A pivotal moment in Afghanistan - our chance to get it right

Rosa (4.00 / 1)

YOU,and evey member of Congress are the ONLY ones who can end our Occupation of Iraq and the ESCALATION President Obama is planning in Afganistan.USE THE POWER OF THE PURSE TO FORCE THE PEOPLES WILL ON THE EXECUTIVE.

Our Congress has handed over so many of it's Constitutionally mandated powere to the Executive Branch that it has made itself almost completely impotent.

The Power of the Purse,the power to legislate,the power to DECLARE WAR are CONGRESSIONAL POWERS.Start by demanding the idea of a Unitary Executive is repulsive to the Institution we elect you to serve in.  

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by: ctkeith @ Sun Mar 01, 2009 at 09:39:24 AM CST

Whichever Staffer is reading MLN (0.00 / 0)

Please,Please,Please make sure Rosa reads Bob Herberts column today.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03...

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by: ctkeith @ Tue Mar 03, 2009 at 07:07:02 AM CST

[ Parent ]

Yes, And These Too: (0.00 / 0)

"It's Obama's War Now"

http://www.truthdig.com/report...

"France calls for NATO Afghan pullout"

http://www.iraq-war.ru/article...

"Canadian PM says Afghan war can never be won"

http://www.reuters.com/article...

"If those in charge of our society...can dominate our ideas, they will be secure in their power. They will not need soldiers patrolling the streets. We will control ourselves." ~~Howard Zinn

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by: lakezoarian @ Tue Mar 03, 2009 at 13:27:13 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Thank you for your comments, Congresswoman DeLauro (4.00 / 1)

And thank you for being a courageous Democrat and patriotic American.  

I hope that you have been reading a great deal of South Asian history, Congresswoman.  You will see that Afghanistan proves a quagmire for virtually every foreigner who attempts to conquer it.  The British were chased out at the end of the Afghan Wars and decided to stay out. The Russian Empire decided to stay out, leaving Afghanistan a buffer between it and British India.  The Soviets learned the terrible bloody lesson of their attempt to subjugate the country, and now years of military conflict there with NATO and America have led to an escalating war in which we are not winning.

Our objective is to ensure that al Qaeda does not return to use the country as a base.  Our objective must not be to continue with Bush's occupation.  We cannot conquer Afghanistan, nor should we attempt to do so.  We need to negotiate a political settlement that ensures al Qaeda remains outside the country, then withdraw.

We must also withdraw all of our troops from Iraq.  Though I voted enthusiastically for President Obama, it is wrong to keep tens of thousands of our soldiers in that country for years on end.  We have already suffered nearly 200 dead and wounded Americans in Iraq just this year.  As long as they are stationed in that country, they will continue to be killed and maimed.  And for what?  For a war begun for a lie?  To vanquish al Qaeda that wasn't even there before the war?  To train a military for whose government its people seem singularly unwilling to fight?  

It's time to bring our troops home.  Candidate Obama firmly announced that all of our troops would be home within fourteen months and that is plenty long enough.  

Please raise your voice against Mr. Obama's unwise policy of extending that pointless war in Iraq.  And please look very carefully at the actual reasons for being in Afghanistan and devise a plan to get our young men and women out of there- soon.

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by: thomashooker @ Sun Mar 01, 2009 at 12:15:43 PM CST

Why Is This Here? (2.25 / 4)

Wouldn't it have been more appropriate at some right-wing site where the rah rahs would enthustiacally agree?

Describing your 5-star junket to Italy as a briefing? Did Pelosi get her Birth Certificate? Did you have fun hanging out with Herbie Hancock (last I knew he's not an elected official)?

This is the pivotal moment? Did you really write this post, or was it someone from military Civil Affairs and PSYOPS Command that wrote it for you?

Our responsibility is to define the mission - to lay out a clear strategy going forward and give our soldiers the tools to pursue it.

No, they need to come home right now, and you need to start working on a REAL investigation of what really happened on 9/11, because that was the excuse used for the invasion...

"If those in charge of our society...can dominate our ideas, they will be secure in their power. They will not need soldiers patrolling the streets. We will control ourselves." ~~Howard Zinn

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by: lakezoarian @ Sun Mar 01, 2009 at 13:29:24 PM CST

Hey, Rosa is one of the best Democrats we've got... (4.00 / 1)

If you want to disagree with her fine. But be polite.

