General McChrystal called to Washington over controversial remarks

General Stanley McChrystal, America's top military official in Afghanistan, has been summoned to Washington to answer questions about his mocking of top public officials over their counterterrorism strategy in a new Rolling Stone article due out Friday.

McChrystal was originally supposed to attend a meeting on Afghanistan and Pakistan via video conference, but was later recalled in person after news of the controversial remarks became public.

The article written by Michael Hastings talks of McChrystal dismissing Biden during a question-and-answer session in Paris in April, after growing irritated with questions about a counterterrorism strategy the vice president had offered, which McChrystal had dismissed.

"'Are you asking about Vice President Biden?' McChrystal says with a laugh. 'Who's that?'"

"'Biden?' suggests a top adviser. 'Did you say: Bite Me?'"

Hastings also writes that President Obama and McCrystal had "failed to connect" from the time the president took office. Quoting an advisor to McChrystal, his first meeting with Obama "was a 10-minute photo op... Here's the guy who's going to run his f---ing war, but he didn't seem very engaged. The Boss (McChrystal) was disappointed."

McChrystal apologized for the remarks Tuesday. He is also said to have fired a press aide over the article.

"I extend my sincerest apology for this profile. It was a mistake reflecting poor judgment and should never have happened," McChrystal said in a statement. "Throughout my career, I have lived by the principles of personal honor and professional integrity. What is reflected in this article falls far short of that standard."

It is expected that McChrystal will tender his letter of resignation upon his return to the States. What this will mean for the future of the war and troop morale is yet to be seen, but it is said that Afghan President Hamid Karzai has defended McChrystal and wants him to stay on as commander. It is, however, hard to accept McChrystal's apology after President Obama gave him everything he wanted to continue a war that has become widely unpopular on both sides of the political isle.

"I have enormous respect and admiration for President Obama and his national security team, and for the civilian leaders and troops fighting this war and I remain committed to ensuring its successful outcome," McChrystal said in the closing of his apology.

President Obama makes surprise visit to Afghanistan

President Obama made a surprise visit to Afghanistan, where he met with President Hamid Karzai and American troops earlier today.

The trip was Obama's first visit to Afghanistan, where he has heightened American military efforts in recent months by adding a surge of 30,000 American troops much along the same lines of the effort exhibited in Iraq during the Bush Administration. 

And the heightened effort by the America troops was one of the main reasons Obama made the trip,

"One of the main reasons I'm here is to just say thank you for the incredible efforts of our US troops and our coalition partners. They make tremendous sacrifices far away from home, and I want to make sure they know how proud their commander-in-chief is of them," Obama said.

Obama later spoke to approximately 2,000 soldiers in Bagram, thanking them for their service.

Obama also found time to speak with President Karzai for about 25-30 minutes. The administration has criticized Karzai's rule as corrupt and ineffective in the past. Karzai won reelection last August, in an election that was marred in fraud and corruption, making the administration wonder if he was capable of uniting the people of Afghanistan. 

It does appear that the president is keeping his eye on Karzai, especially since his decision to deploy additional troops to the war torn country. I do hope he is keeping Karzai on a short leash because if he can't control his own administration, how in the world is Obama gonig to entrust turning the country over to him? For it is he we are entrusting in rebuilding the military, uniting the people and running the country once we leave in July 2011, and right now it is not a promising prospect.

While the issue of Karzai's leadership is a major concern for every party involved in the war, it was good to see the commander-in-chief show up and support the troops for which he put in harms way.

Secretary Gates: U.S. forces in Afghanistan will come home 'no later than July 2011'

Defense Secretary Robert Gates hinted that U.S. troops could leave Afghanistan prior to the previously announced July 2011 troop withdrawal date during a recent trip to Afghanistan.

The decision, however, according to Gates, "would have to be conditions-based."

"We will begin that transition no later than July 2011, but the pace will depend also on conditions on the ground," Gates said after watching training exercises of Afghan soldiers.

This news comes just a few months after President Obama ordered a controversial troop surge of 30,000 additional U.S. forces to Afghanistan.

