Eleven years into the war in Afghanistan, where do we stand? Have me made
progress since the 2008 Frontline Report? What advice would you give
the the President as to the course of action from this point forward (2012)? Response Due Friday
Questions to Consider:
Who are we fighting?
What is our objective?
What is the role of Pakistan?
Obama's decision Making Process
We have discussed the role of the President as Commander in Chief, and the awesome weight of this responsibility. Read the articles from 2010, taking into account what we learned from Frontline's Forgotten War (2008). What options was President Obama presented with? Who were the people giving him this advice? How does he make his decision?
Reading For Tuesday All readings/videos located HERE
Obama's War Part 1
Obama Mulls Way Forward (video)
A Divided Team
For Thursday
Obama's War Part 2
Amid anger over Afghan killings, U.S. faces growing public weariness about war
More Stories on the Afghan War
37 comments:
The 11 year war in Afghanistan has been a long tough war. although we have made good progress such as killing and capturing major terrorist leaders, i feel that we have dragged this war out long enough. 11 years is a long time to fight but it is an ongoing battle and it probably will never completely end. We will most likely always have troops there monitoring and fighting terrorism. I feel that the president can take troops out of Afghanistan and reduce the amount that are there but we can never completely remove all of our troops. I feel that even though we caught and captured some of the major terrorist leaders we still need to keep our eyes open to possible retaliations from the Taliban. The war is not over.
It has been 11 years so what are we still doing there? From everything I have heard and read, nothing good can come of staying in the war. After all that our troops and America has been through, we cannot just quit. It is more of a double sided knife. If we stay we get hurt, and if we leave we will hurt. On one side of this argument, is it worth staying? The amount of money we have already lost and the lives that have been taken are not worth just leaving. Plus, if we stay, we will risk more lives and waste more money one people who don't even want our help. It is not smart to help others who do not want to especially when we already have tried. Yes, from the beginning we have made a tremendous amount of progress, however; once we take 10 steps forward, I feel we take another 3 steps back. There needs to be a balance of money and reason to stay other than the fact we will loose. The war is still going on so people need to treat it with cation to terrorism even though we caught some of them ,but there are still many more out there.
Eleven years into the war is an extremely long time. This war is the longest war that the United States has ever participated in. Right now at this moment, there are some things that we have accomplished such as capturing and killing terrorist leaders, one of them being Osama Bin Laden, one of the men behind the attack of 9/11. But on the other hand, this war has cost us a lot. We have lost thousands of American soldiers and and we also have lost an enormous amount of money as well. At this point it would not be a good idea though. We still have a lot that we need to do. By leaving it would be a waste of live and money. From the way I see it, this war is not going to end soon.
For the past 11 years we have been fighting in a war and there are many opinions that have come off of it. We haven taken out major terrorist leaders, including Osama Bin Laden. But with this war we have lost a lot of money and most importantly American Soldiers. I feel that we should not pull out because to me it is a sign of giving up and no longer trying. After 11 years of fighting and now we are just going to pull out. After we leave everything will just go back to the way it was. We've been fighting the Taliban and no matter how many we kill they will just be replaced and keep coming back. It is pointless to pull out and the people who lost relatives and friends, how do you think they are going to feel. We cannot pull out. There is no point in leaving now. I feel as if this war is not going to end for a while and we just need to keep strong.
We've spent 11 years in Afghanistan and what have we accomplished? Not too much. We went into Afghanistan in an attempt to root out and destroy the Taliban and Al Qaeda and haven't really succeeded. We've spent more money than I think anybody would care to count and lost countless lives in the process. Although we are still finding and killing insurgents from both groups we aren't winning the war. Between all of the places they can hide and all of the people in the organizations we would be there for decades upon decades. What this all really comes down to for Obama is two choices. One, we either accept defeat and pull out now and possibly risk more terrorist attacks on the United States. Or two, we send in all of our troops and restart the draft attacking Afghanistan with full force and have the threat of starting a nuclear war.
