So, after my post about the President's plan to withdraw troops from Afghanistan, I got into a conversation about it with the hubs, and what he had to say has blown my mind.
He doesn't understand why Americans are so supportive of a troop withdrawl. He believes that the troops were sent over there to do a job, and that job has not been completed. He believes that withdrawing the troops is equal to admitting failure. Wow.
This is how I see things- we (USA) wanted to get Osama, and we did. Mission accomplished. Bring the boys home.
He believes our mission is to "westernize" Afghanistan. The trouble is, they don't want to be "westernized". And really, who can blame them? We don't exactly have our shit together these days. But because of their resistance, he believes that we can't settle for teaching them, we need to conquer them, or else we have failed and leave ourselves vulnerable. I am shocked and amazed to hear this opinion from a soldier, and to know that he is not the only one with this mindset. I don't usually get into discussions like this with Mr. M because we very rarely share the same opinion, but....wow.
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
~* Obeezy Thinks 30% Is Sufficient?!?! *~
Mr. M's nickname for our Commander-in-Chief is Obeezy, and after reading this article, I'm too upset to bother with any respectful names. I'm happy to have any troops home, but 30,000 out of 100,000 is just not good enough. Listen to 75% of America's citizens! (Taken directly from cnn.com)
Washington (CNN) -- President Barack Obama is expected to announce a plan that would result in the 30,000 U.S. "surge" forces being withdrawn completely from Afghanistan by the end of 2012, an administration official told CNN.
This comes ahead of the president's expected speech on the Afghanistan troop drawdown on Wednesday.
The time-frame would give U.S. commanders another two "fighting" seasons with the bulk of U.S. forces still available for combat operations.
An estimated 100,000 U.S. troops are serving in Afghanistan, some 30,000 of which are part of the so-called surge ordered in late 2009 in a bid to control the rising violence.
Obama is mulling how many troops should be withdrawn this summer and by the end of the year.
He is expected to discuss preserving flexibility in force levels on the ground so commanders can adjust as conditions warrant, the official said.
The drawdown will be accomplished by troops returning home and not being replaced as well as cancelling some proposed deployments.
On Monday, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters that Obama had yet to make a final decision on the size and scope of the troop withdrawal, but would do so "soon."
"The president is still in a process of finalizing his decision on the pace and scope of the drawdown that will begin in July of 2011," Carney said . "He's finalizing his decision. He's reviewing the options and the assessments and will have an announcement to make soon."
Obama has said troops would begin coming home in July, and he recently indicated the number would be "significant."
The president has repeatedly said he is confident the United States can meet the self-imposed deadline to begin bringing U.S. troops back from Afghanistan without compromising Afghan security, though military commanders and government officials have raised concern about the readiness of Afghan security forces.
"We have made great strides toward achieving the objectives laid out in the mission that the president articulated in December of 2009," Carney said. "And he will make his decision based on the need to succeed further in achieving those objectives and to transfer authority gradually, security authority, over to the Afghan national security forces, with an eye to the fact that, as agreed to by NATO in Lisbon, we will eventually transfer full security lead over to the ANSF in 2014."
Nearly three-quarters of Americans polled this month said they support the United States pulling some or all of its forces from Afghanistan.
That figure jumped 10 points since May, likely as a result of the death of Osama bin Laden, pollsters said.
Obama to announce plan to pull 30K troops out of Afghanistan
June 21, 2011 8:50 a.m. EDT
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- NEW: Plan would pull 30,000 surge forces out of Afghanistan by the end of 2012
- The president expected to speak on troop withdrawals Wednesday
- The initial drawdown of U.S. troops will begin in July
- About 100,000 troops are in Afghanistan
This comes ahead of the president's expected speech on the Afghanistan troop drawdown on Wednesday.
The time-frame would give U.S. commanders another two "fighting" seasons with the bulk of U.S. forces still available for combat operations.
An estimated 100,000 U.S. troops are serving in Afghanistan, some 30,000 of which are part of the so-called surge ordered in late 2009 in a bid to control the rising violence.
Obama is mulling how many troops should be withdrawn this summer and by the end of the year.
He is expected to discuss preserving flexibility in force levels on the ground so commanders can adjust as conditions warrant, the official said.
The drawdown will be accomplished by troops returning home and not being replaced as well as cancelling some proposed deployments.
On Monday, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters that Obama had yet to make a final decision on the size and scope of the troop withdrawal, but would do so "soon."
