Gates: Obama needs to make a decision now

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

U.S. decision can't wait for Afghan legitimacy: Gates

ABOARD A U.S. MILITARY AIRCRAFT (Reuters) - The United States cannot wait for problems surrounding the legitimacy of the Afghan government to be resolved before making a decision on troops, U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said.

Gates, speaking to reporters on board a plane traveling to Tokyo, described the situation in Afghanistan as an evolutionary process that would not improve dramatically overnight, regardless of what course is taken following the country's flawed August election.

"I see this as a process, not something that's going to happen all of the sudden," Gates said.

"I believe that the president will have to make his decisions in the context of that evolutionary process."

Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell added that Gates believed the issue of the Afghan government's legitimacy went well beyond the question of whoever would be declared winner of the election, or an eventual run-off.

It depended on whether the government in Kabul had the faith and confidence of the people, Morrell said.

International observers have called for an election run-off after a U.N.-backed fraud watchdog invalidated tens of thousands of votes for Afghan President Hamid Karzai from the August poll.

Another vote could be complicated by a strengthening Taliban insurgency that has tied up tens of thousands of foreign and Afghan troops and the approaching harsh Afghan winter that cuts off hundreds of villages every year.

Gates said he was confident U.S. and NATO forces could provide security for a run-off, should one be decided, but added bad winter weather could prevent Afghans from voting.

"I think the key consideration before us at this point is actually less (one of) security ... (it's) the weather. So getting something done before winter sets in will be very important," he said.

********

Gates said he did not need to wait for a U.S. decision on troops to speak to NATO allies about McChrystal's resource request, saying "the reality is that this is an alliance issue."

"We ought to do this in a way that if General McChrystal has a set of needs, it should not be looked upon as exclusively the responsibility of the United States to respond," he said.

"So I think that having a discussion of that and the fact that this is a continuing shared responsibility makes it entirely appropriate to have that conversation in Bratislava, before decisions are made by the United States."

http://www.reuters.com/article/newsMaps/id...E59J08M20091020

[Niels Bohr 72]

Just abandon Afghanistan then like they did in Cambodia and Vietnam letting them rebuild their own government without US intervention after the US almost single handedly destroyed those two countries.

[Peikko 1,575]

There is truth in that NB.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

I would be surprised if they have a run-off. More likely that they'll put pressure on Karzai to agree to some sort of coalition government.

[alienlovechild 75]

Just abandon Afghanistan then like they did in Cambodia and Vietnam letting them rebuild their own government without US intervention after the US almost single handedly destroyed those two countries.

Never heard of Laos?

I thought were you Cambodian? Pol Pot helped out Cambodia once the U.S. left the region? Better think your line of reasoning again carefully.

[Niels Bohr 72]

For those who are not aware.

Pol Pot came to power because the King Norodom Sihinouk was ousted by a coup d'etat by the prime minister of Cambodia, Lon Nol. Lon Nol was backed by the CIA. David Chandler wrote many books on Lon Nol and the US agreement to secretly remove Ho Chi Minh trail from Cambodia. The CIA helped Lon Nol to oust Norodom Sihinouk because Norodom Sihinouk was seeking peace with China. Norodom Sihinouk know that Cambodia is south of China and the US is across the Pacific. If Cambodia became an ally to the US, guess what will happen to Cambodia that is so close to China. So Sihinouk wanted Cambodia to be neutral. Therefore, the Ho Chi Minh trail cannot be rerouted as an agreement with China.

Sihinouk sought helped from the Khmer Rouge to return power back to him. However, he was betrayed by the Khmer Rouge.

I know my country history forward and backwards. Heck, I know more about Cambodia history than the natives themselves. They don't teach it in school here in the US. I did my independent research and still currently keeping track of it.

Just abandon Afghanistan then like they did in Cambodia and Vietnam letting them rebuild their own government without US intervention after the US almost single handedly destroyed those two countries.

Never heard of Laos?

I thought were you Cambodian? Pol Pot helped out Cambodia once the U.S. left the region? Better think your line of reasoning again carefully.

Edited October 21, 2009 by Niels Bohr

[alienlovechild 75]

Pol Pot came to power because the King Norodom Sihinouk was ousted by a coup d'etat by the prime minister of Cambodia, Lon Nol. Lon Nol was backed by the CIA. David Chandler wrote many books on Lon Nol and the US agreement to secretly remove Ho Chi Minh trail from Cambodia. The CIA helped Lon Nol to oust Norodom Sihinouk because Norodom Sihinouk was seeking peace with China. Norodom Sihinouk know that Cambodia is south of China and the US is across the Pacific. If Cambodia became an ally to the US, guess what will happen to Cambodia that is so close to China. So Sihinouk wanted Cambodia to be neutral. Therefore, the Ho Chi Minh trail cannot be rerouted as an agreement with China.

Sihanouk dropped neutrality and decided to back N. Vietnam with Chinese help while beginning the civil war in Cambodia. He had a head start on Pol Pot in leading the destruction of Cambodia.