The U.S. hope is to grow the Afghan National Security Forces to their authorized size of 170,000 soldiers and 134,000 police by the pullout date.

Afghan Defense Minister Abdul Rahim Wardak, who accompanied Gates on his trip to Afghan, says he is confident Afghan forces will meet the task.

Gates' visit to Afghanistan came as NATO-led coalition forces are pressing an offensive against Taliban forces around the town of Marjah in southern Helmand province. The offensive was launched in February by an international coalition of 15,000 troops, including Afghans, Americans, Britons, Canadians, Danes and Estonians.

This is exciting news for most Americans who denounced the troop surge when President Obama first announced his decision to send an additional 30,000 U.S. forces to Afghanistan. It appears that President Obama is winning the war in Afghanistan - something his predecessor, President Bush, was never able to accomplish. While our president did not ask for this war, he certainly has shown strong leadership, amidst critical public opinion, in an effort to do what he thought was right to secure the region. So far it looks like he was right. Now lets just hope Secretary Gates is right about his assumption that troops might be able to come home before the July 2011 deadline.

The Lost War in Afghanistan

President Obama announced his decision last night to send 30,000 additional troops to Afghanistan for a period of 18 months. His decision, while not surprising, is disheartening to a person who not only supported him from the beginning, but has given him the benefit of the doubt through a tough first year in office. While I am not ready to abandon all hope on our new president's failure to provide the type of change I had envisioned during his campaign, time is ticking on him to start moving this country in the right direction.

Not that I or anyone else should be surprised at the move to send more troops to Afghanistan, considering he said throughout the campaign that he intended to focus our military efforts on the war, including the growing threat of terrorism in Pakistan for that matter. So it is hard to get upset or say, as some people have suggested, that he stole their vote. I think many people just wanted to hear what they wanted to hear when it came to Obama during the election and missed a lot of the substance.

But when I think of all the wasted lives and money, I can't help but know this is the wrong decision. Plus while President Obama uses many of the same arguments George W. Bush once did (i.e. attacks of 9/11, threat of al Qaeda) to sell the war, I just don't understand how we can think fighting a war in a third world country, against an enemy that couldn't even be picked out of a police line-up, is going to make America more safe. If anything our presence in Afghanistan, and our lack of focus on domestic issues at home, is what is making our nation more vulnerable to a terrorist attack.

What we should be doing is withdrawing from the Middle East, re-energizing our military at home, putting money into strengthening our boarders, but not to a degree where it jeopardizes our freedoms, because as Patrick Henry so famously proclaimed "give me liberty or give me death," and focusing our efforts on reducing the deficit, creating jobs, investing in energy and funding domestic programs like education and health care to ensure the future prosperity of America. If president Obama was to see this type of "change" then we could be on a road to prosperity and not constantly defending our interests against our fears of the world - for "there is nothing to fear but fear itself."

Not that I don't understand the president's reasoning and refusal to allow America to fail in a country that harbors the type of monsters that are the biggest threat to American security. Plus I know he doesn't feel President Bush ever did enough to make America successful in Afghanistan in the first place and Obama wants to give us the chance to win the war. As he said during the campaign "I am not against all wars, but I am against dumb wars."

While the number of additional troops is a problem for most Democrats, Republicans have a problem with the 18 month time table that intends to start withdrawing troops in the summer of 2011. This on the other hand is probably the one aspect of the plan that pleases most Democrats, because it sets a date we would like to believe will signal the end of the war. Of course, that withdrawl date hinders on how things are going on the ground, but you have to imagine if Obama expects to get re-elected in 2012 he will be withdrawing those troops no later than the summer of that year.

While this is a major blow to all of us Democrats, we have to give the president we elected a chance to do what he thinks is right for our nation. For if you were listening during the campaign you would have realized then that he intended to focus our efforts on the war in Afghanistan. Not that it makes his decision right, but if we are going to get through this the president has one right idea, we must be "united." And that is why I am giving the president my full-support until the summer of 2011. But if the troops aren't starting to come home at that time, then I have to withdraw my vote on election day 2012.