Trump announces change of heart on Afghanistan

Trump supporters are now defending his flip flop on Afghanistan?

Wow. How shocking.

a reply to: JinMI

The thing I'm trying to wrap my head around is what success will look like in Afghanistan. How will we the people know that the war has reached its end?

Karzai taking control didn't work out. So what comes next?

"Killing terrorists" is a tactic, not a strategy. But, I could be wrong.

Pakistan seems to have a track record of harboring terrorists. They will never get attacked by the U.S., though, by virtue of the country being in the nuclear missile club.

During the campaign Trump gave some lip service to the idea that maybe it would be a good thing if Japan were to be a nuclear-armed country. I think the fewer nuclear weapons on the planet the better off we are. And, it seems like the only way to get the U.S. to leave you alone is to get the bomb.

Geopolitical affairs can be a downer.

a reply to: icanteven

The thing I'm trying to wrap my head around is what success will look like in Afghanistan. How will we the people know that the war has reached its end?

When Afghani girls can wear mini-skirts again!

Donald Trump was swayed on his Afghanistan policy by photos of women in miniskirts

a reply to: windword

Just wow - I wouldn't be surprised if that influenced his decision making.

So maybe it is all about Making Miniskirts Great Again in Afghanistan.

He also said that the Taliban may have a role to play in the future of the country. Perhaps they will be rebranded as the Ministry of Miniskirts and Hotpants?

I am hoping best for this policy change but I am not in support of it. I think it is a waste of our resource and lives. I believe more US citizens soldiers will die fighting there than would die in any future terrorist attack from Afghanistan.

Not with President Trump on this one but I hope it is a success, what ever that looks like?

a reply to: icanteven


HAHA. I found that article on Salon and found it funny, but not too convincing. But, I wanted to post it here, not make a thread on it or anything, and I went looking for pictures of pre-war Afghanistan I remember seeing, to accompany the link. Now that picture and the Salon article are headlining on Huffington post!

a reply to: JinMI

I am very upset at the use of his Masonic hands symbols. Whatever his words are, his hands are speaking a very large amount. I know what he is saying with his hands, as I have done research, and it makes me sick.

Trump does not care for human life.

He is going to lead us to war, in order to please his superiors.

a reply to: icanteven

I don't know about that. I find geopolitics to be really interesting.

What all sides can likely say for certain is that success in Afghanistan is going to involve a stable government that doesn't harbor terrorists. If we're purely pragmatic about things, if the Taliban were to have their strict Islamic society that they want, I'm not really sure if fighting that with bullets is the right thing to do. As long as that society focuses on law and order, and doesn't harbor terrorists, we'll have created stability (though they'll likely side with China and Russia on international issues).

I think that if we can do that much, we can likely rely on the moderating power of access to markets to create a more free society over time.

a reply to: MatterIsLight

We've been at war for 16 years.

I know what he is saying with his hands, as I have done research, and it makes me sick.

Could you elaborate?

originally posted by: RomeByFire
Trump supporters are now defending his flip flop on Afghanistan?

Wow. How shocking.

Not really. A good number of them, the Breitbart and Bannonites seem to be turning against Trump now that Bannon is out. breitbart has begun it's attack on the president, cabinet, and their families.

As weird as this sounds, Bannon's firing/resignation might actually do more harm to the Trump presidency than Comey's, because it seem to have divided Trump's core more than anything else, which is all the support he really has left.

a reply to: Skadi_the_Evil_Elf

We need to give it a few more days to really get a grasp of what Brietbart is doing. My understanding is that they want to attack the forces around Trump who are trying to be sane. Mattis, McMaster, Ivanka, Jared, etc... the rational people. They want to push out those advisors and get their own insane advisors in place.

a reply to: Skadi_the_Evil_Elf

Skadi good post. Your a pretty logical guy for an elf

originally posted by: Aazadan
a reply to: Skadi_the_Evil_Elf

We need to give it a few more days to really get a grasp of what Brietbart is doing. My understanding is that they want to attack the forces around Trump who are trying to be sane. Mattis, McMaster, Ivanka, Jared, etc... the rational people. They want to push out those advisors and get their own insane advisors in place.

He's done no such thing the account that claimed to be hI'm wasnt. It's a fake account created to make you do exactly what you are wonder what he's doing. He's been very clear about his continued support of the president.

