Didn’t take long
It didn’t take long for Democrats to actually call for pulling troops out of Afghanistan too. It has been my contention that had we not invaded Iraq, Democrats would have made all the same arguments about Aghanistan as they have Iraq. Incredibly, I’m right again!
All the same arguments, all the same pronouncements — in sequence. It began with Democrats voting FOR THE WAR remember. At first there were only a few progressive “voices of dissent” demanding an end to the war and a complete pullout. But soon it became clear that the entire Democratic party would join the chorus. The left leads the Democratic party and the leaders like Reid and Pelosi follow quickly after with calls for immediate pull-out of the ‘futile quagmire’ and ‘failed war’. So why should Afghanistan be any different?
Rep. Neil Abercrombie (D-Hawaii), a senior defense authorizer, wants the U.S. out of Afghanistan immediately, calling operations there “futile” in trying to effect political change in a country with a tangled history.
Most other Democrats want to focus on Afghanistan, with the goal of withdrawing the military down the road after the country is stabilized and any new Taliban resurgence quashed. ~thehill.com
Obviously it is our presence which is fueling the insurgency.
About 25,000 U.S. troops are deployed in Afghanistan. Between Oct. 1, 2001, and June 2, 2007, 394 members of the military died as part of Operation Enduring Freedom, according to Pentagon casualty data.
“We are finished there, militarily speaking,” said Abercrombie, the chairman of the Air and Land Armed Services subcommittee.
“There is no useful purpose for our troops there,” Abercrombie stated in a recent interview. “The military should withdraw now,” he said, though he stressed that the U.S. could keep “isolated pockets” of special operators.
Instead of using the military to effect political change, the U.S. should have a complete diplomatic re-engagement in the region, “with an understanding that our role there should change,” Abercrombie added.
Murtha stressed that NATO forces should take a bigger role in Afghanistan. So far, the U.S. military has been the leading presence.
“I have not made the recommendation yet on withdrawing the troops from Afghanistan,” said Murtha. “Every commander I talk to still thinks that we have a chance.”But Rep. Diane Watson (D-Calif.), a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee and a staunch opponent of the war in Iraq, said that it is time for the U.S. military to start leaving Afghanistan and the Middle East altogether.
“We are not securing America by being there,” she pressed. “The longer we are there, the more plots start growing in our country.”
Polipundit calls it a, “non-story.” But is that because calling for pulling out of Afghanistan makes perfect sense when you replay all the reasons we should pull out of Iraq? There’s no difference.
Shoved into the internet 'tubes' on June 29, 2007, by Hegemonic Pundit,
under the following categories: hegemony
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