The war in Afghanistan that has been fought by america troops has definitely made some sort of progress. We have captured and killed many major terrorist leaders in the countries of Afghanistan and Pakistan, which have been hiding these leaders in their mountain ranges for years. One of these killed leaders includes the previous leader of AL-Qaeda, Osama Bin Laden. However, this dragging on war has costed billions of dollars in reinforcements, weapons, and troops. Thousands of Americans have died over the last 11 years, and progress in the war since then has not been as far as most Americans hoped it would be. Even though our objective is to defeat the Taliban, the chances of that happening are very slim. Members of the Taliban will never accept defeat from America and will continue to replenish their reinforcements with followers. Ontop of their will to fight, the battlefields of Afghanistan pose a huge threat and challenge for American troops. This war has been dragging on because of the Taliban and their strong beliefs, and it most likely will not be over anytime soon. As long as the Taliban is present, problems and violence will occur in Afghanistan.
Eleven years into the war in Afghanistan, we are still far from achieving our goal. Our primary objective in this war effort is to rid Afghanistan of the occupying Taliban and to establish a stable government that can take control over the country. Since the 2008 Frontline Report, we have yet to eliminate the enemy targets or establish a governmental system in which we can be confident. After such a long time occupying the country with such little progress, i believe we should remove our remaining troops and abandon the mission. Due to the mix of Taliban and innocent civilians living together in villages, there has been high number of innocent lives taken. This leads to more support for the Taliban, losing the support and trust we need to continue our struggle successfully. In addition, our efforts are costing us countless of US lives and dollars. Although establishing a strong Afghan government would be beneficial for our middle eastern relations, the price we have been paying is outweighing our cause. Our best option would be to remove our troops from Afghanistan and to focus our attention on other problems at hand.
There is a reason that we have been in an 11 year war in Afganistan. Our main task was to take out the Taliban and Al Qaeda. After 11 years you would think that there has been major progress. Unfortunatly, that has not been the case for many years. Until reacently, some Afghan citizens were actually on our side and okay with American troops occuping the area. However, with the recent news of the burning of the Korans and the U.S. soldier killing 16 Afghan citizens, we are no longer welcome. Even despite these two instances, the war we have been fighting for years hasn't been going the way we had planned. To win this war we would have to spend an enormous amount of money and send in more troops to finish the job. We have the weapons and strategy to do it but you can't win a war if your only halfway in it. However, there's no guarentee that we will win just because we send in more troops. To me, it just seems like a bigger target for our enemies. The smartest way to deal with this is to back off. Being in this war has only done us harm. We've been losing too many lives and too much money over a war that has been going on for way too long.
The war in afghanistan has been an ongoing effort for the united states. we have lost countless number of U.S. lives and have not made much progress in doing so. Our goals in this war are to prevent the Taliban from taking control of the country to most successfully carry out our mission. We must first remove the Taliban leaders in order to establish a stable government to take control. Since the 208 frontline report we have eliminated the most prominent Taliban leader Osama Bin Laden. Other than that, we have mistaken innocent Afghan civilians for Taliban causing us to loose the support we need in that country. My advice for the next president would be to peacefully resolve our efforts and to remove our troops from Afghanistan.
The war in Afghanistan has been a challenge for the country and has led to many disputes. It has been a long war, and at this point we are still having to make similar decisions to ones that have been previously made. We are still trying to control the Taliban and then pass on control to the Afghan government. Although we have done many raids and bombings, we are still in the same position as in 2008. The same things are occurring and we have not moved closer to completing our goal of getting out of the country. At this point Pakistan has not given us the help that we have needed and has actually been getting in the way. If i were to talk to President Obama about the current situation, I would stress to him the importance of not giving up in this conflict. Although it has taken a lot of money to support this war, it is completely necessary to the safety of the country. We need to focus our attention on what is going on in Afghanistan. There are many people that want to get our troops out of the country and I agree that that should be the final goal, but we cannot give up before the conflict has been taken care of. It would be better to spend time finishing what we started now, than pulling out and having to come back later. I understand that we are not in an easy situation as there are not too many of those when it comes to war. The result of this situation is very important to the country and the government must make decisions that are good for the long term and not just the short term.
