Read the following article:
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_AFGHAN_WAR?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2016-01-30-09-36-17
Answer the following questions related to the article:
1. What is the current state of affairs in Afghanistan? Why is President Obama reconsidering decreasing American military presence in the region?
2. Who is the Senate Armed Services Committee chairman? What is his opinion about the troop reduction?
3. Is Hamdullah Mohib correct in calling Kunduz a "setback"?
4. Type the line that represents the first rhetorical shift in the passage.
5. Why is the Afghan government planning many "economic development projects" in the near future?
6. In your opinion, should America increase, decrease, or maintain its forces in Afghanistan? Why?
Lauren Beatty
ReplyDelete1. Afghanistan is a “danger zone” with bad conditions and increasing violence. Obama considered decreasing military presence because security is deteriorating.
2. Senator John McCain; he believes it is a bad idea because Afghanistan is in a “crisis situation” and needs our help now more than ever.
3. Yes, because the Taliban is controlling more territory.
4. When U.S. and other foreign troops left on an announced schedule, the Taliban pounced.
5. To help wean the nation off of international assistance.
6. In my opinion, America should maintain its forces in Afghanistan, because they are in a time of crisis and need our help now more than ever. Once they become a stable community, we should decrease troops.
Taryn Dockery
ReplyDeleteConditions are getting worse due to an increase in violence. He is reconsidering because the country is struggling to hold itself together after troops left 13 months ago. John McCain is the Senate Armed Services Committee chairman. He thinks that they should not reduce the number of troops. It is a setback because the goal is to get rid of the Taliban. “It's been a tough year on the Afghan battlefield.” Is the rhetorical shift. The government is planning developments so they can “wean” themselves off American assistance. I think they should maintain their numbers because if more troops leave, it will only result in more violence.
April McCool 3rd period
ReplyDelete1. Remains a danger zone and is getting worse. Hoping that things will get better and that they won't have to decrease the amount.
2. John McCain, it's makes no strategic or military sense to reduce the number of troops.
3. Yes, because it shows the aggressive movement of the Taliban.
4. "The Afghan army in Helmand has been plagued by incompetence and ineffectiveness, partly due to corruption among top officers who are suspected of siphoning off money from salaries, food, fuel and equipment."
5. Help the nation reduce its reliance on international assistance.
6. I think we should reduce the troops because while they are in Afghanistan, some of them are dying or are getting injured and it's the loss of American lives. Although, I think we should maintain the troops because of Americas assistance to help liberate those under the Taliban rule.
Casey Coggins 1st
ReplyDelete1. Currently, conditions in Afghanistan are worsening and violence is increasing. He is reconsidering decreasing the military because the Afghan police and soldiers are unable to do their job without American troops.
2. The Senate Armed Services Committee chairman is John McCain. His opinion is that the reduction makes no sense when the conditions in Afghanistan are only worsening.
3. He is correct in calling Kunduz a setback because it is increasing the Taliban's control.
4. "It's been a tough year on the Afghan battlefield."
5. The Afghan government is planning many "economic development projects" in order to wean the nation off international assistance.
6. America needs to increase its military forces in Afghanistan because the threat of terrorism from the area is still far too great, and removing any opposition to the Taliban would only allow them to get stronger. If we are to put an end to terrorism, American troops need to be fighting against them constantly.
Will Ernest
ReplyDelete1) Afghanistan is in poor shape. The Afghani military and police can not keep the peace, Taliban activity is on the rise, and the economy is wrecked. The state is in decline and ISIS is trying to establish links there.
2) That would be Senator John McCain. He has said that Afghanistan is in a "crisis Situation".
3) No, a setback is a factor you do not see at first and then calibrate for, that was a tragedy.
4) "They don't want to return to that," he said.
5) They say that they can fix the country by building up the job force.
6) The U.S. should increase the amount of troops in Afghanistan. The U.S. should not withdrawal from anywhere where U.S. blood has been spilled. Japan, Korea, Germany, France, Okinawa, and countless other places are better now than when the U.S. military fought there. If the military leave without establishing a tested and ready government that can handle its own and be entirely trust worthy.
