Posts about Obama Surrenders Afghanistan as of October 16, 2009

Oct16 News Anchor Reuters – NATO’s top defense officials will examine proposals Saturday for a big troop surge to contain Afghanistan’s escalating insurgency but any such move hinges on a decision by the U.S. president, NATO military officials said.Read the Full StoryNATO mulls Afghan troops, decision hinges on Obama (Reuters) Share and Enjoy:Related News PostsOctober 16, 2009 — NATO mulls Afghan troops, decision hinges on Obama (Reuters) – 1671th Top News ItemSeptember 17, 2009 –

SAN FRANCISCO – Crowds lined the streets around San Francisco’s Union Square as President Barack Obama arrived in the city. Some Other Articles You May Enjoy President Barack Obama meets with Afghanistan commander in Denmark (New Orleans Times-Picayune) Former reformist Iranian president will run again Iran leader offers Obama landmark congratulation NASA chief’s wife to Obama: Don’t fire my husband The man for the moment: Hillary Clinton makes the case for Barack Obama

Washington, Oct.16 (ANI): The recent spate of audacious terror attacks in Pakistan has increased problems for US President Barack Obama, as he is finding it hard to come out with a policy for Afghanistan. The terror attacks carried out by the Taliban were clearly aimed at telling Washington that the outlawed outfit is determined to fight back the foreign forces despite the death of the Pakistan Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud.

In early 1995 they were gone. The Los Angeles Rams were gone, off to St. Louis. And Los Angeles, the second largest city in America, and the second largest media market, was without a National Football League team. It was a scandal, and then we discovered we didn’t much care. All the major cities, and a good number of minor ones, have NFL teams. Yeah, that’s so. And your point is? On September 24, 2009, after almost two decades of political infighting, approval for a new and fancy football stadium out here fell through, again, and the Los Angeles Rams aren’t coming back.

I’m of two minds about taking up this theme, since stating what ought to be obvious but is nevertheless unpleasant and inconvenient is apt to get one branded as lunatic fringe. Access journalism has created what is in many respects a controlled press. And that matters because people are far more suggestible than most of us wants to admit to ourselves. Let us start with the cheerleading in the media over Wall Street, and in particular, Goldman earnings.

A brief world news roundup for 16 October 2009. United States & the Americas Treasury Dept – The U.S. Department of the Treasury today designated German national Bekkay Harrach, an al-Qa’ida member believed to be currently located in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border area, for acting for or on behalf of al-Qa’ida. Yonhap – Japan’s chief nuclear envoy, Akitaka Saiki, will be visiting Washington for two days until Friday to discuss North Korea’s nuclear dismantlement, the State Department said Thursday.

He has done nothing to ensure that he can not take blame for anything. God forbid he actually become a PRESIDENT. I know, what is one to expect from a “community organizer” when there is no community to immediately organize. By Matt Spetalnick NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) – U.S. President Barack Obama fired back on Thursday at critics who say he has few accomplishments of note in his nine months in office and declared he was just getting started.

n the wake of controversy surrounding the release in early September of a photograph of a mortally wounded soldier, the US military in eastern Afghanistan has issued new guidelines forbidding embedded media from photographing troops killed in action. A military spokesperson described the change as a “clarification rather than a new rule,” even though the media [...]

Submitted on Buzzflashby Rick Rozoff Featured WriterDandelion SaladStop NATOhttp://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/ October 15, 2009On October 12 the United States and India launched an eighteen-day military exercise codenamed Yudh Abhyas (war study) in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Described as “one of their largest-ever ground combat joint exercises,” [1], the war games “involve the Indian Army Motorized Infantry Battalion and the 2nd Squadron of 14 CAV of 25 Stryker Brigade Combat Team, comprising some 320 U.S.

October 16, 2009 in Afghanistan, Barack Obama, Capitalism, Class, Democracy, Economic Crisis, Empire, Health Care, Housing, Iraq, Jobs, New World, Resistance, Video, War Anti-Capitalism Goes Mainstream Michael Moore’s New Film Names the System and Presents a Radical Democratic Critique Alex Knight, October 16, 2009Capitalism: A Love Story, which opened in 962 theaters earlier this month, is Michael Moore’s most ambitious work yet – taking aim at the root cause behind the injustices he’s exposed in his other films over the last 20 years.

