Finally, A Decision for Afghanistan: We’re In It to Win ItThree months ago, I joined a number of Americans in urging President Obama to provide the resources necessary to achieve our goals in Afghanistan. Tonight, I am glad he mostly heeded that advice.
Right, the President was taking your advice…right. No wonder I disagree with it. By “we’re in it” do you mean you and Obama? That’s weird…are you ready to pal around with him now?
At long last, President Obama decided to give his military commanders much of what they need to accomplish their mission in Afghanistan. In the end, he decided to endorse a “surge” for Afghanistan, applying the counterinsurgency principles of “clear, hold and build” that worked so well in Iraq. Given that he opposed the surge in Iraq, it is even more welcome that he now supports a surge in Afghanistan.
“At long last”? Because he’s been jacking around on a ranch all these months? “Worked 
so well in Iraq”? OK, put down the Red Bull and eat a crouton…it will help. The only surge GWB had that was productive resulted in the birth of twins. SURGE MEANS MORE DEAD PEOPLE.
This approach means, as Senator John McCain has noted, that “We now have an opportunity to build a bipartisan consensus in support of a vital national security priority: defeating Al-Qaeda and its violent extremist allies in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and ensuring that these countries never again serve as bases for terrorist attacks against America and our allies.”
John McCain. Really? Do you think after seeing you turkey trot around the country on your Quitstock Tour that ANYONE thinks John McCain has the judgment of a turnip? Didn’t he say he was OK with 10,000 years of war?! Thanks, but no thanks.
We should be clear, however, that fewer troops mean assuming more risk. Talk of an exit date also risks sending the wrong message. We should be in Afghanistan to win, not to set a timetable for withdrawal that signals a lack of resolve to our friends, and lets our enemies believe they can wait us out. As long as we’re in to win, and as long as troop level decisions are based on conditions on the ground and the advice of our military commanders, I support President Obama’s decision.
– Sarah Palin
Tell me Sister Sarah, WHAT DO WE WIN? That goes for you too, Mr. President. WHAT DO WE WIN? Unless we are willing to make Afghanistan the 51st state, there will be a time we leave…and they can wait a long time.
See Russia vs. Afghanistan. No, look the other way.
SHANNYN MOORE: JUST A GIRL FROM HOMER 
She didnt write that.
It sounds like a new ‘ghost’ on the payroll.
She’s a FRAUD.
By: bg on December 1, 2009
at 10:12 pm
While reading the “alleged” words of SP, I thought, “she did not write this”, and the first comment by bg is exactly my first thought.
By: Jean Licata Sacco on December 2, 2009
at 4:01 am
You are oh so right about Caribou Barbie not actually writing her own Facebook post. Yes, she is a fraud.
By: bosshog on December 2, 2009
at 4:15 am
Definitely not Sarah’s writing. Who is she kidding? Herself and her fans, obviously. Well written Shannyn.
By: Lonnie on December 2, 2009
at 12:57 pm
Sister We have to remember our history.What area of the world that we invaded that our corporations did not control.
Go back to the beginning no cheating.
The big question today is WHO is our enemy.
I am wondering if we can convince people to pick berries for bombs.
The problem is so big that i dont think any blogger or correspondent can deal with.
Next question… Could you or Gryphen, or Jean or Phil, Come up with a short story like Mark Twain Samuel Clemens. Capture the conflict using Local vernacular and wit. We dont need to see names just the essence. You could keep it very short as we know your time is precious.
Ok i know your pissed but what were like not busy at this time of year and hearing a small submission of yours and others would be great.
And i would not really want to ask others as they would mostly ask others to do it. Oh and i forgot, nice piece.
By: AKjah on December 2, 2009
at 12:11 am
The sad realness is the President knows things we do not want to know. Now how that information is given to him, and by whom as well as the honesty of that information is the real question.
The good news is he did mention and end date. He did not wave the flag and say we are there to defeat evil. But can anyone imagine the Taliban with nukes? Sadly Pakistan is the real issue. I am damn glad I am not the one who had to make the call. But many in Government advocate war, it is a big money busimness. But our domestic issues need to be dealt with as well. Seems we are re-visiting the late 1960s once again though. Will we never learn from history?
By: Thomas Baxter on December 2, 2009
at 2:01 am
It seems to be easy for M$. “Bailin'” Palin to spout off about being “In it to win it” when she isn’t in Afghanistan caryying a weapon and being shot at. It never ceases to amaze me how M$ Palin jumps from platform to platform depending on how it is going to make he look in the eyes of her adoring throngs. On a lighter note, did you all hear about her little trip to our neck of the woods over the Thanksgiving weekend? She has family that lives in Kennewick WA. and decided to visit them AND have a nice little book signing at a local book store. And while she was here she took part in a 5-K run. Okay that is a bit misleading. She STARTED the 5-K run, but true to her nature M$. “Bailin'” Palin quit before the race was over. Is anyone really surprised by this?
