NATIONAL SECURITY

End To Afghanistan War Cheers Left And Right

President says it's time to wind down 11-plus year troop presence

Jan 11, 2013 by David Mark

Editor-in-Chief t

Image: AP.

The Afghanistan war, launched in the wake of 9/11 to uproot al Qaeda terrorists, is coming to an end. And that's none too soon for outspoken liberals and conservatives, who have grown increasingly critical of the US mission there.

President Barack Obama and Afghan President Hamid Karzai said Friday they have agreed to speed up slightly the schedule for moving Afghanistan's security forces into the lead across the country, with U.S. troops shifting fully to a support role. The leaders also said Obama agreed to place battlefield detainees under the control of the Afghan government, AP reported.

The U.S. now has 66,000 troops in Afghanistan.U.S. commanders in Afghanistan have proposed keeping 6,000 to 15,000 U.S. troops after 2014 to continuing pursuing terrorists and training Afghan security forces. But the White House, which tends to favor lower troop levels than the generals do, says Obama would be open to pulling all U.S. forces out of Afghanistan at the end of 2014.

Tweeted liberal radio talk show host Bill Press (@bpshow): "Obama announces that, starting this Spring, US forces in Afghanistan will be in support role only. Big news. Big change."

Donald Trump (@realDonaldTrump) was characteristically blunt about the troop drawdown.

"Let's get out of Afghanistan. Our troops are being killed by the Afghanis we train and we waste billions there. Nonsense! Rebuild the USA."

Via AP and Politix reporting.

Like this article? B Vote Up

?	Do you agree with the drawdown of US troops in Afghanistan?

>
Yes

>
No

>
I'm not sure

View results

All : 105

Comments (view in Forum)

Jan '13

PNWest

!
Get out of Afghanistan as soon as possible. After our President killed Osama bin Laden there was no further need to be there. Use drone strikes to kill all of the upcoming Al Qaeda #2's. Being named #2 in Al Qaeda these days is like being named the world's oldest person. Not a title that you get to hang on to for long.
- B3 • Vote Up r26 Replies
- r Reply
Post
o
Jan '13

woodtick57

!
Do you think killing Bin Laden ended Al Queda? why?
- B Vote Up
- r Reply
Post @woodtick57
Jan '13

PNWest

!
@woodtick57 Obviously not - hence the drone strike. Killing bin Laden ended our need to be in Afghanistan.
- B3 • Vote Up
- r Reply
Post @PNWest
Jan '13

jessejaymes

!
If the afgan military isn't ready after 11 years then they never will be. this is nothing more than a pipeline of cash to the swiss banks of the current puppet ruler and his cronies. the bad news about the withdrawing is that it's not everyone NOW.
- B6 • Vote Up
- r Reply
Post @jessejaymes
o
Jan '13

woodtick57

!
@PNWest

How so? What about the Taliban?
- B Vote Up
- r Reply
Post @woodtick57
o
Jan '13

woodtick57

!
@jessejaymes the first part of US involvemenbt in Afghanistan was Bush's already proven wrong idea of bombing out he terrorists.(he should have studied history...)

Our efforts to strenghten the Afghan gov;t are not really 11 years old...
- B1 • Vote Up
- r Reply
Post @woodtick57
View all 26 replies >
Jan '13

Vance1

!
Let's get out of Afghanistan? and lets tell the terrorists exactly when we are leaving also.
Can you say all for nothing? I can!!!!!!!!!
- B1 • Vote Up r18 Replies
- r Reply
Post
u
Jan '13

AceLuby

!
What do we achieve by staying there?
- B3 • Vote Up
- r Reply
Post @AceLuby
Jan '13

Vance1

!
@AceLuby
what do we achieve by leaving?
- B Vote Up
- r Reply
Post @Vance1
Jan '13

jessejaymes

!
How long do you want to stay? If their military of their puppet government can't handle the Taliban after 11 years of TRILLIONS of dollars, equipment and training they never will be. It's time to call it a day.
- B4 • Vote Up
- r Reply
Post @jessejaymes
u
Jan '13

AceLuby

!
@Vance1 No more money being spent there, for one. You still didn't answer my question. If we don't have a reason to be there, why are we there?
- B4 • Vote Up
- r Reply
Post @AceLuby
u
Jan '13

Cheenoguy

!
Osama Bin Laden no longer exists. If that is all that our troops accomplished then they did plenty. All we are doing there is creating new terrorists. Everytime someone's child dies (even if on accident) we have a new enemy.
Give me one good reason why we should sacrifice one more soldier's life.
- B5 • Vote Up
- r Reply
Post @Cheenoguy
View all 18 replies >
Jan '13

DARSB

!
By many accounts we've overextended our military - one report claims more soldiers die by suicide than are killed in action - and prolonging our Afghanistan mission sure won't help that.

