Soldiers with a joint U.S. Army, Navy and Air Force Provincial Reconstruction Team keep cover in Afghanistan's Shemgal Valley. (PHOTO CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES)
From CNN's Jack Cafferty:
The U.S. is losing the war in Afghanistan - so says Senator John McCain.
"When you aren't winning in this kind of war, you are losing. And, in Afghanistan today, we are not winning," said McCain.
The former presidential candidate says although he approves of President Obama's plan to send 17,000 more troops there. He thinks additional allied and Afghan troops will be needed to bat back a resurgent al Qaeda and Taliban. He's calling for the U.S. to set up a larger military headquarters and to boost nonmilitary assistance.
The Arizona Senator says that the situation in Afghanistan is nowhere near as bad as it was in Iraq - but that insurgent attacks were up sharply last year and violence increased more than 500 percent in the last 4 years.
McCain's comments come after those of Defense Secretary Robert Gates - who has said the U.S. faces "a very tough test" in Afghanistan, although Gates is confident we will "rise to the occasion."
A new CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll shows most Americans agree with McCain... only 31% say the U.S. is currently winning the war in Afghanistan, although 62% say the U.S. can eventually win it.
Meanwhile - when it comes to the other war, the one in Iraq, McCain is among several Republicans backing President Obama's plan to pull most U.S. troops out by August 2010. McCain says the plan is a "reasonable" one and he's "cautiously optimistic" that it can lead to success.
Here’s my question to you: Is John McCain right that the U.S. is losing the war in Afghanistan?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Chuck writes:
It isn't that we're losing, it's that we can never win. We can pour billions into the hole for years, and be right where we are today. Even the Russian generals tell us to leave.
Rob from Maryland writes:
Imagine John McCain giving a speech in front of a battalion of soldiers in that country and telling them that we're losing the war because we're not winning it. I respect you tremendously Senator McCain, but it's just not WWII.
Jim from Hansville, Washington writes:
Afghanistan is not a nation; it is a geographical myth invented by outsiders. We won in Kabul, and installed our preferred puppet there. But the remainder of what we foreigners call "Afghanistan" is an anarchy of near-independent, near-medieval tribal areas. They have never succumbed to outside would-be rulers, and won't succumb now.
Khalid writes:
As an American-Afghan, I don’t think that we can win a war in Afghanistan through military means alone. Look and see what history says about Afghanistan when it comes to wars. We need to win the hearts and minds of the Afghan people and that's when we will start seeing success. What have the Afghan people seen since our presence there? Only more violence.
Terry from Greensburg, Indiana writes:
Was John McCain ever right? Let's not call it a war – "terrorist hunt" sounds much better and we'll get much more help from the British. My suggestion is to send a bunch of Kentucky coal minors over there; they can make a mountain disappear in nothing flat. If they need reinforcements, send W. Virginia's also.
Richard in Las Cruces, New Mexico writes:
Yes, we are losing the war in Afghanistan. More than that, this is, like Vietnam, an "unwinnable" war! Unwinnable because the country is controlled by tribal chiefs; is a drug producing country that will not change; has no effective central government and thousands of more allied troops will only result in more death for them and the Afghan people.
Donna in Wisconsin writes:
If McCain was right about anything, he'd be president.