Afghanistan

Vicky Hartlzer says "It would be a mistake to withdraw from Afghanistan before the job is done." 

What does that actually mean?  

Direct link to story here.

Today marks the 9th anniversary of the war in Afghanistan. I don't have anything especially profound to say about this occasion, except that I find it too easy to get wrapped up in the day to day drama of lesser things and let thoughts of the war and the service of people braver than me slip to the back burner. 

Image credit: TPM

As posted by the Tommy Sowers campaign:

Peter Kinder's call for the resignation of his "friend" Michael Steele follows yet another round of controversial statements made by the Chairman, this time to a Connecticut fundraiser last night. The Hotline summarizes:

RNC chair Michael Steele suggested history stands against the U.S. in the war in Afghanistan, a gaffe caught on camera during a fundraiser last night in CT.

"This was a war of Obama's choosing," Steele says in remarks captured on what appears to be a hidden camera. Steele blasted Obama for "demonizing Iraq while saying the battle really should be in Afghanistan."

"If he's such a student of history has he not understood that, you know, that's the one thing you don't do is engage in a land war in Afghanistan? Because everyone who's tried, over a thousand years of history has failed," Steele says.

Steele's spokesman walked back the comments, slamming Obama for criticizing George W. Bush and blaming Congress for playing politics.

Tom Schweich is never shy about highlighting his work in Afghanistan promoting alternative economic opportunities to fight poppy production.

But Schweich apparently never used the silver bullet in the war against the drug trade.

Yesterday, the New York Times reported on a geologic study documenting world-class mineral reserves in Afghanistan.  All told, the reserves are valued at nearly a trillion dollars.  That's a lot of alternative economic opportunity.

The Times also reports that the study, first produced in 2007, was ignored for two years by US officials and gathered dust.   That pretty much corresponds to Schweich much touted time in Afghanistan.

Did Schweich miss a golden opportunity?  Only he can tell us that.  And he no doubt will, because Schweich would rather talk about Afghanistan than the Missouri Auditor's race any day.

I'm struggling to wrap my head around the hypocrisy exhibited in this gambit by Kit Bond and his GOP colleagues:

Senate Republicans said Thursday that they would try to filibuster a massive Pentagon bill that funds the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, an unusual move that several acknowledged was an effort to delay President Obama's health-care legislation....

Republican Sens. Susan Collins (Maine), Richard C. Shelby (Ala.) and Christopher "Kit" Bond (Mo.) admitted they support the spending bill but acknowledged they were considering opposing it because of the health-care debate...

Bond was one of four Republicans to skip the cloture vote on the bill very early this morning.  Sen. McCaskill voted to stop the GOP filibuster, which was ended with a 63-33 vote at 1:01 a.m.

 TPMDC reports that Rep. Ike Skelton, Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, and Sen. Kit Bond, Ranking Member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, are on the list of select Congressional leaders to meet with President Obama at the White House just before tonight's speech on Afghanistan.

After the meeting, Obama will travel to West Point for the speech itself.  

Sen. Kit Bond went to an Afghanistan strategy briefing this afternoon at the White House, where the Commander in Chief was, you know, the Commander in Chief. "Obama said he understands the urgency but still wants to consider all options," Bond reported.

Quite a change in tone from yesterday, when Bond told the Hannibal Courier-Post that Obama "doesn't want to be Commander In Chief." 

Yesterday, Sen. Kit Bond visited the offices of The Hannibal Courier-Post, and delivered his usual rhetoric about why he opposes the health care reform and climate legislation before the Senate. He doesn't have any substantive counter-proposals, of course, but what else is new? 

And when attention turned to Afghanistan, Bond unleashed some serious fearmongering and accusations about Barack Obama.  Here's an excerpt from the video posted by the Courier-Post:

Rep. Ike Skelton was on "Face The Nation" this morning as part of a roundtable on the future of the war in Afghanistan. 

On the program, Skelton said he supports General Stanley McChrystal's recommendation for sending an additional 40,000 troops to Afghanistan.

Maybe I'm reading too much into this, but shouldn't our commitments in Iraq and Afghanistan make a Congressman's list of "chief international concerns"?  There are, like, American troops in both countries fighting wars, you know.

Speaking with the Hannibal-Courier Post last week, Congressman Blaine Luetkemeyer listed Iran, North Korea and Pakistan (in that order) as his top foreign policy concerns. The relevant comments start at 2:25 in this clip from the Courier-Post:

My brain is having a hard time processing the competing press releases from Sen. Kit Bond and Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer regarding this week's war spending bill. 

As you may already know, Congressional Republicans chose to vote en masse against the bill because of a small provision concerning IMF funding. The decision to oppose the crucial spending bill was especially hypocritical for George W. Bush's top Congressional leaders (e.g. Roy Blunt) who decried any opposition to Bush's supplemental bills with language like, "the equivalent of waving a white flag to al Qaeda."

But Republicans in the Senate didn't have much of a problem with the legislation -- only three voted to oppose the bill. In fact, Kit Bond's press release about the bill is headlined, "BOND: VICTORY!" (yes, all caps) and praised the inclusion $2.2 billion for C-17s he says will save 1,800 jobs in Missouri. 

The invasion of the Iraq was launched six years ago today.

All told, 4,225 U.S. service members have died in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Eighty-two Missourians have died while serving in Iraq.

Update: TalkingPointsMemo.com has posted a photo timeline of the war.