ASG Weekly Reader: A Speech No One Likes
Does removing 10,000 troops from Afghanistan amount to a change we can believe in?
Sadly, when it comes to President Obama’s announcement on troop withdrawals from Afghanistan, the more things change, the more they stay the same.
The President’s speech on Wednesday night certainly marks a turning point in the war. There will never again be as many American troops in Afghanistan as there are today. But the war has never lacked for turning points. What has been missing for ten years is a strategy that helps the country visualize what’s around the corner. And in that regard President Obama’s announcement failed to mark a real change for the war in Afghanistan, and both sides of the aisle are unhappy.
Yes, the President re-affirmed his decision to begin withdrawing troops, with 33,000 returning from Afghanistan by next summer. But that will leave 70,000 U.S. troops bogged down in Afghanistan’s increasingly fragmented conflict, thousands more troops than were deployed at the beginning of his administration.
Obama declared that there will be fewer American’s fighting in Afghanistan in the future, but he failed to define the strategy they will be fighting for. The President may see “the light of a secure peace” in the distance, but he failed to illuminate the exit from the dark days at hand.
As Timothy Kudo, former Marine officer and member of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America noted on Twitter Wednesday night: “While Obama’s speech has everyone claiming it’s over, some 18 yr old still in boot camp will be the last American to die in Afghanistan.”
FROM ASG
6-23-11
New Year, Same War: Moderate Withdrawal and No Change in Strategy
Matthew Hoh Afghanistan Study Group / Center for International Policy
“A token withdrawal that leaves nearly 100,000 U.S. troops in place through the end of this year, and tens of thousands of troops in place for years to come, does not meet the President’s order in December 2009 of an accelerated transition of responsibility to Afghan forces, and it certainly doesn’t foreshadow a foreseeable end to the war in Afghanistan.
ARTICLES
6-20-11
Even hawkish Rep. Dicks seeks end to Afghan war
Miami Herald by Rob Hotakainen
WASHINGTON — If you need proof that the tide on Capitol Hill has turned against the war in Afghanistan, Exhibit A is Rep. Norm Dicks of Washington state, the top-ranked House Democrat in charge of the Pentagon’s budget. After nearly half his lifetime as a congressman, Dicks, 70, has established a reputation as a hawk, usually a reliable vote in backing a war or a strong defense budget.
6-21-11
Huntsman Calls for ‘Aggressive Drawdown’ in Afghanistan
FoxNews.com by by Cristina Corbin
Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, just hours after announcing his bid for the White House Tuesday, called for an “aggressive drawdown” of troops in Afghanistan. Though Huntsman said he didn’t have “specifics” on a plan for withdrawal, he said the U.S. “should begin a fairly aggressive drawdown,” while “leaving behind a counter-terror effort that is appropriately matched to the threat we face.”
Pew Research: Record Support For Afghanistan Troop Withdraw
Huffington Post by Mark Blumenthal
A new survey from the Pew Research Center finds a record number of Americans now want to bring the troops home from Afghanistan, confirming the trends of other recent polls showing majorities now opposed to the nearly decade-long war.
6-22-11
Obama Won’t Use Troops to Save Afghan Hellhole (Drones, Maybe)
Wired Danger Room by Spencer Ackerman
The biggest news out of President Obama’s Afghanistan speech isn’t the 10,000 troops he’s withdrawing this year. It’s what Obama will — and won’t — do with the forces he’s leaving behind. Namely: the president won’t send the remainder of the surge troops into eastern Afghanistan, which has become the country’s most buck-wild region.
Obama team: There hasn’t been a terrorist threat from Afghanistan “for the past seven or eight years”
Foreign Policy by Josh Rogin
One of the most prominent, remaining Obama administration justifications for continuing the war in Afghanistan is the need to squash the threat of attacks on the U.S. But top administration officials don’t believe there has been a terrorist threat coming from Afghanistan since at least 2004.
Afghans say they’ll fill the gap as U.S. forces withdraw
McClatchy Newspapers by Hashim Shukoor
The Afghan army said Wednesday that it supported any U.S. plans to withdraw troops from the country and that it was ready to fill the gap.
“We welcome the decision of the U.S. people and the U.S. president regarding the withdrawal of a number of troops and support such a decision,” said Gen. Mohammad Zahir Azimi, a spokesman for the Defense Ministry.
Maryland Sen. Cardin says timeline for troop withdrawal from Afghanistan can be sped up
The Washington Post by The Associated Press
Maryland Sen. Benjamin Cardin says he believes President Barack Obama’s timeline for troop withdrawal from Afghanistan can be sped up.
Cardin, a Democrat, wrote in a statement late Wednesday that he believes the United States “can be more aggressive in bringing our troops home.” He said troop withdrawal “should be sped up.”
CBO: Ending the wars could save $1.4 trillion
Washington Post by Ezra Klein
Last night, President Obama announced that “the tide of war is receding,” and that he will soon bring the Iraq and Afghanistan wars “to a responsible end.” Left unsaid is the effect that could have on our projected deficits. According to the Congressional Budget Office, we’re talking big money: $1.4 trillion, to be exact.
OPINION
6-19-11
Afghanistan Drawdown
RedState by sbogucki
The primary military objective in Afghanistan has been to disrupt enemy forces in such a way that they would no longer be able to project terror within the United States. I think that our Armed Forces have certainly been successful in seeing this mission through.
6-23-11
Dissonance: Obama Wants Peace Talks And Forever War in Afghanistan
Wired Danger Room by Spencer Ackerman
President Obama firmly committed the U.S. to peace talks with the Taliban in Wednesday night’s big Afghanistan speech. His administration, meanwhile, is rowing in the opposite direction: negotiating deals with Hamid Karzai’s government that would keep drones and commandos in Afghanistan forever and ever. See if you can spot the tension there.
