Kerry Compares Situation in Afghanistan to Vietnam

[LeHuyAnh]

Wow..."Afghanistan is a country without a government; Pakistan is a government without a country"!

[kaikincaid96]

Its a different culture, social structure and people with different values and language. Are occupation is seen as a colonial take over similar to the soviet union and the British empire. The more civilians die, the longer we stay the less safe we will all be. Ordinary people join both Al-qaeda and the Taliban as a means to fight our occupation not that they believe in their ideology. Our troops are out numbered by the populous and the drone attacks in Pakistan is making it that much worse.

[sedighazimi]

Leave or learn another sad experience!

[Valen630]

I still cant understand why America keeps wasting young good soldiers lives for a bunch of primitives that refuse to change/evolve....

Just bring them home and mass bomb middle east if you want a victory there, those ppl hate so much the modern countries and are so dumb that worrying about civilians is useless....

[kaikincaid96]

@Valen630 That is the most ignorant and heartless comment I have ever read on this subject.You seem brainwashed into thinking bombing civilians is the answer to all of our problems. So if china invaded us tomorrow over the debt and they killed U.S. civilians you would be OK with that? lets take your example and say that the Chinese though we were "primitive" and could not "evolve" so there for the only solution is genocide? You would be "primitive" too if I stripped you of all your basic needs.

[Valen630]

@kaikincaid96 Lets just say that at least Americans don't go all in a rage attack and burn big dolls representing the person in question and his/hers Country's flag and calling a Jihad when we make an harmless joke about them, like the Mohamed paintings.

[kaikincaid96]

@Valen630 Yes I do agree that Muslims tend to get bent out of shape rather easily compared to other religious groups. However that still doesn't warrant a genocide. So I hope you were being sarcastic about your first comment. And in all fairness, the US foreign policy has killed and displaced millions of people. If a foreign country did that to us, we would be bitter too. Its not that they're primitive people, they live in a war zone. They're basic needs have been stripped to a bare minimum.

[harry14perrin]

what are the TRUE reasons why america tried to HELP afghanistand!!

[artistdigital]

Afghanistan belongs to Afghans!! None from abroad can claim to be leader of Afghanistan!! Aggressors r not welcome!!

Leave or b forced to leave!! long live Afghanistan!!

[spazzovision]

This guy is soooo weak ...everything parallels vietnam and psychologically he is always running from conflict. I bet he had a lot of wedgie's pulled on him when he was a kid

[abbottbj]

he was for it before he was against it

[har818]

lol "whatever it is we're trying to achieve". Got to love that at the end.

[candypopsodachloe]

get out of afghanistan!

[BeantownJim]

kerry is a joke he was a boat lietenant in nam never fired a round

[jay3213]

wasnt he a medic?

[bapyou]

And? This means what?

Jackass.

[irishlight42]

If you wish me to argue any further with you, then rather than just tell me to ask someone else about WHY we shouldn't be in Afghanistan, put some actual substance in your argument. Don't give me this "Mah, oh weeeell, ask the Russians and the British..."

You're like our last, god awful president. You dodge the questions and avoid the facts to spew out a bunch of poorly put together rhetoric.

[irishlight42]

So you're asking me to look it up because you don't know anything about it. Here's an idea, why don't YOU look it up, and actually relate it to substantiated facts about the American presence in Afghanistan to try and prove a point.

My mind is well educated on the reasons for our presence in Afghanistan, and so my heart surely knows justification in not just war, but also in peace and trying to build infrastructure in one of the poorest nations on Earth.

[irishlight42]

What experiences? Got any specific statistics?

You talk as if you're smarter but interestingly you don't seem to say anything. Why is that?

[kaduisaui]

America does not belong in Afghanistan blowing people up and trying to install a banana republic. Listen to Ron Paul and get out.

[Naturyl]

Always great to hear from Kerry.

