WASHINGTON — As Afghanistan seizes more of the political spotlight, the Republican presidential candidates are quick to criticize President Obama’s handling of the war but struggle to explain how they would change the strategy they would inherit.
GOP front-runner Mitt Romney says Obama has exhibited “failed leadership” and should not have set a timetable for ending the war. But Romney won’t say whether he would scrap the president’s plans to bring the war to a close by the end of 2014. Rivals Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich have questioned whether the U.S. should be in Afghanistan at all, but neither has plans for withdrawing tens of thousands of American troops.
The Republican reluctance to outline specific policy positions is evidence of the complex nature of managing the decade-long war as public support dwindles, and concerns that detailed campaign promises could pigeonhole a candidate if he goes on to win the White House.
It’s a role reversal for the parties from 2008, when a Republican president was mired in a long and unpopular war and Democratic candidates, including Obama, tried to convince voters that they should take the reins.
But the political calculus for the current crop of Republicans is more complicated than it was for Obama in 2008. Obama opposed the Iraq war from the start and his election-year promise to bring it to an end put him in lockstep with the rest of his party.
This year’s GOP candidates, however, find their party’s hawkish tendencies butting up against the public’s growing impatience with the Afghan war.
Six in 10 Americans see the war as not worth its costs, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll released this month. Opposition to the war is bipartisan, and for the first time, the Post-ABC poll showed more Republicans “strongly” see the war as not worth fighting than say the opposite.
Yet many in the GOP have agreed with some of Obama’s aggressiveness in Afghanistan, from increasing U.S. troop levels to ordering the raid that killed Osama bin Laden, the mastermind behind the attacks that drew the U.S. into the war in the first place.
Defense analyst Michael O’Hanlon said those actions have made it harder for Republican to come up with a distinctive and specific alternative war strategy.
“I think it reflects that this is not an issue that is so simple that reflexively turning to a Republican line of attack is going to be the answer,” said O’Hanlon, a fellow at the Brookings Institution, a Washington-based think tank.
After nearly 11 years of war and hundreds of millions of dollars in research on the mental health of troops, the military is no closer to understanding how many deployments are too many for individual soldiers, researchers say.
Military leaders have said the nation has never fought wars this long with this small of a military, deploying troops over and over. Yet questions remain about how many times a soldier can recycle into combat without psychological harm.
“I think it’s definitely disappointing that we don’t know. I wish we did,” says retired Navy captain William Nash, a psychiatrist studying resiliency in Marine battalions.
The issue of multiple deployments was one of many raised following the March 11 massacre of 16 civilians in Afghanistan. The suspect, Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, 38, was on his fourth deployment when the shootings occurred.
Many of the issues reported about Bales — repeated combat exposure, physical injuries and personal finance and career problems — are common stresses on troops, scientists say. Yet 107,000 servicemembers have deployed three or more times without incident.
“The question we don’t have answered is how do we get precision about picking out the people who are really going to be in trouble,” says Shelley MacDermid Wadsworth, director of the Military Family Research Institute at Purdue University.
Scores of studies have looked at the wars’ effects on behavior and mental health. But the work has been done “in piecemeal fashion,” offering a snapshot analysis of a group of servicemembers, says Terri Tanielian, a senior research analyst at RAND Corp.
The Pentagon may have missed a chance to follow large numbers of combat troops through the war in what is called a longitudinal study to better understand how behavioral problems develop, say Tanielian, Wadsworth and Nash.
Tyson Akers joined the Marines straight out of high school and spent more than eight years in the infantry, including four tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan.
When he left the military in February 2011 because he wanted more time at home with his young children, he knew any civilian job would be different than what he’d done in the Marines.
“Your job was to go out and be on the front line and pray to God nothing happened to you,” he said. “It’s hard to translate that over to the civilian world.”
But Akers, 29, didn’t count on a job search that has lasted more than a year, leaving him demoralized and even questioning his decision to leave the Marines.
“You start thinking to yourself if it’s even possible to get a job once you’re out,” he said.
