President Obama Orders 34,000 More Troops to Afghanistan

MoonHowler

President Obama has ordered approximately  34,000 more troops to Afghanistan.   In September General McCrystal requested 40,000 more in order to get the job done.  President Obama will surely have difficulty with his liberal base over sending more troops. 

The New York Times states:

Mr. Obama conveyed his decision to military leaders late Sunday afternoon during a meeting in the Oval Office and then spent Monday phoning foreign counterparts, including the leaders of Britain, France and Russia.

Robert Gibbs, the White House press secretary, declined to say how many additional troops would be deployed, but senior administration officials previously have said that about 30,000 will go in coming months, bringing the total American force to about 100,000.

 

President Obama will ask NATO nations to help fill in the additional 6,000 needed troops. While he has suffered criticism from the left, the President has also been criticized from the right for deliberating for what some see \as too long. He was accused of ‘dithering’ by some Republicans.  President Obama will address the nation tonight from the United States Military Academy at West Point at 8:00 PM.

What should happen here? Should a time line be announced? Should Obama have sent troops immediately without the many meetings with his military advisors?  Does it endanger the existing troops in Afghanistan if there are not enough boots on the ground?  Should generals always get what they ask for?  How many troops are still in Iraq?

Washington Post

White House Contradicts CBS News on Troops

MoonHowler

From CBS News:


Watch CBS News Videos Online

Tonight the following was released from the White House:

Editor’s note, 9:57 p.m. EDT: The White House has issued the following response to this story, attributed to White House National Security Advisor James Jones:

“Reports that President Obama has made a decision about Afghanistan are absolutely false. He has not received final options for his consideration, he has not reviewed those options with his national security team, and he has not made any decisions about resources. Any reports to the contrary are completely untrue and come from uninformed sources.”

And back to CBS News:

Tonight, after months of conferences with top advisors, President Obama has settled on a new strategy for Afghanistan. CBS News correspondent David Martin reports that the president will send a lot more troops and plans to keep a large force there, long term.

The president still has more meetings scheduled on Afghanistan, but informed sources tell CBS News he intends to give Gen. Stanley McChrystal most, if not all, the additional troops he is asking for.

 

It sounds like someone stumbled out of the gate, we just aren’t sure who.

Should President Obama send additional troops into Afghanistan?

DOJ Recommends Reopening Prisoner Abuse Cases

MoonHowler

The Department of Justice’s Ethics Office has recommended reopening some prisoner abuse cases. This recommendation has the potential of exposing CIA employees and contractors for prosecution. These people could be charged with brutal treatment of terror suspects.

Volumes of details from a previously unreleased 2004 report are expected to be released today by the CIA Inspector General. There has been a change in direction on this anticipated report which supposedly includes reports of deaths of some held in custody. Attorney General Eric Holder has grown increasingly disgusted with information as it has unfolded regarding treatment of detainees.

According to the New York Times today:

With the release of the details on Monday and the formal advice that at least some cases be reopened, it now seems all but certain that the appointment of a prosecutor or other concrete steps will follow, posing significant new problems for the C.I.A. It is politically awkward, too, for Mr. Holder because President Obama has said that he would rather move forward than get bogged down in the issue at the expense of his own agenda.

The advice from the Office of Professional Responsibility strengthens Mr. Holder’s hand.

The recommendation to review the closed cases, in effect renewing the inquiries, centers mainly on allegations of detainee abuse in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Justice Department report is to be made public after classified information is deleted from it.

The cases represent about half of those that were initially investigated and referred to the Justice Department by the C.I.A.’s inspector general, but were later closed. It is not known which cases might be reopened.

The implications of this article are mammoth. In all probability, a special prosecutor will be appointed. There has never been a public explanation why information from this report was never pursued. The report itself has been the topic of much debate across both the Bush administration and the Obama administration.

This political hot potato has the potential to redirect all Washington talk for a while. Have civilians been prosecuted for war time misdeeds? Have previous adminstration been held accountable like this in the past? Will Democrats and Republicans grow even more angry at each other as Eric Holder attempts to navigate this field of land mines?

 

Additional reading:  Washington Post

Middle Eastern Powder Keg: Israel and Hamas

MoonHowler

There is probably no bigger immigration issue than the one involving Israel and Palestine. Currently both of these sides are engaged in open warfare. I have said ‘sides’ because there is no state of Palestine. Obviously, there is a state of Israel, formed May 14, 1948. Much of the deep seated bone of contention is that Israel was formed on former Palestinian lands.
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