A Few Travel Tips Obama Should Keep In Mind As He Arrives In Afghanistan
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TIP #1: You Should Take The Opportunity To Learn About The Difficult Work Our Troops Are Doing, Before Assuming That They Are "Just Air-Raiding Villages And Killing Civilians" In Afghanistan:
Obama Said American Troops Were "Just Air-Raiding Villages And Killing Civilians." Obama: "We've got to get the job done there and that requires us to have enough troops so that we're not just air-raiding villages and killing civilians, which is causing enormous pressure over there." (Philip Elliott, "Obama Gets Warning From Friendly Voter," The Associated Press, 8/14/07)
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TIP #1: You Should Take The Opportunity To Learn About The Difficult Work Our Troops Are Doing, Before Assuming That They Are "Just Air-Raiding Villages And Killing Civilians" In Afghanistan:
Obama Said American Troops Were "Just Air-Raiding Villages And Killing Civilians." Obama: "We've got to get the job done there and that requires us to have enough troops so that we're not just air-raiding villages and killing civilians, which is causing enormous pressure over there." (Philip Elliott, "Obama Gets Warning From Friendly Voter," The Associated Press, 8/14/07)
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NOTE: "It Will Be Obama's First Trip To Afghanistan. He Has Been To Iraq Once." (Dan Hoover, "Demint Asks Obama For Hearings On Afghanistan," The Greenville [South Carolina] News, 7/16/08)
TIP #2: Leave The English-To-Arabic Dictionary At The Hotel, Because Contrary To Your Earlier Assertion, The Arabic Language Is Not Widely Spoken There:
Obama Claimed That We Are Placing "All" Of Our Arabic Interpreters In Iraq When They Are Needed In Afghanistan. Obama: "Right now, we don't have enough troops and NATO hasn't provided enough troops because they are still angry about us going into Iraq. So we just don't have enough capacity right now to deal with -- and it's not just troops by the way, it's like Arabic interpreters, Arab language speakers. We only have a certain number of them and if they are all in Iraq, then it's harder for us to use them, and obviously they may not speak Arabic, but the various dialects that they speak in Afghanistan often times people who speak Urdu or Pashto or whatever t he languages are, they are going to be needed in those areas and a lot of them have ended up being placed elsewhere. So, we've got to focus on Afghanistan." (Sen. Barack Obama, Remarks At A Campaign Event, Cape Girardeau, MO, 5/13/08)
According To The CIA World Factbook, The Languages Spoken In Afghanistan Are: "Afghan Persian Or Dari (Official) 50%, Pashto (Official) 35%, Turkic Languages (Primarily Uzbek And Turkmen) 11%, 30 Minor Languages (Primarily Balochi And Pashai) 4%, Much Bilingualism." (CIA World Factbook Website,
"The Vast Majority Of Military Translators In Both War Zones Are Drawn From The Local Population. Naturally They Speak The Local Language. In Iraq, That's Arabic Or Kurdish. In Afghanistan, It's Any Of A Half Dozen Other Languages -- Including Pashtu, Dari, And Farsi." (David Wright and Sunlen Miller, "Obama Gaffes On Iraq And Afghanistan," ABC News' "Political Radar" Blog, blogs.abcnews.com, 5/13/0 8)
TIP #3: If You Claim To Be A Leader On Afghanistan, You Could Have Taken The Opportunity To Lead And Hold Hearings On Our NATO Operations There:
Obama: "I ask you to consider my judgment and vision for new American leadership. Leadership that brings our combat brigades out of Iraq in 16 months, renews American diplomacy, finishes the fight in Afghanistan..." (Sen. Barack Obama, Remarks On Foreign Policy, Des Moines, IA, 12/18/07)
The Subcommittee On European Affairs Has Jurisdiction Over The Countries Of Europe As Well As NATO Activities. "Jurisdiction: The subcommittee deals with all matters concerning U.S. relations with the countries on the continent of Europe...and with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the European Union and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe." (U.S. Senate Committee On Foreign Relations Website,
As Chairman Of The Subcommittee On European Affairs, Obama Could Have Held Hearings On The Role Of NATO In Afghanistan. "[A]mbassador John Ritch, who served for two decades as the Senate Foreign Relations Committee's senior staffer on European affairs and East-West relations...[P]oints out that as subcommittee chair, Obama could have examined a wide variety of urgent matters, from the role of NATO in Afghanistan and Iraq to European energy policy and European responses to climate change..." (Joe Conason, "Obama's European Problem," Salon.com, www.salon.com, 1 2/29/07)
TIP #4: If You Really Wanted To Increase The Resources Available For Afghanistan, You Could Have Voted For A Bill Providing Funding For Operations There:
Obama: "Perhaps most importantly, some of these troops could be redeployed to Afghanistan, where our lack of focus and commitment of resources has led to an increasing deterioration of the security situation there. ... By redeploying from Iraq to Afghanistan, we will answer NATO's call for more troops and provide a much-needed boost to this critical fight against terrorism." (Sen. Barack Obama, Remarks To The Chicago Council On Global Affairs, Chicago, IL, 11/20/06)
Obama Voted Against Providing $94.4 Billion In Critical Funding For The Troops In Iraq And Afghanistan. (H.R. 2206, CQ Vote #181: Passed 80-14: R 42-3; D 37-10; I 1-1, 5/24/07, Obama Voted Nay)
The Emergency Spending Bill Provided The Following For U.S. Operations In Afghanistan:
$40 million for new power generation
$314 million for rural road rebuilding
$155 million for rural development
$19 million for agriculture
$174 million for Provincial Reconstruction Teams
$25 million for governance capacity building
$10 million for a Civilian Assistance Program
$79 million to support Diplomatic and Consular Programs
$16 million for Migration and Refugee Assistance
$16 million for International Disaster and Famine Assistance for Internally Displaced Persons Assistance
$47 million for International Narcotics Control and Law Enforcement activities
(Stephen Daggett, Amy Belasco, Pat Towell, Susan B. Epstein, Connie Veillette, Curt Tarnoff, Rhoda Margesson, and Bart Elias, "FY2007 Supplemental Appropriations For Defense, Foreign Affairs, And Other Purposes," Congressional Research Service, 7/2/07)
TIP #5: Do Not Insult Your Hosts:
Obama Said The Karzai Government "Has Not Gotten Out Of The Bunker" In Afghanistan. Obama: "I think the Karzai government has not gotten out of the bunker and helped organize Afghanistan and government, the judiciary, police forces, in ways that would give people confidence." (CNN's "GPS With Fareed Zakaria," 7/13/08)
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