By: Sheldon on December 2, 2009
at 3:35 am
Thanks Sheldon for “bailin” palin.
love the piece and Shannyn. Have been watching and reading this blog with other related blogs and want to thank Shannyn Moore for her dedicated work and intelligent insight. Watched the show on the immoral minority, another good site.
By: Jean Licata Sacco on December 2, 2009
at 4:12 am
Her superficial military intelligence gives her a platform to promote escalation and expand conflicts (Russia/Georgia, Pakistan, Iran) talk about cashing checks this country can’t cover. Her BS facade of fiscal conservatism is higher ranked over the bodies of US soldiers.
Our existing forces are stretched to capacity and demoralized. Which able bodies and minds make up these surge numbers? She can’t wait for Track to go back.
By: Icvillages on December 2, 2009
at 4:54 am
She got Iran and Iraq mixed up! I bet she doesn’t even know the difference.
By: Lonnie on December 2, 2009
at 12:59 pm
Meanwhile, her childish, perky cheerleader catch phrases (Drill Baby Drill) and now “We Are in it to Win it” does very little to diminish the danger this woman foists on this nation on a daily basis.
By: Icvillages on December 2, 2009
at 5:00 am
Maybe she is hoping Track can do another tour, this time in Afghanistan, to progress her Patriotism cred.
OK that’s really mean of me.
The only reason she agreed with Obama this time is that she could claim it was all her own idea to begin with, like the claim in her book that that whole “change” campaign was her idea first, and Obama stole it.
By: Molly on December 2, 2009
at 5:55 am
Thanks, Shannyn, for a great piece — as usual. I can’t stand Palin’s platitudes. As far as she’s concerned, war is fought to defend ideology, not to save lives. It figures that her FB post would be nothing but a regurgitation of McCain’s position. She’s incapable of original thought, but most cult leaders don’t need to be original.
Eighteen months is not long enough to set things right in Afghanistan, but if the US continues to support Afghanistan’s efforts on a humanitarian basis, things might come out OK…sometime in the very distant future. Ghandi’s words apply perfectly: “The most dangerous weapon in war is the table fork.”
By: LA on December 2, 2009
at 6:10 am
Before Ms. Palin became a foreign policy expert, she had this to say about exit plans:
“I’ve been so focused on state government, I haven’t really focused much on the war in Iraq. I heard on the news about the new deployments, and while I support our president, Condoleezza Rice and the administration, I want to know that we have an exit plan in place; I want assurances that we are doing all we can to keep our troops safe.”
But things are different now.
By: Dan on December 2, 2009
at 6:59 am
Shannyn –
As a lifelong hunter and gun enthusiast, I want to point something out.
Look carefully at that picture of Palin with the M-16. See anything wrong?
SHE HAS HER FINGER ON THE TRIGGER. You NEVER do that! That is a violation of the most fundamental principle of the hunter, or the military man/woman. You always assume all guns are loaded, even if you just checked it yourself. Remember the picture of the Guardsman and Elian Gonzalez? That guy was some kind of tense, but his finger was extended along the trigger guard, not on the trigger.
I had heard from friends in Alaska that Sarah’s alleged gun smarts were all a put-on – that she barely knew which end of the tube the round comes out.
This confirms it.
By: Jim on December 2, 2009
at 7:23 am
Everything about her is a fraud.
By: Lonnie on December 2, 2009
at 9:49 am
You are absolutely correct, Jim.
NRA Rule #1: never point a weapon at a living critter unless you are prepared to shoot it.
NRA Rule #2: never put your finger on the trigger unless you are prepared to shoot.
Why aren’t her NRA handlers instructing her on proper firearm etiquette and handling?
By: sauerkraut on December 2, 2009
at 10:16 am
Wouldn’t matter. She doesn’t take to larnin’ very well.
By: Poolman on December 2, 2009
at 3:17 pm
Didn’t Levi say palin did not know how to use a gun? I think he said she ask him how to use a gun, and that she kept it under her bed. Many years ago I remember girls like her in middle school. The press should shut this person down, but as her backer owns the press, sadly it will not happen.