FOXNews Afghan War Debate Endangers US Troops – Veterans New York Times By REUTERS WASHINGTON (Reuters) – US veterans criticized President Barack Obama’s lengthy review of Afghan war strategy, saying on Thursday the drawn-out debate in Washington was a direct threat to troops and the nation’s defence. …

[A] senior Afghan army officer in Kabul told Agence France-Presse, the French news agency, that all forces in the NATO operation except the British and Americans paid the insurgents. Perhaps the US ought to expel all other NATO allies except Britain and do the job itself.  This is nothing less than providing aid to the enemy.  Coalition forces in Afghanistan excluding the British number only about 27,000.  Gen.

The world stood at attention today as President Obama gave a historic speech to the Muslim world. In mainstream U.S. media, expectations of the speech ran from highly pessimistic to cautiously optimistic. Some in the U.S. felt that the very idea of a speech in Cairo Egypt represented either a cow-towing to terrorism–or worse, an insidious plot to turn the U.S.

This week on American Radio Journal : Lowman Henry talks with Kenneth R. Timmerman a contributing editor to www.Newsmax.com about the future of America’s involvement in Afghanistan; Andy Roth of the Club for Growth has the Real Story on the Republican civil war that has erupted over the special election in New York’s 23rd Congressional District; And, Dr. Paul Kengor from the Center for Vision & Values at Grove City College has an American Radio Journal commentary on President Barack Obama and the Nobel Prize.

USA Today: WASHINGTON — Apparently, the Obama White House believes in diplomacy with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad but not Glenn Beck. Two days after the president won the Nobel Peace Prize, Barack Obama’s communications director was on national television essentially declaring a message war on a major cable network that employs the abrasive commentator Beck, who recently called the president a racist.

Newsweek US lacks enough troops for low-risk’ Afghan option MiamiHerald.com WASHINGTON — The US military can send only about 30000 more troops to Afghanistan in the next three months without putting excessive strains on the Army and Marine Corps, but the top Afghanistan commander has … macarthur’s lesson for Afghanistan guardian.co.uk Obama Becomes Target as Afghan Troop Review Continues Bloomberg US officials look at scenarios for Afghanistan ‘middle path’ Los Angeles Times Christian Science

The Washington Times, “ U.S. troop funds diverted to pet projects ” by Shaun Waterman Senators diverted $2.6 billion in funds in a defense spending bill to pet projects largely at the expense of accounts that pay for fuel, ammunition and training for U.S. troops, including those fighting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to an analysis. Among the 778 such projects, known as earmarks, packed into the bill: $25 million for a new World War II museum at the University of New Orleans and $20 million to launch an educational institute named after the late Sen.

Will We Stay 50 Years In Afghanistan? Commentary by Tom Hayden: An Influential Pentagon Strategist Advocates A Multi-Decade Counterinsurgency Campaign By Tom Hayden The Nation Let us say, hypothetically, that American forces kill or capture Osama bin Laden and Mullah Omar, enabling President Obama to declare victory and bring our troops home. Would he? Not according to the Pentagon’s plan for a fifty-year “Long War” of counterinsurgency spanning Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, the Horn of Africa, the Philippines and beyond.

For our current batch of legislators, it’s an easy choice: screw the troops, bring on the pork ! Senators diverted $2.6 billion in funds in a defense spending bill to pet projects largely at the expense of accounts that pay for fuel, ammunition and training for U.S. troops, including those fighting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to an analysis. Among the 778 such projects, known as earmarks, packed into the bill: $25 million for a new World War II museum at the University of New Orleans and $20 million to launch an educational institute named after the late Sen.

If it’s true that Obama has directed it’s commanders in the Afghanistan to talk with the Talibans, then it’s a welcoming thing. Dialogue with the Taliban is the  key and only way for America to get out of this quagmire. They cannot defeat or wipe out the Taliban, because that is the national movement of Afghans, supported by many. America needs to segregate the Al Qaeda from the Taliban. The world abhors the Al Qaeda, what they have done and for whatever they stand for.

