Obama Doubles Down His Bet on Winning the War in Afghanistan

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al qaeda planned and executed on 9/11 an attack on U.S. soil. in response to the attack, America declared war on al qaeda and the ones harboring al qaeda (the Taliban Regime). plain and simple... Iraq is a mistake, but Afghanistan is us defending against an attacker who targets U.S. civilians.

ryanlevy of FL 6:43AM January 18, 2010

The continuation of these two wars is criminal against our kids dying there, innocent populations and our own population here who has to continue suffering an economic crisis affecting their livehoods, their education and their health. Lets stop this madness and put all those billions of dollars to work here. Lets leave a small force to train those countries armies to regain control of their countries, lets put some money in projects to help those countries rebuilt in pay for all the destruction and killings we have caused. Isn't it enough revenge for 911?

Jesus Tapia of CA 2:20PM April 21, 2009

War on terror is unwinnable by mere force.We are not fighting regular armies and well identified enemies.We are fighting individuals or small groups of individuals whom we can neither detect nor identify.Sleeping cells of such terrorists have already been deployed all over the whole world. Such type of war could go on and on for many decades without any definite outcome. However,we can win this war very easily by finding out the real cause behind such terrorist formations and trying to eliminate it. The short sighted step of creating Israel on the ruins of Plaestine and its innocent people has led to the creation of such terrorist groups who are ready to sacrifice their own bodies in a holy war against Israel and the countries that suport its apartheid regime.Once we stop our unlimited support to the Israeli military gangs whose only game is to kill as many Palestinian women and children as they can everyday,once all Palestinian refugees return home to their stolen land and belongings under un resolution 194 which Israel arrogantly refuses to implement, once a secular state is established on all the land of Historical Palestine for Jews,Moslems and Christians with equal rights and responsibilities and without any kind of descrimination, all terror in the world will defintely disappear for ever.

sam of NJ 5:33PM April 16, 2009

Why this war? And why this war in Afghanistan. Clearly, the West is now 'there' in the same manner that the Soviet Union was there, but the question remains, why?
I do not for a second believe that the War in Afghanistan is a war in support of democracy or freedom for the Afghan people, women in particular, nor do I believe that the West is there to defeat al Queda -- whatever that is, whoever they are.
Nor do I for a second believe that the War is about drug-abuse or the cultivation of Opium, even though opium is the real currency of Afghanistan.
My concern extends to the hundreds and thousands of people who have died in this protracted conflict and the continuing tragedy of the 'War' and the West's inability to deal properly with it.
As the West continues to escalate its presence in Afghanistan and hundreds of soldiers continue to lay down their lives for 'missions that they strongly believed in', as the official statements of the military always seem to say, it's important for us to consider what the real reasons for our presence in Afghanistan actually are. We are not there for the people, to fight the war on drugs, or even to root out al Queda. We are there to send a clear message to the Chinese that any thought of gaining access to Persian Gulf Oil through Afghanistan is completely out of the question.

Paul Steer 11:49AM February 21, 2009

Obama, whom I supported, has just escalated the undeclared war in Afghanistan.
Where is Congress? Where is the debate as to whether we should withdraw our troops from that country or add troops and occupy it?
Our air strikes in Afghanistan and in Pakistan are destabilizing the government of Pakistan and may well let al Qaeda or the Taliban get Pakistan's nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles. What are Obama and his brightest thinking?
The planning for 9/11 was done in Hamburg, Germany. The flight training for 9/11 was done in Florida and in Arizona. We might as well attack them too!
Afghanistan and northwest Pakistan are among the very poorest and backward regions of the planet. That is exactly where we want al Qaeda and the Taliban. Let's not drive them out of there.

Kevin Cahill of NM 1:41AM February 21, 2009

Afghanistan/Pakistan is important to the West only as the overland route for oil... and unfortunately Pakistan has nukes. Otherwise, we could just ignore what happens there because the land itself is worthless and the people have over a thousand years of history of religious beliefs that run contrary to Western ways, and they aren't likely to change to democracy. At any rate, the down side of democracy is the potential to elect leaders who oppose the West, such as Hugo Chavez. Better let other nations evolve as they might and keep our nose out of their business, least we again come out bruised, with blood on our hands and a lost of national pride and prestige. Once again, we have become the Ugly Americans. Is the extra one million barrels of oil per day really worth the price of human suffering, spending tens of bilions of American taxpayer dollars and at the cost of thousands of American and innocent "collateral damage" civilian lives that equates to instilling more hatred and anger at America? NOT! Let's just pull out now while we're ahead of the game. If the Taliban takes over the country again, they will eventually kick out Al Queda. If they don't and Al Queda continues to attack America, we can send in our bombers and obliterate their camps and hideouts instead of sending in more troops to be picked off one by one by IEDs and snipers.

Tony Lee of CA 7:47PM February 19, 2009

Every article I read about Obama, it's talking about how this or that tops his priorities list. In this article, it's the Afghan War. I'm curious, with some many activities at the top of his list, how any of them receive appropriate amounts of attention. I'm not convinced he even has his priorities in order. I think he's nodding and saying yes to anyone with their hand out. Perhaps a little guidance would be helpful. Perhaps he should check out this website where people have been offering their two cents on what his priorities should be. What do you think they should be? Check it out: http://www.friendsoftheuschamber.com/email/email4.cfm?id=200

actionashley of WA 3:38PM February 19, 2009

This is a country that has tribal regions that will do anything to protect their land. Go back and study what happened to the Soviet Union during their time there. If there is place that could turn into another Vietnam it's Afghanistan.
I get nervous when I hear terms like "White House Afghanistan strategy review". If they are going to run this from the White House we could see a repeat of the 1960's and 1970's. I would rather see them pull our men and women out now and save some lives.
I was in full support of taking out our enemies that were there but we let them get away and the new government is in place. So what is the mission now?

Larry of CA 6:57PM February 18, 2009