[DraktonTube]

Wow... he likes to talk about himself doesn't he.  "I did this", "I did that"... No questions, just more fluffy bullshit from a fake guy who lost. 4:30 minutes in and still no question for her royal fake-smiley bitch herself. Stopping the video now...

[muslimafghan1]

the reference to alexander and soviets are very important, because it shows how resiliant and how defensive they are against savage occupiers, and their determination would even strenghten if the occupiers are vile and murderous americans and british soldiers. you send 1 million or 10 million, the afghan nation doesn't want foreign troops there, its not about taliban anymore. the west and europe have already declared they have lost the war in afghanistan, so what is this talk about??????????????

[irishlight42]

I talk shit? What you're saying about the "savage occupiers" is pure unsubstantiated rhetoric. You've said nothing of substance. Vile and murderous soldiers? On what basis do you make such claims?!

The West has never once said the "war" in Afghanistan is lost, they have said not to expect a decisive battle ending the "war" because the mission isn't about fighting some establishment like a government (like a war) but containing forces of anti-establishment.

[muslimafghan1]

irishlight: you talk so much shittttttt, do you know all the coalition troops are inside fortified bases, or else they travel in heavely guarded vehicles, in the terrain of afghanistan even if you were to pour 1 million soldiers they won't be able to secure one valley its not like iraq, where people live in apartments or in cities, let me tell you if those coalition troops who are there were to face the taliban and come out of their bases then i bet your ass none of them would survive,

[irishlight42]

"let me tell you if those coalition troops who are there were to face the taliban and come out of their bases then i bet your ass none of them would survive"

Keep telling yourself that.

[libertarianjack]

i'm supposed to listen to a gold-digging, purple heart lying, former presidential nominee that not enough americans could trust to elect president and believe him? this guy is a pompous idiot and he has no place in making remarks about warfare.

[d3p3ch3mod3]

lol people still believe the swift boat shit. whelp, gitmos closing, don't thank the libertarians or GOP for that one

[ettoj]

Kerry is a numskull. The differences between Vietnam and Afghanistan are like the differences between apples and iPods.

He sees one little thing and says, "Ahhha... they're the same." One is a fruit, one is an MP3 player.

[irishlight42]

Yeah, I voted for Obama and I absolutely support his plans to escalate in Afghanistan, where we only hadn't had more troops to begin with because Bush sent us into Iraq.

I'm so sick of hearing people talk about the Soviets and British in Afghanistan without going into any specifics. Actually learning from history means not over-simplifying it.

[tjornela]

John Kerry is has a great knowledge senator in foreign policies and I honestly support his views in Afghanistan we should approached this problem from all angles as history has shown in Afghanistan before started moving more troops.

[spokeshole]

This guy doesn't know what the hell he's

talking about.

[djancak]

illuminati skull and bones etc.

[elbarto138]

SCULL AND BONES!

[darkwolf228]

John Kerry is a class act. Not presidential material, but an excellent senator.

[deshonlive]

The people having trouble understanding what he's saying needs to do a little more reading and put the dam remote down on NFL Sunday.

He is simply stating the facts and trying to smark a discussion on WTF they are trying to acheive other then hoarding all the poppies.

[07august]

i before e except after "c." Although their are 50 exceptions to the rule, "achieve" is not one of them.

[deshonlive]

Really?  I thought it was the other way around. Funny how you can give a political opinion but don't have grammer basics.

Maybe I should write an email to google to include a spell check for posts.

[07august]

It is "i" before "e" except after "C."

live, It was a question on "Final Jeopardy" last week.

Maybe, you should just review anything you have learned in elementary reading.

[deshonlive]

No. I will work with google on solititfying a spell check program for posts. Do you understand Internet thug?

[russkie69]

That Kerry loves to hear his own voice! If you have a question, ask it. He is bitter because he had hoped in his heart of hearts that he would be asked to become Sec. of State. He just wanted to watch Hillary squirm while he went on his little diatribes.