Gallup reports that Hillary’s approval numbers, at 62 percent within five points of her 17-year polling peak, tops her boss by six. I guess that means she has successfully dodged any responsibility for kowtowing to Iran and Russia. The latest sops to China post-dated the Oct 1-4 polling period. So did Obama’s Nobel. Gallup surmises:   The poll was conducted before Obama was named the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize winner, which could have helped to improve his favorable rating over the 56% measured in the poll; however, it’s not clear that any such shift would have lasted.

Oct16 News Anchor Reuters – NATO’s top defense officials will examine proposals Saturday for a big troop surge to contain Afghanistan’s escalating insurgency but any such move hinges on a decision by the U.S. president, NATO military officials said.Read the Full StoryNATO mulls Afghan troops, decision hinges on Obama (Reuters) Share and Enjoy:Related News PostsSeptember 17, 2009 — Karzai defends Afghan vote, blast hits Italian troops (Reuters) – 933th Top News ItemSeptember 17, 2009

Column by Shannon Frazer I’ll admit it: I’ve always been a Barack  Obama fan. Yes, I know that his opposition questions the president’s stances on several key issues such as his incessant pushing of health care reform, pulling troops out of Iraq and Afghanistan and stimulating the economy to get the U.S. out of its current slump. Yes, I realize that his advocating for longer school days and calendar years may not look appealing to every American citizen, particularly the school-age population.

According to Politico.com, U.S. military commanders in Afghanistan are retreating somewhat from an effort to ban embedded journalists from publishing photos or video of American soldiers killed in action there, according to ground rules issued Thursday.But the new limitations on embeds – put in place after a flap between the Pentagon and the Associated Press over a photo of a wounded soldier – have elicited deep concerns from military journalists and press advocates.“It’s punishment for war photographers.

From Newsweek (h/t James Joyner ) Joe Biden, White House Truth Teller | Newsweek Politics | Newsweek.com Joe Biden had a question. During a long Sunday meeting with President Obama and top national-security advisers on Sept. 13, the VP interjected, “Can I just clarify a factual point? How much will we spend this year on Afghanistan?” Someone provided the figure: $65 billion. “And how much will we spend on Pakistan?” Another figure was supplied: $2.25 billion.

The “Ingraham Angle” with Laura Ingraham on “The Factor ” with Bill O’Reilly focused on Rush Limbaugh being frozen out from a partial ownership of the St. Louis Rams NFL team by the other partners who had approached him to be a partner initially and the suggestion by website diva Arianna Huffington that VP Joe Biden should resign if his suggestion that the US have a light military footprint in Afghanistan isn’t followed.

The US is expected to announce a significant surge of up to 45,000 extra troops for Afghanistan after Gordon Brown said that 500 more British troops would be sent to the country. President Barack Obama’s administration is understood to have told the British government that it could announce, as early as next week, the substantial increase to its 65,000 troops already serving there. The decision from Mr Obama comes after he considered a request from General Stanley McChrystal, the US commander in Afghanistan, to send tens of thousands of extra American troops to the country.

By Adam Entous Reuters | Aided by a bleak job market, the U.S. military met all of its recruitment goals in the past year for the first time since it became an all-volunteer force in 1973, the Pentagon said on Tuesday. Military services have been stretched thin by conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, giving added weight to recruitment efforts as President Barack Obama considers sending another 40,000 U.S. troops to Afghanistan next year . The United States already has 67,000 troops in Afghanistan and about 119,000 in Iraq.

Fox News:In what may be the ultimate job rating, 43 percent of voters say that they would vote to re-elect President Obama if the 2012 election were held today, down from 52 percent six months ago, from April 22-23, 2009.Obama’s job approval rating comes in at 49 percent this week. That’s down just one percentage point from late September, but it marks a new low approval for the president — and the first time the Fox News poll has measured his approval below 50 percent.

