Journalist @baltimoresun writer artist runner #amwriting Chaplain PIO #partylikeajournalist

Journalist @baltimoresun writer artist runner #amwriting Chaplain PIO #partylikeajournalist
Journalist @baltimoresun writer artist runner #amwriting Md Troopers Assoc #20 & Westminster Md Fire Dept Chaplain PIO #partylikeajournalist
Showing posts with label Anti-war movement. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Anti-war movement. Show all posts

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Time to rethink Afghanistan September 25, 2012 by Kevin E. Dayhoff


In light of a recent dispatch from Michael Yon, “Stuck in the Mud,” 24September 2012, http://www.michaelyon-online.com/stuck-in-the-mud.htm, I am reminded of what I wrote back in March, 2012:

“Time to Rethink Afghanistan” by Kevin E. Dayhoff March 28, 2012






So far, 2012 has not been a good year for the war in Afghanistan. Just last Monday a New York Times/CBS poll quantified what most Americans already know in their gut: support for the war is dropping sharply among both Democrats and Republicans.

According to the Times’ article, “Support in U.S. for Afghan War Drops Sharply, Poll Finds,” “the survey (a copy of which may be accessed here,) found that more than two-thirds of those polled — 69 percent — thought that the United States should not be at war in Afghanistan. Just four months ago, 53 percent said that Americans should no longer be fighting in the conflict, more than a decade old.”

Inadvertently, the Times article explained part of the problem when it quoted “Michael E. O’Hanlon, a military expert at the Brookings Institution, who is close to American commanders in Afghanistan, said that the opinion polls reflected a lack of awareness of the current policy…”

Yes, Mr. Hanlon, you are correct. Ten years of war and at this point in time, most Americans cannot tell you why we are still risking the lives of our young men and women.

The rest of the quote from Mr. Hanlon reads: “…the current policy, which calls for slowly turning over portions of the country to Afghan security forces, like the southern provinces, where American troops have tamped down the violence.

“I honestly believe,” said Mr. Hanlon, “if more people understood that there is a strategy and intended sequence of events with an end in sight, they would be tolerant…”

Here’s the takeaway: “The overall image of this war is of U.S. troops mired in quicksand and getting blown up and arbitrarily waiting until 2014 to come home. Of course, you’d be against it,” said Mr. Hanlon.

Bingo. Increasingly the overall image of this war has become the feckless foreign policy of sending young men and women into quicksand to get blown-up arbitrarily.

The additional context of the troubled mission-drift approach to the war may be found in a recent telling interview with the top commander in Afghanistan, detailed by Jennifer Hlad and Chris Carroll in Stars and Stripes.

U.S. Marine Gen. John Allen was quoted as saying that “he believes the majority of non-commissioned officers; staff NCOs and young officers are ‘extraordinarily well-trained.’

“Repeated tours in Afghanistan, and prior to that, in Iraq, don’t inherently reduce the effectiveness of the force or reduce the effectiveness of small-unit leadership… I’m confident the institution is solid,” said General Allen in the article, “Allen: Investigation of Afghan killings to look at leadership climate.”

Anecdotally and unscientifically, all intuition and instincts indicate that General Allen has unwittingly responded to what has been, heretofore, only whispers in the hallway… http://www.thetentacle.com/ShowArticle.cfm?mydocid=5001



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Friday, March 30, 2012

Half of Army's senior NCOs to face separation boards

March 26, 2012

Half of Army's senior NCOs to face separation boards


A total of 64,500 Army noncommissioned officers will be screened by retention boards, starting with a sergeant major board on June 4, according to a report by the Army Times.

Fifty percent of the Army’s senior NCOs will be considered for possible involuntary separation over the next several months as the boards meet, the Army Times reports…http://www.stripes.com/half-of-army-s-senior-ncos-to-face-separation-boards-1.172713



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Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Time to Rethink Afghanistan by Kevin E. Dayhoff March 28, 2012 The Tentacle http://tinyurl.com/8a4emqm



Wednesday, March 28, 2012





So far, 2012 has not been a good year for the war in Afghanistan. Just last Monday a New York Times – CBS poll quantified what most Americans already know in their gut; support for the war is dropping sharply among both Democrats – and Republicans.

According to the New York Times’ article, “Support in U.S. for Afghan War Drops Sharply, Poll Finds,” “The survey (a copy of which may be accessed here,) found that more than two-thirds of those polled — 69 percent — thought that the United States should not be at war in Afghanistan. Just four months ago, 53 percent said that Americans should no longer be fighting in the conflict, more than a decade old.”

Inadvertently, the New York Times article explained part of the problem when it quoted “Michael E. O’Hanlon, a military expert at the Brookings Institution who is close to American commanders in Afghanistan, said that the opinion polls reflected a lack of awareness of the current policy…”

Yes, Mr. Hanlon, you are correct. Ten years of war and at this point in time, most Americans cannot tell you why we are still risking the lives of our young men and women… http://www.thetentacle.com/ShowArticle.cfm?mydocid=5001




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Tuesday, June 21, 2011

James Russell Truthout: US Mayors Call for End to Wars and Nuclear Weapons

US Mayors Call for End to Wars and Nuclear Weapons


Mayors from around the country gather at the United States Conference of Mayors in Baltimore, June 17, 2011. (Photo: Monica Lopossay / The New York Times)
Peace activists won a major victory on Monday, June 20, when the US Conference of Mayors voted to adopt two resolutions that call for a drawdown of troops in Iraq and Afghanistan and the abolition of nuclear weapons. Both resolutions also demand the reprioritization of defense spending, including the $126 billion spent each year in Iraq and Afghanistan, toward the needs of municipalities.
The group, which represents mayors of municipalities with 30,000 or more residents, has not passed such a resolution in 40 years.
Institute for Policy Studies (IPS) fellow Karen Dolan directs IPS's Cities For Peace project, which organizes elected officials and activists to take action against war on a local level. In a statement to Truthout, Dolan said...http://www.truth-out.org/us-mayors-call-end-wars-and-nuclear-weapons/1308677269

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Wednesday, August 19, 2009

What happened to the antiwar movement? Cindy Sheehan responds.

What happened to the antiwar movement? Cindy Sheehan responds.

By:
Byron York Chief Political Correspondent 08/18/09 11:19 PM EDT

After my column,
"For the left, war without Bush is not war at all," appeared Tuesday, I got a note from Cindy Sheehan, the anti-war activist who was the subject of so much press coverage when she led a protest against the Iraq war outside then-President George W. Bush's ranch in Texas. This is what the note said:

“I read your column about the "anti-war" movement and I can't believe I am saying this, but I mostly agree with you.

“The "anti-war" "left" was used by the Democratic Party. I like to call it the "anti-Republican
War" movement…”


Read the rest here: What happened to the antiwar movement? Cindy Sheehan responds.

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/blogs/beltway-confidential/What-happened-to-the-antiwar-movement--Cindy-Sheehan-responds-53628177.html

@kevindayhoff @dcexaminer What happened to the antiwar movement? Cindy Sheehan responds: http://bit.ly/102S5K
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