U.S. Afghanistan War Poll

Afghan war poll triggers Obama political alarms L.A. Times — As President Obama concludes weeks of intense -- and increasingly desperate -- salesmanship on his keystone and embattled healthcare reform plans, a discouraging alarm arrived today that he may soon have to devote his selling skills toward a less interesting but more dangerous area of concern for him: The war in Afghanistan. Secure parts of that country vote in a presidential election Thursday. And quietly coming through the bureaucratic defense pipeline is a request for even more U.S. troops, on top of the compromise 17,000 additional Obama approved last winter. click to read complete article

We ignore Afghanistan at our strategic peril The Australian — 2nd articleThose who seek to discredit the Afghan elections are not doing its people any favours IN many ways, it is a tale of two armies. Perhaps the most important mistake the Bush administration made after the invasion of Iraq was to disband that nation's army. A Lebanese friend of mine, a man steeped in all the ways of his region, told me recently: "It was necessary for the Americans to get rid of Saddam Hussein. But in Iraq, they only needed to change the decision maker, they shouldn't have destroyed the one institution that bound the country together." click to read complete article

Obama defends Afghan war as 'necessity' Belfast Telegraph — US President Barack Obama has defended the ongoing war in Afghanistan following a significant rise in US-British fatalities in the country in recent months. In a speech to US military veterans yesterday, Mr Obama said the fight against insurgents would not be easy and the Taliban would not be defeated overnight. However, he insisted that the conflict was a "necessity" and was a war worth fighting. click to read complete article