[fishyhedgehog]

Wow, show some respect guys. Kerry and Clinton are just trying to make sense of what Bush has done. Answering questions like, "Now that we are in, what now?" and "Are the Afghanistan people looking to us for our help?"

These are tough questions that need to be answered, and Kerry is just trying to chip the tip of the iceberg.

[spokeshole]

What the fu*k is this guy saying? I can't

make sense of what he's trying to say or

what his point is.

[darkwolf228]

That is because you are uneducated.

[spokeshole]

This guy is dumb as a post. Nothing but

shit for brains.

[frankmartinisadouche]

Yes, clearly you're much more intelligent.

[wildpeachatl737]

They should all watch Lawrence of Arabia...

[Marth48]

Kerry seems to be struggling to find the words hes looking for.

[M3minusGrowth]

Hilary looks like a crack or crank head. She really look strung out from drugs. She looks creepy.

[hugesinker]

What's to be assessed? Not our threat, not our country, not our interest = GTFO

[grazon]

What a load of crap.

We know what we're doing in Afganistan and yes we do have a goal.

[expatdk]

really? what then chasing al-qaeda or building a new American state?

[grazon]

The first one.

And we're hunting not chasing.

W. is a dumbass though,

[irishlight42]

We're trying to stabilize the country and bring the insurgency to a manageable level. The problem is that when we walk out of a village in Afghanistan, the Taliban walks in and imposes fear on the people living there. The ability of the Taliban to get by us also makes our soldiers rely more on airpower, which sometimes kills innocents.

With more troops in Afghanistan, able to actually have some efficiency in policing, we will be able to begin to solve the problem.

[markajaw]

I'm Canadian and right now we have a leading role in Afghanistan. I'm tired of seeing a Canadian sent home in a coffin every two weeks. By all means go ahead. Please send more troops to Afghanistan, Americans seem to be used to losing soldiers. I've been to their graves in Washington.

Or we could all just leave.

[xcatalog]

Um you do realize most of the graves at Arlington are from WWII and the few wars afterward. And also thank you for fighting this war we will take over now that Obama is Pres.

[GretnaBlast]

as senators, neither of these people did much worth damn on reversing our shitty foreign policy.

[Gangstar612]

What were the American people thinking when they voted for Bush and not John Kerry?

Madam Secretary I wish all the best.

[xonoma]

Fox news, Fear-Mongering by the administration, paranoia. Thats why..

[vjfbrown]

we weren't

[whitecollarcriminal]

Hillary Clinton was definitely qualified to be President (24' seems to think so, cause the president on 24 looks just like her)...but Clinton was a LIAR, an obvious opportunist and she voted for the war - obviously her judgement sucks. Guess what, Kerry was the same way and even worse - he looks like Frankenstein. Obama was the best possible choice we had.

Ron Paul is a jack ass and McCain/Palin was a bad Joke about rednecks.

[mmarx11]

I am an afhgan and I realy respect John Kerry for his very profound and cautious consideration of the present situation in afghanistan.

He did travel to this conflict region and he is very well informed about the constellation of Drug-Mafia ,Terrorists,Regional political problem and american and russian conlfict.

[RespectMyHate]

Im going to afghanistan in march.

[Richardgwm]

George Bush is an admitted war criminal.

George Bush has publicly stated he ordered the torture of a prisoner of war. Torture is a war crime. George Bush must be tried and executed.

[EARTH51087]

@Richardgwm Tried & executed?...Or tried and given whatever sentence he receives? Who decided that he would be executed for that anyway? Nazis who murdered tons of American troops in cold blood have gotten prison terms. And that was IN THE 1940's!! And you really think that we would execute r own president for anything less? Do you really think the country is full of idiotic kids like you who would call for he killing of another human being.Grow up fast and stop being a hypocritical asshole

[nygiantsable]

@Richardgwm fuck off dickhead,,, you think when the americans and allies get captured by the terrorists in the middle east that they dont use torture? u fuckin dickhead ignorant bastard

[Richardgwm]

@nygiantsable Your America is a lawless terrorist state. My America honors the rule of law.