The cost that America has been paying with taxes and lives to fund the war in Afghanistan for 11 years has simply not been worth the progress we've made. No one wants to tell the President that nearly all the time and money has been wasted, but we have to face that. Too many Americans have died for a hopeless cause in the Middle East. It's been made clear that the Afghan people don't want the Americans in their country and that the Taliban will continue to be elusive in both Afghanistan and Pakistan, and anyone who believes that another year or 10,000 troops will suddenly change that, they're kidding themselves. Even many soldiers at this point agree that the war isn't changing anything for the Afghan people and just want it to end. I would tell the President that we need to get the troops out as soon as possible. The more it's prolonged, the more likely it is that soldiers will go crazy, like the soldier that massacred a village last week. It's a lost cause and the best thing we can do now is end the war before any more Americans are injured or killed.
ngSince 2001, the US has been fighting a war in Afghanistan, in response to the 9/11 attacks. The US's primary purpose there is to eliminate the terrorist group al-Qaeda. To do this, the American military leaders implemented the "clear, hold, build, and transfer model." The US military would defeat al-Qaeda members in key areas (clear) and defend it (hold), while at the same time helping to train the Afghan and Pakistani military and police (build) until their governments were strong and stable enough enough to take over the fight and control of their respective nations (transfer).
The US, however, has encountered several complications with this plan. The members of al-Qaeda are part of the Pashtun people, whose native homeland lies on the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan. Whenever al-Qaeda suffers heavy losses from the more advanced American military, al-Qaeda members retreat to Pakistan where they can rebuild. Since the US is allied with Pakistan, troops cannot be sent to apprehend them. Additionally, efforts to train Afghan and Pakistani military and police forces have been slow. In Afghanistan, US gains cannot be transferred to the Afghan military yet. In Pakistan, the military is not effective in hunting down retreating al-Qaeda members.
Back at home, politicians have different views on the situation. Military leaders all agree that we are outmanned in Afghanistan and are pushing for more troops. Others, like Biden and Obama himself want the troops to come home sooner rather than later. Personally, I believe that it is in the best interest of the US to pull out of Afghanistan. According to Secretary of State Clinton, this conflict can't be won with a half-hearted effort. The US however, cannot afford to send in more troops. Sending more troops would only raise the debt ceiling and take away resources that could be better spent on internal issues.
The eleven year war we have been fighting in Afghanistan has seemed even longer due to great toll it has taken on our country. Many lives have been lost in battles with the Taliban and members of Al Qaeda. Our military has taken out numerous Taliban leaders, and there is always one to step right into their place following their death. This will not stop and the Taliban, therefore, will not stop either. Sending thousands of troops more will unfortunately do nothing to help us. Yes, there may be more deaths on the enemy side, but we will not be successful against the seemingly everlasting Taliban. I wish that by adding more troops we could put an end to the Taliban but that is not a plausible outcome. The money spent and lives lost have not been worth what has occurred in Afghanistan. With that all said I think that the best course of action would be to withdraw troops unless there is a high degree of certainty amongst the military leaders that extreme progress can be made. Until that moment comes, leaving the small number of troops there will just result in more and more deaths with little to no progress in the overall fight. By taking out these troops, however, I do not wish to imply that I believe the war is over. By no means has terrorism come to an end, so awareness of the atrocities that have been committed needs to still be spread throughout the country.
The way in Afghanistan, formerly known as the "forgotten war" has now come into focus as combat operations in Iraq and winding down. It's a mess, with 90000 U.S. troops stationed there for no readily apparent reason. As far as I can see, we've not only not made any progress, but with the recent 16 death killing spree a soldier went on, we've only gone backwards in winning the hearts and minds of the people. Furthermore, the Taliban does not seem any the worse from our 11 year war of attrition.
Based on this evidence, I would recommend to the president to just pull out the troops, and the consequences be damned, like we essentially did in Vietnam. We were there to rout Al-Qaeda and the Taliban, and we've at least killed off plenty of Al-Qaeda operatives. We've made some progress. However, the progress that's been made cannot at all justify the lives and money we've pushed into this war. At this point, with no conceivable end in the near future, it would seem to be wise to cut our losses and simply leave.
