United States Is Considering A Rapid Pullout From Afghanistan Sooner Than Expected - Polidicks

[QUOTE]WASHINGTON — Increasingly frustrated by his dealings with President Hamid Karzai, President Obama is giving serious consideration to speeding up the withdrawal of United States forces from Afghanistan and to a “zero option” that would leave no American troops there after next year, according to American and European officials. Mr. Obama is committed to ending America’s military involvement in Afghanistan by the end of 2014, and Obama administration officials have been negotiating with Afghan officials about leaving a small “residual force” behind. But his relationship with Mr. Karzai has been slowly unraveling, and reached a new low after an effort last month by the United States to begin peace talks with the Taliban in Qatar. Mr. Karzai promptly repudiated the talks and ended negotiations with the United States over the long-term security deal that is needed to keep American forces in Afghanistan after 2014. [/QUOTE] [URL]http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/09/world/asia/frustrated-obama-considers-full-troop-withdrawal-from-afghanistan.html?hp&_r=0[/URL]

And yet people still keep getting deployed there. I'm hoping it happens soon so I don't have to go to the desert.

haha yeah ok obama, my brother's being told that he'll probably end up being deployed there anyway

I wish I could fit in one more deployment there, but it is good that we are looking at getting out sooner than expected. Karzai is going a little bonkers with the rules he is imposing on our forces, among other things.

[QUOTE=SKEEA;41370805]I wish I could fit in one more deployment there, but it is good that we are looking at getting out sooner than expected. Karzai is going a little bonkers with the rules he is imposing on our forces, among other things.[/QUOTE] I seriously doubt Obama will go with the Zero option, he never really takes extremes when it comes to reasonable actions. The US will probably leave behind a smaller force so I imagine you may still have an opportunity.

Can't kill an ideology with bullets and bombs....Soviets learned this the hard way.

Good, that place isn't worth one more life, one more bullet, or one more dime of US taxpayer money. Nothing would make me happier to see every last US serviceperson leave Afghanistan for good. Half of my LIFE we've been actively at war killing people in the Middle East, and I'm ready to see some fucking peacetime so we can start talking about rolling back this insane military-industrial-surveillance machine we've built.

[QUOTE=Disotrtion;41370976]Can't kill an ideology with bullets and bombs....Soviets learned this the hard way.[/QUOTE] CIA training and billions in modern weapons/equipment helped a bit.

[QUOTE=Used Car Salesman;41371096]and I'm ready to see some fucking peacetime so we can start talking about rolling back this insane military-industrial-surveillance machine we've built.[/QUOTE] It's not really peace time, it's just we're not gonna play guns with them anymore. They're still gonna bomb and shoot the shit out of each other, especially after we leave.

Its too late USA, you have already cum, Pulling out wont do no good. Might as well buy a wedding ring and seal the deal.

[QUOTE=Rangergxi;41371161]CIA training and billions in modern weapons/equipment helped a bit.[/QUOTE] 1. CIA never trained them, the ISI did. How about funded? Nope. Operation Cyclone never coincided with the Taliban's rise in either Afghanistan or Pakistan. In fact there is evidence that the Pakistanis themselves created the beast known today as the Taliban in order to fight a proxy war with India. Research the 2008 Mumbai attacks. 2. Modern weapons? Try cold war surplus.

About damn time.

I don't think you guys even understand how terrible the situation is there. Does anybody have the link to that documentary by that British journalist with the US Marines? It really gives a good perspective on how terrible things are, and how no progress can ever be made.

Obama is looking for opportunities to rescue his public image. Still, I'm glad to hear that the war is finally coming to a real end, possibly sooner than expected.

[QUOTE=Disotrtion;41371260]1. CIA never trained them, the ISI did. How about funded? Nope. Operation Cyclone never coincided with the Taliban's rise in either Afghanistan or Pakistan. In fact there is evidence that the Pakistanis themselves created the beast known today as the Taliban in order to fight a proxy war with India. Research the 2008 Mumbai attacks. 2. Modern weapons? Try cold war surplus.[/QUOTE] Are you fucking stupid. It would of course be fucking cold war gear if it happened in GODDAMN 1982.

[QUOTE=Paul McCartney;41371716]Are you fucking stupid. It would of course be fucking cold war gear if it happened in GODDAMN 1982.[/QUOTE] Tell that to the guy he was responding to.

[QUOTE=Disotrtion;41371260]1. CIA never trained them, the ISI did. How about funded? Nope. 2. Modern weapons? Try cold war surplus.[/QUOTE] The Mujahideen fought in the Soviets in Afghanistan funded and supplied by Saudi Arabia and the United States. The CIA was in charge of training the Mujahideen these trained people would end up forming the Taliban. The United States did not form the Taliban but it did train the people who formed it. With their weapons and training they would easily take over the Afghanistan. The weapons were basically stinger missles, rpg's and assault rifles.

Good. The faster we leave the better. We should have never gone at all.

