As far as any ultimate decision he will reach, it is imperative that the twenty-seven other members of NATO be pressured to contribute, if not more troops, certainly more military aid, trainers, etc. The George W. Bush era is over. If necessary, the U.S. should pull additional troops for Afghanistan out of some bases in Europe. That should hopefully send a strong signal of displeasure to the other NATO members.

For people who favor the complete withdrawal of US troops out of Afghanistan, I think that it is safe to assume that if the Taliban regains control of Afghanistan, Al-Quada’s terrorist bases will then be on both sides of the border, in Afghanistan, as well as Pakistan. Do we really wish to go back to a pre-911 situation?

I might do a toon on this…

Some sort of waffle(r) metaphor?

Or Larry’s “punting” metaphor?

1) The “whole housers” want an entire house, with plumbing, electricity, and all the amenities.

2) The “no housers” want to leave the lot vacant, regardless of what kind of varmints may come to infest the empty acreage.

3) The “half-housers” want to placate and please everybody.

“So then because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew you out of my mouth.”

After a seventh meeting with senior advisers on the thorny issue of reinforcements, officials said he favoured the middle of three options presented by Gen Stanley McChrystal, the Nato and US commander in Afghanistan.

At the meetings – totalling 20 hours – Gen McChrystal had presented scenarios involving 40,000 more troops, 30,000 more and 20,000.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/afghanistan

I might do a toon on this…

The war in Afghanistan is unnecessary and evil.

President Oxymoron said the war in Afghanistan was necessary. Now it appears he is waffling or never believed that in the first place.

He should take one position or the other and stick with it and show some backbone.

Yes indeed, it was much easier for him to pretend to be President while he was campaigning and perpetrating fraud to gain the office. Karma rules.

“Me? No, I’m nothing like those guys,” she/he said. “You can believe me.”

Sometimes you got to shit or get off the pot. You can only talk something to death for so long. Make a decision Present Obama (and yes, that’s intentionally “Present” instead of President) and let the chips fall where they may. A supreme narcissist like himself will be able to spin any results as positive so I don’t understand the fear to act. Maybe because it opens him up to criticism which is something Obama trys to avoid.

Obama Says He Wants To Visit Hiroshima In Future

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091110/ap_on_re_as/as_japan_obama_hiroshima

Malcolm Foster,
Associated Press Writer
Tue Nov 10, 2009
TOKYO
– President Barack Obama says he wants to visit Hiroshima and Nagasaki sometime during his presidency but won’t have time during this week’s trip to Japan to go to the cities devastated by U.S. atomic bombs at the end of World War II.

No sitting U.S. president has visited the two cities largely because of the controversy it could raise at home.

In an interview with Japanese broadcaster NHK that ran Tuesday, Obama said he would be unable to visit the cities on his trip to Japan this weekend due to time constraints but would be willing to do so in the future.

“The memories of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are etched in the minds of the world and I would be honored to have the opportunity to visit those cities at some point during my presidency,” Obama said in the interview, done Monday at the White House.

Calls have grown in Japan for Obama to visit the two cities since his April speech in Prague envisioning a nuclear-free world and since he was named Nobel Peace Prize winner last month.

The mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki have invited Obama to their cities before a U.N. review of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty next May. Japanese newspaper editorials and anti-nuclear activist groups have also called for Obama to come, pointing out that previous Nobel Peace Prize winners have visited the cities.

Many Japanese were impressed when new U.S. Ambassador John Roos visited Hiroshima last month, just weeks after he arrived in Tokyo.

continued…..

If they scratch their noggin and go “Hmmmmm” that’s a sure sign of intellectual/spiritual lack of growth / stagnation.

As reminded by the Exodus thread last night: At one point I used to side with Israel, probably due to the fact I have Jewish blood in my heritage as well as swallowing the propaganda whole. Now I side with the truth, which is much more complex than any simple “us versus them” mentality.

Did it hurt when I forced myself to change my views based on logical analysis of new evidence presented to me or uncovered? Sure did! But that is a pain well worth suffering!

Most people are scared to death of changing their views. We see it on this blog in the comments.

There is more than one seed planted by independent thought; I am experiencing the growth of those seeds, allowing me the comprehension of many perspectives, within the construct of my “opinions” and viewpoints. Spring cleaning as it were; interesting, most opinions have morphed but a few always remain the same.

You know changing my perspective, once again, has reminded me who is in charge of developing my ability to “see”.