NBC: U.S. Commanders In Afghanistan ‘Complained To Us’ That They Lack Resources Because Of Iraq
NBC: U.S. Commanders In Afghanistan ‘Complained To Us’ That They Lack Resources Because Of Iraq
On NBC Nightly News last night, anchor Brian Williams reported that on a recent trip to Afghansistan, “several U.S. commanders complained” to NBC that they lack “resources, aircraft, soldiers and support because of the war in Iraq.” Williams noted that the commanders’ complaints were echoed earlier in the day by Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Michael Mullen, who said that the military’s resources are “constrained” because of Iraq. Watch it:
As Williams noted, Mullen told reporters yesterday that in Afghanistan, “violence is up this year by every single measure.” Mullen then said that “we don’t have enough forces” to deal with the challenges there because of troop commitments in Iraq:
“In the last six or seven months, we have a put a tremendous amount of focus on Afghanistan, and I think rightfully so,” he said. “It is an economy-of-force campaign, and by definition, that means we don’t have enough forces there.
“I am constrained on forces I can generate quite frankly because of Iraq,” Mullen stated. “Afghanistan is a significant challenge and is going to take a significant period of time.”
In April, Mullen also told the Senate Armed Forces Committee that “with the bulk of our ground forces deployed to Iraq…we cannot now meet extra force requirements in places like Afghanistan.” Violence has increased to such an extent in Afghanistan that May 2008 was the first time that “American and allied combat deaths in Afghanistan in May passed the monthly toll in Iraq.”
Transcript:
WILLIAMS: Now to the war in Afghanistan. Two Friday nights ago, we were there at Bagram airfield. Because that was the night we reported Tim Russert’s death, our trip ended, we came home without showing you some of what we had reported there. Tonight, we have a look at life there and the war effort now in its seventh year. Several U.S. commanders complained to us about the lack of resources, aircraft, soldiers and support because of the war in Iraq. In fact, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs said today, the Iraq War is constraining the military effort. He said violence is up in almost every single measure in Afghanistan, where they have learned to make due with what they’ve got.
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and yet cowardly republican voters still look to these incompetant theives for protection
do you have to turn in your balls to register as a republican, or is it still just your brain?
June 24th, 2008 at 5:37 pmCouldn’t anyone have seen this on March 20th 2003?
June 24th, 2008 at 5:38 pmWhy won’t the press ask the commanders in the field how it’s really going? Oh, wait… why won’t the press ask Dana in the briefing room how it’s going?
June 24th, 2008 at 5:39 pmMullen obviously doesn’t know what he is talking about and will be replaced by a true military/political genius that is General Petraeus: so sayeth George. Amen
June 24th, 2008 at 5:40 pmBomb Iran!
June 24th, 2008 at 5:41 pmMissing from the story is, how many contractors and mercernaries are in Afghanistan now? How does the ratio compare to Iraq? I know Blackwater was there and probably still is, but who else? What are they providing?
June 24th, 2008 at 5:42 pmAlternate headline:
US Citizens Lack Resources Because of Iraq.
June 24th, 2008 at 5:45 pmLogical solution: start shite with Iran. Brilliant!
June 24th, 2008 at 5:49 pmThis is what happens when you try to run a war like a corporate take-over.
June 24th, 2008 at 5:49 pmWaltTheMan, apparently no one could have foreseen anything ever.
June 24th, 2008 at 5:51 pmAngry McAngus — a failure of imagination…
June 24th, 2008 at 5:52 pmThe Commanders in Afghanistan don’t complain to the Pentagon, because they know they will get nothing and nowhere fast.
June 24th, 2008 at 5:53 pmIt’s the Afghans own fault for not having oil reserves…..
June 24th, 2008 at 5:54 pm5th Estate Says:
Missing from the story is, how many contractors and mercernaries are in Afghanistan now? How does the ratio compare to Iraq? I know Blackwater was there and probably still is, but who else? What are they providing?
#####
The most recent numbers I have seen say there are about 10 major contracting companies, more than a dozen subcontractors, and about 10,000 civilian employees. They provide convoy security, bodyguard security for HRP’s, food services, transportation, and intelligence.
June 24th, 2008 at 5:57 pmWOW!! They hand-pick their military leader, and he can’t follow a simple script.
Somebody with a loaded shotgun and a man-sized safe is REALLY pissed about now.
When management makes bad decisions that cost organizations money and resources, it is called ‘mismanagement’; when the BushCo Band of Merry Scumbags does it, it is called ‘business as usual’.
June 24th, 2008 at 5:58 pmNBC: U.S. Commanders In Afghanistan ‘Complained To Us’ That They Lack Resources Because Of Iraq
The answer: Bomb Iran… right Bush?
