Thank God

[bruno]

Originally Posted by dlee96

I'm not sure what Anthony has to do with my post . I mean, i've read numerous articles (from well-known news companies:CNN,Fox,NY Times, etc) about the War on Terror and I've compiled what I believe is true.

The key line is: "what I believe is true". Be certain that you distinguish between opinions and fact. What you have expressed is definitely opinion. For example while you are thanking God that the troops are being withdrawn as rapidly as possible- you may consider that the policy of giving a withdrawal time unlinked to conditions on the ground could also be seen as a policy likely to embolden the opposition and cause far more casualties than we might have otherwise sustained and undermining the entire mission we set out to accomplish (Cordesman's point).
We all have opinions- they all ought to be recognized as such. I have lots of problems with those who confuse their opinions as fact, and also those who express certainty and simplify extremely complex scenarios. Finally- not all opinions get the same amount of deference. Experience and time on the ground count for more than widely repeated 3rd or 4th hand observations.
So if you don't understand what the relationship of Cordesman to your posts- it probably means that you aren't as "versed" as you would like to think. Also, saying the "natives" is like something out of "Gunga din"- it doesn't give you a lot of credibility.

I'm glad to hear that you are following the war- that's more than many have done and I would think that any liason officer will be impressed that you are on top of what is the biggest "current event" for the military. The war clearly has not gone the way we would like and its longevity and the mounting casualties have certainly contributed to war weariness in the US, and it is certainly debatable as to what the long term outcome will be. If you came in to me though with an opinon like you expressed - I would sure be prepared if I were you to answer a whole heck of a lot of other questions and a lot of push back about what the history of American responses to Al Quaida were prior to 9/11/01; what you think the alternatives to the war in Afghanistan were, what were the mistakes the US made in the intervention into Afghanistan, and what our long term strategy and tactics need to be in the unstable places throughout the world. But if you want to have a thoughtful opinion- you ought to know a little more than just the talking points that an MSNBC talking head makes. If you don't know who Anthony Cordesman is- than you need to do more reading. While you are at it- go look at the history of the CORDS program in Vietnam and then consider how long it took us to develop an appropriate strategy and sufficient resourcing in Afghanistan. If we had pumped the requisite quantity of troops and aid into Afghanistan in 2002 would we be in this situation in 2012? In 2003 you could walk around in Kabul in a soft cap- today?

Anyone can pop off with superficial opinions- you get taken seriously when you start looking at the details of the "why" things happened the way they did, and "what" could have been done differently. Unfortunately those are the kind of things that the popular media don't cover in detail.

[Chockstock]

Wow, great writing Bruno