Pentagon seeks to ramp up U.S. role in Afghan war

[K1052]

The U.S. role in the war against Islamic insurgents in Afghanistan would significantly increase under proposals to be presented soon to President Trump, sources tell CBS News.

The Pentagon wants more troops added to the fight against the Taliban and the White House wants most of them to come from NATO. The sources say the Pentagon is also seeking authority to set U.S. troop levels unilaterally, without approval from the White House, and to deploy American conventional forces directly on operations against militants, which would expand their current "train and assist" mission.

CBS Radio News correspondent Cami McCormick, traveling with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford in Israel, says the Pentagon's request may seek to expand the U.S. mission to include advising Afghan forces below the current corps level -- meaning U.S. forces would work with much smaller units, closer to front line.

Now the crazy part:

The Trump administration wants NATO to contribute the majority of the additional troops deemed necessary to the fight by American commanders on the ground. The U.S. would then backfill those numbers to reach the levels senior commanders want.

Brennan says Mr. Trump is supposed to be presented with the recommendations this week, but a decision may not be announced until a NATO summit in Brussels at the end of this month, that the president plans to attend.

The Washington Post, citing U.S. officials, reported Monday that the widening of the U.S. military role would be "part of a broader effort to push an increasingly confident and resurgent Taliban back to the negotiating table."

However, CBS News correspondent Major Garrett says senior administration officials tell him and Brennan the U.S. is much more interested in new methods, new tactics and -- they hope -- new results against the Taliban than it is in bringing the extremist group back to the bargaining table.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/us-afghanistan-troop-levels-role/

Trump wants NATO allies to supply the meat for the grinder while the US sits back and runs things. After 15 years and hundreds of billions of dollars pissed away I'm betting that not many of our allies are going to be jazzed to help us out to continue fighting a war we have no real strategy for or way to get out of. Maybe Trump's yuuuge charisma and dealmaking will convince them.

 

[Thebobo]

This was announced as a diversion from the testimony at the senate hearings. And it seemed to work look at the front of the wash post today.

/tinfoil hat off

or not?

 

[FIVR]

I thought the US mil was going to exterminate the Taliban, not harass them in order to "get them to the negotiating table". Who said anything about negotiating with terrorists? Is that Donald Trump's "tough" foreign policy? Talk big about war in order to threaten terrorists into negotiating with us?


The US should withdrawal all troops from all foreign "fronts" so we can get an idea what the hell is going on out there. We have how many thousands of troops in how many dozens of different countries doing what? Nobody knows. Just last week 2 US troops died in Somolia.... when was the last time you heard about US troops fighting in that s-hole? 1993? How did that turn out again?


I wouldn't be surprised if we had troops marching into North Korea right now and they just don't tell us about it.

 

[pauldun170]

United States war in Afghanistan
October 2001 - 2023+

All because Americans are idiots.

 

[ch33zw1z]

It takes more troops to burn poppy fields?

 

[vi edit]

This was announced as a diversion from the testimony at the senate hearings. And it seemed to work look at the front of the wash post today.

/tinfoil hat off

or not?

No tinfoil. No tinfoil. YOU'RE THE TINFOIL!

Seriously though, yeah this is just a pathetic attempt at steering the news cycle.

 

[DarthKyrie]

It takes more troops to burn poppy fields?

Are you talking about the poppy fields that the CIA are using to keep people of this country hooked?

 

[JSt0rm]

didnt trump say he had the best plan?

 

[ch33zw1z]

Are you talking about the poppy fields that the CIA are using to keep people of this country hooked?

Yea, my statement was tongue in cheek with a side of sarcasm.

We're over there fucking with poppy for our own interests, not because someone actually gives a shit about drug use.

Pharmaceuticals would prefer to control all of it, as opposed to sharing the wealth with both legitimate pain killers made from poppy and heroin.

Synthetics are their money makers.

Not to mention the estimated 1 in 4 adult males in Russia who are addicts. They've got it worse that we do it seems

 

[IronWing]

Bad Company's I can't get enough of your love is now on my brain.

 

[sandorski]

Plan is fucktarded. I doubt NATO is going to go along with it.

 

[ch33zw1z]

Who cares, NATO is obsolete anyways, true story.

 

[Pulsar]

So our military is hopelessly underfunded. They get more funding. And they want to get even more involved in wars?

Now it isn't their choice to be over there - it's our politician's choice. So the military is just doing the best they can in the position they are in. But seriously... if Trump was really out to cut waste he'd tell them to get the fuck out yesterday. Not enlarge our commitment.

