It was Russia's Vietnam, it might as well be our 3rd, and be restarted while we are in the middle of our 2nd Vietnam in Iraq.... Right Barack!?! "Change" , a slogan you can decieve with. We gotta kill our soilders to protect those opium poppy fields and that "strategic pipeline" that cuts off oil from Russia and China, and directs it towards the US and Europe. The more things "Change" the more they stay... the SAME! Meet the new boss, SAME as the old boss! "Ya been hoodwinked, bamboozeled, run amok, led astray!!!" Sound familliar???

Did we think we could win a war in Afghanistan that Russia and its big army could not win.We should have stade out of Iraq and gone to Afghanistan in the first place.

What’s next, will the draft be reinstated. Where are all of these troops going to come from?

exactly, dragon, petroleum is the number one high priority US national interest...and protecting it is the number one high priority mission of the US armed forces...so what's the problem? And please! perhaps YOU are the one who has been "hoodwinked" (what a goofy word, anyway) because no grown adult with any sense of perspective , and one who lives i the real world sees these types of changes and redirections in policies as so absolute...most combat troops wil leave Iraq soon, more troops will go to Afghanistan, perhaps a dialogue with Iran will take place...ALL things Obama said he would like to make happen in his term...nobody's been misled except for fools who can't see straight anyway...

It is stated in the article and from what Gates is saying that these troops are going to be coming from Iraq when they pull out. So no, it seems incredibly unlikely that the draft will be reinstated.
It is necessary to fight these religious fascists and fundamentalists, these same people who make very public announcements that they want to kill us, all of us. These are our sworn enemies (by their own words mind you) and I for one definitely want to see these fundamentalists dead. If you want to be our enemies you will die doing so.

This is a good thing - Afghanistan and Pakistan are where the real war on terror should have been fought all along. Bush dropped the ball when he invaded Iraq and that's when he lost my support. I hope Mr. Obama can achieve what Bush was so obviously not interested in achieving. Bravo Barack Obama!

exactly, dragon, petroleum is the number one high priority US national interest...and protecting it is the number one high priority mission of the US armed forces....

jazz
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Well, jazz, there is simple solution to THAT. If we were to drill here in America and depended on our OWN resources instead of crawling to the middle east for petroleum, there wouldn't BE a problem. But, Obama opposes drilling, as do you probably. This means we go to war. The soldiers die for Al Gore's hysteria.

It was Russia's Vietnam, it might as well be our 3rd, and be restarted while we are in the middle of our 2nd Vietnam in Iraq.... Right Barack!?! "Change" , a slogan you can decieve with. We gotta kill our soilders to protect those opium poppy fields and that "strategic pipeline" that cuts off oil from Russia and China, and directs it towards the US and Europe. The more things "Change" the more they stay... the SAME! Meet the new boss, SAME as the old boss! "Ya been hoodwinked, bamboozeled, run amok, led astray!!!" Sound familliar???

Posted by: please! |
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Afghanistan is NOT a Vietnam. We did NOT go into Afghanistan unprovoked. It is the country where Bin Laden and the Taliban launched the 9/11 attacks on us. I'd think that you'd be smart enough to support a troop surge in Afghanistan.

A necessary strategy and it's sort of moronic to criticize Obama. He didn't initiate the mess but he has to end it in a way that we come out having tried to do the right thing. I'm sure happy that the left and right extremists aren't in charge , we're in better hands with government at the center.

More troops is only part of the answer. We also need to rebomb the mountainous regions to get at the terrorists in their caves.

marco, I'm all for developing alternative energies to petroleum...period...get away from oil dependence all together, whether foreign or domestically sourced...and drilling in the states is like a heroin addict switching to methadone...the problem is still there...anyway, from what I hear, it's not the drilling for crude in the US that's the issue, it's the refining capacity that we do not have in place to accomodate new onshore crude drilling...word to your mutha...

just give all of the afganee peeps the usa citizenship and problem will be resolved.

yeah, war in afganistan would go on forever. the only solution is probobly build a chinese wall around the whole afganistan and then "gas chamber it" - meaning no one can get it and get out. because all the insurgents are probobly from neighboring countries, probobly even russian mercenaries.

So, I hope we are all done dreaming up fantasy solutions. If you think that Afghanistan will go on forever, I think you are confusing two things. The terrorist desire to destroy America and establish a world run on their Muslim beliefs (Which undoubtedly would lead to other holy wars against Muslim leaders ad infinitum). That topic versus the real war in Afghanistan which is the goal of removing the Taliban from Afghanistan establishing a stable government which can support itself. This includes attacking terrorists in Pakistan if necessary (something that McCain berated Obama for even suggesting).

I believe that it is a good idea to avoid drilling in America. The only reason why this got any support was because gas was over $4 a gallon at the pumps. There is only so much oil and I think it would be better in the long term to hold off on the oil in America unless the world supply runs low.

Then there is the refinery issue. Ultra Conservatives usually overlook the fact that refineries are the limiting factor. Crude oil is useless unless you separate it to its useful substituents. So why not build more refineries? NIMBY. NIMBY (Not In My BackYard) is the concept that although there are things that as a nation we all want more of (refineries being only one of them) but just not near our house. Why not? They are big, smelly, people think that they polute immensely and will kill their children (not true). Plus they are only zoned to be built in certain areas and most want to have ocean access for ease of transport. Screaming drill on the top of your lungs and demanding that this is the answer shows a level of simplicity which is common in most people by taking a dumb downed concept and regurgitating said phrase as though their gag reflex was tickled by the question, "How are we going to handle the oil problem".

Gates works for President Bush right now so quit dragging Obama into it. he hasn't even been sworn in yet. we absolutely get rid of our dependence on oil. it will cost more and we might not drive every time we feel like going two blocks away. we need to start making cars and using alternative forms of energy---we could do this all in the US. we could even use our environment to create energy. drilling is just destruction. ethanol is easy to make and the wind will blow forever.

I agree, sending more troops will create ,more problems then solve. Re-newable energy is the only solution that won't harm innocent people.

Oh No the draft is comming back.....Osameo was just BSing everyone

i think more troops is necessary, their primary role is to remove the insurgents who threaten america and its allies, yet more work has to be done to get other sources of energy so that questionable military operations aren't given the go ahead just so that oil reserves can be secured for ourselves.

isn't that the reason why more troops shouldn't be sent in. Re newable engery can be found without the violence.

lets just hope that more troops won't be sent next year.