America finally accepts failure in Afghanistan

[sohailbutt]

WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama said in an interview released Saturday that the United States is not winning the war in Afghanistan and hinted at possible talks with moderate elements of the Taliban.

Highlighting the success of the US strategy of bringing some Sunni Iraqi insurgents to the negotiating table and away from Al-Qaeda, Obama told media, "there may be some comparable opportunities in Afghanistan and the Pakistani region."

The strategy in Iraq had been deployed by General David Petraeus, then commander of US forces in the country.

"If you talk to General Petraeus, I think he would argue that part of the success in Iraq involved reaching out to people that we would consider to be Islamic fundamentalists, but who were willing to work with us because they had been completely alienated by the tactics of Al Qaeda in Iraq," Obama said in the interview published on the a website.

Asked if the United States was winning the war in Afghanistan, which he has called the "central front in the war on terror," Obama simply replied, "No."

"You've seen conditions deteriorate over the last couple of years. The Taliban is bolder than it was. I think in the southern regions of the country, you're seeing them attack in ways that we have not seen previously," he said.

"The national government still has not gained the confidence of the Afghan people."

Obama says not winning Afghan war - GEO.tv

Talking is the way out of Afghanistan, America learned the hard way out, after wasting billions and taking the world into recession 2 times since the start of the so called WOT.

 

[Omar1984]

It'll be in US best interst to stop all these wars and focus on their economy.

 

[Omar1984]

Obama Ponders Outreach to Elements of the Taliban

WASHINGTON — President Obama declared in an interview that the United States was not winning the war in Afghanistan and opened the door to a reconciliation process in which the American military would reach out to moderate elements of the Taliban, much as it did with Sunni militias in Iraq.

Mr. Obama pointed to the success in peeling Iraqi insurgents away from more hard-core elements of Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, a strategy that many credit as much as the increase of American forces with turning the war around in the last two years. “There may be some comparable opportunities in Afghanistan and in the Pakistani region,” he said, while cautioning that solutions in Afghanistan will be complicated.

In a 35-minute conversation with The New York Times aboard Air Force One on Friday, Mr. Obama reviewed the challenges to his young administration. The president said he could not assure Americans the economy would begin growing again this year. But he pledged that he would “get all the pillars in place for recovery this year” and urged Americans not to “stuff money in their mattresses.”

“I don’t think that people should be fearful about our future,” he said. “I don’t think that people should suddenly mistrust all of our financial institutions.”

As he pressed forward with ambitious plans at home to rewrite the tax code, expand health care coverage and curb climate change, Mr. Obama dismissed criticism from conservatives that he was driving the country toward socialism. After the interview, which took place as the president was flying home from Ohio, he called reporters from the Oval Office to assert that his actions have been “entirely consistent with free-market principles” and to point out that large-scale government intervention in the markets and expansion of social welfare programs began under President George W. Bush.

Sitting at the head of a conference table with his suit coat off, Mr. Obama exhibited confidence six weeks into his presidency despite the economic turmoil around the globe and the deteriorating situations in Afghanistan and Pakistan. He struck a reassuring tone, saying Americans should not be frightened of the future, and he said he had no trouble sleeping at night.

“Look, I wish I had the luxury of just dealing with a modest recession or just dealing with health care or just dealing with energy or just dealing with Iraq or just dealing with Afghanistan,” Mr. Obama said. “I don’t have that luxury, and I don’t think the American people do, either.”

The president spoke at length about the struggle with terrorism in Afghanistan and elsewhere, staking out positions that at times seemed more comparable to those of his predecessor than many of Mr. Obama’s more liberal supporters would like. He did not rule out the option of snatching terrorism suspects out of hostile countries.

Asked if the United States was winning in Afghanistan, a war he effectively adopted as his own last month by ordering an additional 17,000 troops sent there, Mr. Obama replied flatly, “No.”

continue reading......
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/08/us/politics/08obama.html

 

[koolio]

This has spectacularly back fired on all who were saying Pakistan cant defeat the Taliban including NATO and kept on saying do more at least Pakistans army has achieved limited success against TTP funded by the Indians, I wonder how good a job can the Indians do if they were to go Afghanistan to participate in the operations against Talibs.

NATO and USA combined have the most advanced and lethal military tech and still they have unable to achieve any success.

 

[Fennecus]

Afghanistan didn't just get its notorious reputation for nothing.

 

[S-2]

If we do it'll be because we finally accept failure in Pakistan.

That'll be a dark day in Pakistani history...if you should even survive that long.

 

[Omar1984]

^^^ Here's a person from our "allied" country talking. Who needs enemies when you have friends like this.

 

[Somcan]

Same thing happening in Somalia. They are talking with the Islamists they were fighting just 2 years ago. They even are removing names of terrorist list. Too little too late.

 

[Bane Blade]

Why would they leave a war they have invested loads of money into they can't stop now I think they will have to continue or their days as a super power would soon be over.

 

[Omar1984]

Why would they leave a war they have invested loads of money into they can't stop now I think they will have to continue or their days as a super power would soon be over.

compare pre-9/11 america to post-9/11 america, is this war in anyone's best interst?

 

[Bane Blade]

compare pre-9/11 america to post-9/11 america, is this war in anyone's best interst?

War is never in anyones best interest but to prove you are the play ground bully you won't accept defeat no matter what the cost.