You need to know this. President Obama released his Afghanistan war strategy review this morning. In it - the President claims the timeline for troop withdrawal in July of next year is still on track - though the pace of withdrawal is still uncertain. A US military presence is expected to be in the region until at least 2014. Most of the news is good - we've taken more territory and knocked off most of Al Queda. But the review summary warns that many of these advances can quickly unravel if more is not done to combat insurgents coming across the border from Pakistan. In addition - there is little acknowledgment within the report of how corruption in the Afghan government continues to undermine US efforts. Which raises the question of exactly what we are fighting for in the country? Are US troops dying to prop up a corrupt Karzai government? Americans think so according to a new ABC News/Washington Post poll that shows disapproval of the war at an all time high - 60%. While President Obama may point to individual targets that show improvement - the war as a whole is deteriorating. That's because - despite the whitewashing in the strategy review - 2010 was the bloodiest on record for the United States. And that's after more than 9 years of sustained combat in the country. Listen to the American people Mr. President - and listen to the final words of your chief diplomat, Richard Holbrooke - Stop this war!
-Thom
(Do you think there is any point staying in Afghanistan any longer? Tell us here.)
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