Defense Secretary Robert Gates told a press conference that he has asked for resignation of Army General David McKiernan, who was named to the post by the Bush administration less than a year ago.
The Pentagon chief also recommended Army Lieutenant General Stanley McChrystal, a former special forces commander, to take the position that commands and monitors 45,000 U.S. troops and 32,000 other forces from other NATO countries now in Afghanistan.
What is Obama doing bringing in a new commander for Afghanistan? This is not the time to be changing leadership; its time to get the hell out of there. Someone needs to tell our President that Iraq is not the only unjustified war we’re fighting.
He constantly remarks that this is where the war on terror should have been waged shortly after 9/11. But that isn’t exactly correct. We were going after Osama bin Laden, not Afghanistan. The Taliban simply asked for proof, any proof of bin Laden’s connection, and they would hand him over. Instead of giving them proof (does it exist?), we invaded. We bombed. We droned. What we did give them was death, death to everyone but to whom the invasion was based.
When did we stop discussing the oil pipeline in the northern Afghanistan? You remember, the one started under Unocal. The Unocal who’s former consultant is president of Afghanistan. Or maybe we never started that discussion.
Obama is supposed to bring change. Empire continues forging forward. Deficit spending, corporate and military welfare continues, while the middle class suffers and the investor class gets to readjust their ledgers.
Could Obama really believe the need to continue in Afghanistan? Not that I’m surprised, listening to him on the stump. But damn, I was praying Afghanistan would be a campaign promise he would renege.