“Let us say, hypothetically, that American forces kill or capture Osama bin Laden and Mullah Omar, enabling President Obama to declare victory and bring our troops home. Would he? Not according to the Pentagon’s plan for a fifty-year “Long War” of counterinsurgency spanning Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, the Horn of Africa, the Philippines and beyond. Military intellectuals envision a prolonged cold war against Al Qaeda, with hot wars along the way.

I’m thinking it was April 19, 1993. I was sitting on the edge of my sofa watching (probably CNN because my cable company hadn’t added FOX yet) the cable news of the ongoing Waco Branch Davidians compound. And I’m thinking, “Damn! These cults are insane …” and then POOF! the building goes up in an inferno of flames and black smoke as military tanks begin to back away out of the collapse.

Obama’s refusal to give an interview to Fox news has foxed the channel completely. Fox News has publicly declared that it’s a war between Obama administration and the channel since it takes Republican stand on all the matters. The daggers are all out in open. White House is adamant too since Fox News acts a propaganda tool of the Republicans and it feels channel need not be taken seriously. But non-partisan media can never ideally exist. All media toe some political line or the other.

Oct15 News AnchorPolitico – U.S. military commanders in Afghanistan are retreating somewhat from an effort to ban embedded journalists from publishing photos or video of American soldiers killed in action there, according to ground rules issued Thursday. Read the Full StoryNew DOD photo rules prompt outcry (Politico) Share and Enjoy:Related News PostsOctober 15, 2009 — New DOD photo rules prompt outcry (Politico) – 1041th Election News HeadlineOctober 15, 2009 — New DOD photo rules

Oct15 News Anchor AP – New cracks are opening in the relationship between President Barack Obama and his liberal allies in Congress over his desire to continue some Bush-era tactics against terrorism and his opposition to protecting reporters from revealing their sources in national security cases.Read the Full StoryObama, liberals split on security and media issues (AP) Yaab Share and Enjoy:Related News PostsAugust 25, 2009 — Analysis: Obama in crosswinds on detention policy (AP) –

Fox News/Opinion Dynamics Political Survey Do you approve or disapprove of the job Barack Obama is doing as president? Approve 49% (50%) [54%] {53%} Disapprove 45% (42%) [39%] {40%} Among Independents Approve 42% ( 46% ) [ 51% ] { 49% } Disapprove 47% (41%) [42%] {44%} If the 2012 presidential election were held today, would you definitely vote to reelect Barack Obama, probably vote to reelect Obama, probably vote for someone else, or definitely vote for someone else?

As the war with Afghanistan escalates with no timeline and the slow withdrawal from Iraq, Obama is sending more troops to the Middle East than Bush ever has done. I do remember Obama saying that he would continue war with Afghanistan during the primaries, but I do remember that he also tried to adopt a very anti-war persona. Quote: The combined US troop deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan have now reached a higher level than existed at any time under the presidency of George W.

Washington Post Spotlight, Pressure on Biden as Obama Weighs Afghanistan Advice FOXNews On Afghanistan policy, Vice President Biden is emerging as the anti-Cheney, a highly influential adviser to the president arguing for military restraint rather than military escalation. In this June 8 file photo, Vice President Biden talks to President … Biden: stimulus made recession less severe KWMU VP Biden visits St.

The administration of US president Barack Obama is to announce the deployment of an additional 40,000 troops to Afghanistan, according to the Afghan ambassador to Washington, as the US steps up its efforts to contain the growing Taliban insurgency. …

WASHINGTON (CNN) — A runoff election between Afghan President Hamid Karzai and his leading challenger, Abdullah Abdullah, appears likely, Afghanistan’s ambassador to the United States said Thursday. Ambassador Said Jawad told an audience at the U.S. Institute for Peace that a runoff is “a likely scenario.” Jawad is the first member of Karzai’s government to say publicly that a runoff is probable. Election officials in Afghanistan are expected to announce in coming days whether allegations of fraud in the disputed August 20 presidential election will force a second round of voting.

   Thanks to Doug for passing on this story.  If this doesn’t make your blood boil, I don’t know what would. – Matt —————————————————————– U.S. troop funds diverted to pet projects October 15, 2009 Shaun Waterman THE WASHINGTON TIMES Senators diverted $2.6 billion in funds in a defense spending bill to pet projects largely at the expense of accounts that pay for fuel, ammunition and training for U.S. troops, including those fighting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to an analysis.