1. Afghanistan is supposed to be under the control of the Afghan government, but it seems that they are again losing control to the Taliban. This interferes with Obama's plans of further reducing U.S. military presence in the Middle East.
ReplyDelete2. John McCain, the Senate Armed Services Committee chairman, said that Afghanistan was a "crisis situation" and that "trimming down the number of soldiers again during Obama's presidency, would be a bad idea."
3. It's less a "setback" than it is a catastrophe; the fact that the Taliban can still waltz into a major city and take it after all this time, is outrageously ridiculous.
4. The bottom line: For a second time, Obama is rethinking his plan to drop U.S. troop levels from 9,800 to 5,500 before he leaves office in January 2017.
5. To help wean their country off international assistance.
6. We need to ban together with other countries and eradicate Al-Queda and ISIS in one big force and be done with the entire issue and live happily ever after.
~Blake E. Lockridge
Brianna Snow
ReplyDelete2nd Period
1) Afghanistan is still a danger zone, the economy is weak and is getting worse, the country is continuing to fall apart. President Obama is reconsidering decreasing in American military presence in Afghanistan again because they are in a crisis situation.
2) John McCain of Arizona is Senate Armed Services Committee chairman, his opinion on the matter is that there will be nothing beneficial about removing American troops from Afghanistan.
3) Yes, he is correct in calling Kunduz a setback, it made the Taliban stronger and in control of one more city.
4) "The Afghan army in Helmand has been plagued by incompetence and ineffectiveness. . ."
5) The Afghan government are planning economical development changes to help lean the country off of international assistance.
6) In my opinion, I feel that Americans should increase military forces in Afghanistan. If we increase military in Afghanistan now, we can stop them before they get bigger and before they decide to go after other countries, including American itself.
Frankie Malveo
ReplyDelete1. What is the current state of affairs in Afghanistan? Why is President Obama reconsidering decreasing American military presence in the region? The situation is getting worse and Obama is considering decreasing American presence because he doesn't see any drawbacks.
2. Who is the Senate Armed Services Committee chairman? What is his opinion about the troop reduction? John McCain. He believes withdrawing troops is a poor decision.
3. Is Hamdullah Mohib correct in calling Kunduz a "setback"? Yes because that is reminding Afghans of life under the taliban.
4. Type the line that represents the first rhetorical shift in the passage. "It's been a tough year on the Afghan battlefield."
5. Why is the Afghan government planning many "economic development projects" in the near future? To wean the country off of international assistance.
6. In your opinion, should America increase, decrease, or maintain its forces in Afghanistan? Why?
I do not think we need to physically be there but instead train the people there to protect THEMSELVES from ISIS and let the men and women overseas return home. So, yes, we should decrease troops on Afghanistan.
Gabby Traywick
ReplyDeleteCurrent affairs in Afghanistan are getting worse and more violent. Obama is thinking of reducing American military presence because of the worsening conditions. John McCain is the Senate Armed Services Committee chairman and he believes it is not a good idea to reduce the troops. Hamdullah Mohib was correct in calling Kunduz a setback because it did not help advance any side of the fight. A rhetorical shift takes place at this sentence, "The Obama administration recently expanded the U.S. military's authority to offensively target IS militants in Afghanistan in addition to al-Qaida." Afghan government is planning economic development projects to help get them out of international assistance. I believe America should maintain its forces in Afghanistan to be able to continue counter-terrorism missions.
Kailee Post
ReplyDelete1. Afghanistan is continuing to get worse and stay a danger zone. Obama is reconsidering decreasing military presence because soldiers are already struggling to hold the country together.
2. John McCain is the Senate Armed Services Committee chairman. He believes that Obama should not drop the number of soldiers being sent to Afghanistan because it is a "crisis situation".
3. Yes, because he is Afghanistan's ambassador to the United States and has the authority to state that.
4. When U.S. and other foreign troops left on an announced schedule, the Taliban pounced.
5. Because when the bulk of the foreign forces left the country, 500,000 Afghan jobs were lost.
6. I believe we should decrease forces in Afghanistan. I don't support being over there and I believe too much money has been spent on the war in Afghanistan. I believe a large military footprint is less effective than thought-out, targeted attacks. We obviously cannot immediately pull all troops out of Afghanistan, but they should be brought home as soon as possible. Too much time, money, and lives have been spent on of this war.
