The White House signaled today that it will dramatically increase the number of US forces in Afghanistan over the next year. President Obama will address the nation tonight to announce that a 'surge' of an extra 10,000 US forces will be deployed, a stunning shift from conventional wisdom that called for a withdrawal.
Democrat Congressman Barbara Lee, California, said that a minimum of 50,000 US troops should be withdrawn this year, with the rest out as fast as possible. "Anything less," she said, "would be too modest." And even from the other side of the aisle, GOP presidential hopeful Jon Huntsman also denounced the president's surge of forces, saying "get American troops out faster".
According to unnamed sources, the president intends to not withdraw 5,000 troops this summer, with further plans to not withdraw another 5,000 troops during the winter and spring of 2012. The administration left open the possibility of not withdrawing an additional 20,000 troops later in 2012. Anti war advocates who have demonstrated outside the White House for weeks called for a complete withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan immediately, and have expressed intense disappointment in the president's plan. "Anything less than a full retreat from Afghanistan and Iraq is, of course, unacceptable."
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Everything above was, of course, written tongue firmly in cheek. The US currently has approximately 100,000 troops in Afghanistan, so 10,000 troops coming home over the next year means that a drawdown will be happening. Basic math here, 90,000 < 100,000. (No, I didn't leave a tag open, < means less than. Just ask any 4th grader). Just because the president is not decreasing US forces as fast as anti war activists would like does not mean he is increasing the number of US troops.
Unless you are a logic challenged liberal.
The GOP budget proposal for the state of Minnesota will increase state spending by 6%. No matter how you massage the numbers, the state will outlay more revenue from its coffers than it did last year. The DFL, however, insists on calling the GOP budget 'all-cuts'. This is simply out of touch with reality.
Will the GOP budget increase spending as fast as the DFL and governor want? No. But a smaller increase is not a cut. DFL legislators and activists who are pushing this nonsense are deliberately distorting the truth for political gain, and they should be ashamed.
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