Time for the U.S. to Get Out of Afghanistan

Washington Post by George F. Will | Sep. 1, 2009 (Opinion)

U.S. strategy -- protecting the population -- is increasingly troop-intensive while Americans are increasingly impatient about "deteriorating" (says Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff) conditions. The war already is nearly 50 percent longer than the combined U.S. involvements in two world wars, and NATO assistance is reluctant and often risible. Full Story »

Posted by Kaizar Campwala - via Arianna Huffington, Fair Spin (Right), Memeorandum, NewsRack (Afghanistan), Publish2 (World), Opinion Source

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Related Comments: Afghanistan (5)

3.5

by Derek Hawkins - Sep. 1, 2009

A fine litany of reasons to leave Afghanistan -- but then what? Will doesn't address what happens when the United States leaves, nor does he define why U.S. troops are still there.

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3.7

by Kaizar Campwala - Sep. 1, 2009

Will fails to discuss what the effects of a US withdrawal would be, for Afghans, Pakistan, and Al Qaida.

Kaizar posted this story.

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3.4

by Dwight Rousu - Sep. 3, 2009

Will catches on that the war is a futile quagmire, but he wants to keep up the bombing, assassination squads, and missile strikes. The random murders of these war acts are part of why Afghanis want the US out, at the point of a rifle if necessary. And better late than never, but why did Will never object to the Afganistan invasion and occupation while his boy W was violating international law for a quagmire. A tainted opinion, it seems.

As the Doonesbury character says, "I'm telling you, as an old 'Nam hand, I've seen this movie. We're in the middle of a civil war. The enemy are highly motivated nationalists who want to kick out foreign powers and replace an inept deeply corrupt central government! How is this NOT Vietnam all over again?"

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4.4

by Manfred Ostrowski - Sep. 9, 2009

George Will offers an intelligent, honest, and fair view of the situation in Afghanistan. His quite realistic picture of the Afghan war might hurt some of those defending the necessity of strong U.S. involvement in Afghanistan, but there lies a lot of uncomfortable yet undeniable truth in his assessment.

I really hope the article will achieve the goal of reopening the necessary public discussion concerning the Afghan war. I doubt this war can be "won" by military force. The U.S. will have to decide if they really want to press for a stronger Afghan statehood and central government as opposed to traditional local autonomy.

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3.2

by Tanya J. Maurer - Sep. 9, 2009

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4.7

by JUSTIN MORRIS JOHNSON - Sep. 1, 2009

Writer sticks with policy, rather than demonizing a personality. Very current issue. Non-partisan on its face.

President Obama has utterly failed to provide sound reasons for remaining in Afghanistan. We went in ostensibly to crush al qaeda. Now, we are fighting the Taliban, using old style military strategy against urban guerilla sohpisticated warriors. It is completely "no win" but we lack the leadership to admit it.

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3.6

Good

from 6 reviews (54% confidence)

Quality

3.6

Information

3.5

Insight

3.7

Style

3.8

Context

3.0

Expertise

2.8

Originality

4.4

Relevance

4.6

Responsibility

3.8

Popularity

3.7

Recommendation

3.8

Credibility

4.3

# Reviews

3.0

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5.0

# Likes

1.0

# Emails

1.0

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Doonesbury@Slate - Daily Dose

doonesbury.com | Sep. 2, 2009

Posted by Dwight Rousu

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Bogging Down in Kabul

The Daily Beast by Matthew Yglesias | Sep. 1, 2009 (Opinion)

Rather than a limited mission to fight al Qaeda and support the existing Afghan government, we seem increasingly drawn into a hazily defined effort to reconstruct Afghan ...

Posted by Kaizar Campwala

3.7

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George Will is wrong about Afghanistan

Foreign Policy by Christian Brose | Sep. 2, 2009 (Opinion)

(Blog Post) The problem in Afghanistan is not that a counterinsurgency strategy has failed, but that is hasn't really ever been tried. There are risks with either strategy, be it ...

Posted by Kaizar Campwala

3.4

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