ATWT Discussion Group

Topic: Another two U S soldiers killed in Afghanistan

Maggimae I can understand how you are feeling about your grandson I know I would feel the same if one of mine was in the same place.

However, it is not just President Obama who is stuck in that quagmire of Afganistan but Gordon Brown and our Prime Minister here in Canada as well as most of the heads of countries that have troops there. This would never have happened if GWB hadn't pulled the troops out of Afganistan in order to pursue his Iraq war. The Taliban were basically defeated there until they were allowed to reform in Pakistan.

Every week we hear of another Canadian soldier being killed there, 133 so far out of a number of 2,000 and the Brits. have lost more soldiers this year than at any time since the Falkands war.

The Russians learned back in the 1980's the difficulty of fighting a war in Afganistan so it not an easy thing to accomplish especially because there is so much corruption among the people heading the government as well as the warlords.

I hope your grandson remains safe.  

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I read recently that 75% (if one can believe that number!) of people recruited are unfit to serve. Some of them, though they have graduated high school, are unable to read and write to an acceptable standard; some are obese; some have other health conditions. It is amazing to think of! Where are we going to get another 40,000 indeed!

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Posted by: Janie
Date posted: Thu Nov 19 23:28:15 2009
Message:

maggie,  I totally agree with you.  You must be so worried about your grandson.  I don't know how you can sleep at night thinking about him being there.

I am really upset with the president for delaying on the issue of troops for Afganistan.  I know its an important decision but isn't that why we have military people to assist him with decisions like this?  He needs to listen to them.

I believe that this is just another example of his lack of political experience.  He was too young and inexperienced to govern this country.  But he's all we've got, at least for now, so he better start making these tough decisions based on the evidence of his military commanders.

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Janie he is not governing our country by himself. He has a good staff and I am sure he is consulting with people who have experience and knowledge of what is best for our country. Personally, I would like to see the troops come home from Afghanistan, and I am sure that Obama does too, but he needs to be sure he makes the right decision for our country. / Sammie

I don't think Janie meant that

Suellen, I understand what Jane was saying, I was merely responding to her comment on Obama's youth and lack of experience. / Sammie

Sammie, the grandmother in me would like to see all the troups come home. However we have to remember why we went into Afghanistan. It was where Al Qaida was training the terrorists. Many young people, like my grandson, were strongly affected by the destruction of the twin towers and joined the service to defend the country. I personally think we should send more troups in and finish the job we started. But of course this will be a very unpopular move. Here is where President Obama needs to consider the welfare of the country over his popularity. Most of us are grandparents on this board and we have to think about what kind of legacy we are leaving our grandchildren./mm

mm, I think you are misunderstanding my post. Yes, I would like for the boys to come home. But I am not saying that Obama should bring the troops home, and I am not saying that Obama should send more troops over. That is his choice! Also, I thrust Obama to make his decisions on what is best for our country, not what will help his popularity! That is an insult to his presidency. If you read my post again, surely you can see where I was explaining to Janie that Obama has not made his decision yet because he wants to be sure he makes the right decision for our country. Maybe to a lot people they feel that Obama needs to send more troops over immediately. But, maybe that is not what is good for our country at this time. We don't know what all goes on behind the scenes, and I can assure you that there is plenty. You, or any other ordinary citizen, cannot say that sending more troops to Afganistan is going to accomplish anything. Also, I completely understand Janie's feelings on the subject. I was merely reasurring her that I felt Obama and his people are going to do what they think is best for our country. / Sammie

Sammie I commend you for your loyalty to the President. But I think we should have learned a lesson by trusting GWB that Sadam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. I try to look objectively at issues and make up my own mind. I remember when President Bush started wire tapping people. I heard on the news that there was a law that had been enacted. I thought they were saying the Phizer bill. I spent hours searching the Internet for this bill so I could read it. Turned out is was the FISA bill. My point is that since we can now study the issues and make up our minds for ouselves, that's what I prefer to do. And although I disagree with Dolphina on many issues, I admire how she does the research and most of the time knows what she is talking about. I mean no disprespect to you. It's just that I guess I am more of a skeptic than you./mm

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