Does it look like the troop increase in Afghanistan will be coupled with an exit plan?

[backscatter712]

I'm hoping so, because an open-ended occupation is guaranteed to be a clusterfuck.

Now, granted, a increase in the number of troops in Afghanistan isn't going to help matters, but if Obama couples it with an exit plan, maybe that will signal the beginning of the end to this mess.

[elocs]

1. One could only hope, but I don't know it I'd hold my breath. n/t

[tabatha]

2. Obama wants an exit strategy.

[backscatter712]

4. I'm pretty certain he does too.

He's not dumb, but with the military playing politics, the defense contractors playing politics and so on, stirring up the teabaggers, he can't get away with a withdrawal right now.

The good thing coming out of this is that people in the Beltway are going to be talking seriously about bringing the troops home pretty soon.

[IndianaGreen]

3. Read the British press if you want to know what Obama is going to do!

Did you know there is going to be an Afghanistan summit in London in January?

Here is the exit strategy:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=433x22650#23630

[backscatter712]

5. Good link. Considering this news...

and how Obama rejected those war plans earlier and demanded exit strategies, I think we're coming closer to bringing the troops home.

[IndianaGreen]

8. It is an ambitious agenda, to say the least

and Karzai is just the Afghan version of South Vietnam's Diem, corrupt and unpopular.

Draw up your own conclusions from story at the link. The proof will be in the pudding, and how this plays out over a span of several months, rather than Obama's Tuesday speech, will be the gauge by which success or failure will be measured against.

[backscatter712]

9. Karzai's arm is gonna have to be twisted.

And fortunately, that's pretty easy. Either Karzai cleans up his act, or we toss him to the wolves.

But yeah, we'll have to wait and see if the exit plan actually gets implemented.

[IndianaGreen]

10. If the American people won't support this war, Obama will go the way of LBJ

and he would have done so with both eyes open.

[treestar]

6. Apparently we are still in Korea

Is that a giant clusterfuck?

We're still in Germany, too.

It may be undesirable, but it's not always a giant clusterfuck.

[backscatter712]

12. Different situation.

1. The S. Korean people want us there, or at least tolerate us there, mostly because they're doing relatively well for themselves, and they don't want to be invaded by N. Korea.

2. We're not actually at war there (OK, technically, the Korean War never officially ended. But we're not actually shooting at each other.)

In Afghanistan, the locals don't want us there, and we're embroiled in a shooting war, with new casualties for us and the locals every day.

But if you can find a magic way to turn the Afghanistan situation into Korea, by all means tell us how.

[joshdawg]

7. The only viable exit plan is to exit all our troops now.

[hayu_lol]

11. Afghanistan and Iraq are just remakes of the European...

30 years war. Even thinking of that makes one wonder if we'll be out at the end of 30 years.

Both countries are open to full civil war should we pull out...and we are pretty much ineffective now except in local disturbances.

Oh yeah, and the top crop in Afghanistan is still opium. Remember Bush paid the Taliban some 41 million back in about August of 2001 to destroy the crop.

[ShortnFiery]

13. Yeah, a half-baked one that will only serve to help the MSM "manufacture consent"

to part with ANOTHER *trillion* of our tax dollars as well as 34,000 of our youth into the meat grinder of the Military Industrial Complex. :puke: :grr: :puke:

[ClarkUSA]

14. He very publicly delayed an expected decision weeks ago because he wanted to focus on exit plans.

I doubt he'll get into publicly announcing a detailed exit plan in his speech on Tuesday but I believe he will
make clear that this decision does not mean there will be an open-ended military engagement which "will
signal the beginning of the end to this mess".

[IndianaGreen]

15. Nixon gave a speech that was similar to the one you described

It was called "Vietnamization."

[dflprincess]

18. That's just what I was going to say

and we remember how well that worked, don't we?

[knightinwhitesatin]

16. If the troops don't start leaving until

2013-2014 is that really an exit plan............I mean 2010 is next months and the reinforcements will take 2 years or so to all get there based on what I have read so that is 2012. With a year tour that means mid to late 2013 at the absolute soonest......So 3 and half more years of war is an exit plan? How's that Kool aid?

[Cha]

19. Too bad some people don't

understand the difference between Pres Obama and nixon.

And, yeah I imagine he will leave some exit strategy in the hands of the military.

[Clio the Leo]

17. I think it's how he'll frame his argument....

"this is how we get out of there...."

[Brother Buzz]

20. Powell may be flawed, but the Powell Doctrine is sound

1. Is a vital national security interest threatened?
2. Do we have a clear attainable objective?
3. Have the risks and costs been fully and frankly analyzed?
4. Have all other non-violent policy means been fully exhausted?
5. Is there a plausible exit strategy to avoid endless entanglement?
6. Have the consequences of our action been fully considered?
7. Is the action supported by the American people?
8. Do we have genuine broad international support?

[Aramchek]

21. that's why Obama rejected all the plans presented to him. They didn't have an exit strategy

the one that he announces will.

[SKKY]

22. Well, from this Veteran's perspective, it damn well better be.

But, having watched Obama for a while now, my sense is that there is a very clear exit strategy, along with milestones for the Karzai administration to meet for us to remain there.

[optimator]

23. we will see if this exit strategy is just a punt

If the exit is based on failure to meet certain conditions, then it is a disgusting political move.
If the exit is based on conditions being met, then it is an actual strategy.

Any bets on which one is the plan?

[noamnety]

24. On paper, sure.

we'll leave just as soon as we meet the unattainable goals of X,Y and Z.

Those goals will be along the lines of the afghans magically becoming docile and cooperative with US goals, see first we train them (because they aren't smart enough to run their own society without us westerners to train them), but the trick is we only train the ones who are sympathetic to us. (Gosh, we should have thought of that sooner!)

Basically, the same exit strategy we used to get out of Iraq in the years after the mission was accomplished.