The U.S. in Afghanistan

[rossmum]

no,

I approve of virtually none of the current endeavors of the American military, and would feel hypocritical and unethical if I were in the armed forces unless the nature of the job and the enemy were to change dramatically.

I'm glad people do join, it's essential in giving legitimacy to pieces of paper, but I wish that they were not mired in messes of our creation, clearly impossible conflicts, and unscrupulous attempts to secure economic interests.

Afghanistan's legit. The Taliban were definitely pretty bad dudes, and the place was being used as one giant terrorist stomping ground, pretty much. There's absolutely no oil to speak of there, so a war for economic interests it sure as hell ain't.

[Mass]

Afghanistan's legit. The Taliban were definitely pretty bad dudes, and the place was being used as one giant terrorist stomping ground, pretty much. There's absolutely no oil to speak of there, so a war for economic interests it sure as hell ain't.

Afghanistan would fall into the category of clearly impossible conflicts, I mean, you can't honestly think it's possible to successfully occupy Afghanistan. We're no more powerful in a relative sense than the Soviets, English, Mongols, and Greeks were. Forcing the Taliban to seek haven in a nuclear armed country and throwing out the guys that kept heroin from being produced by the fuckton does not sum up to a "legit" war. Besides, it's also a mess of the United States' own creation what with the fact that we formerly supplied the people we are fighting.

We can drive over bombs and use robots to shoot what might as well be great briefcases of cash at cave entrances for years and years and never gain an inch of anything valuable.

[rossmum]

Afghanistan would fall into the category of clearly impossible conflicts, I mean, you can't honestly think it's possible to successfully occupy Afghanistan. We're no more powerful in a relative sense than the Soviets, English, Mongols, and Greeks were. Forcing the Taliban to seek haven in a nuclear armed country and throwing out the guys that kept heroin from being produced by the fuckton does not sum up to a "legit" war. Besides, it's also a mess of the United States' own creation what with the fact that we formerly supplied the people we are fighting.

We can drive over bombs and use robots to shoot what might as well be great briefcases of cash at cave entrances for years and years and never gain an inch of anything valuable.

Just because it's not something we can ever clearly win, doesn't mean it was totally wrong. Think about it. At least now they might have some chance at getting somewhere without being put to death for breaching the Taliban's fucking ridiculous laws.

[kid908]

Just because it's not something we can ever clearly win, doesn't mean it was totally wrong. Think about it. At least now they might have some chance at getting somewhere without being put to death for breaching the Taliban's fucking ridiculous laws.

Ridiculous is a matter of opinion. It might be normal law to them, but ridiculous to you and besides, who said they wanted to break away from that government anyways?

[Mass]

Just because it's not something we can ever clearly win, doesn't mean it was totally wrong. Think about it. At least now they might have some chance at getting somewhere without being put to death for breaching the Taliban's fucking ridiculous laws.

Right, or they could not commit a single crime at all, ever in their life, and have a stray missile land in their yard. They could be forced to deal with heavily armed young men that don't speak their language and are scared shitless often enough. Almost regardless of the state of one's government, invasion by a foreign power is not something an average man will approve of.

The Taliban wouldn't still have so large a portion of their strength if they hadn't had a decent chunk of public support from the beginning. Plus, quite a few remain in the government. Not to mention our friends in the UIF/Northern Alliance are hardly angels.

So, yes, I would say that the war in Afghanistan is and has been "totally wrong." Not so much because of malicious intent as that it is a terrible way to reach the goal of eliminating potential terrorists or reducing the number of human rights violations.

Plus side consequences like increased opiate production and the Abrams tank giving everyone lung cancer.

[rossmum]

Ridiculous is a matter of opinion. It might be normal law to them, but ridiculous to you and besides, who said they wanted to break away from that government anyways?

Hmmm. I dunno. How about all those people they killed and tortured? How about all the minority groups they persecuted? How about the poor fucking villagers who were forced to serve as human shields for them?

How many of you actually have any idea at all what happened there?

[PopeAK49]

I can tell you I have no clue, because I wasn't there. I think it's probably the media that is mind fucking most of us.

[rossmum]

Having spoken to guys who WERE there (we have a few from 3 RAR taking a bit of a breather, attached to our unit for now) and read actual accounts, trust me. The Taliban were about as popular with the general population as Hitler was with the Poles.

[Longshot]

No, thats why I said UK. I have no idea about other countries.

Its widely known that if all else fails, you can join the army. Its the place where rejects can go. I understand there are a few decent people, but the amount of chavs and thugs that join. The amount of times I spent telling my classmates they need to buck up and do their work, and they replied, "screw school, I'm joining the army anyways".

Wrong.

That's not right at all, some people just want to do something with their lives, others might want to serve their country and others, such as myself, might be having trouble finding employment with today's economic crisis.

I have been a Reservist since May 20, 2008, and everything I've learned in the Army has been crazy, to call a Soldier a reject is a straight up insult, we need to be trained - you don't give someone a rifle and ship them overseas. There are guys at my unit that know and understand what they have to do whereas there are civvies I know that I wouldn't trust with a fucking broomstick, let alone a rifle.

Afghanistan would fall into the category of clearly impossible conflicts, I mean, you can't honestly think it's possible to successfully occupy Afghanistan. We're no more powerful in a relative sense than the Soviets, English, Mongols, and Greeks were. Forcing the Taliban to seek haven in a nuclear armed country and throwing out the guys that kept heroin from being produced by the fuckton does not sum up to a "legit" war. Besides, it's also a mess of the United States' own creation what with the fact that we formerly supplied the people we are fighting.

We can drive over bombs and use robots to shoot what might as well be great briefcases of cash at cave entrances for years and years and never gain an inch of anything valuable.

I agree.

While the Taliban are the lowest form of life on the planet, we, nor anybody else have the right to invade. What right does America have to invade another country and start a pointless war? Nothing. America are no different than any other country on the planet. The entire occupation was a mistake, there are no WMD, just oil, a bunch of terrorists and a country that's worse now than when it was before.

How do you defeat an enemy that fears God more than he fears you?

The answer is you can't.

[CN3089]

While the Taliban are the lowest form of life on the planet, we, nor anybody else have the right to invade. What right does America have to invade another country and start a pointless war?

Hey remember way back in 2001 when their friends they were harboring in their country crashed a few planes into buildings and killed 4000 people??