The Political Whore

By Alexandra Koutsogiannopoulos
PoHo Contributor
Alex is the program director for the United Nations Association-USA’s Tampa Bay Chapter and is an occasional guest on the Political Whore podcast.

President Barack Obama recently outlined his plan for Afghanistan and Pakistan. The following is a brief report of his statements about what he wants to do:

In announcing a plan on Friday that could be his signature foreign policy effort, Mr. Obama said that he would send more troops — some 4,000 — but stipulated that they would not carry out combat missions, and would instead be used to train the Afghan Army and the national police.

… Mr. Obama framed the issue as one that relies on one central tenet: protecting Americans from attacks like the one that occurred on Sept. 11, 2001.

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By Ben Luongo
PoHo contributor

President Barack Obama announced on Friday his new Afghanistan/Pakistan strategy, which he says has a clear goal:

To disrupt, dismantle, and defeat al-Qaida in Pakistan and Afghanistan, and to prevent their return to either country in the future. That is the goal that must be achieved. That is the cause that could not be more just. And to the terrorists who oppose us, my message is the same – we will defeat you.

Listen to his speech below:

To achieve this, Obama is sending an additional 4.000 U.S. troops to the 17,000 scheduled to be deployed to the region in the next couple of months. He is also sending a civilian “surge” which would include mostly diplomats and specialists.

Is this a good idea?
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By Ben Luongo
PoHo contributor
Ben Luongo is a USF political science graduate student. He will be graduating this spring.

Last Thursday marked the six-year anniversary of the war with Iraq. During this time, the U.S. has lost more than 4,000 troops and Iraq civilian losses are estimated around 90,000. According to the National Priorities Project the war has cost more than $650 billion so far, and much more will be spent. Also according to them, Tampa taxpayers have paid more than $600 million in federal taxes towards the total Iraq war spending approved to date.

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Obama’s weekend tour of Afghanistan (as shown in this AP video) seems to have gone well. And check that standing-o he gets from the troops.

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