I thought with this administration we were going to get our coalition partners to be on equal footing with us?

Officials in Brussels says Obama will be asking Nato allies to provide up to 10,000 extra troops.  Asking?  How about a demand… and if you don’t we pull out and you all can fight this stinking war yourselves!  The US currently has 68,000 troops in Afghanistan, with foreign forces overall totalling more than 100,000.  The additional American soldiers are expected to focus on tackling the Taliban in volatile southern and eastern Afghanistan.

A senior Pentagon official said the new troops will be made up of 9,000 Marines and 21,000 regular soldiers, of which 4,000 will train Afghan security forces.  With the Government so currupt, they will just create a better terrorist if you ask me.

An unnamed (aren’t they all?)  Nato diplomat told AP news agency on Tuesday that President Obama is asking European members of the military alliance to contribute between 5,000 and 10,000 new troops to Afghanistan.  How about matching the 30,000 we are sending in?

On Monday, Britain confirmed it was sending 500 more troops, taking the UK’s total deployment there to 10,000.  Seems to me they aren’t taking on much more risk and in the US Senate, they are floating a new ‘Sacrifuce Tax’ on the American voter to pay for the 100,000 troops that will be in Afghanistan.  Where is the consensus we were promised by Obama in dealing with the world issues?

Italy jumped into the game and said it will increase its force, although without saying by how many.  Big help here.  If Britain committed 500 rest assured Italy won’t send anymore than that.

But President Nicolas Sarkozy said last month France – which has about 3,400 troops in Afghanistan – would “not send a single soldier more”.  Where is the support from our allies?

Angela Merkel

In Berlin, Chancellor Angela Merkel told a news conference on Tuesday Germany would wait until after a 28 January conference in London on Afghanistan before deciding on any troop increases.  Yeah that is real encouraging Merkel.  Let our boys fight the war, while you sit back and don’t move a finger.

“Germany currently has around 4,300 troops in northern Afghanistan, the third largest contributor to the international force in the country.  Northern Afghanistan is also the safest part of the country.

Tonight we get to hear the strategy from Obama to win the war in Afghanistan.  Meanwhile our allies run and hide.  I don’t know about you, but I am sick and tired of trying to solve the worlds problems, while the rest of the world just sits back.  We dang near bankrupt our country in the process, and the UK says it will spare 500 more troops!   Big Whoop!  Italy… “I dunno?” France… “no more.” 

Under this scenario, I am adamantly opposed to sending any more of our men in women into battle as long as we are the only ones taking the increased risk.  The USSR couldn’t win a ground war, why on earth do we think we can?  If you read the rules of engagement to fire upon the enemy you basically can’t fire on them until you can see the whites of their eyes.  Try and win a war with one hand tied behind your back! 

Again we are fighting a war with limited support from our allies, at a huge risk to our men and women in the military, and we are being asked to “sacrifice”.   I won’t anymore.  I have had enough.  If the rest of the world just wants to stand by and let us do all the heavy lifting, then it is time to pack up and go home.  Just see how long it takes before they come begging for us to help.

Vietnam… over 50,000 military killed.  Spanned three  presidency’s.  Afghanistan, two already.   I suggest that if indeed we want to wipe out the Taliban and anyone else that means us harm, let’s put the nuclear option on the table. 

What good does it do to have the bomb, if we never use it?  Two or three tactical nukes would sanitize an entire region for the next 50 years.  I think we need to start talking about it and in public.  This area is so unfriendly to our forces and so inhospitable, why not?   I believe it is time to put all our options on the table and come up with a better solution to what is being proposed.   9 years has been long enough.  Who will join me in this discussion?

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