War Handwavium

For those interested, here’s a history of the approximate US troop levels in Afghanistan by year:

year: US troop levels

2001: 1,300

2002: ?

2003: 10,000

2004: 17,000

2005: 20,000

2007: 26,000

2008: 31,000

2009 (spring): +21,000 = 52,000 total (this is current figure as of August 2009)

2009 (projected): +68,000 = 120,000 total (Obama has approved an additional 68,000 troops by the end of 2009)

It looks like Obama is ready to Give War a Chance in the Graveyard of Empires known as Afghanistan. The Soviet Union failed to pacify Afghanistan in the 80’s. I’m not sure what Obama thinks makes the US any different.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article6789142.ece

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/12/13/national/w125100S16.DTL

http://wbztv.com/national/Afghanistan.troop.increase.2.692014.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/07/16/gates-afghanistan-troop-l_n_236573.html?show_comment_id=27252195

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2005-12-20-us-troops_x.htm