While older veterans generally have a relatively low jobless rate, the unemployment rate for veterans who have served in the post-9/11 era averaged more than 12 percent last year, compared with under 9 percent for the general population, according to government data out last week.
The problem of veteran unemployment is widely recognized. President Barack Obama has referred to it frequently and just last month pledged to get more veterans back to work.
"They've already risked their lives defending America,” he said. “They should have the opportunity to rebuild America."
With the U.S. making plans to withdraw from Afghanistan and possibly shrink the military, thousands more young veterans like Akers are likely to be looking for work in the coming months and years.
Yet there are plenty of roadblocks preventing veterans from getting civilian jobs, including a lack of job-seeking skills and a mismatch between military experience and civilian requirements.
Quote by wickedpam:
Al Gore is very chuckly this morning
Quote by wickedpam:
Does anyone know of a site where I can get the stats by state of the number of registered republicans?
Google is not being my friend today
Quote by Raine:Quote by wickedpam:
Does anyone know of a site where I can get the stats by state of the number of registered republicans?
Google is not being my friend today
In general? for a specific region?
Quote by Raine:
Does this help?
Quote by wickedpam:Quote by Raine:
Does this help?
that's more of a break down of the actual vote - I'm looking for the overall no. of repub voters
that's a nice break down though
Quote by Mondobubba:Quote by wickedpam:Quote by Raine:
Does this help?
that's more of a break down of the actual vote - I'm looking for the overall no. of repub voters
that's a nice break down though
Mala, you might need to go to a county level to get those number. Or through a state's dept of state.
Quote by wickedpam:Quote by Mondobubba:Quote by wickedpam:Quote by Raine:
Does this help?
that's more of a break down of the actual vote - I'm looking for the overall no. of repub voters
that's a nice break down though
Mala, you might need to go to a county level to get those number. Or through a state's dept of state.
That's kinda what I was hoping to avoid, but its looking more and more that its where the numbers are
good thing this is just a little hobby project
Quote by clintster:
Mornin' all. I I've been looking at the Steph chat on Current. Whew. It's a rough.
Quote by wickedpam:
Raine - check ya email
Quote by Mondobubba:Quote by wickedpam:Quote by Mondobubba:Quote by wickedpam:Quote by Raine:
Does this help?
that's more of a break down of the actual vote - I'm looking for the overall no. of repub voters
that's a nice break down though
Mala, you might need to go to a county level to get those number. Or through a state's dept of state.
That's kinda what I was hoping to avoid, but its looking more and more that its where the numbers are
good thing this is just a little hobby project
You might want to check the RNC and DNC. They might have the data you are looking for.
Quote by clintster:
Here's a gallery of photos of the "I am Trayvon Martin" rally at the state capitol yesterday.
http://downtown.11alive.com/photo-gallery/news/108519-photos-i-am-trayvon-martin-rally-state-capitol?page=7
Quote by Raine:
The schedule says Ed, but I hear David Schuster.
Quote by Raine:
BTW -- Follow SCOTUSBLOG on twitter.
Looks like the mandate is in trouble according to them. As far as ActUp radio . Schuster is lcovering the SCOTUS hearings live. VERY cool, imo.
Quote by wickedpam:Quote by Raine:
BTW -- Follow SCOTUSBLOG on twitter.
Looks like the mandate is in trouble according to them. As far as ActUp radio . Schuster is lcovering the SCOTUS hearings live. VERY cool, imo.
is that blog SCOTUS offically affiliated?
Quote by wickedpam:Quote by Raine:
The schedule says Ed, but I hear David Schuster.
I was just going to ask that
Quote by Raine:Quote by wickedpam:Quote by Raine:
BTW -- Follow SCOTUSBLOG on twitter.
Looks like the mandate is in trouble according to them. As far as ActUp radio . Schuster is lcovering the SCOTUS hearings live. VERY cool, imo.
is that blog SCOTUS offically affiliated?
Well, it is this: http://www.scotusblog.com/ -- it's my go source for the happening at the court.