[irishlight42]

During the primaries I wasn't big on Hillary Clinton, but first of all she is taking into consideration the things which Kerry is saying I think, and I think she takes the matter with Afghanistan more seriously (and heirgo, with more... consideration of all aspects) than most other people.

[irishlight42]

What we DO NOT want to do like we did in Vietnam, is rely too heavily on aerial bombing in Afghanistan. Because of it, we have, as of recently been killing a few more civilians than the Taliban. The key is policiing. When coalition troops walk out of a town, the Taliban walks in, because the forces there have been stretched too thin (because we have had to send too many troops to Iraq). We need to look out for the people, and keep the Taliban out of their towns.

[irishlight42]

And when I talk about policing, that does necessitate escalation in Afghanistan. We should have been doing what Obama plans to do a couple years ago (take troops out of Iraq and send them to Afghanistan) or better yet, we should have never sent troops to Iraq in the first place.

[irishlight42]

Part of counter-terrorism in this case does involve counter-insurgency.

It's good that someone brings up counter-insurgency to state how this is not really a traditional war. Counter-insurgency in Afghanistan, does not mean taking out Bin Laden, Bin Laden doesn't really matter that much. It means weakening the insurgency and strengthening the Afghan National Army to a point where it's manageable. If the Taliban does get stronger (as it has because of us sending our guys to Iraq) it's trouble

[bartolemeo]

Well said, by both of them. Thanks for posting this.

[PierreElliottTrudeau]

Counter Insurgency and Counter terrorism. He knows the difference. Wow.. a politician with half a brain or is he just playing this role to create a fake conflict of interest with the Obama admin?

[librano]

ok so after all that they are going to go with their eyes open whatever they're trying to achieve??? WTF?

[topdawg911]

Hilary clinton looks scary.

Obam and J Kerry = winners.

[darkwolf228]

Doesn't she look like she's aged 5 years in the last 2 weeks?

[streetlif9]

her face seems swollen..but she looks nice with the darker more dramatic eyes.

[ddamico3]

john kerry, war hero, go back to your house in france, you freakin' puppet. have a nice day.

[bob733333]

ralph

[tuxfred]

Republicans are the ones always in the news fucking shemales and children. Seriously, shut the fuck up.

[ilikeicecreamandcake]

republicans are closet faggots, moral hypocrites and democrats are fake, for the people pseudo popstars. republicans have ideologues and bible thumpers and dems have smooth talkers like kennedy, clinton and obama.

this is a 2 party merry go round humiliation. fuck repubs and fuck dems. san francisco hippies and texas rednecks have lost sight in mutual bitterness. americans are myopic.

[DrakeMagnum]

I don't think Kerry was completely satisfied with the extent of her response. I'm glad this kind of thing is online for us to look at and consider.

[alex3914]

We're still living in a primitive system...and these two people both ran for president! Pathetic.

[avalsonline]

we the people nominated them to run for president. perhaps something else is pathetic around here

[alex3914]

We are all pathetic, irrational, and pre-evolved.

[FeelFreeToArgue]

We can try to control the world - indeed we are - but we can't afford it. No matter what we're plundering, it's going to drain our treasury faster.

Kerry is halfway there - he's seen some of the real world. Hillary is a Clinton - she's brilliant but a total slave to her ambition.

I'm somewhat encouraged by how mealymouthed her answer was. Maybe they're fishing around for an excuse to get out. Blame scaled back operations on other countries or the Afghans for not coming up w/ troops.

[oldhacks]

god damn Kerry's got no charisma

[walifred]

what are we trying to acomplish?

[ilikeicecreamandcake]

dull fucking horsefaced cunt.

[Kaimosae]

Are you ten? Or are you just retarded?