Could his order to bomb Iran be suppressed by the US commanders due to lack of resources? Oh, I forgot, Cheney’s military will be looking for more bids soon.
June 24th, 2008 at 5:58 pmrobbez, don’t we need them for the pipeline at least?
June 24th, 2008 at 6:01 pmTanqueray Says:
June 24th, 2008 at 5:56 pm
But they ARE, Blanche, they ARE. And it’s because of the policies and inattention of this administration.
June 24th, 2008 at 6:03 pmTanqueray Says:
The military should never be plagued by a lack of resources. Never in history has the military of our country been hindered by a lack of resources. If they ask it should be provided with no questions asked. Increase their budgets and throw more money at them because only the Generals know how much is needed.
So, tell me how almost a TRILLION f’ing dollars should cause a ‘lack of resources’? They could have picked up Iraq and moved it completely to Texas for that much money!
And, I take it you were never in the military, because if you were, like I was in Vietnam, you would have seen first-hand what an under-supplied military looked like. We were out of food, water, ammo, clothing, working helicopters, you name it.
But guess what; all the contractors and civilians there lived like kings.
June 24th, 2008 at 6:04 pmAngry McAngus Says:
Nope. What we need the Afghans for is to give the Pakastanis plausible deniability as to the whereabouts of Osama bin Laden. Remember, Musharraf is our ally in the GWOT. Just don’t tell Benazir Bhutto’s family.
June 24th, 2008 at 6:08 pmWaltTheMan said:
Couldn’t anyone have seen this on March 20th 2003?
We did. Nobody listened.
http://progressiveworldreview.com
June 24th, 2008 at 6:18 pmracist_rogers should enjoy this one:
Bush To Filipino President: “I Am Reminded Of The Great Talent Of The — Of Our Philippine-Americans When I Eat Dinner At The White House”
June 24th, 2008 at 6:19 pmhad enough Says:
NBC: U.S. Commanders In Afghanistan ‘Complained To Us’ That They Lack Resources Because Of Iraq
The answer: Bomb Iran… right Bush?
No, Bush will say, “The answer is we have to make the tax cuts permanent.”
June 24th, 2008 at 6:19 pmChris L!
June 24th, 2008 at 6:20 pmLong time no see!
Thanks for the summary.
Tanqueray Says:
The military should never be plagued by a lack of resources. Never in history has the military of our country been hindered by a lack of resources. If they ask it should be provided with no questions asked. Increase their budgets and throw more money at them because only the Generals know how much is needed.
######
While I love the idea, for personally selfish reasons, I still have to disagree. Money doesn’t always fix the problems, unfortunately. Also, speaking from experience, the Army can waste money like you wouldn’t believe. What we need in Afghanistan is troops. Lots of them. Also, UAV’s and more intel resources. Unfortunately, that is all tied up in Iraq.
June 24th, 2008 at 6:21 pmLast time I checked herr dubyah is the commander-in-chief who ordered/demanded this war. So, yes, it is all herr dubyah’s fault. Let us know if you need any help.
June 24th, 2008 at 6:23 pmMore proof that reich-wingers are indeed the party of fiscal irresponsibility and lack of oversight.
June 24th, 2008 at 6:25 pmTanqueray Says:
Ever was it thus!
This isn’t news!
The F’ing Democrats were worse!
Look over here!
These aren’t the droids you’re looking for!
(see the problem with the old Ginny mind trick, Tanqy, is that you have to be weak willed or drunk to fall for it…)
June 24th, 2008 at 6:26 pmTanq: Never in history has the military of our country been hindered by a lack of resources.
Except for the War of Independence, the Civil War (both sides), World War 1, World War II. Korea, Vietnam of course, so when you say NEVER IN HISTORY I guees you just like the way that sounds?
June 24th, 2008 at 6:28 pmThis little website treats these complaints as Breaking News and of course it’s all Bush’s fault.
A) It is Bush’s fault. I seriously do not understand how you could think otherwise. Bush and Rummy together (but mainly Bush, for approving every bad decision made during this war of choice.)
B) It is Breaking News because up until now, the administration has been telling us that the commanders on the ground were being given everything they asked for. Of course, it would not surprise me if the commanders on the ground were ordered to not ask for anything beyond what they were given. Then the WH’s line about how they’ve been given everything they asked for could technically be considered true, but not entirely truthful.
C) This award-winning website ain’t so “little” any more.
June 24th, 2008 at 6:29 pmThis site desperately needs a sarcasm tag so things don’t flying over some peoples heads.
I think ChrisL was kinda hoping that he could get something flying over his head… he says a little air support would be nice. Most of it’s in Iraq, however…
June 24th, 2008 at 6:30 pmTanqueray
oops. My apologies for piling on. try using snark at the end.