Quote by livingonli:
Dead air on We Act Radio
Quote by wickedpam:Quote by livingonli:
Dead air on We Act Radio
oh good I thought it was just me
Quote by Scoopster:
I can't get SCOTUSblog to load it's got too much traffic!
Quote by Raine:WTH, me too!Quote by wickedpam:Quote by livingonli:
Dead air on We Act Radio
oh good I thought it was just me
They REALLY need to work on production there.
Quote by Raine:Thanks for that, Clint. This story breaks my heart. It angers me and frustrates me and makes me so sad.Quote by clintster:
Here's a gallery of photos of the "I am Trayvon Martin" rally at the state capitol yesterday.
http://downtown.11alive.com/photo-gallery/news/108519-photos-i-am-trayvon-martin-rally-state-capitol?page=7
Did anyone watch Lawrence last night? HE totally pwned that reporter from the Orlando Sentinal that is just saying shite with no proof.
Quote by clintster:
BTW, just wanted to pass this along. Apparently there are some people who have a hard time believing that a 17-year old black man can be an innocent victim. If you have some particularly odious RW Facebookers linked to you, they may try to come at you with this:
Let them know that it is a fake, apparently drummed up by a *surprise surprise* white supremacist website.
Quote by Raine:Thanks for that, Clint. This story breaks my heart. It angers me and frustrates me and makes me so sad.Quote by clintster:
Here's a gallery of photos of the "I am Trayvon Martin" rally at the state capitol yesterday.
http://downtown.11alive.com/photo-gallery/news/108519-photos-i-am-trayvon-martin-rally-state-capitol?page=7
Did anyone watch Lawrence last night? HE totally pwned that reporter from the Orlando Sentinal that is just saying shite with no proof.
Quote by Mondobubba:Quote by Raine:Thanks for that, Clint. This story breaks my heart. It angers me and frustrates me and makes me so sad.Quote by clintster:
Here's a gallery of photos of the "I am Trayvon Martin" rally at the state capitol yesterday.
http://downtown.11alive.com/photo-gallery/news/108519-photos-i-am-trayvon-martin-rally-state-capitol?page=7
Did anyone watch Lawrence last night? HE totally pwned that reporter from the Orlando Sentinal that is just saying shite with no proof.
So where is the documentation of Zimmerman's injuries? Just in the police report? Mmmhmmm we wants some pictures please. Not just the cop take that the "Number 1 male*" had to be the agressor.
*Number 1 male is police radio speak for black male. Number 2 male is a white guy.
Quote by clintster:Quote by Raine:Thanks for that, Clint. This story breaks my heart. It angers me and frustrates me and makes me so sad.Quote by clintster:
Here's a gallery of photos of the "I am Trayvon Martin" rally at the state capitol yesterday.
http://downtown.11alive.com/photo-gallery/news/108519-photos-i-am-trayvon-martin-rally-state-capitol?page=7
Did anyone watch Lawrence last night? HE totally pwned that reporter from the Orlando Sentinal that is just saying shite with no proof.
As a teacher, I have so many students like Trayvon come through my classroom. I am completely horrified that in this day and age, someone could get away with shooting an African-American based simply on his calling it "self-defense".
I need to write a blog about this. May I take a day this week?
Quote by wickedpam:Quote by Mondobubba:Quote by Raine:Thanks for that, Clint. This story breaks my heart. It angers me and frustrates me and makes me so sad.Quote by clintster:
Here's a gallery of photos of the "I am Trayvon Martin" rally at the state capitol yesterday.
http://downtown.11alive.com/photo-gallery/news/108519-photos-i-am-trayvon-martin-rally-state-capitol?page=7
Did anyone watch Lawrence last night? HE totally pwned that reporter from the Orlando Sentinal that is just saying shite with no proof.
So where is the documentation of Zimmerman's injuries? Just in the police report? Mmmhmmm we wants some pictures please. Not just the cop take that the "Number 1 male*" had to be the agressor.
*Number 1 male is police radio speak for black male. Number 2 male is a white guy.