Being in one place trying to help them plus find terrorists that could be a threat to the US, is draining their patients and just losing a lot of our troops. 11 years is a really long time to try and use our troops to fight a group of people. I know Al Quaeda and the Taliban can be terrorists, but staying in Afghanistan will make them mad and we wouldn't be able to fully get rid of them. Staying in Afghanistan will only cost us more and more money and wont get us any closer to getting rid of Al Quaeda or the Taliban. The war will just get worse and we will lose more troops. The president should start taking troops out because if we do, we can save our troops for when we have a real crisis, not when eleven years has gone by and we can't get rid of who the Taliban.
The War in Afghanistan has seemed to be going on forever. The war is getting to the point where it is being dragged on. It seems as though our successes have passed years ago with the killings and captures of major terrorist leaders. Since the 2008 Frontline Report was aired, our military has yet to help create a stabilized goverment in Afghanistan and train their military to combat and force out the Taliban. I feel that this war is unwinable at this point. The Afghani people do not want us there anymore nor do the people from the United States. The Afghani civilians and the Taliban all dress and look the same making it hard to tell them apart. Also the terrain is dangerous and unknown to our troops. I have read books about fighting in Afghanistan and it is made out to be horrific. Our troops basically bomb nothing and cannot fire on anyone unless engaged first. This war must be fought internally as a civil war in Afghanistan. I believe that the only way it can be settled is by the Afghani's driving out the Taliban and restoring peace by themselves.
We first entered Afghanistan eleven years ago to root out the terrorists from the September 11th attack. We have been fighting a geurilla war for over a decade that seems to have made little progress. This country has sacrificed many soldiers for an unstable country that does not want us there. Our main objective is to create a stable Afghan government that will stand on its own when we pull out of their country. This war in particular has been very hard on our country because it is not a typical war where we can define our wins and losses so easily. The Taliban know the rough terrain of their own country and can use that in their benefit; whereas our soldiers wake up every morning unknowing of the dangerous they have to face each day. The Taliban also live as normal Afghan people so when our soldiers go into a village, it is hard to root out who the Taliban are and for others to cooperate with them. I think that there are many reasons as to why we should leave. Although it would seem like giving up after 11 years of hard work and sacrifice we need to think of our country and what's best for everyone. The Afghan people don't want us there, especially after the mistake of the soldier last week going on a shooting spree. This incident definitely turned more Afghans against our country being there and most Afghans don't want to side with us since they think we'll be leaving in a few years if not earlier anyway. I believe that the Taliban is too strong in guerilla war fighting and we should have learned that from all of the other countries that previously fought them years ago. Our allies have been telling us to leave for a while and I think that they are right. Even though we entered Afghanistan with good intentions sometimes those intentions aren't always communicated well. We're ruining our alliance with Pakistan considering we hit one of their bases and killed a few of their soldiers. So in conclusion I would tell President Obama to pull out of Afghanistan because it is a lost cause, we're not wanted there, and it seems like not much will change in 2 years from now so why allow more causalities.
When we invaded Afghanistan the purpose of our mission was to rid the region of the taliban and slowly turn control over to the Afghan government after training its police and army to be better prepared for future conflict. Since 2008, Obama has made a few changes to the strategy. After meeting several times with many officials he has authorized the deployment of 30,000 extra troops and to start downsizing the operation in 2011. With the additional troops he changed the strategy of the war. Instead of focusing on training and preparing Afghanistan to maintain itself, Obama is now having the troops focus more on the counterinsurgency.
At this point I would have to tell President Obama to pull our troops out immediately. Polls have shown that 54% of Americans want to pull the troops out now and that 60% of Americans feel the war in Afghanistan has not been worth the loss of life, and I must agree with them. Too many people have died fighting a war that has accomplished nothing. If so few people support this war, Obama is only hurting his country and his soldiers by keeping them in Afghanistan. I would also have to say that in light of recent events such as the Koran burning and the massacre, it is now even more dangerous for Americans to be in the region because now the natives are giving them less support and want the US out of their country as much as the Taliban does.
