Obama ready to pay Afghan fighters to ditch the Taliban... WTF???

[PocketProtector]

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/new...le6869503.ece#

Barack Obama ready to pay Afghan fighters to ditch the Taliban
General Stanley McChrystal

Christina Lamb in Washington



The Obama administration is considering outbidding the Taliban to persuade Afghan villagers to lay down arms as it struggles to find a new approach to a war that is fast losing public and congressional support.

Despite five war councils in two weeks, President Barack Obama has so far failed to come up with a strategy for the conflict that may define his presidency. Fierce infighting continues between his own generals and advisers.

Obama has been handed three options by General Stanley McChrystal, commander of the US forces in Afghanistan. These range from 20,000 to 60,000 more troops, which would almost double the US military presence. McChrystal is said to favour an increase of 40,000 men, without which he warns the mission will fail.

The White House is uneasy about sending so many on top of an extra 21,000 already dispatched this year, fearing this could escalate the war which has already claimed the lives of 241 American soldiers this year.
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Obama’s delay in coming to a decision has led generals to warn that the Taliban will see it as lack of resolve and take advantage. The Taliban stepped up attacks last week with a bomb in Kabul, which killed 17 people, and an onslaught against a US military post in which eight Americans died.

Anthony Zinni is one of a number of retired generals who have taken to the airwaves insisting more troops should be sent. “The risk if you take too much time is you look like you’re dithering and both our allies and enemies will wonder if we’re really committed,” he warned.

The president is reportedly frustrated that the debate has become polarised between those who want to send more troops and their critics, who say it would lead to another Vietnam. They advocate more reliance on drones and special forces.

Leslie Gelb, president emeritus of the Council on Foreign Relations, argues that the president has only himself to blame. “It was Obama who insisted in March and again last month that this was a ‘war of necessity’ and must be fully resourced rather than looking at what we really have at stake in Afghanistan.”

One official said the key emphasis in the White House meetings had been to identify options that would prepare the way for American troops to leave. Apart from training more Afghan troops, the focus has shifted to accepting a political role for the Taliban, while also trying to weaken them by winning some over.

Afghans are known for changing sides back and forth during their long years of war — there is an old saying that “you can rent an Afghan but never buy one” — and battles have often been decided by defections rather than combat.

Paying Taliban foot-soldiers to switch sides could spare US lives and save money, say its advocates. A recent report by the Senate foreign relations committee estimated the Taliban fighting strength at 15,000, of whom only 5% are committed idealogues while 70% fight for money — the so-called $10-a-day Taliban. Doubling this to win them over would cost just $300,000 a day, compared with the $165m a day the United States is spending fighting the war.

The tactic was used to good effect in Iraq where the US government put 100,000 Sunni gunmen on its payroll for about $300 a month each.

Some experts disagree. Gilles Dorronsoro from the Carnegie Institute insisted: “You cannot break an insurgency that strong with money. It’s not a mercenary force — it’s a very powerful movement.”

More troops, say McChrysal’s allies, could tip the balance of power away from the insurgents and give the population the confidence needed to switch sides.

McChrystal had his knuckles rapped for failing to go through the chain of command when he described advocates of a focused attack on Al-Qaeda as “short-sighted”. He was told to cancel a trip to Washington to brief Obama.

One serving general close to McChrystal told The Sunday Times he has been taken aback by the White House’s attitude. “It surprised a lot of us — we thought the policy decision was made to come down on the counter-insurgency course of action.”

The source described as “crazy” the idea that “we can just cut deals with the Taliban without having to do anything”.

He added: “At the moment you can’t recruit from Pashtun communities or their families will be killed, so we need to first improve security.”

The Pentagon insists that not sending more troops would signal a lack of resolve and give the enemy the opportunity to regain the initiative.

Obama has scheduled further talks for this week. But it has not gone unnoticed among his generals that among the works of art chosen by the Obamas to hang in the White House is Edward Ruscha’s painting about indecision, I Think I’ll ... The picture superimposes phrases such as “maybe ... yes”, “maybe ... no” and “wait a minute” on top of a blood-red sunset.

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We need to be certain that the sacrifice of lives in Afghanistan is justified
More...
Anthony Loyd



Times experts explain the issues behind the headlines
On the front line

[Dredly]

and? It "worked" in Iraq. as soon as we started paying welfare to the people of Iraq they dropped their guns and went home to sit and watch TV.


oh you didn't actually think Iraq got "peaceful" because we scared them into giving up or removed the head of the snake did you?

[••SpraynPray••]

WTB non precision carpet bombing of civilian targets....


that should persuade the population to our cause.. or whats left of em to it.

[NY Refugee]

Typical american leftist, just spend more government money that will fix it.

[LittleRedToyota]

and? It "worked" in Iraq. as soon as we started paying welfare to the people of Iraq they dropped their guns and went home to sit and watch TV.


oh you didn't actually think Iraq got "peaceful" because we scared them into giving up or removed the head of the snake did you?

yep...just trying to apply the iraq strategy to afghanistan.

it will be intereting to see what happens in iraq after we leave and stop paying people not to kill each other...

[arrrrgh15]

Barack Obumba is a true inspiration. His leadership on difficult decisions is a prime example of why he is so overly qualified to be president and why so many people voted for him. Is it any wonder why school kids are singing Obumba praise songs in public schools. Granted, more troops will be killed while he debates the obvious, but that's what being in charge is all about.

He should be given some kind of award or prize.

[velkly]

Isn't it amazing how we had to rush (don't delay or America will never return from the brink) to pass a bailout program, take over of the auto industry, try to force an unwanted POS health care plan? But when it really comes to something that is costing American lives we need to sit back, take a trip to Copenhagen, and do other more meaningful things like shoot hoops with Washington bigwigs than to make the hard decision to either win the war (send in the troops your Generals require) or pull out?

On the off chance that someone associated with the current Administration may read this, I am including the definition of a leader and leadership (I've bolded the parts you need to pay attention to) so they may share it with President Obama in hopes that he learns something and actually fulfills the role so many ill-informed voters elected him to do:

Leader
Pronunciation: \ˈlē-dər\
Function: noun
Date: 14th century
1 : something that leads: as a : a primary or terminal shoot of a plant b : tendon, sinew c plural : dots or hyphens (as in an index) used to lead the eye horizontally : ellipsis 2 d chiefly British : a newspaper editorial e (1) : something for guiding fish into a trap (2) : a short length of material for attaching the end of a fishing line to a lure or hook f : loss leader g : something that ranks first h : a blank section at the beginning or end of a reel of film or recorded tape
2 : a person who leads: as a : guide, conductor b (1) : a person who directs a military force or unit (2) : a person who has commanding authority or influence c (1) : the principal officer of a British political party (2) : a party member chosen to manage party activities in a legislative body (3) : such a party member presiding over the whole legislative body when the party constitutes a majority d (1) : conductor c (2) : a first or principal performer of a group 3 : a horse placed in advance of the other horses of a team

Leadership
Pronunciation: \ˈlē-dər-ˌship\
Function: noun
Date: 1821
1 : the office or position of a leader
2 : capacity to lead
3 : the act or an instance of leading

[cgbudde]

I can't wait until he announces his plans to pay gang members to put their firearma down.

[Dredly]

I can't wait until he announces his plans to pay gang members to put their firearma down.

we already do... Welfare, HUD, WIC, ACCESS... the list goes on and on

[cgbudde]

we already do... Welfare, HUD, WIC, ACCESS... the list goes on and on

Your mistaken, Welfare, Hud, Wic and all those programs are being paid to them to vote Democrates. This would be a seperate program.