[ilikeicecreamandcake]

if i am ten then you are five. i saw how this morose individual lost to bush in 2004.

[Kaimosae]

lol so sad.

[NewKreature517]

Yeah, it's called rigging an election. Like they did in 2000 with Florida, but the second time, they just needed Ohio.

And no, I'm not a Kerry supporter or a Democrat. I'm a real republican (not a neocon like Bush, Cheney or McCain... think Barry Goldwater or Ron Paul) and I don't care for any CFR (Council on Foreign Relation) Politicians regardless of party affiliation.

[ilikeicecreamandcake]

you are right. kerry is a twat because he is a corporate hoe. obama wason CFR and so was clinton. bush has also been made a scapegoat. many of the subprime disasters were set in motion during the clinton admin. it was him who introduced the repulsion of the glass stiegel act. iceland can thank clinton for their woes.

now we got an irgun terrorist's son,CFR member,close rothschild friend hillary also close to chuck schumer and bloomberg. her policies will lead to more troubles in the mideast.

[SailorWuvsPeanut]

ilikeicecreamandcake, "it was him [Clinton] who introduced the repulsion of the glass stiegel act."

The subprime crisis is just one tip of the iceberg.

Actually, they started peeling back Glass-Steagall regulations well before Clinton. It started when Reagan appointed Greenspan, although it moved along during the Clinton Administration, and Greenspan continued to be Fed Chairman throughout most of the Bush admin.

[ubercomrade]

very enlightening sir

[BabyBright]

I really like John Kerry.

[terpis]

Love that she completes the blathering comment with the phrase, "whatever it is that we are trying to achieve". Appease the military-industrial interests and the hawks on both sides of the aisle.

Edwards was a douche, but he was right I think that you'll only get so far trying to please everyone. Even just strategically, you need to know who your enemies are.

[geffel]

I nthe middle of all the silly bickering in the comments, I'd just like to say that it's a pleasure to hear intelligent people in government speaking, and to know that we're going to have at least eight more years of it.

And listen to the intelligence of Kerry's speech. It makes me lament the last four years all the more.

[Th1mastermike]

At least Obama will have the chance to correct the huge errors of George W. Bush. Go Obama!

[geffel]

Aye

[RAPMONSTAR]

at least 4 years..

[geffel]

I just can't see that happening. I mean...Bush was in for eight years.

[YouArentPro]

kerry has lots 'o hair

[buckfush12]

Thanks for blowing smoke up our ass John.

[memnoker]

THANK YOU TMPTV- This is the kinda stuff we wanna see, not the 100 seconds stuff. Thank you for complete thoughts on video!

[josephpuente]

Uh, this is BraceNewFilms not TMPTV.... though I do subscribe to both as well. ;-)

[ledzepp2025]

Only someone as cool as colbyVas would use the word "faggiest".

[soadfan333]

i think we should escalate in afghanistan

thats were alot of alqida(spell?) is.

most are in pakistan but were not aloud to go in there

[russkie69]

Is English your second language?

[sauerkreatur]

why the hell did she bring her daughter to the hearing ... and please do never vote for ... kids of presidents are the worste presidents because they think they already know everything

[Zekegedd]

This is bullshit I cant believe( actually at this point I can) this is happening. Why is it we cant attend to our own countries affairs instead of pouring our resources into conflicts in other countries? When do the American people get to decide on what our actions our?

[1oct1]

It became no longer available in the middle of me watching.

[sauerkreatur]

usually he is good - but this is scary... like a old man jsut wabbling on and on without getting the point

[PearlJamner]

I like this guy

[colbyVas]

hillary why dont you steal another 250 million dollars from the childrens relief fund and retire?

[RougeWaterPoloPlayer]

Hilary Clinton said absolutely nothing in her response to Kerry.

[craigjones21]

I agree. They are masters at using a hundred word sentences to say absolutely nothing.

And I wish she would wipe that "I'm enjoying my new POWER so much" look off her self-important, arrogant face.