Brandon Appling
ReplyDelete1.More violence is occurring.
2. Senator John McCain of Arizona. He doesn't want to withdraw more troops.
3.Yes, it is a major city and the first that the Taliban have captured since the U.S. invasion in 2001.
4.It's been a tough year on the Afghan battlefield.
5. Because many lost there jobs when the US withdrew most of its troops so there economy needs it.
6. Increase, at this point if we decrease the number of soldiers all of the time spent there and the lives lost will have been wasted, and we will have accomplished nothing if the Taliban seize control.
Abby Ingle
ReplyDelete1.The Afghan government is struggling to hold the country together and he is reconsidering it for the safety of the afghan people.
2.John McCain; he thinks that the withdrawal should stop.
3. yes, because the goal is to keep the Taliban out of power.
4."NATO officials have told The Associated Press that Afghan troops are displaying prowess, but suffering sustained heavy casualties..."
5. To slowly wean off assistance from other countries.
6.maintain, because they still need help fighting the Taliban
~Heather Williams
ReplyDelete1. Conditions in Afghanistan are getting worse due to the violence rising with the Taliban. Obama is reconsidering decreasing American military presence in the region because he doesn't "'see any drawdowns' in the near future." Also that he can leave the decision to the next president.
2. Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona is the Senate Armed Services Committee chairman. McCain thinks that there is no use to continue the withdrawal of the American forces.
3. Hamdullah Mohib is correct in calling Kunduz a "setback" because about 42 people were killed.
4. The first rhetorical shift in the passage is: "NATO officials have told The Associated Press that Afghan troops are displaying prowess, but suffering sustained heavy casualties..."
5. The Afghan government is planning many "economic development projects" in the near future to help wean the nation off international assistance.
6. America should maintain their forces in Afghanistan because their forces are continuing to weaken so it is not going to take much to keep fighting the Afghan troops, but they do still need help fighting the Taliban group. The Taliban cannot take over, so the Afghan troops are going to need our assistance to keep control.
Alyssa Gore
ReplyDelete1.The Taliban are staging new offensives and violence is on the rise. The people in Afghanistan are struggling to hold together the country.
2.John McCain.That Afghanistan is already struggling so why change the plans.
3.yes
4.
5.To strengthen their economy.
6.I think they should maintain the the forces because Afghanistan is weakening and there would be no use for more men.
Emily Free
ReplyDelete1)Things are extremely dangerous in Afghanistan, as violence is on the rise. The economy is weak, and Afghan police and soldiers are greatly struggling to hold the country together.
2)Senator John McCain. He thinks that it wouldn't make sense to withdrawal any more of the American forces during this situation.
3)Yes, because it was the Taliban's first capture of major city since before the U.S.-led invasion.
4)It's been a tough year on the Afghan battlefield.
5)To help them become more self-sufficient.
6)I think America should maintain it's forces, because I don't think decreasing them even more at this time would be a good idea with the security situation falling apart in Afghanistan.
Sarah McWaters
ReplyDelete1. Conditions in Afghanistan are becoming increasingly worse, pressuring Obama into this consideration of no longer decreasing troop numbers.
2. Republican Senator John McCain; he believes it would be unwise to continue to cut back troops while President Obama is still in office.
3. He is correct because the mistaken attack on the hospital reminded the country what being run by the Taliban was like.
4. "It's been a tough year on the Afghan battlefield."
5. To help improve the country's stability and wean it off of international assistance.
6. I believe that at this moment in time America should maintain the number of troops stationed in Afghanistan. Since the country has been through setbacks recently due to the Taliban, our troops should remain there until footing is regained and conditions are improved. Only then should our numbers decrease exponentially.
Mayson McGee: Week of February 1st
ReplyDelete1) Afghanistan conditions are getting worse as the time goes on. Obama wants to pull them out because of all the violence that is happening.
2) Sen. John McCain says, "It makes no sense to pull troops out of Afghanistan when the violence and crime continue to rise."
