Afghans Show Surprisingly Positive Feelings On ‘Extended Surge’
With all the necessary caveats about polling in Afghanistan, this new BBC poll finds a surprisingly robust acceptance among Afghans for the U.S. troop presence : Of more than 1,500 Afghans questioned, 70% said they believed Afghanistan was going in the right direction – a big jump from 40% a year ago. Of those questioned, 68% now back the presence of US troops in Afghanistan, compared with 63% a year ago. For Nato troops, including UK forces, support has risen from 59% to 62%. These are eye-opening numbers considering the results of the last BBC poll on Afghanistan , which the British news agency published in September. Back then, only 44 percent believed their country was on the right track. (A near-contemporaneous poll from the International Republican Institute pegged that right-track number at 62 percent.) While I can’t find an exact question in the previous poll about the presence of U.S. troops, only 47 percent had positive feelings about the United States in September. So perhaps the poll is an outlier. But if not, then Gen. McChrystal may have been on to something when he contended that the behavior of U.S. forces was more important than the presence of U.S. forces in terms of Afghan perceptions of occupation. See the rest here: Afghans Show Surprisingly Positive Feelings On ‘Extended Surge’
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Afghans Show Surprisingly Positive Feelings On ‘Extended Surge’
Email From Afghanistan on "Waste of War"
On New Years’ eve I exchanged emails with “PB”, a soldier in Afghanistan regarding Vermont State Employees Union Votes For 3% Pay Cut. “PB” just pinged me again with … You really need to do something on the waste of this war. Foreign contractors are everywhere you look. KBR must have 4 civilians for every military member. There are a few American contractors but most seem to be Foreign nationals. Philippine nationals are everywhere. I’m sure they get paid peanuts so … Read more from the original source: Email From Afghanistan on “Waste of War”
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Email From Afghanistan on "Waste of War"
Next Up, U.S. to Reinvade Vietnam
I suppose Anders Fogh Rasmussen’s heart is in the right place, but, um . NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said on Wednesday the Western military bloc is seeking greater Russian assistance for international operations in Afghanistan. Speaking to reporters after talks with President Dmitry Medvedev, Rasmussen said he was inviting Russia to step up its assistance in Afghanistan, including by supplying helicopters, spare parts and fuel, and by training pilots. What could possibly go wrong here? The last time the Russians stepped up “its assistance” in Afghanistan, the Afghan people went on to enjoy the fruits of Russian generosity and prosperity. NATO is right to underscore an essential continuity. Rasmussen — seriously now — has rather uncritically embraced the Afghanistan war to date as NATO secretary-general , but this is a new plateau. He might need a quick history lesson before this goes forward. See the article here: Next Up, U.S. to Reinvade Vietnam
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Next Up, U.S. to Reinvade Vietnam