By: wanda on December 3, 2009
at 3:16 am
Here you go:
http://www.moonbattery.com/archives/elian_gonzalez.jpg
This may seem like a trivial point, but ask anyone you know who hunts or is in the military. That finger on the trigger brands its owner as a tyro, and somebody you don’t hunt with. (Dick Cheney, for instance)
By: Jim on December 2, 2009
at 7:33 am
Gee, maybe Sarah should go to Afghanistan and help us win the war there since she’s such a sharp-shooter and all. I’m sure she can shoot from a helicopter and if that doesn’t work then maybe she can start talking to the tailban and I’m sure they’ll follow her advise since President Obama did.
By: Lonnie on December 2, 2009
at 7:56 am
I just want to add that she is beyond ridiculous.
By: Lonnie on December 2, 2009
at 7:57 am
Damn, what a great idea! If she went over and started talking, non-stop, they would all shoot themselves. Less casualties. And….she’d be a real american patriot like she claims to be.
By: mary b on December 2, 2009
at 11:21 am
I bet the tailban would make her “sit down and shut up”. I’d like to see how brave she would be if she were ever captured by them. I don’t think her smiling and winking will have an affect on them.
By: Lonnie on December 2, 2009
at 1:07 pm
Jim: I think she’s a total fake on all counts: hockey mom, hunter, runner, able to field dress a moose, FB poster, politician, Christian, all fake. She’s made up this image to obscure how shallow she is. I’m sending John McCain an email to tell him I will NEVER forgive him for foisting this dangerous lunatic on our country.
By: laprofesora on December 2, 2009
at 8:40 am
laprofesora,
I totally agree with everything you have written.
For some strange reason, I have been getting emails from McCain. I don’t know why as I have been a registered Democrat for 32 years and have NEVER voted for a republican.
But every time that I do send a reply, with my take on an issue, my email always comes back as ‘undeliverable’. Even when I send in the completed form from his web site.
Thank God that Mcain/Palin could not pull off a steal like Bush did. Can you even imagine the horrors that would be taking place now? It would be WWIII.
By: mary b on December 2, 2009
at 11:20 am
You are absolutely correct on all the points you made, laprofesora. She is a disgrace to all women.
By: wanda on December 3, 2009
at 3:23 am
There was a very good piece on Rachal Maddow concerning the President’s decision to keep sending troops to Afghanistan titled “Bush-uh-Obama Doctrine”.
Rachel does an excellent job in a very short time of pointing out the relationship to what is going on with the secret CIA war in Pakistan.
The continuing problem of these two countries, and Iraq/Iran scares the heck out of me. I sometimes feel that we’ve fallen so far down the rabbit hole that we’ll never find out way out again. As Rachel says, “Someone talk me down.”
By: Hedgewytch on December 2, 2009
at 9:13 am
I’m with Thomas Baxter:
“The sad realness is the President knows things we do not want to know. Now how that information is given to him, and by whom as well as the honesty of that information is the real question.”
Another thing is once we gone in there with guns blazing, how DO we get out? How DO we protect the troops that are there and get out with a minimum amount of damage?
I’d like to hear anyone’s ideas rather than constant criticism.
By: girl du jour on December 2, 2009
at 10:06 am
“We’re in it to win it!” Didn’t that used to be Rich McClear’s catch phrase on KUDO?
By: Kenrick on December 2, 2009
at 10:09 am
There is no “winning” in Afghanistan (or Iraq).
Just get omar and bin laden, and get the hell out of there. We cannot force the different factions to like each other. Hell, we can’t even force them to not shoot each other.
By: sauerkraut on December 2, 2009
at 10:17 am
I agree there is no winning this war and I believe, like many others, that Osama is Dead. But hey, if our enemy was gone, how could we justify the ramp up of forces?
By: Poolman on December 2, 2009
at 3:29 pm
So Palin is now saying she is against quiting?
By: Chris on December 2, 2009
at 10:52 am
Oh, my, she just can’t wait to put her 2cents in and act like she had something to do with President Obama’s decision. What a stupid idiot!
There obviously isn’t a good decision to be made about Afghanistan one way or the other, hopefully, what the president has decided based on reports will be effective. God help us all, these wars have had such a profound effect on us already, how much more can we take?
By: kareninTexas on December 2, 2009
at 11:08 am
Spot on, once again. This arrogant witch wouldn’t know what winning is if it stood up and bitch slapped her.
To all the neo-con crazy Palinbots, winning to them is creating a Christian Theocracy.
Ain’t gonna happen.
Afghanistan has been at war since the beginning of civilization. There is no such thing as winning. I hope to God that Obama is doing the right thing, as only God knows what the hell the right thing is regarding Afghanistan.
