Charlie Rose

cacatua  08/02/2012 03:59 PM Report

I seem to recall that Joe Biden advised against getting mired down with a large commitment in Afghanistan. Too bad Obama didn't take his advice.

robdverity  09/23/2009 12:20 AM Report

Stanley McChrystal and his naive short-sighted assessment is the least of our long term misfortunes. Our democracy has been subverted from within, Taliban and Pashtun notwithstanding. The Wall Street Journal, NYT and the rest of the fourth estate persistently assist in its demise.

The various oligarchy plutocrats have wrenched any real semblance of democracy from our system. All from runaway, unregulated, uncontrollable egregious greed. The financial oligarch and Federal Reserve have virtually destroyed our fiscal and monetary policy, the MI oligarch have lobbied and cajoled so many preemptive wars (since Vietnam), and maintained US bases worldwide from Germany to Okinawa that we are in a perpetual and costly war footing, the Health Insurance oligarchs have pillaged the system and its subscribers into ill-health, Big Pharma oligarch producing negotiation-free mal-medicine (a la Pfizer, Bayer), the Agra oligarch mega-farming monopolies producing subsidized crops (corn syrup and diabetes) yadda, yadda.

The starkest example of democracy sold (for pieces of eight) is Obama co-opting the Af-Pak war as his own. He had no choice and he knew it. Big money a la Citibank (Bobby Rubin and Larry Summers et al) already had him in their pocket (thus no real financial reform), and MI oligarchy lobbyist led by Raytheon let him know where his future lie.

The putrefying venality and corruption is so rancid and rampant IN ALL facets of our politics and politicians (think Sen Dodd - merely latest) that our time is going the way of the Roman Empire. Greed and ambition doubtless its nemesis as well.

Health care is so far down on the list of our REAL problems it mocks our sense of reality, our values, our destiny. Spiraling deficits were not decried when used for accumulating wars and war machinery. Health care before saving democracy, will scuttle both. It’s fatuous! Unbridled corporate power (lobbying) rules. Egregious greed and venal prostitutes an unstoppable juggernaut.

Lastly, Stanley disingenuously leaves himself an out even WITH the additional troops. Exactly the kind of fecklessness you want to die for? I don’t think so!

REMant  09/22/2009 06:51 PM Report

There is no difference I can see between the perception of the Taliban and the Viet Cong. The latter was not perceived particularly idealistically by the populace. And the Taliban is not monolithic either. The parallel with the Soviets is probably not adequate, because we are far more technologically advanced, and we were supplying ground-to-air missiles to the mujahedin, which I have yet to hear anything about this time around. Secy Clinton seems to be as much of the same mind as she was about Iraq, and there probably is no reason to consult her about it. I would suggest to her, however, that she spend a month or so in a combat unit there and see if she still thinks it's such a great idea. John Kerry, on the other hand, favors a reappraisal and I would hope the president would respect his judgment. Last, there is a mis-perception about Vietnam strategy and the strategies being weighed here. We began the war there with a strategy of building up and advising the Vietnamese armed forces, and setting up assistance in regional centers. It was because in 1965 this did not work that LBJ sent in the 1st Cavalry Div (Airmobile) to counter North Vietnamese infiltration and supplies. This moved the locus of fighting to the jungle for the most part and turned the tide by 1970. While we did continue efforts to destroy established NVA and Viet Cong field units and root out their supporters in populated areas, this was not the reason for that success, and indeed was probably harmful to it, just as the General is saying about Afghanistan. Interdiction, taking place in remote areas, including incursions into staging areas in Pakistan, will probably be required to win militarily in Afghanistan as well, and it may even be sufficient. In Vietnam, a decision to withdraw taken shortly after the Tet attacks in 1968 allowed the NVA to resume its campaign. However, we are probably not going to want to stay in Afghanistan until it becomes the first Central Asian "tiger." So altho the scale of this conflict is much smaller, sensible people, esp those who know the Vietnam experience first hand, urge caution, esp as we do not have the money to throw away as we did 40 yrs ago.

charlizecourriers  09/22/2009 03:17 PM Report

Looks like the "Death Panels" will get to Kabul first!