President Barack Obama’s administration is understood to have told the British government that it could announce, as early as next week, the substantial increase to its 65,000 troops already serving there.The decision from Mr Obama comes after he considered a request from General Stanley McChrystal, the US commander in Afghanistan, to send tens of thousands of extra American troops to the country.via United States to send ‘up to 45,000 more troops to Afghanistan’ – Telegraph.

Yes, I know about this . I am monitoring Fox News. They have not found him. I shall keep a positive attitude. A couple of music videos: Keep praying! They have not found him yet! Related Posts: Robert Wexler to step down. Does Bank of America have a problem with the American flag and our war dead?

guardian.co.uk Karzai’s Role a Growing Issue in US-Afghan Relations, Senator Says Washington Post Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin said Thursday that questions about the legitimacy of Afghan President Hamid Karzai are a major problem for the Obama administration as it debates a new Afghanistan strategy. …

That’s right, Barack.  The Taliban have no secrets to reveal, no challenges to anyone and are no problems for anyone.  Right?  Right.  Like I have said as well as many others have said, the Taliban are after nukes.  That’s why they moved into Pakistan made themselves known by attacking others and now that you, Barack, are around, they have stepped up attacks in Pakistan.  Very well done, Barack.  Very well done…for an idiot.

According to Gallup: PRINCETON, NJ — Hillary Clinton lost the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination to Barack Obama, but in one respect she now ranks ahead of Obama. The president’s current favorable rating of 56% is down 22 percentage points since January. Over the same time span, Clinton’s favorable rating has changed little, and now, at 62%, it exceeds Obama’s. The results are based on an Oct. 1-4 Gallup survey.

PARIS, France (CNN) — France will not send more troops to Afghanistan, President Nicolas Sarkozy told the country’s Le Figaro newspaper Thursday. But France remains committed to victory in Afghanistan, he said. “Should we stay in Afghanistan? I answer yes. And stay to win,” he told the newspaper, which published the story on its Web site before the paper hits the newsstands Friday. “But France will not send one more soldier. My belief is that more Afghan soldiers are needed.

Friday, October 16th, 2009 Militants unleashed coordinated attacks on Pakistani police in which 39 people died yesterday, storming offices in Lahore and bombing a northwest station to escalate 11 days of carnage.In response Pakistani warplanes bombed suspected Taliban outposts in the South Waziristan tribal region bordering Afghanistan in which security officials said 27 people died on Thursday.The simultaneous assaults underscored the power of armed radicals to strike in the heart of Pakistan

Pas de paix sans hégémonie et équilibre des forces. Henry Kissinger Aucune nation ne peut ni ne doit tenter d’en dominer une autre. Aucun ordre mondial qui place un pays ou un groupe de pays au-dessus d’un autre ne réussira. Aucun équilibre des forces entre les pays ne tiendra. Barack Obama Conseil de sécurité, G-20, alliance occidentale, OTAN, alliance avec le Japon et la Corée du sud, Union européenne?

Study finds $2.6 billion taken from guns and ammunitions for DemocRAT Senators’ pet projects.And the DemocRATS desire to decimate the U.S. military marches on.DemocRAT Senators diverted $2.6 billion in funds in a defense spending bill to pet projects largely at the expense of accounts that pay for fuel, ammunition and training for U.S. troops, including those fighting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to an analysis.Among the 778 such projects, known as earmarks, packed into the bill: $25 million for a new World War II museum at the University of New Orleans and $20 million to launch an educational institute named after the late Sen.

Breaking news: the Iraq war is still over — and won. I think this makes it official: the liberal Brookings Institution is apparently no longer bothering to update their Iraq Index, with the last update having been done on September 1st . Final score: 8500-11000 MW of power (vs. 4000 prewar), vastly improved access to potable water/sanitation/trash removal, something like five hundred times as many cellphones, a million people with Internet access in a country that previously had essentially none, a tripling of GDP, billions in foreign investment, national debt halved, and thousands of trained judges.