I knew when they announced the escalation it was going to be a disaster. I've been very angry about it and have posted diaries speaking out against it and deleted them in anger because of the indifference of everyone here in general. The IGTNT diaries I see here daily are disturbing. Obama announced the bad decision and everyone just accepted it from what I've read here, I know that may be a blanket statement but when I see people pushing for Elizabeth Warren to get some job and asking for involvement it becomes a farce. What about the body count Dailykos? Thankfully we have good people in the Senate like Grayson and Feingold and Kerry and others who have been speaking up and questioning this crazy open ended occupation with ambiguous goals. Listening to Rachel interview Holbrooke made me angry. I just don't buy the administrations story.

Holbrooke: We're in Afghanistan because it really matters. We're in Afghanistan because if we fail in Afghanistan, it will have a direct, immediate danger to us. It will increase al-Qaeda's worldwide reach. They will come back with the Taliban in all likelihood, and they will gain a worldwide success which will be very dangerous for our national security interests. So we have to be clear. The American public needs to be clear on why we're in Afghanistan. This is not Vietnam, a war which I participated in as a State Department civilian in the lower Mekong Delta when I entered the government. This is not the Balkans. It's not Iraq. This is quite different, and this one relates directly to our safety at home. RM: But we tried to do counterinsurgency in Vietnam, too, pretty explicitly. ... When you look back at those efforts, all those years ago, do you really have confidence that a foreign country can help create a state somewhere else, that we really can stand up an Afghan government? Holbrooke: I think we can if we do it right. . . . The fundamental difference is the one you and I just already mentioned. It matters to our homeland security. Vietnam did not, although at the time, the administrations in power did say it did, but they were wrong. ... It's a process which is not easy, and you only embark on it if you decide that it is absolutely critical for the U.S. national interests, which it is. http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/...

Lots of ifs from Mr. Holbrooke and the military leaders Rachel interviewed. Lots of speculation. Besides the fact they have admitted there are almost no al-Qaeda IN the damn country at this point anyway, I don't see how this down right crazy counter insurgency plan has any chance of working, they have already seen the harsh reality in Marja, the Taliban just quit fighting and left, waiting for the opportunity to come back or most likely just regrouping and redirecting their efforts elsewhere. Throw another 30 billion and more American lives at it while the Taliban play games.

So this is what we face, endless body bags for the next year, no clear military goal, billions of dollars ending up in the hands of war lords and corrupt government officials, on and on and on. Frankly the entire thing makes me ill. How many have to die before Americans realize the futility of this occupation? Another thousand gone with nothing tangible to win? 2 thousand? It's going to get very bad in Kandahar in the next month, and these men and women do not have to DIE. All they are doing is getting Americans killed. Politicians have made their choice and it is a disaster. This can't continue.