70% of U.S. Military Fatalities in 11-Year Afghan War Have Occurred on Obama's Watch

[brenthutch 444]

What ever happened to code pink?

http://cnsnews.com/news/article/70-us-military-fatalities-11-year-afghan-war-have-occurred-obamas-watch

[DanG 1]

You used to be a soldier. Do you expect casualty rates to go up or down when you start actively prosecuting a war? Why don't you post a statistic about the percentage of enemy casualties that occured on Obama's watch?

- Dan G

[brenthutch 444]

"Actively prosecuting a war" is one way of looking at it, another way, is that we are getting killed by the very folks we are trying to help while achieving nothing other than the squandering of blood and treasure.

""While the threat of 'green-on-blue' attacks has been constant, the growing frequency of these attacks is alarming,"

"Some 35 such attacks have occurred so far this year -- more than any previous year -- and the numbers appear to be spiking: In the past two weeks, 10 Americans have been killed by "friendly" Afghan security forces."


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/20/afghanistan-green-on-blue-attacks_n_1813676.html

[kallend 2,106]

Yep, Afghanistan, another of Bush's legacies that Obama has had to deal with.

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[DanG 1]

What does that have to do with Obama?

If you really must make this a Bush/Obama thing (and apparently you must) I can tell you that suicide attacks in Afghanistan didn't really happen until after the Iraq war was well established. Suicide was not part of the Afghan fighter's tactics until it became widely practiced in Iraq. If you want to make this about Bush/Obama, I could claim that the invasion of Iraq led to the adoption of suicide bombings in Afghanistan, which have proved to be the most effective tactic they have.

- Dan G

[brenthutch 444]

And just what grade would you give him on dealing with that? Bush and dare I say Biden got it right. Anti-terrorist not anti-insurgent. Obama took the lessons of Bush's successful surge strategy and misapplied them to Afghanistan. An obvious mistake that anyone who ever watch the Princess Bride movie would have known.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfWDilXZQEo

[brenthutch 444]

Actually suicide bombings were introduced into the region/religion, during the Iran Iraq war.

[DanG 1]

Quote

Actually suicide bombings were introduced into the region/religion, during the Iran Iraq war.

Afghan culture, especially Pashtun culture, is quite different from Iraqi/Persian culture. Did the Afghans use suicide bombings against the Russian? Did they use them against each other in the 90s? They did not. Suicide tactics were imported by foreign fighters.

- Dan G

[brenthutch 444]

Quote

Quote

Actually suicide bombings were introduced into the region/religion, during the Iran Iraq war.

"Afghan culture, especially Pashtun culture, is quite different from Iraqi/Persian culture."

Oh yeh, the Pashtuns would not know anything about blood feuds, and BTW, most green on blue incidents are not suicide attacks.

• Quote

[DanG 1]

Ok, Capt. Conflating-Different-Points, let me lay it out for you:

Point 1:
Obama has nothing to do with green on blue attacks.

Point 2:
Suicide tactics became prevalent in the Afghan war because of the Iraq war.

Point 3 (for those who have trouble making their own conclusions): The Afghan war has dragged out for so long because we got distracted in Iraq. Furthermore, the Iraq war made the Afghan conflict worse, in part by bringing suicide tactics into play.

- Dan G

[brenthutch 444]

Quote

Ok, Capt. Conflating-Different-Points, let me lay it out for you:

Point 1:
Obama has nothing to do with green on blue attacks.

Point 2:
Suicide tactics became prevalent in the Afghan war because of the Iraq war.

Point 3 (for those who have trouble making their own conclusions): The Afghan war has dragged out for so long because we got distracted in Iraq. Furthermore, the Iraq war made the Afghan conflict worse, in part by bringing suicide tactics into play.

"Massoud was assassinated in Afghanistan's Takhar Province by two Arab suicide bombers, allegedly belonging to Al-Qaeda, on September 9, 2001, two days before the attacks of September 11 that caused the US and NATO to invade Afghanistan"

Your welcome.

[DanG 1]

Quote

"Massoud was assassinated in Afghanistan's Takhar Province by two Arab suicide bombers, allegedly belonging to Al-Qaeda, on September 9, 2001, two days before the attacks of September 11 that caused the US and NATO to invade Afghanistan"

Your welcome.

Nice try. It would behove you to learn a little about the region before acting like an expert. Massoud was not assassinated by Afghans. From the same Wiki page you took your quote:

"The attackers claimed to be Belgians originally from Morocco. However, their passports turned out to be stolen and their nationality was later determined to be Tunisian."

And, what about my welcome?

- Dan G

[jclalor 12]

***

Quote

What ever happened to code pink?

http://cnsnews.com/news/article/70-us-military-fatalities-11-year-afghan-war-have-occurred-obamas-watch

Please jog my memory on Romney's stated policy on Afghanistan if elected president, Obama has a stated exit date of 2014. What a class act Romney was in not even mentioning Afghanistan or the troops in his acceptance speech, what coward.