June 24th, 2008 at 6:30 pmTanqueray Says:
Chris L,
This site desperately needs a sarcasm tag so things don’t flying over some peoples heads.
#####
I usually use /sarc
For instance:
The solution to the problem in Afghanistan is easy. All we have to do is attack Iran, and then use cheap Iranian labor to drill in ANWR. After we have lots of oil and permanent tax cuts, we can stop the gay liberals from having abortions. Then the terrorists in Afghanistan will love us and sing Koom Bye Yah.
/sarc
June 24th, 2008 at 6:32 pmoh tanq, I think I take my sypatheies and apologies back, given your subsequent comments–I see no sarcasm in them, just foolishly definitive insupportable statements.
June 24th, 2008 at 6:37 pmTREBECK: Birds, bullets. quantum mechanics, shit, all have this in common.
June 24th, 2008 at 6:42 pmCONTESTANT: What are things flying over some peoples heads?
Vietnam all over again!
June 24th, 2008 at 6:43 pmSounds exactly what I lived through as a young marine in Nam in 67-68! There was never enough of anything except “Orders” to “Keep on pushing on!”
I recall a resupply one afternoon of ammo that was useless! We were sent boxes of rifle grenades that were boxed in Nov of ‘44 for the M-1 rifle!Didn’t have any M-1’s, but we humped it out to Highway 9,cause we couldn’t leave it, too there was to much to bury!
I feel for the men and women in-country today, I really do. Soon their biggest cheerleader Gunga-Din Bush will amble off in the sunset but they’ll still be plugging on with no end in site!
Tanq says:
This little website treats these complaints as Breaking News and of course it’s all Bush’s fault. Well The F’ing Democrats where in charge when I was in, and I blame them all to this day.
Well, Tricky Dicky and his Merry Band of Tricksters were in charge when I was in, and even THEY weren’t as f’ed up as the BushCo assklowns.
June 24th, 2008 at 6:43 pmRight-On Wayne!
June 24th, 2008 at 6:44 pmWe were the one’s who freed the drug lords, so why does the Taliban get that $100 million from the opium trade? I call BS (on SO many levels).
June 24th, 2008 at 6:46 pmKlem,
That sounds SOOOO true.
We were in a convoy with a bunch of broken down trucks, beat to shit, getting dark, and here come about 7 brand new deuce and a halfs, going about 70 clicks/hour, with a bunch of 16 YO laughing ARVN driving. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to cry or shoot them.
June 24th, 2008 at 6:47 pmYou mean that reconditioned rifles and faulty ammunition aren’t enough to kick Muslim a$$? All we should need is a Bible and a pocket full of rocks. God’s on our side!
sarc/off
June 24th, 2008 at 6:53 pmTanqueray Says:
The military should never be plagued by a lack of resources. Never in history has the military of our country been hindered by a lack of resources. If they ask it should be provided with no questions asked. Increase their budgets and throw more money at them because only the Generals know how much is needed.
June 24th, 2008 at 5:56 pm
The only problem is that W is firing every general who disagrees with him. The view is that anyone with 20-40 years of military experience is less able to evaluate the situation then either W or Dick, who have none, are sent into the trash heap.
June 24th, 2008 at 7:07 pm‘are’ s/b ‘is’ - hate those grammar errors!
June 24th, 2008 at 7:13 pmSince we all know that iRAQ is a cake walk and doesnt’ consume our resources, what will happen when we or Israel bomb Iran ?
June 24th, 2008 at 8:06 pmKlem and Upside99…
Get a room already! :D
Seriously though, it’s only me asking at the moment but could you knock-up a blog-spot blog and “dump” some memories and experiences there? Would you? Could I set one up an ‘manage’ it? I think it would be fascinating and valuable.
“War is hell” said MacArthur. War is also very weird from what I’ve read. The BBC has a massive archive of personal WWII anecdotes from Brits, French Germans Italians, Russians etc, from every military arm, nurses, spies,radar operators, pows, civilians the lot, at least 20,000 records which they garnered before that entire generation died.
INHO every war should have such a record–history is too often written by distanced observers and after the fact.
June 24th, 2008 at 8:29 pmJust a suggestion.
Good idea 5th. However, it will be hard to pull off with a quarter of the country convinced that soldiers who speak out against war are somehow not “real soldiers”. We must finish marginalizing the “bottom of the curve” before such a noble cause can take off.
