Remember Vietnamization? Good times!
President Obama is set to announce that the U.S. will leave 9,800 troops in Afghanistan after 2014 if the Afghan government signs a bilateral security agreement allowing their presence, a senior administration official said Tuesday. The announcement is scheduled for 2:45 p.m.
The president reiterated his pledge to bring the nearly 13-year war to a close by the end of 2014 this week during a surprise Memorial Day Weekend visit to Afghanistan on Sunday and his remarks at Arlington National Cemetery commemorating the holiday on Monday. But the future of U.S. troop presence has been uncertain for months as Afghan President Hamid Karzai has refused to sign a security agreement allowing U.S. troops to stay after the combat mission is concluded at the end of this year.
The candidates running to replace Karzai have indicated they will sign an agreement, but the uncertainty has delayed the U.S. military’s ability to plan for the future.
The senior administration official said the number of troops would be reduced by half by the end of 2015 and moved to a normal embassy presence with a security assistance office in Kabul, as is the case in Iraq, by the end of 2016.
The president has identified two missions in the country after 2014: training Afghan forces and supporting counter terror operations against the remnants of al Qaeda.
The WH “accidentally” made public the name of the CIA station chief in Afghanistan. Now we know how the war between the military and the CIA ends. The CIA looses. As you know the CIA said that if Obama pulled out of Afghanistan entirely it (CIA) would no longer operate in the field. That led the military to say that if the CIA pulled back then it (army) could no longer fight. So Obama got rid of the guy in charge of the CIA in Afghanistan. Which allows him to fight on for at least another 2 years. If Clinton becomes the president in 2016 she will ramp up the troop level in Afghanistan dramatically to try and win the war. That’s what the Israelis want us to do. They also want us to go to war in Syria. Which Clinton has always wanted. Warmonger for warmonger Clinton beats Obama hands down.
By the way Obama where is that 6300 page Senate report detailing the crimes of the CIA? We’re now well into the second month of it being in your possession. Why are you keeping so many secrets from us?
Isn’t this the opposite of “Vietnamization”? It’s a draw down, with less than 10k by the end of the year, half of that in 2015, and all out by the end of 2016. And that schedule is assuming that the Afghan government signs a SOF Agreement. If they refuse, then the U.S. troops will leave even faster (everyone would have to be out by the end of the year).
“vietnamization” was a thing, once; a really really ugly thing. Damn you all for making me remember.
It stopped being a thing no later than 1972 … that’s [ hmm, counts fingers twice, toes once ] uh, 42 years ago. Not that there’s anything special about the number “42”
Y’all are as ancient as I am.
“hearts and minds” came after folk rock but before vietnamization.
And the Fish Cheer. And the “Feel Like I’m Fixin’ to Die Rag”
That and daily bodycounts, and Simon and Garfunkle’s “Silent Night”. Alice’s Restaurant came later.
And Doonesbury had DB in Nam, with Phred. And the works of Cole Porter.
Nope. It’s making the removal of U.S. troops contingent on the training of Afghan troops to replace them. That’s what Vietnamization is — and it doesn’t really work. We finally left when the North Vietnamese chased us out after taking Saigon.
Nope. It’s making the removal of U.S. troops contingent on the training of Afghan troops to replace them. That’s what Vietnamization is — and it doesn’t really work. We finally left when the North Vietnamese chased us out after taking Saigon.
Trying to turn any country into an American look-alike will never work. We will finally leave Afghanistan for good when the Taliban makes it too painful for us to stay. That day is coming soon. Despite what Obama has planned. By leaving 10 thousand troops in Afghanistan beyond his promised end date speaks for itself. So does a still opened Gitmo. The lack of a single-payer health care system. The massive accumulation of wealth by the 1%. The most expansive system for spying on Americans in history. And so many more insults he has heaped on the 99%.
It’s making the removal of U.S. troops contingent on the training of Afghan troops to replace them.
But there isn’t any mention of that contingency in the President’s statement.
For the past 12 years the “mission” in Afghanistan has been training the new national Afghan army. The fact that they reiterated what they have been saying for more than a decade while announcing a draw down of U.S. forces does not mean that it is not really a draw down. What I see is a policy committed to getting out but reiterating the training language to avoid the charge that we are just abandoning the Afghan government.