Bring them home.
- B6 • Vote Up r1 Reply
- r Reply
Post
Jan '13

waterlogged

!
If only life were that simple; it is not and so are not the ROEs that Obama and his fools in charge of the war have insisted on pushing to our troops. You feeble attempt to link increased suicides to an over extended military without any prior knowledge (at least not shown in your comments) truly illustrates the major problem with the left wing (low information voter) of our country.
- B Vote Up
- r Reply
Post @waterlogged
u
Jan '13

AceLuby

!
Bring ALL of our troops home, close ALL our foreign bases, let our territories govern and support themselves and END THE EMPIRE! The US is not a world police and definitely shouldn't be the world bully that it currently is. Cut the defense budget in half and do like Bush said in the 2000 debates "we need to stop nation building elsewhere and do some nation building here".
- B4 • Vote Up r1 Reply
- r Reply
Post
Jan '13

Dan_Tien

!
The United States will continue to maintain foreign bases for the same reason that it will continue to provide subsidies to oil companies. This is not about defeating terrorism or building nations, but never mind that... what do you think about abortion, the 2nd Amendment and prayer in schools?
- B2 • Vote Up
- r Reply
Post @Dan_Tien
u
Jan '13

stephen

!
there is or will be time in the future to total withdraw . i dont know if its time. i just dont want all the people of 9/11 or there familys or all american soldiers to die in vein. if we as country are trying to prevent terrioust attacks in the united states . we need to be there. but if were there to police that country . the united states cant afford that either. if thats the case we need to leave. the united states cant afford to give all these third world nations a living.
- B Vote Up r22 Replies
- r Reply
Post
Jan '13

jessejaymes

!
How did they die in vain? We've killed every single known Al-Queda involved with 9-11 or have them in Gitmo. There is nothing to be gained here.
- B Vote Up
- r Reply
Post @jessejaymes
o
Jan '13

woodtick57

!
@jessejaymes

how 'bout preventing the country from becoming a haven for int'l terrorists, as happened the last time the US bugged out the second our personal intersests,(or so some ill-informed people thought) were completed there?
- B Vote Up
- r Reply
Post @woodtick57
Jan '13

jessejaymes

!
@woodtick57 How about maybe the devastation that the Taliban suffered is sufficient lesson that they might not want to allow this sort of thing again? What is your plan? to stay for a lifetime? Make them the 51st state? Hogwash.
- B Vote Up
- r Reply
Post @jessejaymes
u
Jan '13

stephen

!
@jessejaymes for every snake there are thousands left. i meant if our forces leave will al-queda make a comeback. if they make a comeback in alf. will they attack us again on our on soil. will we have to send troups back.
- B Vote Up
- r Reply
Post @stephen
u
Jan '13

stephen

!
@jessejaymes heck no make sure the snakes head is cut off for good.
- B Vote Up
- r Reply
Post @stephen
View all 22 replies >
Jan '13

MadAmerican

!
About damn time. The only thing I do not like is that we are releasing al Alqueda and Taliban prisoners from Gitmo to Afganistan. You know they will let them go. I believe if we let them go we should free all of our convicted soldiers who were falsely imprisioned for killing so called "civilians" over there. Our soldiers were court martialed right and left to politically appease the Afgan and Iraqi government. Obama did good ending this war but those prisoners will be right back plotting against the US. But after all he is a Muslim.
- B Vote Up r7 Replies
- r Reply
Post
Jan '13

hankf68

!
most of these soldiers you speak of committed murder, period...we are not Nazi's (yet anyway) and therefore should not and hopefully will not tolerate such actions, in war or not!
- B Vote Up
- r Reply
Post @hankf68
Jan '13

Waynestew

!
We are not releasing prisoners from Gitmo. We are NOT releasing anyone. We are turning over Afghani detainees that are in our custody in Afghanistan over to the Afghani governmenty
- B Vote Up
- r Reply
Post @Waynestew
Jan '13

MadAmerican

!
@hankf68 Some of those charges were unjust. Remember they don't wear uniforms and part of their warfare is placing murder charges where none exist to wear down morale and make soldiers question returning fire. And all they have to do is plant witnesses along the street. Yes, some did snap but many had their lives ruined because they do not get the fair trials that we do as civilians, and that's a fact.
- B Vote Up
- r Reply
Post @MadAmerican
Jan '13

