U.S. troops work to quickly train Afghan forces ahead of election.

[SIMPLYB1980]

http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=63112

"KABUL - From his vantage point behind the firing line, Staff Sgt. Joshua Winchester watched the awkward men in their fresh, new uniforms let loose a fusillade of bullets from their AK-47s that, more times than not, missed the targets at the far end of the range.

It was an unsteady display coming at a critical time. The Kabul police force is hiring thousands of new recruits ahead of presidential elections in late August, and American mentors are working urgently with Afghan National Police colonels to quickly train them.

For Winchester and the other trainers, the slow start for the first 640 recruits was typical. Even while rushing to get recruits on the ground quickly, they know that mentoring unskilled police officers requires patience.

"Yesterday was rough," said Winchester, a member of the Georgia National Guard’s 48th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, whose unit is now arriving to take over mentoring the Afghan police and military. "It’s gonna take a few days.""

[RetroLounge]

1. We've already lost the war

Time to leave, now.

RL

[SIMPLYB1980]

2. Not going to stop me from posting.

:shrug:

[RetroLounge]

3. Who cares?

SIMPLY being repetetive doesn't make you right, it makes you boring.

Nice pom pons, too.

RL

[SIMPLYB1980]

5. Oh well.

:shrug:

[thunder rising]

9. We've been there for 8 yrs ... what's the *real* reason to rush? Just another late/fucked policy?

by our dear General?

[FarCenter]

4. Some of these guys have been trained multiple times under multiple names

Train, go home, sell weapons, come back, train

[Flaneur]

6. You've posted five different war cheerleading threads today.

Now, move away from the keyboard and go wash the blood from your hands.

[wuushew]

7. The articles he posts are not even current

By Dianna Cahn, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Friday, June 5, 2009


How can this not be spam?

[SIMPLYB1980]

17. The last 6 months aren't something current?

:shrug:

[thunder rising]

8. Quoting "Stars And Stripes" is as bad as quoting FOX

Happy talk and smiles in the war zone. Flowers and birds ....

[SIMPLYB1980]

10. Like I care.

[RetroLounge]

18. You obviously don't

:puke:

RL

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

11. Vietnamization worked for Nixon....oh, wait.

[blues90]

12. Why are so ramped up about these murderous wars?

Insane wars and and Illegal attacks.
what do you expect to win when there is no winning this. Do you actually think they will come here and attack us , if so they are already here and the more we push them the more they hate us and we don't need anymore of that.

We have no progress in Iraq just murdered a lot of people and our own and poisoned their land and people.

Why don't you join up and let us all know how well that works out for you.

[SIMPLYB1980]

13. LoL!

[blues90]

15. Predictable, I got exactly the response I expected.nt

[SIMPLYB1980]

16. Good. So did I.

[Sinti]

14. Thanks for trying to give several examples that support your opinion

While I am adamantly opposed to continuation and escalation of this war, or any other, I think we all need to accept that people want to stay or even escalate the conflict for what they feel are good reasons. To say otherwise is incredibly insulting and divisive. Dividing is part of how we got into this mess. We talk too much and listen too little sometimes. So, kudos.

I think we could train Afghan volunteers to be trainers, preferably from an out-of-country position, and then let the trainers we train train their own countrymen. Teach a man to fish, you know :)

The same for teaching sustainable farming, and such. Civil engineers could also work from the sidelines (outside of the country, maybe in Jordan) to help the Afghan folks rebuild. They do need to rebuild if we ever want peace.

Of course, I also lack a full complement of information from which to make hard and fast judgments on what should really be done - I'm always in favor of less death for everyone.

Putting your threads together:
Soldiers Help Afghan Children, One Backpack at a Time

'Code Pink' rethinks its call for Afghanistan pullout

Soldiers help Afghan farmers