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Originally Posted by spence
But you can't deny that there was a legitimate argument against the Surge given past events. Certainly a lot of the opposition was political or just people simply tired with war...but opposition alone wasn't necessarily demonstrating a lack of will.
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Where were you in the mid 2000s, Spence? There was SIGNIFICANT opposition from every corner, most often from the Democratic Party. This explicitly shows those we are engaged against a lack of political will. This also shows the people we try to bring on board with us as partners that we are not a worthy ally, and could not be trusted to stick it through.
Going into Iraq was stupidly wrong. It was planned wrong, it was managed wrong. Easy to see in hindsight. Like 85% of the rest I believed in the WMD too. But that ship had sailed and all of those options sailed with it over the horizon.
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Originally Posted by spence
Personally I think many just weren't close enough to the situation on the ground to sense the opportunity as the General was. The results from the Surge appear to have been the result of timing, effort and luck. Had the situation changed slightly (i.e. Sunni resistance) I'd think it could have easily failed. I'm thankful that we had all three.
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There were significant missed opportunities from all but again, the opposition from the left did more to make it look like were were bailing.
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Originally Posted by spence
Why wouldn't any President desperately seek a way out of the longest war in our countries history?
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Because an active anti-west/US AFG will present significant security dilemmas for our nation, our kids, and our grandkids is why. When we are gone from there - and it looks a lot more like when these days than if - we will be fighting elements from AFG/PAK for decades. Probably on our own soil. Political Correctness will probably invite them to our shores for a group hug first
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Originally Posted by spence
What the article seems to show is that after all the drama, Obama chose to do what the military was advocating rather than what would appease the democratic (and younger voters) base. -spence
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- come on Spence, you've read more than that page already, right? Obama, Biden, that next mistake political hack for NSA Donilon? Yeh, we're so screwed.
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Originally Posted by spence
The "timetable" issue is a red herring though. One one hand it gives the edge to the enemy and on the other it motivates local forces to take up the slack. I call it a wash...
-spence
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Bullsheize