Obama Facing Doubts Within His Own Party on Afghanistan

[laststeamtrain]

Source: NYT

September 11, 2009
Obama Facing Doubts Within His Own Party on Afghanistan
By ERIC SCHMITT and DAVID E. SANGER

WASHINGTON — The leading Senate Democrat on military matters said Thursday that he was against sending more American combat troops to Afghanistan until the United States speeded up the training and equipping of more Afghan security forces.

The comments by the senator, Carl Levin, a Michigan Democrat who is the chairman of the Armed Services Committee, illustrate the growing skepticism President Obama is facing in his own party as the White House decides whether to commit more deeply to a war that has begun losing public support, even as American commanders acknowledge that the situation on the ground has deteriorated.

Senator Levin’s comments, made in an interview and in the draft of a speech he will deliver Friday, are significant because his stature on military matters gives him the ability to sway fellow lawmakers, and his pivotal committee position provides a platform for vetting Mr. Obama’s major decisions on troops.

Underscoring the increasing unease, the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, said earlier on Thursday that the president would face opposition if he sought to fulfill an expected request from Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, the top commander in Afghanistan, for more American combat troops.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/11/world/asia/11military.html

[bowens43]

1. well I have no doubts....

I'm absolutely certain we need to get the hell out of Afghanistan right now.

[slay]

5. I have no doubts either

I have no doubt that KBR and private contractors as well as the war-mongers at the pentagon are getting rich off death over there. We do indeed need to get the fuck out now! Did we learn NOTHING from Iraq? :shrug:

[Solly Mack]

2. k/r

[Mari333]

3. anti war people are fired up

expect protests, Obama. Stop this shit now.

[Blandocyte]

4. Let the oil guys hire a private army

to fight their g.d. war for oil! I don't want my tax dollars funding their oil grab. Too many patriotic men and women have lost their lives over this.

I'm crying big tears for Exxon and BP because they don't like the Taliban's terms for oil contracts! The Talibs are doing exactly what the Western oil greedheads would do-- try to maximize profit. Sucks to have to play by the rules you made up when you held all the cards, eh, billionaires?

It'll be interesting to see if the oil greedheads crank the price of gas up again to get more support for the war. All it takes is a few weeks of $4 a gallon gas to get people saying, "Kick their ass, take their gas."

[earcandle]

6. Lose the wars. Start the Single Payer, save cash!

[Vidar]

7. I'm proud of Levin.

[izquierdista]

8. Doubts?

If he keeps this shit up, he's going to have an outright raucous revolt in his party. I sure hope he doesn't turn into an LBJ minus the Medicare accomplishment.