3) He called it "setback" because it just gave them a glimpse of what it was like to be ruled by the Taliban and they do not want to go back to that.
4) "more than held their own against the insurgency," but are not yet "self-sustainable."
5) To help wean off international assistance, that is the reason for the economic development projects.
6) They should increase because if we pull people out then the Taliban will take over again and bring terror on America and like that did in 2001.
1. The current state of affairs in Afghanistan that they are getting worse than before because of violence from the Taliban. He’s reconsidering decreasing forces because of the rising violence and that it is “too fragile.”
ReplyDelete2. Republican senator John McCain is the chairman. He thinks that troops should not be decreased and that to do so is a bad idea.
3. Mohib was correct in calling it a set back. The point of U.S troops being there is to create peace, with the rising violence and the seizing of Kunduz it was a setback because they’re supposed to be working for peace not violence.
4. The rhetorical shift starts at, “It's been a tough year on the Afghan battlefield.”
5. The Afghan government plans economic development projects to help wean the nation off international assistance.
6. At the time and with the rising violence should maintain if not increase their forces. With more troops there, the nation seemed to be doing better at keeping the peace, but decreasing the forces could cause more violent outburst from the Afghan nation
kayla compton
ReplyDelete1. the security is decreasing and becoming more dangerous. because there is such a problem with not only the security but also the economy
2. john mccain, he believes we should not decrease amount of troops
3.yes because it showed life before the US were involved
4. "its been a tough year on the afghan battlefield"
5.so they cant provide for themselves instead of using international help
6.i believe america should slowly decrease forces in afghanistan. we obviously cannot decrease troops immediately, but slowly over time, if we decrease troops the country could begin to defend itself and we wouldnt be as involved in it as much, or at all.
Drew Gardino
ReplyDelete- The current state of Afghanistan is at a point to where the Taliban now can possibly start to take over some of its lost territory. The president is thinking about pulling more troops because the conditions are getting worse and it is harmful for the troops.
- John McCain. He states that it makes no strategic sense to decrease the amount of troops.
- Yes, because it is the first step for the Taliban to take control over Afghanistan again.
- It marked the Taliban's first capture of a major city since before the U.S.-led invasion and was marred by the mistaken U.S. strike on a charity hospital run by Doctors Without Borders, killing 42 people.
- To help with all of the jobs that have been lost in Afghan.
- I don't think that it makes any sense to decrease the amount of troops in Afghan because it would only lead to the Taliban taking over more land and possibly taking over Afghanistan again; however, I think that the US gets into so many wars that it doesn't need to be in.
BRIAN PHAM
ReplyDelete1. The current state of affairs is seen as a danger zone in Afghanistan. Obama is considering decreasing the military presence in the region because he thought that Afghanistan would become stable by now.
2. John McCain of Arizona, who believes that reducing troops in a time of instability is a bad choice as security is needed in Afghanistan.
3. Hamdullah Mohib was not right in calling the capture of Kunduz a setup because of several people getting killed and the fact that death and violence cannot possibly be referred to as a "slowing down of progress."
4. "Its been a tough year on the Afghan battlefield."
5. The Afghan government is planning many economic development projects in the near future because of the weak economy and the fact that a nation cannot stay a nation if it is constantly receiving money from another nation.
6. The American forces should maintain its forces in Afghanistan and possibly increase it more since it is apparent that Afghanistan is a country that needs to be babysat the security and spoon-fed money. Otherwise, the country would fall into imminent despair.
Taylor Burge
ReplyDelete1. Afghanistan is currently still involved in a raging war. The President is considering reducing the military force in Afghanistan due to his promise made at the beginning of his term in office.
2. The senate Armed service committee chairman is Sen. John Mccain. He believes that the troop reduction is a very bad idea.
3. Hamdullah Mohib was correct in calling Kunduz a setback because it increased the morale in the opposing forces.
4. Its been a tough year on the Afghan battlefields.
5. They are planning projects to help the country become less internationally independent.
6. America should maintain the forces in Afghanistan because if we reduce troops then the Afghan trops could see this as a sign and launch an attack we wont be ready for due to insufficient amount of soldiers.