 

[ch33zw1z]

Make Afghanistan Great Again!

'Murica, fuck yea!

 

[BoomerD]

Afghanistan...the gift that keeps on giving...

It always has amazed me that the Soviets, with their brutal, inhuman treatment, couldn't subdue the afghanis...yet, for some reason, our government thinks we can..

 

[DarthKyrie]

Yea, my statement was tongue in cheek with a side of sarcasm.

We're over there fucking with poppy for our own interests, not because someone actually gives a shit about drug use.

Pharmaceuticals would prefer to control all of it, as opposed to sharing the wealth with both legitimate pain killers made from poppy and heroin.

Synthetics are their money makers.

Not to mention the estimated 1 in 4 adult males in Russia who are addicts. They've got it worse that we do it seems

I have learned that you are as sarcastic as I am and is how I take all your comments.

 

[zinfamous]

Afghanistan...the gift that keeps on giving...

It always has amazed me that the Soviets, with their brutal, inhuman treatment, couldn't subdue the afghanis...yet, for some reason, our government thinks we can..

Alexander the Great gave up after a few months. You'd think we'd have learned something from 2300-year-old lessons?

 

[[DHT]Osiris]

The US should withdrawal all troops from all foreign "fronts" so we can get an idea what the hell is going on out there. We have how many thousands of troops in how many dozens of different countries doing what? Nobody knows. Just last week 2 US troops died in Somolia.... when was the last time you heard about US troops fighting in that s-hole? 1993? How did that turn out again?

That's a great way to destabilize large percentages of the globe, specifically the second and third world portions. We've got allies fighting in Somalia because there's factions there which are attempting to destabilize the region, like every other shitty place we've got troops in. You don't hear about this stuff until some marine gets shot in the head, but we have a military presence, at least in an advisory capacity, in like 80% of the countries on the planet.

 

[pauldun170]

That's a great way to destabilize large percentages of the globe, specifically the second and third world portions. We've got allies fighting in Somalia because there's factions there which are attempting to destabilize the region, like every other shitty place we've got troops in. You don't hear about this stuff until some marine gets shot in the head, but we have a military presence, at least in an advisory capacity, in like 80% of the countries on the planet.

Reminds me of this from Chomsky

What then is the threat? Well, the threat is also explained. The primary threat is that Iran is engaged in destabilizing its neighbors. It’s trying to increase its influence in surrounding countries, particularly in Iraq and Afghanistan. The US is, of course, involved in Iraq and Afghanistan but that is not destabilizing. That’s stabilizing. The US is there to improve stability and, if Iran tries to have influence in its neighboring countries, that’s destabilizing. Now that’s very standard terminology in foreign policy literature and discussion. I mean it reaches to the point that the former editor of Foreign Affairs, the main establishment journal, was able to say with a straight face and with no reaction from anyone that the United States had to destabilize Chile under Allende … had to destabilize the government of Chile and overthrow it and establish a dictatorship in order to bring about stability. It sounds like a contradiction but it isn’t when you understand that “stability” has a meaning. It means US control. So we had to destabilize the country that was out of US control in order to bring about stability, and it’s the same problem with regard to Iran. It doesn’t follow orders and, therefore, it is destabilizing the regional situation.-

 

[ch33zw1z]

Chomsky, keeping it real as always, like the dad I always wanted. The pops I got is a Con5life

 

[[DHT]Osiris]

Reminds me of this from Chomsky

That's the gist of it right there. As an added bonus, we get to debate whether it's better or worse for it to be under US control.

 

[hal2kilo]

So the country has amnesia that it didn't want troops over there anymore? I thought the Don was against all this stuff. Well at least Hillary's not involved right?

 

[FIVR]

Somalia, much like Yemen, is a country full of people who have spent generations fighting wars. They have become quite proficient... as evidenced by the heavy casualties they consistently inflict upon both Saudi and other coalition forces. It is really foolish to expend millions of dollars and American lives just to harass a bunch of professional soldiers in the middle of the arabian desert, just to prove some political point or I guess maybe to help the saudis (also a political point). There is no "stabilizing" somolia for US interests anyway. They don't have oil or gold or anything worth stealing so the US isn't usually interested. But since 9-11 and "Muh Terrorism" the US has been pissing billions of dollars and hundreds of american lives into the arabian desert to forward some neocon pipe-dream of a US-controlled middle east.

 

[jman19]

didnt trump say he had the best plan?

Well he did say he would beat ISIS in 30 days.

So that should mean ISIS has been defeated almost 4x over already right?

Lol