1 I couldn't agree more with your general thrust. I am someone who thinks that we should pull out of Afghanistan immediately (and, no, I don't wish to discuss it here!), but, that being said, I really don't understand how it makes any sense to say that we are going to put tens of thousands more troops into the theater and, at the same time, announce in advance that we are going to pull them out again less than a year and a half after they get there!

I think Obama should just admit that he got it wrong during the campaign. But, if that is not what he is going to do, how is he keeping his promise to "win" in Afghanistan if he is already conceding a time line for withdrawl? As you quite correctly say, what is the point of asking for the sacrifice of lives, limbs, and money for a cause you are conceding will not succeed in advance? It's worse than LBJ in Vietnam. It's as if LBJ added troops in 1965 and, AT THE SAME TIME, said he was going to start pulling them out in 1967! It makes no sense whatsoever. Why would the Taliban even take the build up seriously? By the time it is fully in effect, the countdown to to withdrawal will already have begun.

How could Obama look these patriotic, self-sacrificing, idealistic West Point cadets in the eye and tell them he is going to ask them to die for nothing? For nothing, that is, other than to cover his backside and give him "plausible deniability" when he is accused of breaking his campaign promise. The self serving cynicism of this coldblooded, egotistical, transparently full of you-know-what, pop in jay pretending to be a great moral leader makes my blood boil. The notion that this disgraceful clown, this utterly heartless, souless, disgustingly self worshipping con man has become the President of our beloved country makes me literally sick to my stomache. He makes me ill.

2 Obamastrikes me as the kind of guy who screams his own name while having sex.

3 How could Obama look these patriotic, self-sacrificing, idealistic West Point cadets in the eye and tell them he is going to ask them to die for nothing? For nothing, that is, other than to cover his backside and give him "plausible deniability" when he is accused of breaking his campaign promise.

Easy - like pissy Chrissy says - it's the enemy camp.

4 its also easy when you have a well camoflauged/hidden personality disorder.

if your a narcissistic sociopath with a broken personality, then

1. you dont empathize with fellow humans

2. they are just props in your personal parade.

3. you only "see" them if they adore you in all your magnificence.

4. you connect with them as part of your group. to him they are the other.

5 wouldn't it be interesting if the Republican led Congress in 2011 refused to appropriate funds for a withdrawal, and instead continued to fund the ongoing in-country missions? what would Ear Leader do then?

6 As another pundit pointed out, this is not just an 8 year war, but a 30 year war started by another Democratic president. Yes it was ol'Jimmy who thought it would be a good idea to topple the only good government (God help them) the Afghans ever had. Hell, I would certainly take Brezhnev over the idiots and fanatics who have been running the country ever since. Obama is just doing what he always does, refusing to make a real choice and trying to please everyone. Nothing but a great disappointment from the first day...

7 From ConYank post to last comment exactly right. I've had a most difficult time keeping my spirits from sinking today.

8 Hefty comments to which I will only add: The part that make ME sick about the conflict in Afgh. is, the need to clean up a mess left by the previous administration's neglect.

9 God, here we go again, "Let's pull out of Afghanistan". Let's do and allow the Taliban and Al Qaeda to take control then move on to finishing Pakistan, at which point, you can then start to worry about when the first nuke will hit this country and where. It's certain the U.N. is as much wasted space as the Whitehouse these days, so nothing will be done about them or Iran. Our egomaniacal leader will wander around lost as he always does. We, who have served, can look in his eyes and see he has no respect for the military just as we could the Clintons.