Obama needs to get the troops out of Afghanistan now. The military is losing the support of our nation and is losing the support of the Afghan civilians. This makes the war much more difficult to fight and much more dangerous and in war that has made so little progress in 11 years, I see no reason to keep fighting.
Through out the course of this war we have had many small breakthroughs but not many large victories. Since 2008's frontline report the only real achievements we have had have been the elimination of several Taliban leaders, and the retraction of troops from Iraq. The only problem with taking out leaders is that when one dies, there is always someone able to take his place. Attacks are getting more and more sporadic as the opinion of the United States gets worse due to small concentrated events such as the incident with the burning of the Koran's and the civilian killing spree by an individual. Even though these incidents were not committed by large groups, they were committed by Americans, giving the Afghan people an even more negative outlook on America in general. This means more hostility by civilians, and any positive support we had in the government is slowly being revoked. We are no longer wanted in Afghanistan, and I believe our time had come to begin to withdraw troops and get out of there. Staying in Afghanistan will lead to more casualties of war, and more amounting tension between nations. We are fighting an idea, and the Taliban will not back down regardless of what we do. People willing to risk their lives for an idea are not going to stop until they have achieved their goal, and unfortunately, I don't think there is anything we can do to protect the government from Taliban takeover; it is inevitable.
After 11 years in Afghanistan, it is hard to say that we made a lot of progress. Coming into the war our primary objective was to eliminate Afghanistan from Taliban rule and to establish a democratic government that could balance out the country. Since the report in 2008 we have done neither of these things. If I were to give advice to President Obama, I would tell him to pull the remaining troops out of Afghanistan because it is a war that we will not soon win. The Taliban are a very tough enemy to beat since it is almost impossible to distinguish them from innocent civilians. Because of this, trying to fight the Taliban is very risky. I think that we have done enough to eliminate as many Taliban and Al-Qaeda members as we can so pulling the troops is the right thing to do in my opinion. With no certain ending in the future, the best thing for the President to do is to withdraw from Afghanistan.
I have noticed that US troops continue to disrespect the Muslim religion and the Afghans themselves yet nothing is being done about it. No punishment or apology has been visible to the offended, including those who do not even live in the nearby countries. I think the burning of the Koran was the worst thing they could ever do to a Muslim because they value religion more than anything in the world, so I don't really blame the Muslims if they want revenge. What I would like to say to President Obama is that he should do something about his abusive troops. He should punish them or at most strip them off duty because the wrong decisions they keep on making are worsening the war. I would also suggest the requirement to learn at least the basics of the language of the country troops are assigned to, so that language barriers will not be a problem. I think that could help a lot because the translator may not give the exact message of what the other side is trying to say, and communication is very crucial. Lastly, I will remind President Obama that the Afghans don't even want us there. Eleven years is an awful long time and it's just about time that we back off just a little bit and let them try to solve their issues for a while. If the Taliban worsens and they seek our assistance, or if a worldwide threat has been made known, then will we extend our help again.
I believe that the U.S. should keep the troops that are currently in Afghanistan and not send over more, and over time start reducing the amount we have over there until all our soldiers are home. I also think that we should have our troops start to protect the people in Afghanistan and not focus on seeking our and fighting the Taliban. There are many Afghanistan people that we are trying to protect that don’t like the U.S. troops there because having American soldiers there provokes the Taliban to attack. As stated from President Obama, in the Washington Post, “You start going out tromping around, disrupting the enemy, and you’re making a lot of enemies...so what have you accomplished?” Obama pg. 3. Obama is saying that if we start protecting the people, and not focus on the Taliban, then more Afghanistan people will appreciate our help and not think of the U.S. as enemies. Also, stated by Obama in the Washington Post, “in 18 to 24 months, we need to think about how we can begin thinning out our presence and reducing our troops.” I agree with Obama that we should be thinning out the number of troops that we have in Afghanistan, but I think we should start now, not in 18 to 24 months. This is not our fight. We should do our best to protect the people of Afghanistan, but they should be allowed to live their lives the way they want, with their own ways and culture, not be forced to live the way the U.S. wants them to live.