Colby Free 3rd
ReplyDelete1. Dangerous; because they don't see any drawdowns in the near future
2. John McCain of Arizona; said that Afghanistan was in a "crisis situation."
3.Yes
4.The bottom line: For a second time, Obama is rethinking his plan to drop U.S. troop levels from 9,800 to 5,500 before he leaves office in January 2017.
5.To help wean the nation off international assistance.
6.Decrease, its been 15 years and its still going. send some troops home to their families instead of sending them to a war thats not doing anything.
Julie Morrison
ReplyDelete1. Everything is going bad. Afghan's military and everything is growing and becoming more powerful. Obama is thinking about decreasing because of how dangerous it is all becoming and how powerful they are.
2. John McCain is the chairman and he thinks that Obama is wrong and that they should stay.
3. Yes it is a setback.
4."It's been a tough year on the Afghan battlefield."
5. To help take the nation off of international assistance.
6. I think America should maintain its forces in Afghanistan because its working as of right now and shouldn't be decreased because then it would just be ignored.
Yasmine Evans (3rd)
ReplyDelete1. Afghanistan has a weak economy and Afghanistan police and officers are struggling to hold country together.
2. Republican Senator John McCain of Arizona. McCain says it doesn’t makes sense since the security situation continues to deteriorate.
3. No, because 42 people still died and it marked the Taliban’s first capture of a major city.
4.“But he said it also reminded Afghans what life was like under the Taliban.”
5. 500,000 Afghanistan jobs were lost when the foreign forces left the country
6. American forces should increase so that they can handle the counterterrorism missions overseas more easily.
Alex Holliday 3rd
ReplyDelete1. The current state has gotten progressively worse over the past fifteen years. This is the exact opposite of what President Obama had hoped to happen. He's trying to let the government take control and flourish on its own.
2. The Senate Armed Services Committee chairman is John McCain. He says there is no strategic or military sense to withdraw anymore due to the critical state of the Afghan government.
3. Yes he is correct in calling it a setback. Taliban control over a major city of 300,00 could show the rest of Afghanistan that the government has no control over the battles going on elsewhere and they could revolt or switch sides.
4. The bottom line: For a second time, Obama is rethinking his plan to drop U.S. troop levels from 9,800 to 5,500 before he leaves office in January 2017.
5. The Afghan government is planning a lot of economic development projects to wean themselves off of international assistance from countries that are willing to help them.
6. In my opinion the U.S. should increase our forces in America. I think this because us taking troops out has allowed for more cities to be taken, and more people to be switched over to the dark side. If we had more troops over there it might boost citizens morale, and give them hope that maybe one day they will live in a united Afghanistan, with no rebellious groups, under a single government official.
Christina Cabanero
ReplyDelete1. The state of affairs in Afghanistan are becoming increasingly worse as the violence rises and the Taliban stage new offensives. Obama is reconsidering decreasing the number of troops in the region because the Afghan government is showing that it can start to stand for itself and does not require as much U.S. aid as there is now, although it does require some aid still which is why he debates leaving some troops there but reducing the number.
2. John McCain is the Senate Armed Services Committee chairman and believes that pulling more troops from Afghanistan is not strategically or make any sense militarily speaking since Afghanistan continues to deteriorate.
3.Yes, because people are still willing to fight against the Taliban despite the capture of Kunduz by the Taliban because it reminded them of what it was like to live under their reign, which the people do not wish to go back to.
4. “The bottom line: For a second time, Obama is rethinking his plan to drop U.S. troop levels from 9,800 to 5,500 before he leaves office in January 2017.”
5. Creating many economic development projects to improve the economy will help restore citizens’ faith in the government and it is also believed that a better economy will help lead to better security in the country and it will play a large factor in stabilizing the government.
6. In my opinion, America should maintain the current amount of forces it has in Afghanistan because the government there is starting to be able to stand on its own. However, troops should remain there since the violence is increasing and having the U.S. troops there improved conditions and strengthened the fight against the Taliban and al-Qaeda. On top of that, it has shown that if and when U.S. troops pull out of there the Afghanistan soldiers will be hit hard by the enemy the second the U.S. leaves, as they did the last time America spoke of retracting troops.
