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U.S. fires top general in Afghanistan as war worsens

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It appears that Obama has dumped Gen McKeirnan in order to escalate the war in Afghanistan - and potentially in Pakistan.

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It appears that no matter what the reason, Obama didn't want General David McKiernan as a part of his war in Afghanistan.

Barack Obama wants those generals he wants commanding the war he's inherited. He may have inherited the war, but he doesn't have to continue the course. < :-)

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Here are some comments to cut through the cxap. The officer being replaced probably comes from a traditional infantry background. Finding the enemy, bringing arms to bear and then knocking the hell out of them. Such a tactic works well when Soviet (sorry Russian) forces are streaming through the Fulda Gap into Western Europe. Given his background as a mainstream officer McKiernan also probably polishes up pretty well for dining-in nights and parades.

This new officer (Stanley McChrystal) is cut from a different cloth. With a background in leading the hooligans at Fort Bragg, he probably has a better understanding of what used to be called CRW (counter revolutionary warefare). This basically means taking the war to the enemy through both aggressive low profile patrolling and getting the locals onside through lots of H&M (hearts and minds). The advantages of this in somewhere like Afghanistan are the ability to not warn the enemy in advance courtesy of large-scale (and noisy) troop movements.   The downside of such commanders, however, is that they are usually rather blunt in their opinions, having no time for the niceties of kissing axse.

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So when you lose a war, you kick the dog. I feel sorry for the Obama offspring's new mutt.

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Barack Obama wants those generals he wants commanding the war he's inherited. He may have inherited the war, but he doesn't have to continue the course."

Not inherited, he accepted the job. Now shut up with that. No one twisted his arm. He could just end this whole thing if he wanted to.

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Inherited is common lingo Skip. When Papa dies, and you inherit the house, with all its leaky pipes and holes in the roof, is it now not an inheritence because you knew it was coming and you accepted it? Of course not. You took it and you have to deal with it, but it was still Papa that built the problem house.

The word takes nothing away from Obama's responsibility, not one iota. All it does is not foot him with resposibility for starting the war. That is all.

And I will say it again: Afghanistan is hopeless. I don't care who is put in charge.

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"as war worsens"

With commander-in-chief Obama running the show? Impossible!

"Afghanistan is hopeless"

You'd better hope you're wrong.

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timorborer's analysis was as first-rate as Wolfpack's was laughable. (How do you show you are "escalating" by firing the guy who most wanted to escalate?)

Afghanistan is certainly hopeless when relying on the tactics favored by McKiernan. What the country needs most is the peace and prosperity that comes via nation-building.

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True Obama inherited Afganistan. True it is useless and all we can do is blow up uneducated stone-age villagers. But hey, this new commander has started a war with Pakistan now...so don't make out that he not escalating.

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Not inherited, he accepted the job. Now shut up with that. No one twisted his arm. He could just end this whole thing if he wanted to.

Don't be a dingbat. The sentence has the same meaning regardless of which word you use, and now that Obama has "accepted" control of this campaign, he'll get the new tools he wants. Yes, he could end this if he wanted, but will he? Probably not, because that would be foolish at this point in time.

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