Countdown Afghanistan: Obama discusses withdrawal & exit strategy

Categorized | Afghan, Current Affairs, Pak CA, US CA

Countdown Afghanistan: Obama discusses withdrawal & exit strategy

Posted on 28 February 2009. Tags: Barack Obama, US policy in Afghanistan

For the first time ever the US president has talked about an “exit Strategy” from Pakistan and withdrawal from the country. On all previous occasions, the current and previous administrations and even the closest advisors in the White House had promised a long term presence in Afghanistan. Henry Kissinger has repeated this many time. Bruce Reidel in his book said it repeatedly that the US was planning to stay in Pakistan for the longest time.

”One of the things that I think we have to communicate in Afghanistan is that we have no interest or aspiration to be there over the long term,” Obama said in an interview with PBS public television.

“There’s a long history, as you know, in Afghanistan of rebuffing what is seen as an occupying force and we have to be mindful of that history as we think about our strategy,” President Barack Obama as reported by AFP

However in the face of the gravest economic strategy that the US has ever faced the advisers as well as the thinktankers are now seriously talking about withdrawal from Afghanistan. Conservative hawk Ralph Peters in a recent article in the USA today also voted for withdrawal. Newsweek magazine discussed it in its seminal issue titled “Obama’s Vietnam”. It this issue the ultimate solution to the quagmire of Afghanistan was withdrawal and letting Pakistan deal with the aftermath. The Pakistani politicians Imran Khan fortuitously predicted that the US will leave Afghanistan in a year. However he had dire warnings for Pakistan when he said “the Americans will leave, and we will have to deal with the mess”.

“My goal is to get US troops home as quickly as possible without leaving a situation that allows for potential terrorist attacks against the United States,” President Barack Obama

It is in the envelope of predictability that we can surmise that the Afghan review conducted by various US agencies are now also recommending retreat from Kabul and the country. It is now increasingly evident that the economic crisis has had a tremendous effect on Washington to elicit a response that we now see emanating from Washington. For Mr. Obama to make a U-Turn from his campaign rhetoric one has to understand the complex linkages in around the world. US AfPak policy review results mimic Chinese demands given to Hillary.

WASHINGTON: The United States has no desire for a “long-term” military presence in Afghanistan despite plans to send more troops to the war-torn country, President Barack Obama said Friday.

“One of the things that I think we have to communicate in Afghanistan is that we have no interest or aspiration to be there over the long term,” Obama said in an interview with PBS public television.

“There’s a long history, as you know, in Afghanistan of rebuffing what is seen as an occupying force and we have to be mindful of that history as we think about our strategy,” he said.

Obama, who earlier Friday announced an end to US combat operations in Iraq within 18 months, has vowed a new focus on fighting Taliban and Al-Qaeda extremists in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The new president has ordered another 17,000 US troops to Afghanistan and is conducting a review of policy in the region.

Obama, who opposed his predecessor George W. Bush’s invasion of Iraq, defended the US involvement in Afghanistan, where Al-Qaeda extremists who carried out the September 11, 2001 attacks were holed up. U.S. President says no ‘long-term’ Afghan presence Updated at: 0700 PST, Saturday, February 28, 2009

The descredited Neocons are still trying to build a case for further conquest. Will they be successful only time will tell. We are not ready to write them off as a spent force. They have the ability and the wherewithal to regroup, lick their wounds and charge ahead in a different direction. Getting out of “Valhalla” or New goals for war in Afpak? Can Obama’s Neocon advisors sell old wine in new bottle?

“When you aren’t winning in this kind of war, you are losing. And, in Afghanistan today, we are not winning,” Senator John McCain.

As we said before the financial compass is having trouble facing New York. While many are still stuck in the old paradigm which thnks of Citbank as America’s biggest bank, the the fact remains that even Citibank has huge Arab benefactors. The reality is much starker for the US financial system. It is a well known fact for more than a decade, that China is the America’s real banker. Not only does it hold the purse strings and the Dollars, it also is an essential player in the global kingdom of finance. Revising Finance 101 for the Chinese Century: Political impact of Center of gravity shift from New York to Beijing

Obama said he believed the US commitment to Afghanistan, one of the world’s poorest nations, should involve more than military force.

“Our bottom goal in the region is to keep the American people safe,” Obama said.

But he declined to set a timeline on when US troops would exit Afghanistan.

“Until we have a clear strategy, we’re not going to have a clear exit strategy,” he said.

“My goal is to get US troops home as quickly as possible without leaving a situation that allows for potential terrorist attacks against the United States,” Obama said.

Some left-wing critics have questioned the extra deployment to Afghanistan, fearing that the United States would get bogged down in an escalating conflict similar to Vietnam.

The Obama administration this week convened a three-way meeting with the Afghan and Pakistani foreign ministers as part of a review on how to move forward in the “war on terror.” U.S. President says no ‘long-term’ Afghan presence Updated at: 0700 PST, Saturday, February 28, 2009

As we have written earlier, the Obama camp and all of America is divided into two camps, the “Surgers” vs the “Exiters”. Obama’s “Surgers” vs “Exiters” in Afghanistan: A planned Exit strategy now or scrambled hasty retreat later. The Surgers are not losing because of any altruistic reasons. They “Surgers” seem to be losing the battle to keep the war going because the US has run out of steam and because it does not have the money to continue the war. The “Exiters” are not winning the battle to end the war because they are right. They may be winning this war because of a complex stack of problems, issues and impediments faced by them. One of the major factors in this battle is Beijing. China reads the riot act: Strict conditions for bailing out US and buying US T-Bills.

The “Exiters” may not win this “battle” to end the war for years to come. After the US announced its withdrawal to leave Vietnam, it took them years to actually do so. India’s worst nightmares come true: Long term strategic malaise in a changing world

India feels the pain: The US begs Beijing for money. Facing the new realities, the US now has picked new allies. Just after the first Afghan war, former enemies (russia) became friends and former friends (Pakistan) became temporary competitors or enemies (China). Now as the 2nd Afghan war is ending, the relationship with India seems to be ending even before the first Indo-US deal had been consummated. Why the US gave up India as a Strategic partner?

So how long will the US take to leave Afghanistan. We predict that it will take about 3-5 years. In the meantime, the preparation of “victory” is Kabul are going on. Mr. Karzai has been told to talk to the “moderate Taliban”. Pakistan is being helped with some peanuts disguised as aid. Mr. Obama is talking about the “non-military” solution and the Europeans are being asked to help the region, if not with soldiers then with Euros. All this is what the Chinese want and desire. US AfPak policy review results mimic Chinese demads given to Hillary

US AfPak policy review results mimic Chinese demads given to Hillary Force is all-conquering, but its victories are short-lived. ~Abraham Lincoln In 1821 Solutions to “Obama’s Vietnam” Kabul: The Final Spring Offensive? End of NATO? Afghanistan: The writing is on the wall. Can Obama read it?UK Brig. Smith: “We’re not going to win this [Afghan] war”
Failure and Defeat in Afghanistan: Inevitable Frustration & misdirected Payback for ally Pakistan US Charge of the Light Brigade into Pakistan is a US failure and has to stop