Sam Andrus
ReplyDelete1. In Afghanistan the Taliban is on the rise and the government is weak which leads President Obama wanting to leave more troops in the region to protect the "too fragile" situation.
2. Senator John McCain of Arizona, the Senate Armed Services Committee chairman, thinks that it makes no sense to decrease American forces in Afghanistan while there is such weak and deteriorating security there.
3. Yes, Hamdullah Mohib was correct in calling Kunduz a setback because the US military made a big mistake which slowed down progress for the Afghan government and allowed the Taliban more room to operate.
4. "But he said it also reminded Afghans what life was like under the Taliban."
5. The Afghan government is planning a number of "economic developmental projects" in the near future to create jobs for the thousands of Afghans that lost jobs due to American intervention and to better combat Taliban so that the country won't need international assistance anymore.
6. America should pull its military out of Afghanistan. The United States has a problem with getting too involved in other countries' affairs. Presently, the US has military presence in over seventy countries, with troops stationed practically all over the world. France has military bases in ten countries and the UK only has bases in seven countries, yet we still have 50,000 troops stationed in Japan, and 40,000 in Germany. While it is great that we maintain our status as a global military power, it would be more beneficial for us to focus on problems within the 50 states, rather then spend millions of dollars overseas to feel more secure about ourselves. Terrorists are a very real threat, but the US has exhausted too many resources in Afghanistan and made very little progress. Time to move out.
Nick Sanders
ReplyDelete1. The Taliban are staging new offensives, the Islamic State group is angling for a foothold and peace prospects are dim, so Afghanistan remains a danger zone; With Afghanistan still a danger zone, it is preventing him the clean ending that President Barack Obama hoped to impose before leaving office.
2.Republican Sen. John McCain; he criticizes Obama's national security policy and thinks it's a bad idea.
3. Yes
4. "The Defense Department told Congress in a report last month that violence is rising in much of the country and the Taliban can be expected to build momentum."
5. To help wean the nation off international assistance.
6. In my opinion America should maintain its forces in Afghanistan, because by decreasing its forces, it allows the Taliban to take over and by increasing its forces, it could make the Taliban increase their forces too which helps Afghanistan none.
1. The state of affairs in Afghanistan are slowly getting worse, with a weak economy that’s killing the confidence of the people, as well as the rise of ISIS and the Taliban’s comeback. President Obama is once again considering to drop the amount of troops in Afghanistan by nearly fifty percent because his main foreign policy goal was to have all troops from Afghanistan home by the end of his two terms.
ReplyDelete2. Senator John Mccain (who ran against President Obama in the 2008 election) is the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee and he believes that the troop reduction plan in Afghanistan is a very bad and potentially hazardous choice with Afghanistan’s situation slowly getting worse and worse. He even went as far as to call it a “crisis situation”.
3. Yes, Hamdullah Mohib is correct in calling Kunduz a setback. With the Taliban’s taking over of one of Afghanistan’s largest cities, it proves that Afghanistan is not in a stable enough situation for President Obama to bring 4,000 troops back home just yet. It is an overall serious setback to the President’s goal to bring back any troops at all.
4. The bottom line: For a second time, Obama is rethinking his plan to drop U.S. troop levels from 9,800 to 5,500 before he leaves office in January 2017.
5. The Afghan government is planning many economic development projects to attempt to help take the nation slowly off of international assistance.
6. I believe for the time being that America should maintain the majority of its forces in Afghanistan due to the problems that are almost certain to occur there. I believe the President could release some troops, maybe 1,500 or so, but not the drastic fifty percent drop he was hoping to initiate. With the ever growing problem of ISIS and the Taliban, the people of Afghanistan and the many innocent people that have been through hell and back over the past fifteen years need our help more than ever.
Jane Frances Armour
ReplyDelete1. The current affairs in Afghanistan is that it's getting worse, more violence and less peace. He is reconsidering because the Afghan police and soldiers could not hold the country together without them.
2. Sen. John McCain of Arizona. His opinion is that it would make no sense to reduce the troops.
3. Yes, because it shows that the Taliban can take cities even when they are there.
4. "In the south, Afghan army units have been engaged in ..."
