Doonesbury by Garry Trudeau for July 09, 2013

A twit tweets.

Then read the NY Times. I am reposting this from yesterday:-Obama might be reading today’s strip:-http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/09/world/asia/frustrated-obama-considers-full-troop-withdrawal-from-afghanistan.html?hp

An alternative (i.e not 2012) rerun:http://www.gocomics.com/doonesbury/1991/06/26Ray Hightower shows Congresswomen Davenport her quarters Mike

The reasons for going there were valid. The reasons for them to come home are even more so.

For some reason, I decided to look at how many troops we deployed in our futile occupation of Afghanistan versus the Soviet’s futile occupation of Afghanistan. They were about the same, around 100,000 troops.Our troops sustained far fewer casualties. 2,200 deaths compared to 15,000 for the Soviets. 12,000 injured versus 35,000 for the Soviets.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Forces_casualties_in_the_war_in_Afghanistanhttp://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_war_in_AfghanistanThat’s a tribute to our soldiers ability to carry out there orders with minimal losses. Sherman was right when he said, “War is Hell”. He was also right when he said, " …it is only those who have never heard a shot, never heard the shriek and groans of the wounded and lacerated … that cry aloud for more blood, more vengeance, more desolation."It’s long past time to own up to the fact that we can’t “fix” Afghanistan with force. There are a lot of people there that want a decent country, & they deserve our support. But, our troops aren’t doing any good there. Time to support our troops. Time to leave.

The Soviets were in Afghanistan on their own; while it provides three-quarters of the troops there, the US has allies. The UK, with about 10% of the total forces, have lost 444.

I thought, and still think, that although it was a borderline decision, and one which the British have every historical reason to know was a risky one, it could be justified on “just war” terms.

The fatal error was the completely unjustifiable war in Iraq, which meant that Afghanistan became the “forgotten war”. Had that not happened, the initial gains might have been properly consolidated and the outcome might have been more secure. Iraq would then have risen up in the Arab Spring, and Saddam would probably have been toppled with only limited help from the West, as happened in Libya.

Astrolat: Maybe so, but that doesn’t rebut the assessment that we need to get our butts out of Afghanistan NOW. We lost, just like the Soviets..

He is letting the enemy know where he is located via geocoded tweets, he should be with Manning being charged with reckless endangerment of troops on the ground.

Today this is as bad as when CNN stood on top of a hotel in Tel Aviv and gave Sadam Husein details about his scud missile attack (“that one missed us by about a block to the south”, etc.)

important question….roland has cell service in middle of nowhere afghanistan? afghanistan has cell towers and infrastructure for smartphones(4g lte)?

I’ll be glad when Trudeau gets back from vacation! It’s interesting to reread old strips (not merely those from last year) to watch how Roland started out far more intelligent than he later became. It was kind of gradual; there was nothing that really stood out (like a lobotomy, although these days he often acts as if he’s had a couple……..)

Civilized countries should of never made a footprint in that hellhole, they should of bombed them up into the stone age. If these meatheads weren’t so busy killing each other for 2000 years they might of had indoor plumbing by now. Every Afghani with any brains have left the country for centuries, those left behind are inbred simpletons, ask the poor soldiers who have been trying to train them.

Illiterate bigot.

question everything even this

“With the right equipment his location can be pinpointed. However the Afghanis not likely to have such equipment or the education to use them.”-Some supporters exist all around the world.Assuming none have provided that assistance is a bit dangerous an assumption. .It is okay if you are right, fatal if you are wrong.-Should we assume our enemies are unarmed and inept?

Obama isn’t a micromanager; he is a big picture kind of guy.

I think this was brought up the last time this strip aired. But wouldn’t the enemy (any enemy) be able to get a fix on your position due to the GPS thingie stuff on the phone? ….. much like the third man on a match.

“Exactly, it is like having an open door and hoping the neighborhood remains safe.”-That was well put. Of course, I have an open door but most don’t want to find what is behind it. (and as they peep through the windows, they realize there ain’t much to desire anyway — the value of poverty)