June 24th, 2008 at 8:34 pmThe big news involves Mullen and his trip later this week to Israel. He plans on doing a quick drive by while touring Europe. Yes, that Europe. His head of Naval Command is already hanging out in the Jewish state.
http://arisfreedomswitch.blogspot.com/ 2008/ 06/ joint-chief-drops-in-on-israel-while.html
June 24th, 2008 at 9:24 pmWhich Vietnam did you serve in Tanq - my brother had rifles that got so hot they froze up. This war my son had no body armor until we bought it for him, V-bottom humvees were given to Iraqis BEFORE our soldiers got them. Tell me again the resources our military gets…oh and don’t forget the fabulous medical care they get when they are trying to learn to walk, and see again. We won’t even go with the emotional problems, because we all know a valium will take care of night tremors. You war mongers make me sick.
June 24th, 2008 at 10:21 pm#49 pete…
thanks for the “good idea” praise, but my suggestion wasn’t inspired by the idea of a specifically anti-war blog or record written by combat veterans, but the accounts of participants, in the raw.
June 24th, 2008 at 10:25 pmI grew-up in the UK in the 60’s when there was STILL direct evidence of WII to be found I was taught of the glory of WWII, imbued with it. I played “war” as a child, and joined a wargaming club in which everyone else was an adult (they had actually grown-up during the war).
By rights I should have been thoroughly indonctrinated in the glories of war, but I wasn’t. I was fortunate enough to get a perspective from my father and his colleagues ( one a commando, one a POW of the Japs, and others)and I learned that war wasn;t simple and that however noble the cause, it was horribly cruel. I just thnk the eyewitness accounts of any war are valuable, and I get the impression that Vietnam, though extensively recorded on film and TV has not been so recorded in actual testimony–and that would be a tremendous loss.
Our nation’s combat forces in Afghanistan are strained by Bush’s war in Iraq, interfering with the mission of U.S. forces in Afghanistan against right-wing, ultra-orthodox, religious fundamentalist Taliban and al Qaeda fighters.
Our nation’s domestic emergency response is strained by Bush’s war in Iraq, because so many of our nation’s national guard units and reservists (along with their equipment) are tied up in Bush’s war in Iraq.
So much money, over half a trillion dollars, has been thrown into Bush’s Iraq war, money diverted not only from tracking down right-wing terrorists in Afghanistan, but also diverted from domestic programs, including ones that can protect us from right-wing terrorists attacking us at home.
Bush and Cheney (and Republicans, in general) have done more damage to our nation than I believe anyone can possibly imagine, and have hurt our efforts to stop all right-wing, religious fundamentalist terrorists who wish our nation and our Constitution ill.
Heckuva job, fellas…now get the hell out of our country…go live in the Green Zone in Baghdad.
June 24th, 2008 at 10:46 pmWe’re about the same age, 5th. I too grew up with stories from WW2 and my Great Uncle and step Grandfather both served in WW1. My Father, a nvigator/bombardier in B-17’s, took me on a tour of Europe in 73, including a couple of towns he dropped bombs on. I swear that Cologne, Hamburg and Bonn still had a smell, or aura(?), of death. It’s hard for anyone who hasn’t seen the scars of war, like most Americans, to have any grasp of the horror.
And one of my lifelong passions is military history. Especially memoirs of common soldiers. Those stories from people who have witnessed the “glories of war” first hand should be mandatory reading. Even those who get off on combat manage to convey the utter waste and futility, plus a healthy dose of respect for enemies. I often wonder if any members of Bushco have any grasp of history whatsoever. It seems unlikely.
June 24th, 2008 at 10:56 pmI HATE MY NEW KEYBOARD!!!
Sorry. I know you aren’t talking about a politically driven archive. That would defeat the purpose. But, it won’t happen until we are rid of the “good war” vs. “bad war” thinking in this country. Too many people are willing to reject the wisdom of the soldiers from a “bad war”.
June 24th, 2008 at 10:59 pmAfghanistan broke the Soviet Union and nearly broke the British Empire. It may well break us.
This is the sort of world where bin Laden loves to live, one where he and the Afghanis repeat history by destroying yet another infidel juggernaut. He will do everything he can to see that this happens.
Beware of Afghanistan. It is where this will all come to an end - one way or another.
June 24th, 2008 at 11:16 pm> They could have picked up Iraq and
> moved it completely to Texas
for what its worth, I believe most of the civilized world would consider “forced texanization” to be a war crime..not that that little fact would stop us..
June 25th, 2008 at 1:43 amThere are no more forces unless they go to 18 month tours for those currently and deploying until the end of FY09. The going to 15 month will only allow to keep forces at current levels.
June 25th, 2008 at 4:00 amThe forces and the resources are all in Iraq. I’ve spent 15 months last tour and 4 months of this 15 month tour there and it’s pretty obvious we’re robbing Peter to pay Paul.