"The president is still in a process of finalizing his decision on the pace and scope of the drawdown that will begin in July of 2011," Carney said . "He's finalizing his decision. He's reviewing the options and the assessments and will have an announcement to make soon."
Obama has said troops would begin coming home in July, and he recently indicated the number would be "significant."
The president has repeatedly said he is confident the United States can meet the self-imposed deadline to begin bringing U.S. troops back from Afghanistan without compromising Afghan security, though military commanders and government officials have raised concern about the readiness of Afghan security forces.
"We have made great strides toward achieving the objectives laid out in the mission that the president articulated in December of 2009," Carney said. "And he will make his decision based on the need to succeed further in achieving those objectives and to transfer authority gradually, security authority, over to the Afghan national security forces, with an eye to the fact that, as agreed to by NATO in Lisbon, we will eventually transfer full security lead over to the ANSF in 2014."
Nearly three-quarters of Americans polled this month said they support the United States pulling some or all of its forces from Afghanistan.
That figure jumped 10 points since May, likely as a result of the death of Osama bin Laden, pollsters said.
The CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll was conducted June 3 through June 7, with 1,015 adult Americans questioned by telephone. The survey's overall sampling error is plus or minus 3 percentage points.
~* Day 11 *~
Today is my 11th day smoke-free =) I've gotten a lot of support, and Mr. M says he is really proud of me. It's funny though, I don't really feel proud of myself. I think I might when the cravings stop. They've been worse this week than they were last week. But I'm not giving in. I'm working out every day, and I feel better already. I have been having some weird dreams tho, and I've heard that's a side effect of quitting smoking. I've dreamed I was screaming at someone twice in the past week, and woken up with a sore throat. Weird.
Anyway. Life is pretty much the same for me. I had to work Friday, Saturday, and Sunday while Mr. M had a 3 day weekend. I wish I could find a regular Monday- Friday job so that we could have the weekends to spend together, but that isn't likely to happen any time soon.
I've been wondering lately if I've become too sensitive to him. I've always been a fiercely independent girl, but I know that he needs to feel wanted and needed, and maybe that has had an effect on me. As I said, he had all weekend off. He didn't do a whole lot with it- hung out with some friends, washed the bike, helped someone move a bed. Nothing major. I got up at 4:45am yesterday, like I've been doing every day to spend a little time with him in the morning, and kissed him. He pulled away from me, saying he didn't "have time". Excuse me? How the fuck do you not "have time" to spend 30 seconds making out with your wife? Oh, you had to steam your ACUs at 5am on Monday morning? Did you not "have time" to do it in the 3 entire days you were off??? Hmm.
I feel like I complain about my husband a lot. I really don't mean to. I'm very sensitive when it comes to him, and I'm terribly OCD. I like things, particularly around the house, the way I want them when I want them that way. I've been trying really hard to compromise, but it's easier said than done. Not only do I love Mr. M to death, but I am completely head-over-heels in love with him. I just don't really have any other outlet for my venting. I do think he knows how much he upset me yesterday tho, because this morning he had taken the trash out and apparently looked thru my birthday hints by the time I woke up.
I have hope that today will be a good day =)
Anyway. Life is pretty much the same for me. I had to work Friday, Saturday, and Sunday while Mr. M had a 3 day weekend. I wish I could find a regular Monday- Friday job so that we could have the weekends to spend together, but that isn't likely to happen any time soon.
I've been wondering lately if I've become too sensitive to him. I've always been a fiercely independent girl, but I know that he needs to feel wanted and needed, and maybe that has had an effect on me. As I said, he had all weekend off. He didn't do a whole lot with it- hung out with some friends, washed the bike, helped someone move a bed. Nothing major. I got up at 4:45am yesterday, like I've been doing every day to spend a little time with him in the morning, and kissed him. He pulled away from me, saying he didn't "have time". Excuse me? How the fuck do you not "have time" to spend 30 seconds making out with your wife? Oh, you had to steam your ACUs at 5am on Monday morning? Did you not "have time" to do it in the 3 entire days you were off??? Hmm.
I feel like I complain about my husband a lot. I really don't mean to. I'm very sensitive when it comes to him, and I'm terribly OCD. I like things, particularly around the house, the way I want them when I want them that way. I've been trying really hard to compromise, but it's easier said than done. Not only do I love Mr. M to death, but I am completely head-over-heels in love with him. I just don't really have any other outlet for my venting. I do think he knows how much he upset me yesterday tho, because this morning he had taken the trash out and apparently looked thru my birthday hints by the time I woke up.
I have hope that today will be a good day =)
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