Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Afghanistan, doubling down; does it help?

I have to ask if we are doing the right thing in Afghanistan?
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I am asking, not saying, but I have cause for wonder.
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In Iraq we doubled down and won.... but remember doubling down is a bet. No one, not even the house, wins every bet.
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In Iraq we were trying to get a government in place. Afghanistan has a government in place. And the President, Karzai, has serious problems with the United States. In an article today in the New York Times (who's news is very good, although you can argue it's bias in editorials) there is discussion of the Afghan's President's words to other Afghans. He believes that the US is trying to dominate Afghanistan and only he can stand up to us.
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He believes that the US is the obstacle to peace with the Taliban.
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Our goals was to remove a safe haven for Al Queada. Done. Let's go. Let's save money, lives and focus our efforts at home.
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Of course I have to note, in all honesty, I didn't think it would work in Iraq either - so I could easily be wrong.