# Politics and News > World Affairs >  Obama Speeds Up Afghanistan Withdrawal Timeline

## Polly Kong

The  previous timeline agreed upon indicated that our combat missions would  end by the end of next year, while a training, advisory, and assisting  force would remain in Afghanistan until 2024. But Friday the  president announced that that timeline was due to be sped up. We will  now end our combat missions this spring and possibly even pull out all  our troops by the end of next year. You'll want to check out the full story here  for the details. Every minute is worth watching. The story  is brimming with interesting information.

Personally, I find this to be very good news! I've been against continuing the Afghanistan War for some time now.

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Irascible Crusader (01-14-2013),Sinestro/Green Arrow (01-13-2013)

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## Guest

I lost a husband to it and I hope Cheney and Obama both smell Brimstone when they die.

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countryboy (01-14-2013),Polly Kong (01-13-2013),Sinestro/Green Arrow (01-13-2013)

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## The XL

We've been there for way too fucking long.

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Polly Kong (01-13-2013)

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## Sinestro/Green Arrow

Hey, look, something I can actually agree with. Now if only the bastard could have ended it in 2009 like he promised.

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## Guest

If only we let the military and CIA do their job of grabbing OBL and AQ when they landed instead of telling them to halt and wait (so we could do our nation building song and dance).

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Sinestro/Green Arrow (01-13-2013)

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## Polly Kong

When did he promise that, RAT? (lol, sorry, that's just the initials of your screen name! Didn't notice until after I wrote it.) Obama had pledged to increase our troop presence in Afghanistan by like 20,000 back in 2008 when he was running for president. He actually tripled the size of our occupation force before starting to draw down troop levels.

The explanation the president today uses for why we can afford to pull out make little sense. In 2009 he described our mission in Afghanistan as that of wiping out Al Qaeda and the Taliban. Today Al Qaeda and Taliban are at least as strong as they've ever been. (Okay Al Qaeda more worldwide than specifically in Afghanistan, but you get my point.) No, we're not pulling out because we've succeeded, but because we've failed to achieve our objectives and see no way of achieving them. After more than 11 years of fighting in that theater, I say it's high time to call it a war and bring the troops home.

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Sinestro/Green Arrow (01-14-2013)

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## patrickt

It's time to come home and there is no surprise with President Obama blaming the defeat, so far, on the U.S. Not him, no, no, no, no, no.

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## Sinestro/Green Arrow

> It's time to come home and there is no surprise with President Obama blaming the defeat, so far, on the U.S. Not him, no, no, no, no, no.


It's Vietnam. Bush, Obama, Romney, hell, even Ron Paul or Gary Johnson. Who the President is is entirely irrelevant to the war in Afghanistan. It was unwinnable from the start because the entire premise is faulty.

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gamewell45 (01-15-2013),Polly Kong (01-14-2013)

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## Sinestro/Green Arrow

> When did he promise that, RAT? (lol, sorry, that's just the initials of your screen name! Didn't notice until after I wrote it.) Obama had pledged to increase our troop presence in Afghanistan by like 20,000 back in 2008 when he was running for president. He actually tripled the size of our occupation force before starting to draw down troop levels.


You're right, I confused Iraq and Afghanistan. He didn't promise to end Afghanistan, just to add more troops and such.




> The explanation the president today uses for why we can afford to pull out make little sense. In 2009 he described our mission in Afghanistan as that of wiping out Al Qaeda and the Taliban. Today Al Qaeda and Taliban are at least as strong as they've ever been. (Okay Al Qaeda more worldwide than specifically in Afghanistan, but you get my point.) No, we're not pulling out because we've succeeded, but because we've failed to achieve our objectives and see no way of achieving them. After more than 11 years of fighting in that theater, I say it's high time to call it a war and bring the troops home.


I agree.

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## Irascible Crusader

> It's Vietnam. Bush, Obama, Romney, hell, even Ron Paul or Gary Johnson. Who the President is is entirely irrelevant to the war in Afghanistan. It was unwinnable from the start because the entire premise is faulty.


