16. Posted by Brit Brat at 4:49 PM on Dec 17, 2009 | Report this comment

Common Sense - Ewe a Popinjay for Obama's war in Afghanistan? Get used to it. WAR that is Brit brat

15. Posted by Common Sense at 9:58 AM on Dec 17, 2009 | Report this comment

Well, it appears that all the members of the IU College Republicans have logged on to parrot (and re-parrot, and re-parrot) the right's talking points well. Congrats little sheep. Ewe do mommy and daddy proud.

14. Posted by Brit Brat at 2:40 PM on Dec 16, 2009 | Report this comment

First of 30,000 new troops arriving in Afghanistan, today.Also, in the news: The House approved a $636 billion defense bill Wednesday that funds the ongoing conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan and provides a 3.4 percent pay hike for military personnel. The 395-34 vote on the Pentagon budget was the first of several the House is taking on must-do bills before it adjourns for the year at the end of the day. Others include raising the debt ceiling so the Treasury can continue borrowing money and acting on a $174 billion measure to stimulate job growth. VOTE FOR CHANGE? It's O's WAR...don't quit school, we may all have to go. I'm just sayin.Brit Brat

13. Posted by Faster, please at 12:49 PM on Oct 29, 2009 | Report this comment

[Jared boasted: "The strategy should dictate the amount of troops needed."] If that were true, then the Obamateur should implement his STRATEGY (from March 2009) and approve McCrystal's resource requests. Leftists need to stop blaming Bush and start taking ownership for their Obamateur's lack of strategy. Faster, please.

12. Posted by Moistening works at 12:37 PM on Oct 29, 2009 | Report this comment

[Jared bedwet: "torture produces no actionable intelligence"] Jared shouldn’t be so hard on Speaker Pelosi, who (as you know) was briefed about the moistening of three terrorists in 2002. At the time, when elections were not on the horizon, Speaker Pelosi asked whether we were being tough enough. As to whether moistening KSM worked then, it did-- just ask Hambali. Now, defending our great country against threats is patriotic, even if it involves getting a terrorist’s face wet. Mislabeling a few unpleasant interrogation methods as “torture” for either political or editorial argument purposes does not make it so. Neither does implicit exaggeration about the scope of using harsh interrogation methods bolster your argument.

11. Posted by mandyAmanda at 12:29 PM on Oct 29, 2009 | Report this comment

Torture probably isn't all that useful in gathering info. But gathering information isn't the only reason to torture someone. I believe there are other good reasons. For example, in this case, many of the people deserved a good old fashioned torturing. Sometmes, torturing might make you feel good. For example, I just feel good knowing that some scum got tortured. It gives me a warm fuzzy feeling.I also think we should torture many convicted rapists and murderers, and also, certain teenage skateboarders.

10. Posted by Jared Stancombe at 11:29 AM on Oct 29, 2009 | Report this comment

As a national security professional, I can assure you that it is commonly known that torture produces no actionable intelligence and only complicates investigations. If you can tell me what actionable intelligence waterboarding and other torture techniques were actually used to stop impending terrorist attacks, I may change my mind. Unfortunately, that information is still classified.

9. Posted by Jared Stancombe at 11:26 AM on Oct 29, 2009 | Report this comment

The strategy should dictate the amount of troops needed. While the situation on the ground is becoming more dangerous seemingly by the day, US policymakers should not send troops based upon knee-jerk reactions. Obama is doing the right thing by taking the whole situation in context, rather than by basing his decisions upon recent tragedies. Cool, calm leadership is needed, even as the situation becomes worse. But the situation would become increasingly worse if we have troops in Afghanistan with no clear strategy.

8. Posted by Anti-idiotarian at 11:26 AM on Oct 29, 2009 | Report this comment

Naturally, Leftist conceits refer to the Obamateur's dithering as “smart power” (left in quotes to capture the irony). The pettiness of the Obamateur (and his toadies in wacademia) makes rational folks miss adult leadership.

