Afganistan, WTF?

[Minor Axis]

I am really concerned about Afganistan and I'm hoping that Obama has the sense to keep his eye on the ball, in other words "fight terrorists" not "fight insurgents". There is a 650 Billion defense bill on the floor, there are estimates that to do another "Iraq" we are talking about 400k troups and who knows how many years. I also read that Al Qaeda is no longer in Afghanistan, but the military does what it likes doing best, throw men and equipment at a problem. I also heard on the radio that the amount of money we are spending in Afghanistan would be much better served influencing people with basic humanitarian services versus banging down their doors and shooting up their villages. And ultimately, we just can't continue this kind of spending with the type of domestic challenges we are facing. So in short WTF??

 

[ATKU2]

Yup exaclty man WTF!!!!????

 

[Lord Stanley]

I also read that Al Qaeda is no longer in Afghanistan

yet the Canadians are

 

[nova]

People nastier and meaner than we could ever be never managed to "civilize" afghanistan with a lasting strong central gov't so I have no clue what made us think we could.

We should have broken up AQ, done some basic setup of a distributed gov't (what we call a warlord is what the afghans would call "local gov't") taken our ball and gone home.

 

[Alien Allen]

I am really concerned about Afganistan and I'm hoping that Obama has the sense to keep his eye on the ball, in other words "fight terrorists" not "fight insurgents". There is a 650 Billion defense bill on the floor, there are estimates that to do another "Iraq" we are talking about 400k troups and who knows how many years. I also read that Al Qaeda is no longer in Afghanistan, but the military does what it likes doing best, throw men and equipment at a problem. I also heard on the radio that the amount of money we are spending in Afghanistan would be much better served influencing people with basic humanitarian services versus banging down their doors and shooting up their villages. And ultimately, we just can't continue this kind of spending with the type of domestic challenges we are facing. So in short WTF??

Did you see Bob Woodward piece yesterday? AQ might be no longer a problem there but the Taliban is making a big resurgence. We need to get the hell out of there. The military wants more troops and this is gonna escalate like Nam if we do that. That country is a way bigger mess than Iraq ever was or could be IMO. Russia took a beating and we will also walk home with our tails tucked.

 

[ATKU2]

I just think that this economy is going downhill cause they expect more from us every single day. Seriously, if we didn't obey what the economy wanted (the government), then they would have said this:

 

[skyblue]

so you'd all be happy to leave the afghan people at the mercy of the taliban?

 

[ATKU2]

Nah.... I just think that if we are going to continue to fight over there, we going to need some upgrades on weapons and sh*t. Like some bulletproof armor or somethin'.

 

[Alien Allen]

so you'd all be happy to leave the afghan people at the mercy of the taliban?

Unfortunately if that is what comes out of it then yes. We did not change anything in Nam and this is far worse as you are dealing with multiples of groups. If the world wants the Taliban to be wiped out then let the UN go in there and take care of it. Fat chance of that happening. Time for America to send its soldiers home and take care of business here first for a change.

I supported the Iraq war as I thought it was worth it and it was possible to get a good outcome. There is no way Afghanistan will suddenly be changed from eons of what it has been.

 

[ATKU2]

EXACTLY.... This whole world is in deep sh*t.... I wish best of luck to our soldiers, god be with them.

 

[skyblue]

the point is,if the coalition forces just up and leave those brave boys gave they're lives for nothing

 

[ATKU2]

WELL.....
BEST OF LUCK TO OUR SOLDIERS
MAY GOD BE WITH THEM....
=)

 

[nova]

the point is,if the coalition forces just up and leave those brave boys gave they're lives for nothing

No they wouldn't. Their mission was to disrupt, destroy and kill the members of the group that attacked us on 09/11/01. They did that and did a helluva job of it. From every account I can find, AQ is so disjointed they don't know their ass from their elbow right now.

At the same time, we're increasingly getting dragged into fights between internal afghan factions fighting to control their little bit of barren desert.

Thats where my assertation that warlord = local gov't comes from.

In some areas, the people we're fighting are only "taliban" because we happen to be fighting them. They're completely unconnected to the "real taliban." They are these warlords that we're trying to put under thumb to empower the central gov't. They don't wanna give up their power so they fight back against the central gov't and whoever is supporting them, namely us.

We do not want to be caught in the middle of a civil war. Its a no win situatino for us...

 

[Alien Allen]

That was the mantra from the Hawks in the 60's too

It does not justify continuing on when it will mean a whole lot more lives will be lost. It is a lose, lose situation. I say cut our losses before we get in too deep.

 

[ATKU2]

Ok... my final reply to this subject:

ME IZ BORED WITH DIS SUBJECT NOW....

 

[Lord Stanley]

Ok... my final reply to this subject:

ME IZ BORED WITH DIS SUBJECT NOW....

you have siad nothing

 

[Minor Axis]

so you'd all be happy to leave the afghan people at the mercy of the taliban?

You may be missing the point. We are not the police of the world, if we are, the world can start paying us. It's not a matter of being happy about the poor Afghan people being at the mercy of taliban. They always have been. It's a matter of being realistic. We only went in there because of Al Queda, in a response to 9-11. Country building is a loosing proposition as we have proven in Iraq. Would you be that happy about protecting the Afghans if it means this country totally unravels?

 

[Accountable]

We are not the police of the world,

Sorry. It bears repeating.

 

[Guyzerr]

yet the Canadians are

Only until 2011 and even that isn't soon enough as far as I'm concerned.

 

[Guyzerr]

We only went in there because of Al Queda, in a response to 9-11.

Are you 100% certain poppies didn't have anything to do with it? I'm not.

Futhrermore, the Russians couldn't beat them so what makes the " coalition " think they can? It's kinda tough to identify an enemy that doesn't wear a uniform. What ya gunna do... kill everyone maybe?