5. They are doing that because Afghan people need to make jobs for themselves without the help of foreign countries and that is the way the are trying to do it.
6. I think America should maintain the number of troops there right now and then slowly bring a few troops home over a period of time after helping Afghanistan get back on their feet and in control of their country. Do it this way so we can slowly remove our troops and teach their troops how to fight, but also help them politically.
Alex Holliday 3rd
ReplyDelete1. The current state has gotten progressively worse over the past fifteen years. This is the exact opposite of what President Obama had hoped to happen. He's trying to let the government take control and flourish on its own.
2. The Senate Armed Services Committee chairman is John McCain. He says there is no strategic or military sense to withdraw anymore due to the critical state of the Afghan government.
3. Yes he is correct in calling it a setback. Taliban control over a major city of 300,00 could show the rest of Afghanistan that the government has no control over the battles going on elsewhere and they could revolt or switch sides.
4. The bottom line: For a second time, Obama is rethinking his plan to drop U.S. troop levels from 9,800 to 5,500 before he leaves office in January 2017.
5. The Afghan government is planning a lot of economic development projects to wean themselves off of international assistance from countries that are willing to help them.
6. In my opinion the U.S. should increase our forces in America. I think this because us taking troops out has allowed for more cities to be taken, and more people to be switched over to the dark side. If we had more troops over there it might boost citizens morale, and give them hope that maybe one day they will live in a united Afghanistan, with no rebellious groups, under a single government official.
Victoria Jones
ReplyDelete1. Bad and getting worse with raises in violence with the taliban, because the situation is too fragile and Afghanistan is not self sustainable.
2. Lt. Gen. John "Mick" Nicholson, they have fought back well, but they are not ready to live on their own.
3. Yes because it was a win for the Taliban and people died.
4. "Its been a tough year in the Afghsn battlefield."
5. So that they can seem more self sustainable therefore the troops will be more likely to leave.
6. I would say maintain forces in Afghanistan because people are still dying and terrorists are still eerywhere and if no one is stopping them in their own country then their is nothing stopping them from coming to the USA.
Michael Ayala
ReplyDelete1. We currently have around 9,800 soldiers. And we are considering dropping it down to 5,500 in Afghanistan.
2. Senator John McCain and he believes if Obama does this it would damage the whole operation. He talks about how they need help and are currently not doing good on they're own.
3. No because it is a major city which can cause many effects to their country.
4. In a different report to Congress this week, the U.S. government's Special Inspector General for Afghan Reconstruction said the Taliban now control more territory than at any time since 2001.
5. So that they can stop getting international help from other countries.
6. I believe we should maintain our forces because with the number of terrorists groups rising and Afghanistans loss of the city, it too early to stop aiding them. And if we did so, they could fall into terrorism.
Katelyn Hardy
ReplyDelete1. Conditions are getting worse. President Obama is rethinking because Afghan police and soldiers are struggling to hold together the country 13 months after the U.S. military coalition culled its numbers by 90 percent.
2. John McCain; he doesn't think it makes sense to reduce the amount of US military forces.
3. Yes it was a setback, because it resulted in the killing of 300,000 people.
4. The Afghan army in Helmand has been plagued by incompetence and ineffectiveness, partly due to corruption among top officers who are suspected of siphoning off money from salaries, food, fuel and equipment. In recent weeks, the Afghan military has fired and replaced top Afghan army leaders there.
5. To help wean the nation off of international assistance.
6. I think we should maintain our forces. We have already culled out 90% of Afghans police and soldiers. So the numbers we have are good, but no need to send out more and risk more lives than are needed.
Austin Levins
ReplyDelete1. Afghanistan is currently struggling to deal with terrorism, which is threat America must take seriously. Their military cannot handle it by themselves.
2. Senator John McCain is the senate armed service chairman, And he feels that the situation is bad and it would not make sense to withdraw troops.
3. It was the first time since U.S. mistaken attack on a hospital that the Taliban seized a major city. THey took a city with 300,000 people.