"When the Vietnam War raged, Sihanouk promoted policies that he claimed to preserve Cambodia's neutrality and most importantly security. While he in many cases sided with his neighbors, pressures upon his government from all sides in the conflict were immense, and his overriding concern was to prevent Cambodia from being drawn into a wider regional war. In so doing he made difficult choices of alliances in pursuit of the least dangerous course of action, within a political environment where genuine neutrality was likely impossible at the time. In the spring of 1965, he made a pact with the People's Republic of China (China) and North Vietnam to allow the presence of permanent North Vietnamese bases in eastern Cambodia and to allow military supplies from China to reach Vietnam by Cambodian ports. Cambodia and Cambodian individuals were compensated by Chinese purchases of the Cambodian rice crop by China at inflated prices. He also at this time made many speeches calling the triumph of Communism in Southeast Asia inevitable and suggesting Maoist ideas were worthy of emulation. In 1966 and 1967, Sihanouk unleashed a wave of political repression that drove many on the left out of mainstream politics. His policy of friendship with China collapsed due to the extreme attitudes in China at the peak of the Cultural Revolution. The combination of political repression and problems with China made his balancing act impossible to sustain. He had alienated the left, allowed the North Vietnamese to establish bases within Cambodia and staked everything on China's good will. On 11 March 1967, a revolt in Battambang Province led to the Cambodian Civil War.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norodom_Sihanouk

[Niels Bohr 72]

Wikipedia is not a trustworthy source. The Cambodian Government, and opposing factions have played with the wiki page. Trust worthy source would be books. As it stands, the Cambodian Parliamentary manipulated the truth as to reduce the King's powers. So, it happens that Wiki page was also designed for those who have done enough analysis on Cambodian History to jump to a conclusion.

In fact, the current Prime Minister is a Khmer Rouge soldier himself who worked with the Vietnamese.

What happened to Lon Nol? The US turned their backs on him.

Pol Pot came to power because the King Norodom Sihinouk was ousted by a coup d'etat by the prime minister of Cambodia, Lon Nol. Lon Nol was backed by the CIA. David Chandler wrote many books on Lon Nol and the US agreement to secretly remove Ho Chi Minh trail from Cambodia. The CIA helped Lon Nol to oust Norodom Sihinouk because Norodom Sihinouk was seeking peace with China. Norodom Sihinouk know that Cambodia is south of China and the US is across the Pacific. If Cambodia became an ally to the US, guess what will happen to Cambodia that is so close to China. So Sihinouk wanted Cambodia to be neutral. Therefore, the Ho Chi Minh trail cannot be rerouted as an agreement with China.

Sihanouk dropped neutrality and decided to back N. Vietnam with Chinese help while beginning the civil war in Cambodia. He had a head start on Pol Pot in leading the destruction of Cambodia.

"When the Vietnam War raged, Sihanouk promoted policies that he claimed to preserve Cambodia's neutrality and most importantly security. While he in many cases sided with his neighbors, pressures upon his government from all sides in the conflict were immense, and his overriding concern was to prevent Cambodia from being drawn into a wider regional war. In so doing he made difficult choices of alliances in pursuit of the least dangerous course of action, within a political environment where genuine neutrality was likely impossible at the time. In the spring of 1965, he made a pact with the People's Republic of China (China) and North Vietnam to allow the presence of permanent North Vietnamese bases in eastern Cambodia and to allow military supplies from China to reach Vietnam by Cambodian ports. Cambodia and Cambodian individuals were compensated by Chinese purchases of the Cambodian rice crop by China at inflated prices. He also at this time made many speeches calling the triumph of Communism in Southeast Asia inevitable and suggesting Maoist ideas were worthy of emulation. In 1966 and 1967, Sihanouk unleashed a wave of political repression that drove many on the left out of mainstream politics. His policy of friendship with China collapsed due to the extreme attitudes in China at the peak of the Cultural Revolution. The combination of political repression and problems with China made his balancing act impossible to sustain. He had alienated the left, allowed the North Vietnamese to establish bases within Cambodia and staked everything on China's good will. On 11 March 1967, a revolt in Battambang Province led to the Cambodian Civil War.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norodom_Sihanouk

Edited October 21, 2009 by Niels Bohr

[alienlovechild 75]

Wikipedia is not a trustworthy source. The Cambodian Government, and opposing factions have played with the wiki page. Trust worthy source would be books. As it stands, the Cambodian Parliamentary manipulated the truth as to reduce the King's powers. So, it happens that Wiki page was also designed for those who have done enough analysis on Cambodian History to jump to a conclusion.

In fact, the current Prime Minister is a Khmer Rouge soldier himself who worked with the Vietnamese.

What happened to Lon Nol? The US turned their backs on him.

The point is Cambodia was screwed whether the U.S. was there or not and certainly things got much worse after Lon Nol and the S. Vietnamese government didn't have anymore support from the U.S. Congress.

Afghanistan won't get any better without an allied presence but it could get worse or just back to Taliban rule and all that goes with it.