yglesias.thinkprogress.org - 2/18/2009
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My inbox is ablaze with different people forwarding me information about the President deciding to dispatch a Marine Expeditionary Brigade and an Army Stryler Brigade to Afghanistan. Given that we’re not going to withdraw from Afghanistan—and shouldn’t—I think this is probably a ...
nytimes.com - 2/17/2009
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nytimes.com —
WASHINGTON -- President Obama said Tuesday that he
would send an additional 17,000 American troops to Afghanistan
this spring and summer, putting his stamp firmly on a war that he has long complained is going in the wrong direction. The order will add ...
(more)
Putting Stamp on Afghan War, Obama Will Send 17,000 Troops
washingtonindependent.com - 2/18/2009
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washingtonindependent.com —
He promised to do so on the campaign
trail, and now he’s done it: President Obama has
approved a troop increase to Afghanistan. His just-released statement is below. Notice that the forces approved appear to be less than the 20,000-30,000 troops ...
(more)
As Expected, Obama Approves Troop Increase To Afghanistan
defenselink.mil - 2/18/2009
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defenselink.mil —
Pursuant to President Obama’s decision today, Secretary Gates
ordered the deployment of two additional combat units, totaling
more than 12,000 troops, to Afghanistan. The 2d Marine Expeditionary Brigade (MEB), from Camp Lejeune, N.C., with ...
(more)
DefenseLink News Release: DoD Announces Afghanistan ...
Comments
Blog Reactions
Afghan Surge Reax
The Daily Dish | By Andrew Sullivan —
A round up. The left seems split over the idea. The right side of the blogiverse is mostly silent. Yglesias: To remain effective in Afghanistan, we desperately need to reduce the civilian death toll. That means less airstrikes. Which probably means more boots on the ground. And hopefully more boots on the ground can also reduce civilian exposure to death-by-Taliban. That’d be how you get the job done. Krauthammer: The question here is why did he release this announcement right now in this way, just sort of this ...
Troops Before Strategy?
democracyarsenal.org —
There has been a lot of concern about the fact that President Obama announced the 17,000 troop increase in Afghanistan prior to completing his 60 day strategy review. These concerns are valid and at NSN we have argued for a focused strategy that attempts to achieve limited ends using comprehensive means and move far beyond a military centric approach. But it is worth pointing out that the first of the 17,000 troops won't make it into Afghanistan until late spring - long after the strategy review has been completed. In fact, many won't ...
Related Content
More Troops for Afghanistan
attackerman.firedoglake.com 2/18/2009 — He promised to do so on the campaign trail, and now he's done it: President Barack Obama has approved a troop increase to Afghanistan. His just-released statement is below. Notice that the forces approved appears to be less than the 20,000-30,000 ...
Troop Surge in Afghanistan Means No Progressive Consensus
dailykos.com 2/21/2009 — President Barack Obama's Tuesday announcement that the U.S. will be adding 17,000 fresh troops to those already fighting in Afghanistan upended hopes among some progressives that the 60-day policy review he announced February 10 would be completed ...
Get Afghanistan Right
dailykos.com 1/13/2009 — An ad hoc group of bloggers has come together for the purpose of opposing a U.S.-led escalation in Afghanistan that is slated to double the number of American troops there. Organized by Alex Thurston at The Seminal and Robert Greenwald's ...
BBC NEWS | Americas | US to boost troops in Afghanistan
news.bbc.co.uk 2/17/2009 — President Barack Obama has authorised the deployment of up to 17,000 extra US troops to Afghanistan, saying they are to "meet urgent security needs". Two brigades - one army and one marine - are to be sent, Mr Obama said in a statement released by the ...
17k More Troops To Get Orders To Afghanistan
blogs.abcnews.com 1/28/2009 — ABC's Luis E. Martinez reports: When President Obama visits the Pentagon tomorrow he will be presented with plans that by week's end could see as many as 17,000 additional US troops receiving their deployment orders for Afghanistan. Testifying on ...
McCain on Afghanistan at AEI
weeklystandard.com 2/25/2009 — Senator McCain is just now delivering a speech at AEI on the war in Afghanistan. Some highlights:
"Success is possible in Afghanistan. Afghans reject the Taliban. Just 4 percent of Afghans wish them to rule the country, and they rate the Taliban ...
Getting Afghanistan Right
agonist.org 1/14/2009 — Memo to President-Elect Obama:
"Now it is folly to go against men who could not be kept under even if conquered, while failure would leave us in a very different position from that which we occupied before the enterprise."
Thucydides, VI, 11. ...
Five Myths About the Afghanistan Escalation
vetvoice.com 1/29/2009 — As President Obama readies a plan to send more troops to Afghanistan, there's been a vigorous debate on the progressive side among those who wish to see more U.S. troops sent to Afghanistan and those who don't. On the one hand, we have a White ...
What, I Was Serious?
windsofchange.net 1/15/2009 — I saw this the other day, and waited for it to get picked up and commented on. It wasn't, so I'll raise it here.
Here's Spencer Ackerman writing in the Washington Independent :
Today a cohort of progressive bloggers unveils a new effort against ...
First 100 Days: Troops to Afghanistan —
First Read 2/18/2009
“Barack Obama, whose presidential ambitions were launched by his opposition to one war, moved Tuesday to expand the U.S. deployment in another,” USA Today writes. “In his first such action as president, Obama ordered an additional 17,000 combat ...
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