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2013-03-05 Afghanistan

Retired 4-star: No good end in Afghanistan

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Posted by tipper 2013-03-05 10:26|| || Front Page|| [3 views ] Top

#1 It is politically unsustainable to stay with any significant military presence, and its unlikely that Congress will go for more than two years before they pull the plug on economic support for Afghanistan, said retired Army Gen. Barry McCaffrey, a decorated Vietnam veteran and former chief of U.S. Southern Command. I dont think kidding ourselves about the outcome is going to help.

McCaffrey, who shared his presentation with a senior joint audience, said he would rather bring the troops home than leave behind small numbers, organized into adviser teams across the country, to fend for themselves.

In Iraq, at least you had access to the ocean and the U.S. Navy, and access to friendly, supportive nations on the margins. You could rapidly withdraw forces or posture in Kuwait, he said. Afghanistan is different. Afghanistan is the end of the earth.

Posted by KBK 2013-03-05 11:34|| 2013-03-05 11:34|| Front Page Top

#2 This is the best advice I've heard thus far from any talking head, but it is still way too accommodating to inertia.

I'd like him to have said:

1. Get out now - yesterday, if possible.
2. Get EVERYBODY out - leave no one.
3. We don't need an Embassy to the barbaric 7th century. Blow all the bridges that connect this region (its not a nation) to the outside world. Build a wall around the place, with signs saying "beyond this wall is hell on earth" - and be done with it.

Posted by Lone Ranger 2013-03-05 11:54|| 2013-03-05 11:54|| Front Page Top

#3 The real enemies were always Pakistan and Soddy Arabia.

Posted by Ebbang Uluque6305 2013-03-05 12:51|| 2013-03-05 12:51|| Front Page Top

#4 Vietnamization - Afghanization, same difference. Click on the link and read how history is about to repeat itself.

In this remake of the 70s original they've updated the script with different actors and locations, but the same sad ending. All those brave fighters will have died for nothing.

Expand the Kabul Embassy helipad and get the long range aerial refuel capable helicopters ready.

The original movie

The remake

Posted by GolfBravoUSMC 2013-03-05 12:58|| 2013-03-05 12:58|| Front Page Top

#5 no good end in Afghanistan. I think some members of the British military tried to explain that probable outcome 12 years ago.

Posted by Raider 2013-03-05 14:14|| 2013-03-05 14:14|| Front Page Top

#6 The British Were Forced to Flee Afghanistan

Sir William McNaghten, who had been trying to negotiate a way out of the city, was murdered on December 23, 1841, reportedly by Muhammad Akbar Khan himself. The British, their situation hopeless, somehow managed to negotiate a treaty to leave Afghanistan.

On January 6, 1842, the British began their withdrawal from Kabul. Leaving the city were 4,500 British troops and 12,000 civilians who had followed the British Army to Kabul. The plan was to march to Jalalabad, about 90 miles away.

The retreat in the brutally cold weather took an immediate toll, and many died from exposure in the first days. And despite the treaty, the British column came under attack when it reached a mountain pass, the Khurd Kabul. The retreat became a massacre.

Posted by GolfBravoUSMC 2013-03-05 14:29|| 2013-03-05 14:29|| Front Page Top

#7 The Great Game is up for like the zillionth time. I am going out on a limb here and say the next round (losers bracket) starts sometime after 2014. Pakistan goes in for the mop up, sets the Taliban's second conclave up and then starts to allow the insurrection of normality in the region. Iran is pissed and they want a piece of the pie but just can't bring themselves to use their one and only Nuke.

Who goes first? The Brits (they can't resist the magnetism of the Stan or the Russians who love the intrigue of screwing the Chinese or the Chinese who love the sensation of actually using their military?

Posted by Jack is Back! 2013-03-05 17:22|| 2013-03-05 17:22|| Front Page Top

23:55 chris
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