4. It's been a tough year on the Afghan battlefield.
5. Their country is pour, and they need money to fund a mobile military that can battle insurgents.
6. America should maintain the number. With fewer the insurgents could take more land, and take over for good, while more soldiers would result in more U.S spending and deaths. The problem is finding the enemy, and once we do we can usually stop them with the number we have now.
Cole Frederick
ReplyDelete1.Violence is on the rise, the Taliban are staging new offensives, the Islamic State group is angling for a foothold and peace prospects are dim; because he don't see any drawdowns in the near future.
2. John McCain; it makes no strategic or military sense to continue the withdrawal of American forces so he disagrees with the withdrawal.
3. Kind of, it was the first time they had captured a major city since the U.S. became involed, but it also reminded them what life was like with the Taliban, which might increase their want to fight.
4. "Its been a tough year in the Afghan battlefield"
5. to help wean the nation off international assistance.
6. I think that we should keep forces and try to end it once and for all. If we withdraw, the taliban will still be out to get us since we've already intervened.
Rett Saele
ReplyDelete1. Afghanistan is getting worse and terrorist groups are getting a big hold of the peaceful areas of the country by taking advantage of how broke the economy is. He just wants to keep our troops safe.
2.John McCain that its a bad idea and that's the last thing we should do.
3.Yes, because we lost the city to the taliban.
4. It's been a tough year on the Afghan battlefield
5. because they broke and have no money to help them keep control of their country
6.We need to increase troops in Afghanistan because the middle east is where the islamic militants and terrorist come from. If we aren't putting pressure on the terrorist there then that gives them the opportunity to go anywhere including the U.S.
mills harrison
ReplyDelete1. Afghanistan is in a constant battle against terrorism and the country is falling apart. Because of the security of the nation is decreasing
2. Sen. John McCain. he does not agree with it because of the deteriorating of Afghan security.
3.possibly because it made another mission for the military to go on.
4. "They don't want to return to that."
5. so that the nation can be independent with no need of assistance from other nations.
6. Increase because the minute we come out of afghanistan the Taliban will make it a hot bed again and the Taliban are getting stronger we need foot troops on the ground to deal with the Taliban and to eradicate them as a hole.
Talia Gordon
ReplyDelete1). The Taliban are not making it any better than before. Because Afghanistan is in a weak state right now and if he pulls troops out there is the fear that the Taliban will become more powerful.
2). John McCain. That withdrawing troops made no strategic or military sense.
3). Yea, because it ruined the Afghanis hope.
4). "The Afghan army in Helmand has been plagued by incompetence and ineffectiveness, partly due to corruption among top officers who are suspected of siphoning off money from salaries, food, fuel and equipment."
5). To help the stop of international assistance.
6). The should decrease then since they are trying to dean over international assistance, however, whether they do or not the Taliban will still exist if they can't stop them.
Abby Nelson
ReplyDelete1. The current state is is considered to be a "crisis situation". Obama wants to remove troops because of the impending danger.
2. Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona. He thinks that the withdrawal of troops doesn't make sense.
3. Yes, the current situation is reminding the people of their past lifestyle and dangers.
4.In a different report to Congress this week, the U.S. government's Special Inspector General for Afghan Reconstruction said the Taliban now control more territory than at any time since 2001.
5.The economic development projects are to wean the country from international assistance.
6. I think that they should maintain the current amount of soldiers in the country to continue to help them get back on their feet. Obviously we cant stay there forever and if things get too risky, then we should act on removing the soldiers from the hostile environment. But until that time comes, we should continue to make allies and help in areas that we are able.
Tanner Bramlett
ReplyDelete1.Poor. Rising violence and crime due to the Islamic State.
2."They are just hoping that things hold together and they won't have to face a decision on whether to actually implement the force reduction they're talking about until late summer, early fall, by which time the administration will be on its last legs"
3.Yes but it is also true that the afghans ran the economy poorly as well.
4.It's been a tough year on the Afghan battlefield.
5.to help wean the nation off international assistance.
6.I personally think we should decrease our forces in Afghanistan. It comes across to me that, yes, we do need some involvement to help keep the citizens safe, we do not need a whole group of Americans out there. We are endangering our own citizen's lives for the POTENTIAL safety of another's life.