groups

I wonder why Captain Hoh left the Marines. This is his second rsignation from service to the nation

posted by KerryCork

is that in any way germane?

Well said Dirck.

We are in Afghanistan for Halliburton and oil. Not that they have significant oil, but it's a nice road to it.
The Afghanis that our men and boys were sent to protect don't want them there. And if their confrontation with the USSR is any indication, they don't need us!

We're still in Afghanistan cuz it offends our pride to be "defeated".

Oh, brother.

Simple reading will show that there is no Afghanistan oil industries. It is not an oil exporting state. If the country ever sees an end to armed conflict, there is potential in natural resources of precious metals and gems and natural gas and oil, which is thought to be present in the northern mountainous region.

The Afghanis were unable to defeat the Soviets until we assisted them with arms and training. We used Afghanistan as a proxy in our long-running cold war with the USSR. After they left and the Soviet Union collapsed, we walked away from Afghanistan, leaving that war torn country to deal with the aftermath of the war on its own, without any more assistance from us.

Into that vacuum. the Taliban eventually stepped. Like the military junta that controls Burma (Myanmar), the Taliban were isolationist and dictatorial, enforcing a particularly extreme form of Islam on the people of Afghanistan. They provided safe haven to the training camps of Al Qaeda, members of which had been in Afghanistan to fight the Soviet invasion. Since the ruling Taliban refused to turn over the members of Al Qaeda who had been involved in the terror attacks against the US, we invaded the country, routed the Taliban and chased down Al Qaeda. From most reports, our forces were within hours of killing Bin Laden, but were stopped by the Bush administration.

We never committed enough resources to Afghanistan to finish the job that we started. Like cockroaches that have been treated with an inadequate amount of pesticide, many were killed, but the strongest survived and are growing in numbers and strength. We now face a stronger and more purposeful enemy than we did then, the threat has not changed, in fact, it may have worsened. The Taliban and Al Qaeda now have a tight union, united in purpose against us. If we walk away now, we will have once again have used Afghanistan for our own ends and left these impoverished people to clean up the mess we leave behind. Any one who was seen to collaborate with the US will be marked for death. Women will once again be treated worse than camels, abused and tortured and forced to live in fear from birth to death.

Perhaps those of you who are so critical of our involvement there are not concerned about any further terror attacks here in the US. If you don't live in NY, Washington, DC, or any other sizable American city, perhaps you think that since your risk is small or non-existent, it is acceptable for terrorists to target Americans where you don't live.

Once more, the current administration is dealing with choices that range from poor to awful. Since the Bush administration dropped the ball in Afghanistan, there are no easy answers to the problems there. The Karzai administration is widely considered to be corrupt, yet there are not many saints in that country. Trying to find and back a real statesman that will help lead the country out of war and into a peaceful prosperous existence in the twenty first century is not going to be easy. Fending off the more powerful challenges of the Taliban, particularly as they are working to also destabilize the precarious nation of Pakistan, with its nuclear weapons cache is vital. Do we really want to deal with Al Qaeda armed with nuclear missiles? They don't care about mutually assured destruction. They will gladly die, since they get a heaven populated with endless streams of willing virgins.

The entire global community will be dealing with the serious mistakes made by the arrogant advisors of the Bush administration for generations to come.

I dunno. It seems to me, we're there because every administration...and not just the U.S. administration...seems to need a war both in terms of potential nationalistic solidarity and in case it can "win" whatever conflict is in question. Once every few decades or so, there's a war that's ethically justifiable. Every demographic has an innate rationale to defend itself, but a "win" adds luster to what is otherwise simply a pragmatic approach.

Aside from those, most wars appear to impact civilians...who are apparently mostly focused on escaping political notice in pursuit of daily survival activities...more than any other contingent. Humans gain property and status by defeating weaker humans, and historically they don't really care who it damages. That rationale seems to broadly prevail regardless of religious or cultural mores.

Sometimes I wonder if the optimal natural state of humans is best grounded in small, scattered tribes.

Macaroo, I think it should settle out nicely at medieval villages. You can comfortably know and remember about a thousand people. More people than that to keep track of tends to rattle the nerves.

why is i our role to help develop a government and on whose principles? So we introduce the vote (which is not democracy not that we need to go running around selling that) if the peole vote in someone we do not like . ou past is we then remove them so why bother. the Afghanis will take care of the taliban whom they hate.

I want to see what this Administration comes up with as a desired goal once all is said and done in Afghanistan.

Until this goal is announced, I cannot..and will not, support the introduction of one more American soldier into this wasteland, and would request the removal of all U.S. forces as well.

Fear, people think they will be bombed here. why we think its OK to bomb others, & that it don't count if they bomb Spain or England,just not here. Our worn thin army could be protecting the ports and the borders of USA, & helping other alies protect theres.

I detest the idea of a protracted war in Afghanistan. We just can not go on like this and need to get out. But I am also torn. NBC Nightly news has, in the last week, run two stories about an Afghan woman who is operating an orphanage for children, mostly girls, who have either lost their parents to the war or whose parents can not care for them. They were wonderful looking children. They receive schooling and care. What would happen if we departed and the Taliban took over? These children would certainly loose all this and probably even be killed. What do we do?