But I feel the same way you do. LBJ and Vietnam. The parallels are too scary.
By: mary b on December 2, 2009
at 11:13 am
It was Russia’s Viet Nam. They got the hell out cause they couldn’t win and we helped create the mess in Afghanistan by supplying them and training them to fight against the Russians.
By: Lonnie on December 2, 2009
at 1:10 pm
With Palin’s ‘deep understanding’ of history, I’m sure she can explain to us why Gengis Khan, Alexander, the British Empire (2x), and the Soviet Union (next door) failed to exert control of Afganistan over the past 2,500 years.
Couple that with a corrupt Afgan government, a population that sees us as invaders, and what do you get? Another Vietnam for America without the economic engine to fuel a wartime economy.
She’s a miserable excuse for a leader, spokesmodel, or anyone of note.
By: AC on December 2, 2009
at 11:25 am
“OK, put down the Red Bull and eat a crouton…”
Thank you, Shannyn, I really need a smile. I’m saddened by the president’s decision but I can say that I appreciate the effort he put into analyzing the situation. Sarah Palin’s shoot (her mouth off) from the hip style contrasts badly. As a commenter above noted she was FOR an “exit plan” regarding Iraq. It’s apparent that she believes the fact checkers will only look at her book to expose her lies.
Somewhere between the end of the book tour and the bowling expo speech, Sarah is due for a big wake up call.
By: at on December 2, 2009
at 12:16 pm
The only good thing about Sarah spouting off again is that for the first time in weeks, her FB posting hasn’t hit the headline news. No mention on CNN? No mention on ABC, CBS, MSNBC? I didn’t read an op-ed in the Times or the Post? It is such a relief to not hear every tidbit of what this dingbat has to say on the MSM. (I will bet she’s steaming about that also, too there.)
I must admit, however, that I do enjoy reading posts about her absurdity on Shannyn’s, Mudflats and other posts that call her out as the fraud that she is.
By: Claudia on December 2, 2009
at 1:28 pm
The less coverage of her in the media the better. She is nothing but a “side show” and belongs in the tabloids and gossip columns.
By: Lonnie on December 2, 2009
at 4:04 pm
The “Know Nothing” crowd that Palin represents use terms like “winning” because they simply can’t comprehend the gray areas involved with these two conflicts.
There really is no “winning”, but rather “obtaining objectives” that lead to an “ending” which entails an “exit strategy” with a goal of “minimal collateral damage”
(Palinistas would have an incredible hard time following this sentence since there were no “there’s” used in the place of written punctuation or verbal pauses)
By: Chris in LV on December 2, 2009
at 2:08 pm
Billy Kristol wrote her facebook post.
By: Mick on December 2, 2009
at 2:50 pm
CLASSIC PALIN “That was the message sent out by officials at the Mall of America this week, who told reporters planning to cover the Minneapolis-area stop on Palin’s “Going Rogue” book tour they must address the 2008 GOP vice presidential candidate by her former title. The guidelines also banned foreign reporters, allowing “only English speaking press.”
By: Thomas Baxter on December 2, 2009
at 6:23 pm
I originally posted this at IM. I was responding to another poster about President Obama’s speech lat night. I’m going to post it here (in its entirety) because apparently my remarks are too offensive and uncivilized for IM and are being censored over there (3 posts in a row in the last 24 hours can’t be a mistake).
Anon @ 2:10 PM,
You didn’t paint a very flattering picture of President Obama, but truthfully, and to my personal disappointment, I can’t find much to disagree with you on. I’m going to get yelled at and called names for this post (in that respect, left-wing blogs are no different from right-wing blogs in that if you don’t march in lock-step, you’re a troll), but I have to call things the way I see them.
I read a piece on the Huffington Post today by Michael Brenner that was written specifically in response to Obama’s speech last night, but it’s similar to what I have been thinking myself for months, in a more general sense. I see that you came away from Obama’s speech with an opinion similar to what Brenner hit on.
Here’s his quote from the piece:
“Obama is high on the intoxicating conceit that he can talk himself into anything and out of anything. His one strong conviction is that he is smarter, and superior all around, to us lesser mortals. At West Point, he sought not only to delude the American people but also to delude friends and foes alike that they should listen only to that part of the message directed at them.”
“Any course on foreign policy and diplomacy in a respectable university highlights the dangers of addressing multiple audiences at once. The messages interfere with each other. Yet the New York Times of Nov. 26 ran a long story on how the White House was planning to try and do exactly that.”
