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bethpa

Listed below are comments made by bethpa between Thursday, 15th October 2009 and Monday, 2nd November 2009.

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Another fine mess 04:06am on 02 Nov 2009 The future for Afghanistan is civil war and destabilization of the area.

There will be a power vacuum which will nurture the taliban and other extreme groups.

This has the potential to spill over into Pakistan and they have nuclear weapons.

The mess in Afghanistan happened for at least two reasons.
1 Afghanistan was ignored when the Bush administration focused on Iraq
2. Conventional war time strategy was used to kill opponents (This is not a conventional war)

The US must engage the Afghani people. The Karzai government is corrupt.

Where are the US schools teaching the languages of Afghanistan and Pakistan?

What has been done to reach out to the people of these nations?
What do Americans know of the conflict and about the region?
Where are the news programs explaining our options and what has been happening?

There can be no national discussion because the American people are ignorant.
Another fine mess 03:26am on 02 Nov 2009

"The conflict will be won by persuading the population, not by destroying the enemy."

"A military force, culturally programmed to respond conventionally (and predictably) to insurgent attacks, is akin to the bull that repeatedly charges a matador's cape – only to tire and eventually be defeated by a much weaker opponent. This is predictable, the bull does what comes naturally. While a conventional approach is instinctive, that behavior is self-defeating."

both quotes from the top US commander in Afghanistan,
General Stanley McChrystal

The bull is the US!!!!

This is NOT! a conventional war.

The US had close to 500,000 troops in Viet Nam and could not win there.

What strategies are planned to win over the people of Afghanistan?
Another fine mess 03:14am on 02 Nov 2009 What is the NIE view of what is going on in Afghanistan?

In 2008 the draft report from the NIE was warning of what we are seeing now..with corruption in Karzai's government and militants in Pakistan.

Who is running this thing? the Pentagon? They are the wrong people for this kind of action.

Obama has to limit the military and give the strategy over to people involved in intelligence...
Another fine mess 02:38am on 02 Nov 2009 War by itself will not change Afghanistan.

I'd like to know what the US troops are supposed to be doing that will change Afghanistan. Are they building hospitals and thinking that will change the way the people think?

Each time a child is killed that sets everything back. No one will support a military that kills relatives, neighbors and friends. Every death hardens the opposition.

This is not a traditional war and traditional fighting will lose the war.
From Wall Street to Main Street to Skid Row 00:57am on 16 Oct 2009 Not only is it corporate welfare I think an argument could be made for treason by some of these corporations. If it ever could be proved that the war in Iraq was waged so that corporations could get cheap oil then that would be using the military not to secure American interests but to protect the interests of corporations...

And these people are so rotten they are stopping Americans from getting health insurance.

Well I lump them all together..and when I see their corporate ads on tv I feel angry. I wonder how many other Americans are like me now...
From Wall Street to Main Street to Skid Row 00:49am on 16 Oct 2009 If the dollar goes down 15% relative to world currencies but a stock priced in dollars goes up 10%...have you really made any money? only if you buy something made in America...

As the dollar goes down perhaps exports will do better but also the cost of things from China will go up. And will a lower dollar translate into more jobs..now that the US has such a weak manufacturing base...

I never feel like I am finding out in an honest way how the economy is doing...except on Bloomburg.

There seems to be some push back now to some of the Insurance corporations by politicans.

Maybe some banks should go under... but these guys are corrupt imo.

Its class warfare and the corporate leaders are winning.
Obama's Afghan troop conundrum 10:44pm on 15 Oct 2009 Those who live by the sword, die by the sword
Book of Matthew, verse 26:52

"a metaphorical expression meaning that living one's life in a certain way will, in the end, affect one's destiny. "
Obama's Afghan troop conundrum 9:59pm on 15 Oct 2009 Magickirin

All laws are based upon social agendas.
Obama's Afghan troop conundrum 9:36pm on 15 Oct 2009 MagicKirin

Yes sometimes war is necessary and a military can stabilize an area...but if there is no program to continue the stabilization there will be more wars in that area.

If a military moves in and kills many people then moves out...what will it have gained ...but hatred?

In order to stop the killing there must be a changing of peoples' minds and how will a military do that by killing?

The military is trying to establish some relationships but how can they? They are soldiers and feared...
Obama's Afghan troop conundrum 9:30pm on 15 Oct 2009 89. MagicKirin wrote:
"I don't want someone who seems to have a social agenda affecting foriegn policy"

How do you define a social agenda? Can you give an example?

For Afghanistan I think we want girls in school and people learning how to read....
just the basics....good health care etc...

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