[QUOTE=InvaderNouga;41370579]And yet people still keep getting deployed there. I'm hoping it happens soon so I don't have to go to the desert.[/QUOTE] Not all of Afghanistan is a desert.

[QUOTE=Rangergxi;41372285]The Mujahideen fought in the Soviets in Afghanistan funded and supplied by Saudi Arabia and the United States. The CIA was in charge of training the Mujahideen these trained people would end up forming the Taliban. The United States did not form the Taliban but it did train the people who formed it. With their weapons and training they would easily take over the Afghanistan. The weapons were basically stinger missles, rpg's and assault rifles.[/QUOTE] The CIA didn't do any training, it was all the ISI. The USA handed money and weaponry over the ISI who then gave it the Mujahideen. Do you really think we would've been willing to risk a war with the Soviet Union by directly supplying the insurgents? No, we used the ISI as an intermediary.

[QUOTE=laserguided;41372515]Not all of Afghanistan is a desert.[/QUOTE] The desert is a way to refer to the Middle East in military culture.

They must need the troops for something else

Wish Britain would do the same. In fact all countries should just do it. Leave that shit hole to rot.

Haven't they been saying that for years now?

[QUOTE=Used Car Salesman;41371096]Good, that place isn't worth one more life, one more bullet, or one more dime of US taxpayer money. Nothing would make me happier to see every last US serviceperson leave Afghanistan for good. Half of my LIFE we've been actively at war killing people in the Middle East, and I'm ready to see some fucking peacetime so we can start talking about rolling back this insane military-industrial-surveillance machine we've built.[/QUOTE] Couldn't agree more, money saved, no more innocent lives taken, no more killing. It's unpleasant to see all this chaos caused in other countries due to unneeded sending of troops or war. As for myself I don't believe war is the answer, if anything it should be the at most the absolute last choice for anything.

[QUOTE=Rangergxi;41372285]The Mujahideen fought in the Soviets in Afghanistan funded and supplied by Saudi Arabia and the United States. The CIA was in charge of training the Mujahideen these trained people would end up forming the Taliban. The United States did not form the Taliban but it did train the people who formed it. With their weapons and training they would easily take over the Afghanistan. The weapons were basically stinger missles, rpg's and assault rifles.[/QUOTE] Goddamnit, why do you guys keep doing this. For the millionth time: mujahideen =/= taliban Mujahideen is just a word for someone involved in a struggle, a fighter. Its almost identical in meaning to jihad. EVERYONE of any significant power was involved in the soviet-afghan war. US, UK, Israel , etc. People want to bitch and moan about the CIA supposedly funded and trained terrorists like Osama Bin Laden, meanwhile ignoring the fact that the UK goverment was funding and training mujahideen for years on end, and some sources even have the SAS as deploying on offensive operations against the soviets. Some mujahideen would've end up as taliban yes, but the majority were not. They are not the same group because mujahideen is not a group. Its a word that applied to literally anyone that took up arms against the soviets. Anti taliban groups populated by soviet-afghan war veterans have existed for as long as the taliban have had power, so no, you're wrong.

VICE did a pretty good documentary earlier this year on the state of our forces in Afghanistan leading up to the pull out; the whole thing is on YouTube. It shows some of the corruption and problems with the Afghanis that will be taking over after we leave. It seems like we went in and took out one group of bad people and stuck in a new better armed group of bad people. The commander admits that a good portion of the people they trained and armed will join the Taliban as soon as the U.S. pulls out because they need the money and without our support they can not hold their own against them. [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8GcvdtaTa4[/media] I still favor the pullout, I have friends/relatives I would rather never have to go back, it just feels like too little too late.

[QUOTE=Disotrtion;41370976]Can't kill an ideology with bullets and bombs....Soviets learned this the hard way.[/QUOTE] The near-destruction of Al-Qaeda, deaths of its major leaders, and subsequent fracturing seems to indicate otherwise. The threat is not and never will be completely eliminated, but while you can't kill an ideology, you can definitely kill its practitioners and scare any potential recruits from taking the risk of being the target of a drone strike. Anyways, good on Obama but let's see if he keeps his word. The sooner we get out of Afghanistan the better.

[QUOTE=catbarf;41375466]The near-destruction of Al-Qaeda, deaths of its major leaders, and subsequent fracturing seems to indicate otherwise. The threat is not and never will be completely eliminated, but while you can't kill an ideology, you can definitely kill its practitioners and scare any potential recruits from taking the risk of being the target of a drone strike. Anyways, good on Obama but let's see if he keeps his word. The sooner we get out of Afghanistan the better.[/QUOTE] That may be the case to some degree; but anyone with an extremist mindset (Which isn't uncommon in such regions) all this will do is be used as a way to remember religious martyrs down the road. Hell, the crusades are still used as an excuse to hate Western Nations/Religions.

the way the article is worded it seems like a rapid pullout is more of a threat or bargaining chip with karzai. i doubt the obama administration is going to push for anything more rapid than what they already stated months ago unless relations with karzai really deteriorate.