Afghanistan: It's me and my brother against my cousin. But it's me and my cousin against a foreigner

[G_j]

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/10/10-1

Published on Saturday, October 10, 2009 by The Nation
Al Qaeda in Afghanistan
by Greg Kaufmann

<snip>

Wednesday marked the beginning of Year Nine of the war. In the Dirksen Senate Office Building, Senator John Kerry, chair of the Foreign Relations Committee and a Vietnam vet who knows a thing or two about the costs and consequences of a quagmire, convened a hearing titled "Confronting Al Qaeda: Understanding the Threat in Afghanistan and Beyond."


<snip>

Republican ranking member Richard Lugar then turned to Gen. Stanley McCrystal's call for up to 60,000 additional US troops. "Who would we be surging against ?" he asked. "How would this have any effect whatever on the incidences of terrorism in the United States, Western Europe or what have you?"

"Let me answer that with an old Middle Eastern proverb," Sageman replied. "'It's me and my brother against my cousin. But it's me and my cousin against a foreigner.' So if we send 40,000 Americans...that will coalesce every local rivalry; they will put their local rivalry aside to actually shoot the foreigners and then they'll resume their own internecine fight.... Sending troops with weapons just will unify everybody against those troops, unfortunately."

Grenier emphasized that a surge would turn not only Afghans against the United States but also Pakistanis. "A large increase in the US presence in Afghanistan would not be welcomed by the majority of Pakistanis," he said. "It would make the struggle seem all the more starkly as one of the US versus Muslims, as opposed to the US supporting Afghans in their own struggle."

..more..

http://www.nationalpriorities.org/2009/09/02/quick-facts-US-military-operations-Afghanistan

Fact Sheet: Quick Facts About U.S. Military Operations in Afghanistan


Inside, you will find:

U.S. Troop Levels in Afghanistan historical data
Annual Funding for U.S. Combat Operations in Afghanistan
Figures of U.S. Military Fatalities in Afghanistan
Link to NPP's Cost of War counter
Additional Resources

The Obama Administration is in the process of preparing a set of benchmarks which will be used to gauge the progress of U.S. military and civilian operations in Afghanistan. Ordered by Congress, the benchmarks are due by September 24. In addition, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, has just released an interim assessment of the situation in the region. It has been widely reported that as a result of this assessment, Gen. McChrystal may request that as many as 45,000 additional U.S. troops be sent to Afghanistan.

The following are quick facts about the U.S. commitment to Afghanistan to date. We hope they are useful to you to you as you follow this issue.

U.S. Troop Levels in Afghanistan
Fiscal Year Troops
2001 N/A
2002 5,200
2003 10,400
2004 15,200
2005 19,100
2006 20,400
2007 23,700
2008 30,100
2009 50,700*


* Current Troop Levels - There are roughly 62,000 U.S. troops currently in Afghanistan. This number is expected to grow to at least 68,000 by December.



NOTE: The Defense Department reports troop levels involved in military operations in several ways. The figures shown here are taken from the Pentagon's Boots on the Ground (BOG) reports to Congress. They reflect only personnel located in Afghanistan and do NOT include other personnel deployed as part of Operation Enduring Freedom, such as those providing logistical support in neighboring countries,

Source: Troop Levels in the Afghan and Iraq Wars, FY2001-FY2012: Cost and Other Potential Issues,Congressional Research Service Report R40682, July 2, 2009
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/R40682.pdf

Annual Funding for U.S. Combat Operations in Afghanistan
Fiscal Year $ in Billions
2001 N/A
2002* 20.8
2003 14.7
2004 14.5
2005 20
2006 19
2007 36.9
2008 42.1
2009 60.2
TOTAL 228.2


NOTE: 2002 figure includes both FY 2001 and 2002 funding. The source gave only the total and did not break out funding for each year.



Source: The Cost of Iraq, Afghanistan, and Other Global War on Terror Operations Since 9/11,
Congressional Research Service Report RL33110, May 15, 2009
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/RL33110.pdf

U.S. Military Fatalities in Afghanistan
Year U.S. Fatalities
2001 12
2002 49
2003 48
2004 52
2005 99
2006 98
2007 117
2008 155
2009 239*
TOTAL 813


*NOTE: As of October 6, 2009



Source: Icasualties at http://icasualties.org

[ixion]

1. Out of Iraq and Afghanistan now.

End of discussion.

[joeycola]

2. +1

[G_j]

3. #2

[ThomCat]

4. Agreed.

It's a huge, unnecessary drain on our treasury, killing people just so military contractors can make more money, and it is doing absolutely not one bit of good for the United States of America. :grr:

[G_j]

5. --

[G_j]

6. --

[Orwellian_Ghost]

7. Bump

[G_j]

8. --