is why there is no winning with Dems.

(1) Either your party has corruption and Hillary unlawfully stole the vote from Bernie (i believe this option)
(2) Or you are too damn stubborn to go with someone like Bernie, who may not be FULL democrat, but is close enough for a Democratic President, and would have been better than a republican president.

I'm not a Democrat, and I did not think Hillary was a good choice. Your anger is misguided.

Honestly, you ought to just calm down.

[Therec]

There is no easy way to pull out of Afganistan without causing issues.

As for the schendunfreude. Desperate people elected an anti-science impulsive idiot in hopes that all the BS he was spouting during his campaign would come true. The other side saw through the BS for what this man truly was. They had to put up with gloating for months and are now enjoying watching the desperate people flounder as their "outsider" turns out to be just another politician who is breaking all his campaign promises. Sucks for us as a nation but Americans are stubborn and feel their opinions are not only important, but correct. The fighting between sides isn't going to end any time soon

[A dot Ham]

I'm not a Democrat, and I did not think Hillary was a good choice. Your anger is misguided.

Honestly, you ought to just calm down.

So angry! Rawr!

[Paranoid Android]

Ugghh! I think the Orange Turd wanted to leave, just like Obama but again was convinced to stay and add more troops.

I can see the dilemma. We went into a country, especially a fucked up country and now we have to stay. Unlike Iraq, Afghan was very probable in that Bin Laden and AQ being there. The problem with sticking our BIG FAT nose in shit is we can never get out. Yes, if we leave they take over shit and some new group named: Ooga Boogas or whatever will come about with radical ideas bent on striking out. Of course staying and adding more troops is a shit show of losing troop lives and money. I love our World Police attitude.

I could attack the Orange Turd here, but I'll just leave it that its a mess and really no solution.

[Therec]

Guilty.

I can't say that I felt represented by Obama... likable guy. Probably did more good than bad.

I can't say that the shit spewing Donald Trump represents me either. He does nothing I would expect of a President. Even when he says the right thing... it feels scripted.

The alternative was Hillary. Just wasn't gonna happen, as much as I hate her. I would have voted for her if she would have worked Bernie into her cabinet. But that wouldn't have happened, her electoral votes, her campaign... all of it was predetermined long before that election or campaigning ever got underway. That never sat well with me, it didn't matter if the democrats had BETTER people for the nominee... she was going to be the next president. You can speculate what that was, probably most were paid... but I wasn't going to get behind that, not ever. She wasn't the best liberals/democrats had to offer. We should be nominating our best.

It is scripted. What he said last night was not written by him and was not off the cuff. His tweets and his clearly-improvised statements show who he really is when not controlled.

I hated Hillary too, and frankly when Bernie lost I saw the next president as a lose-lose situation.

[Acidbaron]

there is no way you can foist the importance and merits of secular democracy onto people, they have to see it for themselves. the failing of the Iraq war and the Arab spring make this abundantly clear.

I was speaking of the instability created by a power vacuum not about what shape of the country would have. I am fine with an Islamic democratic nation much like early European were Christian democratic, they were stable and became more secular as education became more available to all.

[Deleted]

Not surprised in the least.

Afghanistan has a large amount of minerals that remain unmined. The US wont pull out until its businesses get it. Thats why the American administration was also talking about hiring Mercenarys a while back.

[Sky High]

I was speaking of the instability created by a power vacuum not about what shape of the country would have. I am fine with an Islamic democratic nation much like early European were Christian democratic, they were stable and became more secular as education became more available to all.

well, part of the power vacuum existing is the tribal mentality that runs through that entire region. that is much more the case with Afghanistan then Iraq I will give you that.

[ONCHEhap]

Finish the job this time will you?
Last time you pulled out of the middle east early they started to go blow themselves up here in Europe

[Doctor Amadeus]

So he is going to spend and waste more time trying to internationally police which is exactly what he said he wasn't going to do.

This isn't going to work, it's another War 2.0 only with Orange Nazi making decisions he thinks will work because his blatant failure up until this point haven't sunk in yet.

[A dot Ham]

It is scripted. What he said last night was not written by him and was not off the cuff. His tweets and his clearly-improvised statements show who he really is when not controlled.

I hated Hillary too, and frankly when Bernie lost I saw the next president as a lose-lose situation.

By scripted I guess I mean disingenuous.

Bush was a pretty terrible orator also. But at least he was genuine.

The only time Trump sounds like he's speaking from the heart is when he is talking down to someone, or insulting them. Surely that negative passion and vigor has a counterpart right? Right?

[Dr Assbandit]

Meanwhile, Pakistan is demonized at every point whereas they have been dealing with the fuckups of the US in Afghanistan. Countless terrorist attacks from Afghani militants including one where they drove into a military training compound and slaughtered almost all the young cadets who were present.

https://www.pri.org/stories/2016-10-...academy-quetta