[HydrophobiaIX]

That's hardly true. They gave some good reading material.

[Zwikster]

Obama is sending the troops into Afghanistan...fuck the Democrats AND fuck the Republicans. they are both CORRUPT! wake up people!  all CFR, Trilateral Commision, Bilderberg!!!

[snipzor]

Okay, let me help your cause, stop sounding like a lunatic when advertising third parties. If you have read anything from Nietzsche, you would know of the madman. Be right all you want, but sound sane and coherent.

[Zwikster]

I actually prefer Ron Paul who is a Republican. Only him and Dennis Kucinich are the only Dem or Repub that I would give any respect to. The rest are all shysters and America can seem to realize this because they are too preoccupied with Dancing With The Stars and Survivor. Obama is a puppet, no change at all. His cabinet is a joke.

[mejesus]

This women can't even get fair work for women co-workers when she worked for walmart. How do you think she is going to get the job done elsewhere?

[Steadno]

Well leave bruised and humbled like Russia!

[PeaceProfit]

and so we continue, lessor for what we have been and are, yet greater in the knowing of what we could possibly be...

Unite the C.H.A.O.S. - Display your Heart of Peace...

[BlackBeWhite2k7]

Faggier Republicans

[colbyVas]

faggiest independents(?)

[BlackBeWhite2k7]

John Kerry's a good man

[Pleblian]

Russians couldn't do it, what make the US think they can?

[irishlight42]

because we're not trying to do the same thing. The U.S. has more support from the Afghan people. Whereas the majority of Afghans opposed the Soviets, a year ago, polls showed 66% approval rating from the Afghans of the coalition (and that's with many not speaking out of fear of the Taliban which was walking in out of their towns). We're mainly having trouble with the Pashtun tribal regions of the country

[Pleblian]

Really? Admiral Mike Mullen, JCoS said, in a 60 min interview, that we were losing and that the objective was unattainable.

When you see Politicians making Vietnam correlations I think there's more allot going on than just the fan fair you suggest.

[intelegens]

Nice post!And whenever they bring up Nam,it's always linked to sabotage,raids and training

or losing something!

[irishlight42]

Yes, we really do have that much support from the Afghans. Did he say anything more specific than that? The objective is to build the infrastructure of the country and bring the Taliban to a manageable level, which we're failing to do because of an inadequate number of troops for policing, which means when coalition troops walk out of a village, the Taliban walks in and makes threats to those taking support from us (which is again part of why approval ratings aren't higher)

[irishlight42]

Politicians on both sides have drawn comparisons to Vietnam and Iraq and Afghanistan, and parallels can be made. It's a quagmire... ok.... we shouldn't have pulled out so soon... umm, yeah.... but why? It's an escalation, there's an insurgency, yeah, not every escalation, or insurgency, or escalation against an insurgency is the exact same. Some specifics please rather than, "The Brits got screwed in Afghanistan, and so did the Russians, and so will we." Why? Details, specifics.

[intelegens]

Thats a scary thought!Why would they like Bush

over a Russian???It doesn't fit!

[irishlight42]

It has nothing to do with them liking Bush, in fact Bush could be doing a lot better in the country. I said that they support the coalition, as in the soldiers, not just from the United States but also Britain, Canada, the Netherlands, Australia, Poland, Italy, etc.

[freedomintheus]

Bushshit

[Azhi1]

Smart man, this Kerry is.

[SuperUltraGiantRobot]

Indeed if he were president things would be quite different.

[vadh09]

second

[ericfreak67]

double fail.

[craigjones21]

lol

[deidarajunior1508]

this is no LOL, this is actually true. the conflict in the middle east is with no doubt the biggest failure usa have accomplished in the last 20 years. and this failure is in fact very similar to the failure in vietnam. apparrently the u.s goverment have lost the ability to learn from their mistakes.

[dasheriff001]

did they ever have it?(the ability to learn from their mistakes)