Obama: Troop Announcement May Come After Afghan Vote

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Regarding Bush and Dover -- saying it over and over again does not make it so. Since the beginning of the war in Afghanistan almost a decade ago, Obama's visit was the first by a president to Dover AFB, period. That's the reality that Doug Feith scorned so much in the run up to these wars. There is much to criticize in obama's response to this, but be factual.

Ben Jones of NM 12:48PM November 04, 2009

Maybe, it's time to live up to some of his promises and get out of the middle/far east problems! They are NOT winnable!!
More of our young and promising men are being fed into a cauldron of futility!

Frank Drozdick of MA 11:39AM November 03, 2009

Karzai is the man with Abdullah steping aside. Final analysis is that the the little boy who would be president has screwed around for over a month hiding behind the upcoming re-election which now doesn't mean a thing.
How does Obama use the midnight photo op at Dover where only one of 18 families gave their permission for the casket to be photographed? It is interesting to note that George W. Bush went often to Dover for the returning caskets, but NEVER turned it into a photo op by allowing the White House Press Pool to attend.

Fed UP of IN 2:41PM November 02, 2009

Afghanistan "Elections".
Dr Abdullah Abdullah speech.
Homey don't play no sham elections.
(neither should we)
CNN & FOX would talk over live speech.
CNN & FOX would not translate live speech.
CNN & FOX would cut to commercials during live speech.
(cnn & fox must wait for orders)
Now back to your regularly programed CNN & FOX Propaganda

nader paul kucinich gravel 8:27AM November 01, 2009

What does Karzai have to gain from a free-and-fair election re-do?
Nothing.
And what does Abdullah have to gain from a fraudulent run-off?
Nothing.
So why hope or expect parallel lines to intersect in Afghanistan?
Two dysfunctional reasons now joined at the hip:
1) Obamalove. It's desperate to show how much better and smarter President Obama is than Bush, and Candidate Obama showcased Afghanistan as the world's best venue for that. In true dissonant fashion, Obamalove will feel satisfactorily vindicated and justified when Obama's Afghanistan inevitably peg's the lamebrain needle as hard as Bush's Iraq -- then blame Bush for that as well.
2) Republican neocon war-mongering. Look at how Sarah Palin is Obama's NBF cheerleader for even more flag-waving rah-rah-rah boots-on-ground in Afghanistan. What are they -- Obama and Palin -- Woody Harrelson and Juliette Lewis wannabes trying to adapt cinema to real life?
Old saying: Where a tree falls, it lies. It cross-culturally cuts ice.
The Afghan political tree fell Dec. 2001 at the Bonn Conference in Germany. And it was still lying there post Oct. 2004. And it was still lying there post Aug. 2009, with Karzai still sitting on top of it. And post Nov. 2009, the same Afghan political tree will lie in the same place, with Karzai still sitting on top of it.
Every step of the way the no-win WEST versus EAST confrontation in Afghanistan is made clear. Now the relationship parallel between Karzai/Abdullah and Obama/Clinton puts another spotlight on it.
While publically professional and mostly cordial, Obama and Clinton in private likely would just as soon strap razor blades to their ankles and jump at each other. Yet Candidate Clinton, after the democrat team bus ran over her, brushed herself off to support Candidate Obama in the presidential election campaign. In a New York minute the scales on her eyes that previously blinded her to Candidate Obama's yet untapped but still imaginary foreign policy brilliance fell off. Did you forget how the 3:00 am commercials were so suddenly no longer valid? And hop-skip-jump, she became President Obama's Secretary of State (Foreign Minister).
That happened because that's how it's done in the WEST -- Go along to get AHEAD.
Abdullah has already been there, done that as Afghanistan's Foreign Minister (Secretary of State). And it's impossible to throw someone under a team bus, even with international help from a superpower, when that someone, like any anyone who is someone in Afghan politics, has armed militias watching his back -- and their future.
If you can't see at this late stage that US military involvement in Afghanistan is no-win across the board, at least be decent to yourself and recognize that Afghanistan -- like Iraq -- is a country only in WESTERN minds. It's only lines on a map -- as drawn by WESTERNERS. They're not like us, so quit supporting doing unto them what you wouldn't want done to yourself.
Google Matthew Hoh.