The war in Afghanistan has been an interesting fight for the past elevan years. Although we have made progress in Afghanistan with capturing terrorists such as Osama Bin Laden, the time has come to move forward. This fight is a stalemate that can not be won by either side. Personally, I think that President Obama should remove the troops from Afghanistan. The U.S. has made much progress within the elevan years. However, now the fight in Afghanistan is a fight between the people of that country.
The United States Military shouldn't be trying to further efforts in a country in which the people don't trust our nation. Most of the people in Afghanistan don't even want our help, in fact the male teenagers just go off and fight against us. The U.S. has made great progress, but now it is time to remove the troops. No more money should be wasted in trying to fight a stalemate. If any more problems occur there that are threatening to U.S. then we should re engage in the fight over there.
The decisions that Obama must face as Commander in Chief are extremely difficult, and there is no clear answer to the dilemma in Afghanistan. The Taliban, as well as the various other terrorist groups affiliated with it, are not only indistinguishable from a regular Afghani civilian, but are also very difficult to track down, as the mountainous landscape near Pakistan provide them with a huge advantage. In our eleven year crusade in Afghanistan, though we have been able to capture and kill many terrorist leaders, including Osama Bin Laden, there has always been someone next in line to succeed them. The Taliban has a seemingly inexhaustible supply of supporters, and many times they are able to threaten unwilling Afghani citizens to support their cause.
Though I would like to be positive and believe that we can finally combat the Taliban in Afghanistan, I think that this war has been dragged out long enough. Thousands of lives have been lost over the years, as well as thousands upon thousands of US dollars that have been spent. In a time where domestic issues, such as the economy and job losses, are in need of proper attention, the war in Afghanistan is an added trouble. The plight against terrorism is becoming impossibly difficult to manage, and it has been prolonged for too long. I would advise Obama to begin to pull out troops and end the war. Though the pain of defeat would be discouraging, ending the war would be in the best interests of the country as a whole.
We feel as if we have made progress by catching Bin Laden and killing many other terrorists lurking up in the hills. In reality, we really have not made much progress because the terrorists divide up into many groups in the hills leaving you to only fight small battles at a time. these fights often come undetected. After eleven years this war seems to be never ending. How will you know that every last terrorist has been eliminated? You think there all gone and there is just another group waiting to come out from hiding only to continue promoting terrorism. Due to the confusion of who is a terrorist and who is not. Many accidents have been made. Everything seems to be backfiring, people in Afghanistan are fearing the Taliban more and trusting the U.S. less. Mullen said, “This war will be unsuccessful if Obama holds back troops.” In order to make a significant push, the military is planning that this will cost about $889 billion dollars. We are unwanted and it seems like it would just be best if we backed out. The problem with backing out is can we accept this “defeat?” Can we let the terrorist think they won? It is questions like these that have made Obama so frustrated.
My suggestion for the president of twenty twelve, is if the people of Afghanistan no longer want are help then why waste the time and money on them? That money should be spent to help better our own country. That may sound selfish but the people we are trying to help no longer want our help. I think this war should keep the name the “forgotten war.” Take the loss and forget about it. Spend this money to defend out country for another attack rather then fight back.
Eleven years in the war and we are still trying to reach the same goals as the first day that we send the troops. Those years Afghanistan has proven that with or without our help is not on the right steeps to shut down the Taliban's. Since the war started, we have lost more than $500 billion, but the most importantly we've sacrificed more than 1,900 lives.
There is a dilemma whether there is a need to bring more troops or keep the same number. My suggestion for President Barack Obama is that instead of bringing more troops, which we have seen that is a wrong idea since nothing has change whether we send more troops or not,but rather try to limit the number of our troops and hand it over the Afghanistan government,and let them take care of their problems themselves.