You'd think there would be photos in the police report of any injuries sustained. Although if they turned up now I'd suspect they were staged
Quote by Raine:Quote by clintster:Quote by Raine:Thanks for that, Clint. This story breaks my heart. It angers me and frustrates me and makes me so sad.Quote by clintster:
Here's a gallery of photos of the "I am Trayvon Martin" rally at the state capitol yesterday.
http://downtown.11alive.com/photo-gallery/news/108519-photos-i-am-trayvon-martin-rally-state-capitol?page=7
Did anyone watch Lawrence last night? HE totally pwned that reporter from the Orlando Sentinal that is just saying shite with no proof.
As a teacher, I have so many students like Trayvon come through my classroom. I am completely horrified that in this day and age, someone could get away with shooting an African-American based simply on his calling it "self-defense".
I need to write a blog about this. May I take a day this week?
Sure! Pick a day!
Quote by Raine:
We Act is back up.
Quote by wickedpam:Quote by Raine:
We Act is back up.
do they have Randi at 3?
It’s worth keeping in mind that all of this alarmism may well amount to nothing.
Quote by livingonli:Quote by wickedpam:Quote by Raine:
We Act is back up.
do they have Randi at 3?
I think they run Thom at 3. Thom spent most of yesterday discussing Scotus.
Quote by livingonli:Quote by livingonli:Quote by wickedpam:Quote by Raine:
We Act is back up.
do they have Randi at 3?
I think they run Thom at 3. Thom spent most of yesterday discussing Scotus.
Prior to Thom's move, they were running Thom at Noon and Ed at 3 so it does look like the Seattle station, they just flipped the shows when Thom moved to 3 although We Act will pre-empt for local content
Quote by wickedpam:
I like Thom but I need Randi's energy to stay awake in the afternoon
Quote by Mondobubba:
Just chill out about the chattering class live tweeting SCOTUS todayIt’s worth keeping in mind that all of this alarmism may well amount to nothing.
Quote by Raine:
I am so glad Randi is going to play the interview between ODonnel and the Orlando sentinal *reporte*r
Quote by Mondobubba:Quote by Raine:
I am so glad Randi is going to play the interview between ODonnel and the Orlando sentinal *reporte*r
Did Larry basically slap him until he was bruised like Zimmerman says he was?
Maybe why George Zimmerman didnt get arrested....True or False?
According to court records: George Zimmerman is the son of retired Virginia Supreme Court magistrate Judge Robert J. Zimmerman, his mother Gladys Zimmerman is a court clerk....He has three closed arrests:
1) 7/18/05 for resisting an officer w/violence, and battery on a law enforcement Officer div 10...
2) 8/9/05 for domestic violence div 44...
3) 8/10/05 for domestic violence div 46...
Quote by Raine:She kept telling him he misread her article, even after -- AFTER -- he quoted her! when you get home, you should watch it. It was a thing of beauty.Quote by Mondobubba:Quote by Raine:
I am so glad Randi is going to play the interview between ODonnel and the Orlando sentinal *reporte*r
Did Larry basically slap him until he was bruised like Zimmerman says he was?
This was AFTER Zimmerman lawyers empty chair recieved an interview from Odonnol. Another thing of beauty.
Quote by Raine:
I promise you Mondo: you won;t be disappointed. Lawrence has really hit his stride as of late. I really enjoy his show.
Quote by clintster:Quote by Raine:Quote by clintster:Quote by Raine:Thanks for that, Clint. This story breaks my heart. It angers me and frustrates me and makes me so sad.Quote by clintster:
Here's a gallery of photos of the "I am Trayvon Martin" rally at the state capitol yesterday.
http://downtown.11alive.com/photo-gallery/news/108519-photos-i-am-trayvon-martin-rally-state-capitol?page=7
Did anyone watch Lawrence last night? HE totally pwned that reporter from the Orlando Sentinal that is just saying shite with no proof.
As a teacher, I have so many students like Trayvon come through my classroom. I am completely horrified that in this day and age, someone could get away with shooting an African-American based simply on his calling it "self-defense".
I need to write a blog about this. May I take a day this week?
Sure! Pick a day!
How about Thursday?