[Peace-discuss] Feingold to Obama: Announce Withdrawal Timetable from Afghanistan

[C. G. Estabrook]

    Actually, 1969 was 7 years after the US attack on S. Vietnam,
    while 2009 is 8 years after the US attack on Afghanistan.


Robert Naiman wrote:
> We're not at 1969 yet.
> 
> On Mon, Aug 24, 2009 at 9:42 PM, C. G. Estabrook<galliher at illinois.edu>
> wrote:
>> How seriously would we have taken a senator who said this about Vietnam 40 
>> years ago?  By then (1969) Nixon and Kissinger themselves were saying that 
>> they were "discussing a flexible timetable so that people around the world 
>> can see when we are going to bring our troops out" -- as they did, four 
>> years later...
>> 
>> The "Nixon Doctrine" from that year was what Feingold is asking for now. 
>> Then it meant to build up the S. Vietnamese army so that they could take 
>> over the defense of South Vietnam. The policy became known as 
>> "Vietnamization," which had much in common with the policies of the Kennedy
>>  administration (as Obama's does with Bush's).
>> 
>> 
>> Robert Naiman wrote:
>>> Feingold to Obama: Announce Withdrawal Timetable from Afghanistan David
>>> Chalian, ABC News, August 24, 2009 2:27 PM
>>> 
>>> http://blogs.abcnews.com/thenote/2009/08/feingold-to-obama-announce-withdrawal-timetable-from-afghanistan.html
>>> 
>>> 
>>> The Obama administration has been keenly aware of discontent among many
>>> in its liberal base with regard to its Afghanistan policy and an expected
>>> request for additional troops following General McChrystal's upcoming
>>> assessment of the situation there.
>>> 
>>> That liberal base just got a high-profile voice to lead its charge.
>>> 
>>> Sen. Russ Feingold, D-WI, called on President Obama to announce a 
>>> timetable for withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan.  "This is a
>>> strategy that is not likely to succeed," Sen. Feingold said about the
>>> troop buildup in Afghanistan.
>>> 
>>> "After eight years, I am not convinced that pouring more and more troops
>>> into Afghanistan is a well thought out policy,"   said Feingold.  The
>>> liberal Democrat said he has expressed his reservations with President
>>> Obama, Admiral Mullen, and others inside the administration and he says
>>> he has "never been convinced they have a good answer."
>>> 
>>> "I think it is time we start discussing a flexible timetable so that 
>>> people around the world can see when we are going to bring our troops 
>>> out," said Feingold.  "Showing the people there and here that we have a
>>> sense about when it is time to leave is one of the best things we can
>>> do," he added.
>>> 
>>> Sen. Feingold didn't offer up a specific timetable for when he would like
>>> to see American troops out of Afghanistan.  The senator opposed the war
>>> in Iraq and eventually became a leading voice among Democrats in pushing
>>> the Bush administration to adopt a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq.
>>> 
>>> In an interview with the editorial board of The Post-Crescent in 
>>> Appleton, WI this afternoon, Sen. Feingold highlighted that the three top
>>> terrorist targets originally in Afghanistan - Osama bin Laden, 
>>> al-Zawahiri, and Mullah Omar - are now in Pakistan. "Aren't we helping to
>>> drive more extremists into Pakistan?," Feingold asked.  He went on to
>>> call Pakistan the home of the "witch's brew of every kind of nightmare."
>>> 
>>> Sen. Feingold pointed to Af-Pak Ambassador Richard Holbrooke's recent 
>>> comments when asked about what success will look like in Afghanistan. 
>>> "We'll know it when we see it," said Holbrooke. "That's not good enough
>>> for me," Feingold responded.
>>> 
>>> Feingold said that he believes the United States needs to maintain its 
>>> ability to go after Al Qaeda in Afghanistan and continue operations there
>>> to "make sure we can do the most we can in the remaining time."
>>> 
>>> The Wisconsin Democrat is starting to be a bit of a liberal thorn in the
>>> President's (left) side and has some Democrats wondering if he may be
>>> plotting a 2012 primary challenge to Obama. [...]
>>> 
>>> 
> 
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