I like President Obama on a personal level, but this is what has bothered me all along about him. He’s convinced himself that he’s so clever an orator that he can bend all opposing sides at will, on any issue at all, to meet in the middle and compromise. I’m sure he had great success with these tactics as a community organizer, and I’m sure that very success is why he can’t seem to get beyond that strategy of always having to find the middle ground, but I’m afraid this will be the fatal flaw of the Obama Presidency
By: Shamus on December 2, 2009
at 8:39 pm
No, I’m not going to call you any names. You’re entitled to your opinion and have a right to voice it. I would like him to take a more agressive stance on issues he really cares about thou. I preceive some hesitancy on his part is due to the fact that he is our first African-American President and is trying his best to govern in the middle and compromise. You have people like Glen Beck calling him a racist and many teabaggers and birthers questioning the legitiamcy of his citizenship. Would they have done that with a “white” President? Then there are others who question his religion calling him a muslim when the truth is that they are opposed to having a bi-racial man as our President. He inherited a huge mess with the economy and the two wars from a “white” President who was dumber than a door knob. He is assaulted by Republicans and Alaska’s very own “Wicked Witch of the North” on everything he does or says. He has a tough job being President but don’t you think it’s harder for him because of all the racism. Personally, I like him and think he is an intellligent human being weighing all options before making any major decisions. I’m not saying go easy on him because he is our first African-American President I’m just saying that the man has to put up with a lot of ugly crap that is out there and he is trying his best. Too bad George W. dodged that shoe thrown at him. If anyone deserves disrespect is George W. and Dick Cheney for getting us into this mess with the Iraq war.
By: Lonnie on December 2, 2009
at 9:30 pm
Shamus and Lonnie, I appreciate your posts and understand your comments. This is one of the hardest times I’ve lived through in my life so far and I’ve never been as interested in reading everything on the political scene as I have been in the last few years.
The one thought that helps me when all the noise is overwhelming, is that when I voted for President Obama, I gave my trust to him for at least four years. It’s been about ten months and a way to go so I’ll let him be and say a prayer for him. As for the idiots who try to degrade their own President, I will follow the Presidents example and ignore them and show kindness to all. This is the hardest thing and I believe, the very thing that is most effective. As for the war and winning, it’s an oxymoron.
By: Jean Licata Sacco on December 4, 2009
at 7:32 am
They can indeed wait a long time. It’s a part of their culture. The residents of at part of the world grow up with the knowledge that invasions are a part of life, as they have been for thousands of years. Eventually, the invaders always go home, their empires exhausted and in ruins.
“Step right up. Who’s next?”
By: Candy Knight on December 3, 2009
at 7:15 am
Hi Shannyn, I have been in agreement with you from day one. I really enjoy your appearances on Keith Olbermann (sp?) and this site. I work for the oil industry, and I pegged SP as a liar from the moment she opened her mouth. She continually takes credit for other people’s work, so her implying that Obama took her advice did not surprise me. I remember the day in August 2008 when my mom wrote me an e-mail saying something like, “Sarah Palin, VP, how about that?” (Poor Mom is a Wasillian and wanted the home-town-girl gone good story to come true.) Anyway, I wrote back immediately that Sarah is a liar and NOT qualified. Well, that led to a three or four month silence between mom and me. And now, 16 months later, it is nationally known that this is indeed true, the graphics painting a Pinocchio nose on her and all – just tickles me. Anyway, I am also the program coordinator for the Martin Luther King Foundation of Alaska, and have helped with the Alaska Black Caucus meeting with SP. We came to the conclusion two years ago that she is a bit of a racist as well, not at all comfortable with other cultures, and very dismissive of them. Just my own personal experience here in Alaska with the worst governor we have ever had! Keep up the good work painting our red state blue!
By: Laura on December 3, 2009
at 6:16 pm
Why is it that George Bush, Sarah Palin, and her ilk always talking about “sending the wrong message”?
Dick Cheney never opens his mouth without talking about how we are sending the “wrong message”, which apparently has the power to strengthen Al Qaeda (all 100 of them), and “embolden our enemies”.
They use that phrase to justify any number of atrocities and crimes against the constitution.
But what does it mean? Who receives this message, and why is it important that “they” receive the “right” message vs. the “wrong” message. Do “they” really hang on our every word, as if we speak nothing but the truth about our intentions in the media?
This may seem inane, but hearing Sarah channeling Dick Cheney is almost too much to take. Sarah can’t find Afghanistan on a map. She is the Miss Teen South Carolina of politics.
By: wmholt on December 4, 2009
at 4:05 am
You and Olderman had on the same glasses. Cute
By: Dianne on December 24, 2009
at 4:31 pm