[brenthutch 444]

So foreign fighters were in Afghanistan and using suicide tactics before we invaded Iraq?

[brenthutch 444]

Quote

"Ok, Capt. Conflating-Different-Points, let me lay it out for you:

Point 1:
Obama has nothing to do with green on blue attacks."

Obama is the commander in chief of the armed forces, who are implementing HIS anti-insurgent strategy, HIS surge strategy, HIS stated policy; TO TRAIN AFGANS who then turn their weapons onto US service members. Yep, Obama has nothing to do with it.

• Quote

[DanG 1]

Quote

So foreign fighters were in Afghanistan and using suicide tactics before we invaded Iraq?

Well, two of them were. Now the Afghans are doing it themselves, as a normal combat tactic, not a high value target assassination technique.

Either way, my point about suicide tactics in Afghanistan spoke to the larger point that the Afghan war is fucked up in large part because of Iraq. The biggest reason was Bush ignoring the Afghan conflict because of Iraq. The spread of suicide tactics was another offshoot of the war in Iraq.

- Dan G

[DanG 1]

Quote

Obama is the commander in chief of the armed forces, who are implementing HIS anti-insurgent strategy, HIS surge strategy, HIS stated policy; TO TRAIN AFGANS who then turn their weapons onto US service members. Yep, Obama has nothing to do with it.

The effort to train Afghans to police Afghanistan long predates Obama's presidency.

- Dan G

[brenthutch 444]

Quote

Quote

Obama is the commander in chief of the armed forces, who are implementing HIS anti-insurgent strategy, HIS surge strategy, HIS stated policy; TO TRAIN AFGANS who then turn their weapons onto US service members. Yep, Obama has nothing to do with it.

The effort to train Afghans to police Afghanistan long predates Obama's presidency.

So because it predates his presidency he has no say, control, or influence, over that policy?
It seems that Obama’s foreign policy is a lot like his domestic policy. “Not my fault”

[DanG 1]

Just because it leads to green on blue attacks doesn't mean it is a bad policy. Do you have suggestions on how to better approach the problem?

- Dan G

[brenthutch 444]

Shithole place, people, culture . Bring our boys back and to the hell with them.

[flyboy8501 0]

As a soldier currently in Afghanistan, I have to say that we are constantly warned about shooting back that it makes us think twice before discharging a round down range. In some cases this is good, Adding to that, in the event that we do kill somebody, there is a certain amount of paperwork that goes into it and we get questioned to a point that we go crazy. Does Obama have anything to do with the amount of deaths? I don't believe so. But the new ROE has been implemented since his adminstration has taken office...

[brenthutch 444]

Props to you bro, and thank you for your service, However the ROE are set from above. I KNOW it sucks.

[jgoose71 0]

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Shithole place, people, culture . Bring our boys back and to the hell with them.

Agree and disagree.....

Yes, get our troops out of Afghanistan. We got Bin Laden. While the people are wonderful and the culture is rich (I spent several months going form village to village along the Afghan/ Pakistan border) the truth of the matter is we can't help them any more. The government is to corrupt to protect the people. Until the government fixes itself we are pissing into the wind. Afghani's are some of the greatest people I have ever met and there are things about the country that I will never forget. However, there is nothing more that we can to there.

No, the people and the culture are not bad. The Taliban influence though has done some real damage to the country. Their Government can't protect them because they are to corrupt. So they are stuck walking the tight rope of "who should I side with" just to keep from getting their own throats cut. I couldn't think if a worse situation to be in.

That said, if there is a war to fight now, it's in Pakistan. That is where the Taliban leadership is, and if Afghanistan is to have a fighting chance, the Taliban has to go away.

To bad Pakistan doesn't want to work with us.....

"There is an art, it says, or, rather, a knack to flying. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss."
Life, the Universe, and Everything

[flyboy8501 0]

Have you ever been to the middle east? I doubt it cause if you have, you would know that the amount of good people far outweigh the bad ones. Most of our intel comes from the locals that only want the best for their country and the world. Yea the place sucks, but we are here and there is nothing we can do about that so we might as well help them out so we don't make any more enemies.

[CanuckInUSA 0]

I am not in favor of Obama earning a 2nd go at POTUS, but it is wrong to place blame like this on the man. Afghanistan is one of the most messed up countries you will ever see and it does not matter if Bush, Obama or Romney is Prez, Afghanistan will continue to be one of the most messed up countries. Blaming Obama is just more partisan BS. Blame Obama for his poor anti business protectionist handling of the US economy ... absolutely yes yes yes. But do not blame Obama for Afghanistan being the lost cause cesspool of the world.

Try not to worry about the things you have no control over