The problem is that the Leftist Branch Paulinians have never seriously proposed a different solution.  Clearly when we were attacked, a response was necessary. And just as clear, we can't be launching 12 year wars every time we're attacked.  But all you blokes have ever done is throw popcorn at the current policy, talking about how the Republicans AND Democrats are screwing it up.  What would you have done, Paulbots?

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## Guest

> The problem is that the Leftist Branch Paulinians have never seriously proposed a different solution.  Clearly when we were attacked, a response was necessary. And just as clear, we can't be launching 12 year wars every time we're attacked.  But all you blokes have ever done is throw popcorn at the current policy, talking about how the Republicans AND Democrats are screwing it up.  What would you have done, Paulbots?


I said that we should allow the military to go what it wanted to do when they first dropped our boys and the CIA in Afghanistan--take out OBL and AQ.  We stopped them...why?

Actually, I'm out of this thread because I know myself and I'll get ugly really quick.

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## Sinestro/Green Arrow

> The problem is that the Leftist Branch Paulinians have never seriously proposed a different solution.  Clearly when we were attacked, a response was necessary. And just as clear, we can't be launching 12 year wars every time we're attacked.  But all you blokes have ever done is throw popcorn at the current policy, talking about how the Republicans AND Democrats are screwing it up.  What would you have done, Paulbots?


It's been explained several times. We've offered many different solutions. Ron Paul suggested we go back to the actually constitutional response, letters of marque and reprisals. Others have suggested sending SF and the CIA after them. I agree with both.

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## Irascible Crusader

> It's been explained several times. We've offered many different solutions. Ron Paul suggested we go back to the actually constitutional response, letters of marque and reprisals. Others have suggested sending SF and the CIA after them. I agree with both.


So there has been no uniform plan from the Libertarians, then.  BTW, there's nothing unconstitutional about going to war with Afghanistan or even Iraq.  If Ron Paul was suggesting anything short of opening up a can of whoopass on the Taliban, he's an idiot that deserves to be rejected in his bid for president.

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## Sinestro/Green Arrow

> So there has been no uniform plan from the Libertarians, then.


I just gave you two.




> BTW, there's nothing unconstitutional about going to war with Afghanistan or even Iraq


Never said otherwise. I just said one of Ron Paul's solutions is also 100% constitutional.




> If Ron Paul was suggesting anything short of opening up a can of whoopass on the Taliban, he's an idiot that deserves to be rejected in his bid for president.


Under both libertarian proposals, OBL and AQ would be dead.

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## Irascible Crusader

> I just gave you two.
> 
> 
> Never said otherwise. I just said one of Ron Paul's solutions is also 100% constitutional.
> 
> 
> Under both libertarian proposals, OBL and AQ would be dead.


Well I'm not going to contend with you on this, because what we actually did was just stupid ratcheted up fortissimo.

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## Sinestro/Green Arrow

> Well I'm not going to contend with you on this, because what we actually did was just stupid ratcheted up fortissimo.


We agree.

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## patrickt

President Obama really does admire the French and want to emulate them. I just wish he'd limit his efforts to eating snails.

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## Sinestro/Green Arrow

> President Obama really does admire the French and want to emulate them. I just wish he'd limit his efforts to eating snails.


You say that now, but you'll be the one eating shit when Hollande leads Europe into a second Renaissance while Obama and his cronies in the DNC and GOP destroy our own country.

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## Irascible Crusader

> You say that now, but you'll be the one eating shit when Hollande leads Europe into a second Renaissance while Obama and his cronies in the DNC and GOP destroy our own country.


Uh huh.  You have quite an active fantasy life, don't you?

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## Roadmaster

He needs too because he has already said he would send drones to Mali where the French are bombing now.

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Irascible Crusader (01-15-2013)

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## Albert Reincarnated

Obama surged troops to Afghanistan after his West Point speech in December of 2009.  Now he's withdrawing them.  Most Americans who died in Afghanistan did so while Obama has been president.

What was accomplished?

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