NYT: General Petraeus Did Not Accept Obama’s Afghan Withdrawal Plans, Hillary Clinton Expressed “Reservations”…
To make matters worse, Joe Biden’s ideas overruled the commanders on the ground. You know, because when one thinks of brilliant military strategists, Joltin’ Joe Biden is the first name that comes to mind.
(NY Times) — President Obama declared Wednesday that the United States had largely achieved its goals in Afghanistan, setting in motion a substantial withdrawal of American troops in an acknowledgment of the shifting threat in the region and the fast-changing political and economic landscape in a war-weary America. . . .
Mr. Obama’s decision is a victory for Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., who has long argued for curtailing the military operation in Afghanistan. Mr. Obama indicated a willingness to move toward more focused covert operations of the type that the United States is conducting in Pakistan, Yemen and elsewhere. “When threatened, we must respond with force,” he said. “But when that force can be targeted, we need not deploy large armies overseas.”
The pace of the withdrawal is a setback for the president’s top commander in Afghanistan, Gen. David H. Petraeus, who has been named director of the Central Intelligence Agency. General Petraeus did not endorse the decision, said another official. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates argued publicly against a too-hasty withdrawal of troops, but he said in a statement on Wednesday that he supported Mr. Obama’s decision.
During the internal debate, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton also expressed reservations about the scale of the reductions, officials said.
General Petraeus had recommended limiting withdrawals to 5,000 troops this year and another 5,000 over the winter.
He and other military commanders argued that the 18 months since Mr. Obama announced the troop increase did not allow for enough time for the Americans to consolidate the fragile gains that they had made in Helmand and other provinces.
Posted by ZIP on Thursday, June 23, 2011, at 9:49 am | 
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This will certainly come back to bite us.
Surprised Ol’ Joe isn’t pushing for nuking the place…after all, they don’t allow alcohol consumption…
Bring home the troops because Joebama knows we need more cattle guards here in the states.
When the Flag Draped Coffins start stacking up, Obama can use them as a Backdrop for a Re-Election Campaign Poster………”Yes We Can ” !
What a Sorry Sack of Shit that guy is !
Joe Biden has been diligently working on strategy and tactics with his super-soaker water gun and according to his nurse, the Billy Madison of American politics is ready to single handily provide a rear guard action in Afghanistan along with his trusted stuffed bear, “Mr Wiggles”, as American troops retreat from the field leaving the people of Afghanistan to certain genocide and retaliation while both he and his boss throw a nation under the bus to get reelected.
Smokin’ Joe Biden has been on the wrong side of EVERY major decision in his career!
First word that always comes to mind with old Joe is “moron”
If we could go in to win, great. But our rules of engagement have tied the hands of our troops. They can’t fire their gun unless they have been fired on, they walk on guard with their guns on safety, without a bullet in the magazine.
This isn’t right. We should be able to go in and whip them and leave, not pussyfoot around and leave our boys setting ducks.
I say fight to win, or coe home!!
* come home
Please make a convincing argument on how we go about winning the war in Afghanistan. Path to victory arguments must abide by the current ROE and take into account that American forces will not be invading Pakistan nor nuking Afghanistan until the desert turns to glass.
If Gen. David H. Petraeus couldn’t get it done, then who?
We should have let the Russians crsuh Afghanistan rather then working against them in the first place.WTF did we get from helping the Affghani’s (and Muslim countries in general) blown up Twin Towers and a trail of blood and guts on our doorstep any chance thery get. Stop trying to help these bastards and if the Taliban takes over too bad-if we find the are continuing to plot against thsi nation or kill our citizens nuke the whole damn lot of them !
Maybe the policy ought to be a sit down with an envoy or however the bad guys want to do it – pakistanis included. We simply say, see these valleys on the map where you are harboring the taliban along with their terror training camps? In about 15 minutes one of these, like the Korengal Valley, will be henceforth known as the Korengal Wasteland, because we are dropping a low yield tactical nuke in there. The reflections of the explosion between the valley walls will alone do a great deal of damage. You stop any and all terror activities immediately. You don’t stop, we don’t stop. And by the way, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the rest of you – take a lesson here. We’re done with this jihad crap.
And at the same time, kick the miserable muslims out of the USA along with their UN.
Even with the Barney Fife Rules of Engagement it’s working too well. To save his moslim brethern Al Queda the USURPER will do anything to subvert American lives.
Even so, remove ALL U.S. personnel immediately and let the islamos kill each other.
Team Obama is on a tremendous losing streak and they are betting the farm.
This will be a disaster, I just hope our troops are not sliced and diced during the draw down because Team Obama is focused on nation building here in the USA. But, if they are, Team Obama is on the hook, and in either case, Team Obama continues their losing streak, this is not leadership, or mission complete, it is politics with our collective tit in the wringer.
I hope American voters are really starting to feel the pain, Team Obama is a losing team all the way around.
And Mullen did his usual of sticking his head up barry’s ass.
Start taking out the mosques, for every attack they do a mosque gets turned to dust on Fridays of course. I also like ThomNJ idea.