ARGH.

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by: AndersonScooper @ Sun Mar 01, 2009 at 18:38:25 PM CST

[ Parent ]

The Post Is Clearly Damage A Control Measure (0.00 / 0)

The outrage over the Pelosi entourage was going on even before they came back. You can learn the sad details here:

http://search.everyzing.com/vi...

If this is the best we've got, we are in trouble.

"If those in charge of our society...can dominate our ideas, they will be secure in their power. They will not need soldiers patrolling the streets. We will control ourselves." ~~Howard Zinn

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by: lakezoarian @ Mon Mar 02, 2009 at 06:35:07 AM CST

[ Parent ]

A one rating would make this post (0.00 / 0)

invisable to all but those of us with trusted user status.

The tone may not be perfect and Lakezorian has some ideas I find pretty far our but I'll be damned if I'm going to allow a consistent, and for the most part positive, voice in this community be hidden because of who He/she is talking to.

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by: ctkeith @ Mon Mar 02, 2009 at 07:04:18 AM CST

[ Parent ]

Uprated (4.00 / 1)

Like  ctkeith said

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by: Jon Kantrowitz @ Mon Mar 02, 2009 at 10:01:01 AM CST

[ Parent ]

Can I give him a "2", (3.00 / 1)

and will you guys take it as a 1.5? (didn't know a "1" was a hide rating.

PS-- What did really happen on 9/11?

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by: AndersonScooper @ Mon Mar 02, 2009 at 21:21:54 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Some Afghan/Taliban history (0.00 / 0)

While the Taliban was in power prior to 9/11 they were guilty of horrendous human rights violations, especially against women. The US turned a blind eye. However, Unocal wanted a pipeline deal to extract gas and oil from the Caspian Sea region through Afghanistan and Pakistan to the Indian Ocean. The Taliban wouldn't agree to our terms. According to published reports in the India Times, the US planned to bomb Afghanistan in October '01. Since they wouldn't take a carpet of gold, the US promised them a carpet of bombs. Was 9/11 the pretext, the New Pearl Harbor (Google PNAC 9/11)? Interesting that US bases have been built along the pipeline route. According to an article from June 24, '08 by Eric Margolis (http://www.lewrockwell.com/margolis/margolis114.html), the pipeline is being built. Maybe THIS is really why we're in Afghanistan, to protect the interests of oil conglomerates so they can continue to sell us an obsolete energy source which is harmful to the planet and all living things.

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by: artisan @ Wed Mar 04, 2009 at 14:48:43 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Wikileaks? (4.00 / 2)

Dear Congresswoman DeLauro -

Did the subject of Wikileaks cracking the Pentagon's encryption code on NATO's Master Narrative Plan for Afghanistan come up in your trip to Italy or Asia?

Did anyone mention Wikileaks' discovery that Jordan is secretly involved in the Afghan occupation force?

Wikileaks learned of these NATO talking points, too:

   * Any decision on the end date/end state will be taken by the respective national and/or Alliance political committee. Under no circumstances should the mission end-date be a topic for speculation in public by any NATO/ISAF spokespeople.
   * The term "compensation" is inappropriate and should not be used because it brings with it legal implications that do not apply.
   * Any talk of stationing or deploying Russian military assets in Afghanistan is out of the question and has never been the subject of any considerations.
   * Only if pressed: ISAF forces are frequently fired at from inside Pakistan, very close to the border. In some cases defensive fire is required, against specific threats. Wherever possible, such fire is pre-coordinated with the Pakistani military.

While I respect your attempts at fact-finding, Congresswoman DeLauro, I think that you'll learn more by reading about the failures of Russian, British and Mongol imperial adventures in Afghanistan. Please understand that this is a war we cannot win.

The U.S. must withdraw from Afghanistan immediately, and contract its colonial empire now.

Peace,
Ken Krayeske
Hartford, CT

 

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by: ken_krayeske @ Mon Mar 02, 2009 at 00:09:53 AM CST

we agree on some things and I ask more details on others (4.00 / 1)

I came back from those meetings thinking about the path ahead: We cannot follow the same broken approach that the Bush Administration used to define its own foreign policy around the world.