As the past 11 years have shown us, history repeats itself in short order; our involvement in combat in Afghanistan has transitioned from a "forgotten war" to something more akin to Vietnam. Regardless of troop surges and changes in initiative, our progress there is cursory and temporary. We are fighting an enemy that we cannot see, and cannot possibly hope to expel. When we move out of an area, the Taliban effortlessly move back in, undoing our actions and continuously evading our forces. Meanwhile, atrocities such as the shooting rampage that left 16 civilians dead are highly indicative of the frustration our forces feel at fighting blindly and pointlessly. Even worse, these highly-publicized events damn our military in the eyes of the Afghan government and population, making their cooperation even less scarce than it already was. In short, the war in Afghanistan has been stagnate for years, and will continue to be a bloody standstill as long as we are there.
When President Obama chose to increase troop numbers in Afghanistan by 30,000, he did so with a set timetable in mind, and as a balancing force between the 40,000 requested by all military leaders, and the non-surge requests of White House insiders such as VP Biden and Chief of Staff Emmanuel. Now, it has become clear that our involvement in the conflict will never advance past containment of the Taliban. The Afghan government has too little influence (and cooperation, for that matter) to install and maintain a defense force; the moment we leave, it can be counted on that the Taliban will reclaim lost territory. However, this doesn't mean that we belong there indefinitely. Prolonged involvement only leads to increased casualties and the risks associated with low troop morale, including such devastating setbacks of image such as the recent shooting rampage and scandals like the urination on dead Afghans. What I would recommend for Obama at this point is to cut his losses. There is nothing positive coming out of our occupation of Afghanistan, and troops ought to be pulled out as soon as possible. Covert operations can be continued as deemed necessary, as opposition by the Pakistani and Afghan governments has not impeded their success yet. This may not be the most morally upstanding option in our fight against Al-Qaeda and the Taliban; however, 11 years of non-progressing combat have shown us that this may be the only option for realistically accomplishing our goals in the region.
After spending eleven years in Afghanistan, the progress made does not even come close to the damage that has been done. Originally our mission going into the war on terrorism was to help Afghanistan develop their own system of government, and eliminate the taliban. In my opinion, although the war in Afghanistan has had its security benefits, we have made very little progress for as long as we have occupied the country. Putting our troops in peril does not seem like the logical thing to do since we are not making significant progress. However, since 2008 Obama made the decision to deploy 30,000 more troops, and slowly decreasing the number of troops by 2011. Articles suggest Obama was reluctant to authorize this deployment, and was adamant that all his colleagues offer him one hundred percent support and dedication to the idea. He was unsure, and did not want to go at it alone.
My advice to Obama would be to immediately begin pulling out troops. There is no reason for us to stay there when the task at hand is basically hopeless. If we execute a taliban or al quaeda leader, there is a multitude of others waiting to step in. Also, in the taliban tribal regions, the taliban members blend in with the civilians so it is difficult to distinguish between who is the enemy and who is not. As if this war was not challenging enough, the terrain makes this type of warfare even more difficult. The rocky mountains and rugged hillsides allow taliban members to hide out in caves and scope out American troops. This is made especially easy for them due to the lack of roads that American soldiers can use. This being said, American troops should be pulled out as soon as possible. The emphasis should still lay on building up the Afghan governmental system, however the war has not been successful for America, and lives are being lost without any significant progress being made.
It has been 11 years since we went into Afghanistan, and what have we accomplished? Clearly if after 11 years we are still in Afghanistan we have not made very much progress. Some advice I have for president Obama is to go all in, if you want any chance of ending this conflict, you need to put in the necessary amount of troops. The reason that Obama should put in more troops is because we are out numbered. Also with the increase in troops we will be more likely to subdue the attackers during ambushes. This is the advice that I would give to President Obama.
Since 9.11 attack, the war in Afghanistan 11 years past. For period more than decade, the U.S Force is trying to Taliban and Al Qaeda force in Afghanistan. But progress is inadequate yet. I think U.S should get rid of troop and withdraw until come up with better strategy to resolve conflict. Casualty number is keep increasing and innocent civilians are included in the range. It is hard to distinguish civilians from Taliban in village. For 11 years war in Afghanistan, what we got so far are dramatic number of casualty and loss of tons of money which was used to support army or to supply army. I think U.S force should withdraw troop by this time and think about effecient way to achieve objective.
