US details Afghanistan withdrawal plan

The US military has given further details of its planned troop reduction in Afghanistan.

US military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Laurent Fox says the total number will shrink by around 2,500 from the current 19,000 under a routine troop rotation that is due very soon. However, he says the troops from the 10th Mountain Division will remain on stand-by, and will be redeployed if needed in the future.

The current 19,000-strong force - backed by up to 1,000 coalition troops, including Australians - is hunting remnants of the Taliban who are waging an insurgency against Afghan and foreign troops. More than 1,500 people have been killed this year, many of them militants.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200512/s1538166.htm

This is NOT 'Mission Accomplished', assholes .....

selected for us. Thank you SCOTUS.

I know I'm in the minority, but I don't believe in coincidences. Particularly when they line up like troopers and stare you in the face. There were far too many coincidences that led to the 9/11 attacks, all of which fall into the "Well, I'll be damned. How'd that happen?" category. All it takes is a look at who profited politically from 9/11. And who doesn't believe that a president has only the powers given him by the constitution. Sig Hiel, George.

Bush profited politically from 9/11, and he exploited the event for all it's worth. And he and his administration (namely Rice and Cheney) completely ignored the issue of potential Islamic terror attacks on the U.S -- they were more interested in pushing a missile defense shield to benefit their cronies to the tune of billions of our dollars. And Bush made our nation look like a nation whose leader was completely out to lunch when he took his televised 30-day vacation/hammock nap. But that's as deep as it goes. No need for X-Files conspiracy theories.

Having said that, I will say that nature abhors coincidences, and there are far too many of these involved in the run up to 9/11 for anyone to be comfortable with. Take, for example, the fact that Bush Sr. supported and supplied Bin Laden in his fight against the Russians. In fact if I'm not mistaken, Bush Sr. was in charge of the CIA when Bin Laden formed his Mujahadin. Is there any doubt that they would have been on first name basis?

The fact that his son was president when the same Bin Laden attacked the WTC should give anyone pause. Particularly when many of the plotters were known to security agents, but were let into the country anyhow, and on special visas. Another coincidence?

And the fact that the attack was held on the same day as a national security exercise regarding invading aircraft? Another coincidence?

I could go on and on, but facts won't convince the convinced.

Just remember two facts:

1. Conspiracies have been historically a recognized way of changing governments.

2. Our nation was started by a conspiracy. And IMHO, ended in a conspiracy.

minority. Many believe that this was an inside job. Poppy, Dick and friends are making a bundle off the death of innocents, both here and abroad.

Now that the U.S. bases are out of Saudi and in Iraq all is well.

The 911 appointed commission was a spurious imitation...lead by Thomas Kean with strong junior and Saudi connections.


We got what we wanted. The Military Installations are now in Iraq.

The one way we could have made a difference was in rebuilding Afghanistan. No, we had to destroy Iraq and rebuild it. Afghanistan deserves more.

some time ago practically begging for more US involvement and assistance. I haven't kept up with what's going on there (so much going on), but I can almost guarantee we didn't give Karzai what he has needed. So now what? Further return of the taliban, war lords and opium poppy economy?

get screwed, just as they did in the '80's :mad:

Jenn

the poppy fields are back on line and Osama is safe in Pakistan.

Can't squeeze enough troops out of Iraq to impress.

Collecting all the troops from EVERYWHERE to ready for Iran.

Total unconcern about the future of Afghanistan(or better phrased, let the Brits and Canucks hold the bag).

What on earth sense does it make to pretend that progress in that mess justifies a withdrawal? Worse than Iraq it will hearten the growing Taliban influence and start reversing the real goals(the one Bush never had) of the war of terror.

One original plan if things went Powell's way, would have left us sliding out from under an international
coalition force in Iraq to move onto Iran or Syria. This confirms it I think.

the Taliban have taken control over 1/2 of the country, with drug-dealing war-lords controlling the rest. And Kabul? the only place in town for westerners.

Mission Accomplished!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/4526150.stm

So, what this BBC article suggests is that as the US pulls out our troops, a roughly equivalent number of NATO troops are going to be deployed in Afganistan. I'm happy to see NATO going in, but I sincerely hope that our own troop withdrawal doesn't mean we now plan to just abandon Afganistan.