Agreed. One of those approaches was to use talking points to convince the public that military action already planned was in fact the necessary and only thing to do.  Another was to use the unitary executive model to do it.

Our responsibility is to define the mission - to lay out a clear strategy going forward and give our soldiers the tools to pursue it.

Think about what you are saying here -- the troops have already been committed and you are saying "our responsibility is to define the mission."  Actually, as a member of the public, I would like to see that done BEFORE troops are committed.  And where is "our responsibility is to demonstrate the need to deploy more troops and win the support of Congress and the American people"?

We need to use every tool we have - military, economic, diplomatic and political - to bring stability to the region.

Agreed.  But where are the other tools and what is the game plan? Could we set a date by which a game plan will be formulated?  No blank checks here.

Did you exchange any stories on the suicide rates among American troops? This is a subject not to be avoided in my opinion, for a country that does so is a country without compassion or foresight. Did any of those stories provide insights as to whether multiple deployments may be one facet of the problem?  I haven't yet read how the 15,000 being sent to Afghanistan are being chosen -- are these troops that have been multipally deployed in Iraq with little down time?

Joining the reserves and being sent down a rabbit hole should be two different things.

Thank you.

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by: greenpeas @ Mon Mar 02, 2009 at 06:06:40 AM CST

Thank You ctKeith (0.00 / 0)

I'm not trying to be inflammatory and do believe in what I wrote. To be troll-rated because what i revealed is too hot to touch js dissappointing here at MLN. MLN of all places!

"If those in charge of our society...can dominate our ideas, they will be secure in their power. They will not need soldiers patrolling the streets. We will control ourselves." ~~Howard Zinn

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by: lakezoarian @ Mon Mar 02, 2009 at 07:26:37 AM CST

Rosa, can you define our mission in Afghanistan? (4.00 / 2)

I think after 7 years of our brave military fighting that war, the American people deserve a definitive explanation of our mission and our goals, rather than the evasive tactics of the Bush administration.  

Would you please consider summing up exactly WHAT it is we're supposed to accomplish there, so we can identify WHEN we've done it and get our troops out of harm's way and back home?

I ask this with all due respect, of course.

Connecticut Bob

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by: Bob Adams @ Mon Mar 02, 2009 at 08:04:01 AM CST

Define versus Justify our mission (4.00 / 1)

Sending troops before defining a mission makes "defining" sound like "post facto justifying".

It is not that I cannot appreciate that the administration walked into a mess that it has to manage and that is not of its own creation.  And I can imagine that the presence of troops sooner MIGHT prevent something from escalating later.

I'm just saying let's articulate what's going on and not cover it with language that tends not to clarify and communicate fully.  "Define our mission" is management speak and doesn't really inspire confidence coming as it does pretty much after the fact.

Congresswoman, your efforts in working at the unlayering of officalspeak (by doing so yourself) will make a huge contribution to the Obama administration and the American people.

Say what it is, why it is, and what we are going to do about it.  Please take off your cheerleader cap and put on your stateswoman/intelligent human being cap.

It will serve us all well and luckily you have a lot under the latter type of cap (unlike many now out of office).  The Bush administration pretty much wore out the cheerleader caps in DC and they don't look so hot on the heads of Democrats, either.

We want, deserve, and will respect you for providing us with more than that.

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by: greenpeas @ Mon Mar 02, 2009 at 09:46:52 AM CST

[ Parent ]

I'm all for Pres. Obama (0.00 / 0)

sending 15,000 more US troops to Afganistan if that's what it is going to take to Declare Victory and get our troops and equipment the hell out of that country as fast as possible.

Any other mission will just end up making Obama the next LBJ instead of the next FDR.

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by: ctkeith @ Mon Mar 02, 2009 at 12:41:31 PM CST

I'd like to make sure he's a man with a plan (0.00 / 0)

Not a man holding a newly purchase bridge.

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by: greenpeas @ Mon Mar 02, 2009 at 14:06:04 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Afganistan (0.00 / 0)

 we have no business  there...i  would not send  any troops there....ask russia,china etc how their wars went in Afganistan.

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by: BruceRubenstein1 @ Thu Mar 05, 2009 at 13:31:29 PM CST