• This is a political forum that is non-biased/non-partisan and treats every person's position on topics equally. This debate forum is not aligned to any political party. In today's politics, many ideas are split between and even within all the political parties. Often we find ourselves agreeing on one platform but some topics break our mold. We are here to discuss them in a civil political debate. If this is your first visit to our political forums, be sure to check out the RULES. Registering for debate politics is necessary before posting. Register today to participate - it's free!

Trump national security adviser confirms U.S. troop withdrawal in Afghanistan

TU Curmudgeon

B.A. (Sarc), LLb. (Lex Sarcasus), PhD (Sarc.)
DP Veteran
Joined
Mar 7, 2018
Messages
61,961
Reaction score
19,061
Location
Lower Mainland of BC
Gender
Male
Political Leaning
Centrist
From United Press International


Trump national security adviser confirms U.S. troop withdrawal in Afghanistan



Oct. 16 (UPI) -- The U.S. military presence in Afghanistan will be reduced to 2,500 troops by early 2021, National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien announced on Friday.

O'Brien told the Aspen Institute in a videoconference that President Donald Trump ordered the Pentagon to initiate the drawdown.

Before reports of the reduction, Trump expressed an interest in having all troops removed by Christmas, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley said the plan to reduce the troop level to 2,500 was "speculation" on O'Brien's part.

n his address on Friday, O'Brien called the drawdown a "guarantee" according to "the order of the commander in chief," adding that Defense Secretary Mark Esper approves of implementing the plan.

COMMENT:-

"Taliban cheer Trump tweet promising early troop withdrawal" (from ABC News)

Wait for the upcoming "
Trump First President Ever To Honour Their Promise To Bring The Boys Home By Christmas" (precipitously released by an incredibly reliable source who released the announcement on the condition of anonymity due to the fact that they weren't authorized to release the announcement but who wanted to get on the good side of the White House).
 
Cool. Good news. Sucks they couldn't all be brought home. Hopefully one more step closer to promoting self determination in the middle east.
 
Completely gone by early next year! Wow. Almost seems unbelievable...

The Latin term for the situation is "Et tunc primum ire in domum suam, annuntiamus victoria." >>"First declare victory and then go home."<<

It is sometimes accompanied by "Pecuniam mutuo velis purgat nos nuntius de terra?" >>"Would you like to borrow the money to pay for cleaning up the mess we made out of your country?"<<
 
The Latin term for the situation is "Et tunc primum ire in domum suam, annuntiamus victoria." >>"First declare victory and then go home."<<

It is sometimes accompanied by "Pecuniam mutuo velis purgat nos nuntius de terra?" >>"Would you like to borrow the money to pay for cleaning up the mess we made out of your country?"<<
I guess we'll see. If there's one thing Trump has been consistent at it has been reducing overseas troop counts. Can't hurt to hope. Glad I'm not a soldier who has to make any plans based off of this.
 
Cool. Good news. Sucks they couldn't all be brought home. Hopefully one more step closer to promoting self determination in the middle east.

How exactly is abandoning an ally “promoting self determination“?
 
I guess we'll see. If there's one thing Trump has been consistent at it has been reducing overseas troop counts. Can't hurt to hope. Glad I'm not a soldier who has to make any plans based off of this.
Except that he has not brought any troops home.
 
Except that he has not brought any troops home.
Trump fans don't actually care about the real results. They only care about what Donny two scoops tells them.
 
Except that he has not brought any troops home.
Oh. I was promised he had abandoned the Kurds in Syria by bringing troops home. I must have been misled. Perhaps he is much more like his predecessor in refusing to bring troops home when promised, despite both of their blustering. Probably the case, as you pointed out. I'm just a hopeless optimist on some points.


You may wish to alert the New York Times.

The United States is cutting troop levels in Iraq nearly in half, to 3,000 forces, the top U.S. commander in the Middle East said

Of course, this is the NYT, and could be pure speculation, for what it's worth.
 
Oh. I was promised he had abandoned the Kurds in Syria by bringing troops home. I must have been misled. Perhaps he is much more like his predecessor in refusing to bring troops home when promised, despite both of their blustering. Probably the case, as you pointed out. I'm just a hopeless optimist on some points.


You may wish to alert the New York Times.

The United States is cutting troop levels in Iraq nearly in half, to 3,000 forces, the top U.S. commander in the Middle East said

Of course, this is the NYT, and could be pure speculation, for what it's worth.

I am sure that the Iranians are quite pleased at the reduction in tension in the Middle East.
 
Oh. I was promised he had abandoned the Kurds in Syria by bringing troops home. I must have been misled. Perhaps he is much more like his predecessor in refusing to bring troops home when promised, despite both of their blustering. Probably the case, as you pointed out. I'm just a hopeless optimist on some points.


You may wish to alert the New York Times.