7. Posted by Dick Cheney at 11:7 AM on Oct 29, 2009 | Report this comment

Among my other concerns about the drift of events under the present administration, I consider the abandonment of missile defense in Eastern Europe to be a strategic blunder and a breach of good faith. It is certainly not a model of diplomacy when the leaders of Poland and the Czech Republic are informed of such a decision at the last minute in midnight phone calls. It took a long time and lot of political courage in those countries to arrange for our interceptor system in Poland and the radar system in the Czech Republic. Our Polish and Czech friends are entitled to wonder how strategic plans and promises years in the making could be dissolved, just like that – with apparently little, if any, consultation. Seventy years to the day after the Soviets invaded Poland, it was an odd way to mark the occasion. You hardly have to go back to 1939 to understand why these countries desire – and thought they had – a close and trusting relationship with the United States. Only last year, the Russian Army moved into Georgia, under the orders of a man who regards the collapse of the Soviet Union as the greatest geopolitical disaster of the 20th century. Anybody who has spent much time in that part of the world knows what Vladimir Putin is up to. And those who try placating him, by conceding ground and accommodating his wishes, will get nothing in return but more trouble. What did the Obama Administration get from Russia for its abandonment of Poland and the Czech Republic, and for its famous “Reset” button? Another deeply flawed election and continued Russian opposition to sanctioning Iran for its pursuit of nuclear weapons.

6. Posted by Dick Cheney at 11:6 AM on Oct 29, 2009 | Report this comment

Recently, President Obama’s advisors have decided that it’s easier to blame the Bush Administration than support our troops. This weekend they leveled a charge that cannot go unanswered. The President’s chief of staff claimed that the Bush Administration hadn’t asked any tough questions about Afghanistan, and he complained that the Obama Administration had to start from scratch to put together a strategy. In the fall of 2008, fully aware of the need to meet new challenges being posed by the Taliban, we dug into every aspect of Afghanistan policy, assembling a team that repeatedly went into the country, reviewing options and recommendations, and briefing President-elect Obama’s team. They asked us not to announce our findings publicly, and we agreed, giving them the benefit of our work and the benefit of the doubt. The new strategy they embraced in March, with a focus on counterinsurgency and an increase in the numbers of troops, bears a striking resemblance to the strategy we passed to them. They made a decision – a good one, I think – and sent a commander into the field to implement it. Now they seem to be pulling back and blaming others for their failure to implement the strategy they embraced. It’s time for President Obama to do what it takes to win a war he has repeatedly and rightly called a war of necessity.

5. Posted by mandyAmanda at 10:5 AM on Oct 29, 2009 | Report this comment

I don't need an excuse to go shopping! Though I would shop more if we had a Nordstrom in bloomington! You wanna know what real torture is? Going to the College Mall and not seeing enough good shops there. Even the Macys is undersized and a bit downscale compared to other Macys.

4. Posted by Alan at 8:53 AM on Oct 29, 2009 | Report this comment

It seems that to Rob and mandyAmanda that war is simply an excuse to go shopping. Cheney should be facing a war crimes tribunal at the Hague.

3. Posted by RC at 8:34 AM on Oct 29, 2009 | Report this comment

You are kidding right? This article is just FUBO. The only reason President Obama hasn't made a decision is because the off year elections haven't happened yet. Once next Tuesday is over he will make a decision. And to call Afghanistan the next Vietnam is an insult to all the Vietnam veterans and a show of ignorance on your part for not having lived it. Less than 5,000 Americans have lost their lives in more than 7 years in Afghanistan. That was a bad month in Vietnam. Yes all life is precious, but this generation needs to learn the difference between war and kicking arse. We haven't been in a war in our lifetimes. Just a bunch of arse kickings, that we find hard to stomach the consequences.

2. Posted by Bob at 5:49 AM on Oct 29, 2009 | Report this comment

I agree, our CIA should continue to torture. However, I am disappointed that the Military was part of that. Torture should be on the down-low and not out in the open. What military service does Obama have? Why call Dick a coward for not serving if Obama failed to serve? Is service in the military a pre-requisite for public office? What about Bill? He wrote a paper as to why the military and Vietnam was immoral. We are still occupying Kosovo... you know the place were Hillary and Chelsey came under fictional sniper fire.

1. Posted by mandyAmanda at 1:26 AM on Oct 29, 2009 | Report this comment

I like Cheney a lot more than the leaders of the current administration. Oh, and as for torture. Yeah, we did torture. I disagree with those who say we didn't. But torture was the right thing to do in many of those cases. I support the decision to torture, even if some squeamish people want to call it something else. .