I would suggest to the president that we withdraw all the troops as soon as possible. I would suggest this because although we have spent 11 years there for a cause when we do leave there is a high possibility that Afghanistan will revert back to what it was before we were there. If troops are withdrawn over time gradually, then the chances of Afghanistan reverting back to the way it was is greatly reduced. Although entering into Afghanistan was highly controversial at this point in time it would be best for America to return to it's own soil and deal with it's own issues. Our objective is to reduce the Taliban's control over Afghanistan and enhance the power that the Afghan government has to prevent further attacks. Pakistan is preventing our troops from accomplishing their goal properly this is because they allow Taliban members to take refuge in their country by not allowing U.S soldiers on their soil. This is the longest war we have been in lasting 11 years and with so little success it makes practical sense to remove our troops. We have had some success by removing Al Queda from Afghanistan so therefore we have had some success but we have had a total net loss looking back on the war.
Looking back on “Obama’s War” from 2010, one can assess and dissect the decision making process Obama conducted. He was presented with essentially one plausible option by his military advisors, to send in 40,000 more troops. He was ultimately against this option because he would be literally sending pawns into an unwinnable chess game. And he would have to be the one, not these high level generals and military officials, to explain his decision to the American people, whether they agreed with it or not. As of late, in 2012, 11 years after this war began, we are still heavily engaged in Pakistan and Afghanistan with the Taliban. These Muslim extremists do not se borders the way we do, therefore they are able to retreat back into the safe haven of Pakistan when our forces attack. This cat and mouse game has been going on for far too long without Obama making the decision to call off our military and bring our troops back home. There is no point in leaving our forces when we are barely able to identify who we are supposed to be targeting. I would advise Obama set a clear and swift time table to bring home our troops as soon as possible, whilst leaving 10,000 or so trainers to assist in the enhancement of Afghani and Pakistani police and military. I would strongly encourage Obama to keep pressuring the Pakistani government to crack down on the Taliban, holding them accountable for their ISI aiding the Taliban.
We entered this war with a purpose. George W. Bush had done the right thing although it was considered "rushed" by others, it is mostly considered a proper reaction to the attacks of 9/11. This war has been going on for 11 years, and for 11 years we have fought for the innocent Americans who have died, and for Afghanistan's freedom from the Taliban. Although the task may seem "dragged out" to others, it doesn't to me. Obama is looking for a politically "safe" outcome of this war, meaning he isn't willing to take the necessary risks it takes to keep this country safe and to finish a job. Obama was quoted in the first article on Obama's war saying, "I don't want enablers to be used as wiggle room. The easy thing for me to do - politically - would actually be to say no" to the 30,000. The statement proves Obama is completely unfit to make the right choice in the matter of our country and this important war. My advice to president Obama is to quit trying to please everyone, and do the right thing for this country, which is to give the people with military experience the proper troops they need to be able to succeed in this mission.
Our involvement in Afghanistan has made little progress in over a decade. Obama's decision to deploy 30000 more troops has not done much to improve the situation. The Obama administration is far too divided, and the compromises Obama and his advisors make are not effective.
If I was the sovereign advisor to Obama, I would tell him to withdraw the troops. One of the reasons is because we have already driven most of Al Qaeda out of Afghanistan. We cannot fight a war of attrition with the Taliban. We should learn from the past and look at Russia and England's involvement. Our strategy in Afghanistan is also futile. The Taliban may use outdated weapons, but we use outdated techniques. We must not ignore what happened in Vietnam and make the same mistakes. Withdrawing troops from Afghanistan and Pakistan is the best option, especially since both countries do not want our presence. This will not undermine the war effort. Those who gave their lives did not die I'm vain, because they helped suppress the Taliban and weaken the terrorist forces in Afghanistan.
There was a purpose as to why we entered the war. Although I feel as though it has been dragged out for too long. I don't think that we should quit because the US has been through a lot because of this war such as soldiers being hurt. We killed a major terrorist leader Osama Bin Laden, but we have lost many American troops along with spending a lot of money on this war. Therefore my advice for the next president or Obama is to peacefully resolve the issues and succeed in this war while getting the American troops home.
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