The United States is cutting troop levels in Iraq nearly in half, to 3,000 forces, the top U.S. commander in the Middle East said

Of course, this is the NYT, and could be pure speculation, for what it's worth.
He moved them out of Syria, but not to home. Yes, he abandoned our allies there. What a guy.....
 
I am sure that the Iranians are quite pleased at the reduction in tension in the Middle East.
Reducing tension in the ME is a tough thing to achieve. So many competing factions. If the Iranians are satisfied perhaps they will not feel the need to produce nuclear weapons. Maybe they will anyway. Worth a shot I guess.
 
Oh. I was promised he had abandoned the Kurds in Syria by bringing troops home. I must have been misled. Perhaps he is much more like his predecessor in refusing to bring troops home when promised, despite both of their blustering. Probably the case, as you pointed out. I'm just a hopeless optimist on some points.


You may wish to alert the New York Times.

The United States is cutting troop levels in Iraq nearly in half, to 3,000 forces, the top U.S. commander in the Middle East said

Of course, this is the NYT, and could be pure speculation, for what it's worth.
The troops pulled from Syria were not brought back to the US and in fact some have already returned to Syria. Have heard the talk of troops being brought home before, and I will gladly believe it when it actually happens.
 
He moved them out of Syria, but not to home. Yes, he abandoned our allies there. What a guy.....
To be fair, the Kurds we were supporting were terrorists, and were abandoned when the benefits of supporting them outweighed the negatives of their civilian attacks. Kinda like the Taliban in the 80s. But they're back in favor again. Odd how those things work sometimes.
 
The troops pulled from Syria were not brought back to the US and in fact some have already returned to Syria. Have heard the talk of troops being brought home before, and I will gladly believe it when it actually happens.
From your lips to allahs funny shaped ears.
 
How exactly is abandoning an ally “promoting self determination“?
Picking winners and losers is the definition of colonization. Removing the US from the equation in the middle east allows for regional self determination.
 
Picking winners and losers is the definition of colonization. Removing the US from the equation in the middle east allows for regional self determination.

What? How the hell is helping the people of Afghanistan(or Iraq, for that matter) fight off psychotic terrorist groups like ISIS or the Taliban “colonialism” in any way, shape or form?
 
To be fair, the Kurds we were supporting were terrorists, and were abandoned when the benefits of supporting them outweighed the negatives of their civilian attacks. Kinda like the Taliban in the 80s. But they're back in favor again. Odd how those things work sometimes.

Taliban didn’t exist in the 1980s. The Mujahideen did, but they and the Taliban were and are not the same group. Ahmad Shah Massoud, the top anti Taliban resistance fighter assassinated tso days before 9/11? A member of the Mujahideen.
 
What? How the hell is helping the people of Afghanistan(or Iraq, for that matter) fight off psychotic terrorist groups like ISIS or the Taliban “colonialism” in any way, shape or form?
The United States has sided with terrorism as often as fought against it. Case in point, at the moment we are sided with the Taliban and the Kurds against the governments of their nations. Which one is "the people"?
 
Taliban didn’t exist in the 1980s. The Mujahideen did, but they and the Taliban were and are not the same group. Ahmad Shah Massoud, the top anti Taliban resistance fighter assassinated tso days before 9/11? A member of the Mujahideen.
Well there ya go. Thank you for the correction.
 
The United States has sided with terrorism as often as fought against it. Case in point, at the moment we are sided with the Taliban and the Kurds against the governments of their nations. Which one is "the people"?

No, we are not sided with the Taliban against the Afghan government, especially considering that we helped repulse the Taliban’s latest offensive in Helmand only about a week or so ago.

Given how brutally the Kurds have been abused, and their willingness to fight ISIS and other such groups, trying to equate them to the Taliban is a bit absurd. They are as much a terrorist movement as the Viet Cong, and plenty of progressives supported them back in the day.
 
He moved them out of Syria, but not to home. Yes, he abandoned our allies there. What a guy.....

How could they be allies in Mr. Trump's eyes? They don't get to vote in US elections so they aren't of any use to him.
 
Last edited:
Picking winners and losers is the definition of colonization. Removing the US from the equation in the middle east allows for regional self determination.

As was the case in Iran before the CIA toppled the democratically elected government of Iran (and, in the name of peace and freedom) installed an absolute monarchy in order to ensure that the Iranian government would not take steps to ensure that the Iranian people were receiving a fair return on the sale of Iranian natural resources.
 
What? How the hell is helping the people of Afghanistan(or Iraq, for that matter) fight off psychotic terrorist groups like ISIS or the Taliban “colonialism” in any way, shape or form?

The Taliban was NOT a "terrorist group" (backwards as their world view was) since the only thing that the Taliban was interested in was removing Western (and/or non-Muslim) influence from Afghanistan. As long as the Taliban was in power in Afghanistan al-Qa'eda (and its successors) was NOT a problem in Afghanistan.
 
Back
Top Bottom