MadAmerican

!
@Waynestew That's not what CNN reported this morning.
- B Vote Up
- r Reply
Post @MadAmerican
Jan '13

Waynestew

!
Wow I cannot believe people still think Obama is a muslim. He is the only Muslm I know who was a member of a Christian church
- B Vote Up
- r Reply
Post @Waynestew
View all 7 replies >
u
Jan '13

RobertJHarsh

!
The whole war on terror is a sham. The US taxpayer has spent billions on these illegal wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, not to mention Pakistan with coward drone gamers murdering people as they drank Rockstar and surfed /s.

Notice how the US did not "win", because the US LOST the war in Afghanistan. It got it's ass whipped by 7th century fighters and the US is leaving because its out of cash. We also lost the war in Iraq as well. Both fools errands of the corporate wealth class to exploit the weak. Everyone who signed their name to this war on terror scam should be ashamed of themselves.
- B4 • Vote Up
- r Reply
Post
u
Jan '13

BelinKS

!
I don't agree with the draw down or leaving any troops there at all. I want them all out now!!!
- B1 • Vote Up
- r Reply
Post
Jan '13

JoeJared

!
One statesman said it best.

"Just come home" -- Ron Paul.
- B2 • Vote Up
- r Reply
Post
o
Jan '13

thejimbo

!
$40 Billion per month spent in Afghanistan....

But you senior citizens will just have to cut down on heating your apartment and eat a little more cat food.
- B5 • Vote Up r1 Reply
- r Reply
Post
Jan '13

jessejaymes

!
and that is exactly how it is. Bingo.
- B2 • Vote Up
- r Reply
Post @jessejaymes
u
Jan '13

SmedleyButler

!
Wishful thinking. The have every intent of keeping a military presents there until we collapse like the soviets.
- B Vote Up
- r Reply
Post
Jan '13

kathyparsell

!
Bring them home. Hopefully ten years from now we will see it wasn't for nought!
- B Vote Up
- r Reply
Post
Jan '13

SignifiedNBlue

!
66,000 emotionally ruined human beings for absolutely nothing to come back to a life that they may never be able to mentally adapt to again. Fuck this Government!
- B Vote Up
- r Reply
Post
u
Jan '13

RobertJHarsh

!
I would also like to add these soldiers used as cannon fodder for these mega-wealth industrialists did not die for freedom, either for America or Iraq or Afghanistan. They died for Big Money. In fact, while they were away on the 37th tour, America lost more of its freedom and Obama created a gimmedat cadre class soon to enforce his communist ideals.
- B Vote Up
- r Reply
Post
Jan '13

mudpike

!
Bring them home & put them on our southern border. But first stop ALL Foreign Aid & monies sent to terrorist dictators who will always hate the freedoms America stands for.
- B1 • Vote Up
- r Reply
Post
Jan '13

PayThatCEO

!
Long overdue. If we had spent even a fraction as much money on internal security right here in our own country that we have wasted in Iraq and Afghanistan, we would be the safest country in the world. What a farce these wars have been. Our southern border has been wide open for years, and even during a time when we were supposed to be under the threat of terrorism and we were watching color coded threat symbols and covering our windows with plastic wrap and duct tape, millions of people were streaming over the border unchecked.

These wars have been a lie to transfer America's money out of the hands of the people and into the hands of the 1%
- B1 • Vote Up
- r Reply
Post
Jan '13

harold_lloyd

!
But don't be stupid enough to ignore what's going on there. Don't let it become a center of power and training for Muslim extremists.
That may take drones.
We should have a treaty in place allowing for drone surveillance and strikes in perpetuity.
- B Vote Up
- r Reply
Post
Jan '13

marine1

!
Lets bring them home from Korea next. I think OUR job is done there also.
- B Vote Up
- r Reply
Post
Jan '13

Keyjo

!
Bring them home like yesterday!
- B1 • Vote Up
- r Reply
Post
Jan '13

Thegrif

!
Might as well, I see nothing to gain in staying there any longer. I do think terror will rule there again, but personally, as long as they don't bring it into our backyard- they can fight amongst themselves all they would like
- B Vote Up
- r Reply
Post
R Load more comments...

Politix

Do you agree with the drawdown of US troops in Afghanistan?

Do you agree with the drawdown of US troops in Afghanistan?