Simple point don't believe everything you read on the internet.

originally posted by: Aazadan
a reply to: Skadi_the_Evil_Elf

We need to give it a few more days to really get a grasp of what Brietbart is doing. My understanding is that they want to attack the forces around Trump who are trying to be sane. Mattis, McMaster, Ivanka, Jared, etc... the rational people. They want to push out those advisors and get their own insane advisors in place.

That is part of the plan, yes, but already, they are attacking Trump as being weak and sold out/controlled by Democrats.

Since Breitbart is pretty much the epitome of irrational, fake news hysterical right wing lunatic rantings on a good day, it will be interesting to see just exactly which track they take.

I do know one thing: with Bannon out, the internal chaos of the cabinet has already seemed on the downward turn.

originally posted by: windword
a reply to: icanteven


HAHA. I found that article on Salon and found it funny, but not too convincing. But, I wanted to post it here, not make a thread on it or anything, and I went looking for pictures of pre-war Afghanistan I remember seeing, to accompany the link. Now that picture and the Salon article are headlining on Huffington post!

Very cool. You have an eye for spotting trends!

originally posted by: Skadi_the_Evil_Elf

originally posted by: RomeByFire
Trump supporters are now defending his flip flop on Afghanistan?

Wow. How shocking.

Not really. A good number of them, the Breitbart and Bannonites seem to be turning against Trump now that Bannon is out. breitbart has begun it's attack on the president, cabinet, and their families.

As weird as this sounds, Bannon's firing/resignation might actually do more harm to the Trump presidency than Comey's, because it seem to have divided Trump's core more than anything else, which is all the support he really has left.

I find the Breitbart thing interesting from a historical perspective. The closest modern analogue I can find to it is Dick Morris and his falling out with the Clintons. He has been a thorn in their side ever since, and has made a career of being the anti-Clinton speaker on news shows.

Bannon isn't as mediagenic as Morris, though a comb, soap and a good haircut would do him wonders. So he may be more of a print attack dog than broadcast. He may even turn out to be an ally of Trump; going to war with him instead of against him. Interesting times.

a reply to: icanteven

Bannon is worse than Morris by ten magnitudes. And already, Breitbart is attacking Trump's most beloved Golden Child, Ivanka. Something that daddy isn't going to like to well, since by all accounts from all sides, Ivanka is not only his vfavorite kid, but the one he supposedly listens to enough he gave her an active position in his government circle. And it is well known that Kushner and Ivanka could not stand Bannon, and were pretty much enemies in Trump's cabinet.

www.independent.co.uk... -out-leaked-a7907681.html

www.yahoo.com...

www.mercurynews.com...

www.thecut.com...

So somehow, I don't see Bannon and Trump working together, when Bannon and Breitbart are basically going after Ivanka and Jared now.

I'll put money down that daddy Trump comes out on the side of his favorite child. Bannon, in the mean time, is likely to start becoming a leak himself and leaking things about the administration to harm Trump.

a reply to: RAY1990
I was sincere with my post, and the examples I used were more of the potential mutual payout to our societies once we can stabilize the ground situation.

But we have to be serious about destroying the Taliban. Obama screwed up royally by giving them essentially 8 years of free reign to spread their influence throughout the country. We cannot allow the same mistake to happen. Once Raqqa is finally liberated NATO can focus on developing its nearly 1/5 of taken land with the new government that is already doing its work in Rojava. Europeans will be assisting in this endeavor giving us the opportunity to divert more forces for a renewed effort in Afghanistan.

I like how the domestic propaganda is attempting to spin this as Trump breaking his promises of not starting new military adventurism, except that it is wrong! Trump has not started a single new thing! What he has done is refocused with vigor our military into the commitments we already had by the previous two presidents. So in that regard, he has not started anything new, and the reports of such are nothing but propaganda pure and simple.

originally posted by: worldstarcountry
I like how the domestic propaganda is attempting to spin this as Trump breaking his promises of not starting new military adventurism, except that it is wrong! Trump has not started a single new thing! What he has done is refocused with vigor our military into the commitments we already had by the previous two presidents. So in that regard, he has not started anything new, and the reports of such are nothing but propaganda pure and simple.

Not much spin needed.
Here's what he said before running.
www.cnbc.com...

Here's what he said 3 months ago
www.cnn.com...

A change of heart. That's precious. Kinda like his re-thinking of his non-existent big, beautiful healthcare plan he promised everyone. What a joke.