Afghanistan War, Your Opinion

[Shyam]

So what's your opinion on the next course of action for the war in Afghanistan. should Obama have given the full reinforcements that General McChrystal had requested, or is drawing down the forces the right solution ?

 

[Some_God]

They should bring the troops home and level that place to the ground.

 

[swan_song1973]

i think its clear that Afghanistan doesnt have what we're looking for so we should leave.

 

[Sparta]

Is leaving Afghanistan without a stable government or infrastructure the right thing to do though?

 

[Shyam]

Is leaving Afghanistan without a stable government or infrastructure the right thing to do though?

In that case, the Coalition troops could be expected to stay there a very long time. Not only are the Taliban religious fanatics, but are made almost exclusively made up of Pashtuns. Hamid Karzai, and many people living in the Urban centres are not Pashtuns. So outside of the Urban areas, Karzai holds very little weight. So the Coalition troops are faced with a dilemma here I think.
Support the locals to fight against the Taleban. But that will increase the influence of Tribal elders. Or throw their full weight with Karzai, but risk associating himself with a man whose company includes people like Dostam, a former warlord who ran over a soldier who disagreed with him using a tank.

It also involves tearing down the Mujahideen network that U.S.A and Zia Ul Haq, the Pakistani dictator build when Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan which the Pakistanis used so gladly after the invasion against the Indians in Kashmir in the 1990's.

The ongoing offensive by the Pakistani Army against the Taleban there is also important, as it is going to reduce the number of safe havens the Taleban can use during winter to recover and re arm. Although I am curious as to why the Pakistanis as of yet haven't dealt with the Quetta Shura, which also contains the Haqqani network, pretty much responsible for a majority of the suicide bombings in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

We will see in the coming months what will happen.

 

[Krynn72]

They don't have the droids we're looking for. A man in a brown and grey robe told me so.

 

[Sloth]

I think its a conflict that needs to be seen through, otherwise the cost will be too severe in the close future.

 

[Warped]

Not one attacking force has ever won Afghanistan for hundreds of years against the native population. We're stupid for going into this fight half assed but I believe that is our new method of destruction. Occupy a country for as long as possible with a smaller force than needed and create a resistance force that cannot be finished. We play by rules and they really don't. Once we sink to their level the war would escalate to an end much faster but we don't want that and I'm sure they don't want that. Thats my opinion, but I'm almost positive that we are making painstaking efforts to change the guys at the top as much as possible.

 

[Dynasty]

The locals clearly dont want us there anymore.

Soldiers are pretty much only being killed these days by roadside bombs, IEDs and suicide bombers etc.

They say we're there to keep things stable, but to be honest, its their country and we're trying to dictate everything they do by having a presence there still.

I say we need to get out. The government isnt even giving the military enough funding so soliders are dying by bleeding out etc when they couldve survived if they had more money and better technology for their equipment etc.

We need to get out.

People say we need to stay to keep things stable for the future, but the truth is, we could stay there forever and bombings etc would continue to happen, as people get brainwashed by key players in Al-Qaeda. Theyre everywhere. Theyre like rats. Kill a few, and more will come spewing out. We cant solve that problem, which SEEMS to be the only reason we're over there.

Im sure theres an oil related reasoning to it and theyre just bull***tting us as always. The government thinks we're still incompetent and dont know whats really going on out there, and thats quite insulting.

 

[DEATHMASTER]

Get some godd****in cloak technology, send in silenced snipers. Mop'm up.

 

[Warped]

Get some godd****in cloak technology, send in silenced snipers. Mop'm up.

and then 2 weeks later their sons and brothers of the guys who died take their place!

500 walmarts, 1000 burger kings, some mini malls and 10 strip clubs and they'll change their ways

 

[DEATHMASTER]

They'll run out of willing humans eventually. War for population control!

 

[The Monkey]

Ironically, the Talibans have more power now than they did when they were in charge. They have vast support in the rural population throughout Afghanistan, something they lacked before the invasion.

 

[15357]

Either send more troops, or nuke it from orbit. Seriously.

 

[Tyguy]

Get some godd****in cloak technology, send in silenced snipers. Mop'm up.

i say we bring back the enola gay and end some ****ing lives

 

[PvtRyan]

I don't think you can risk just pulling out and going home (that's what she said, haha..) with the Taliban on the offensive in Pakistan, where the government is already shaky. You really don't want the Taliban to get nukes.

 

[Escaep]

I don't think you can risk just pulling out and going home (that's what she said, haha..) with the Taliban on the offensive in Pakistan, where the government is already shaky. You really don't want the Taliban to get nukes.

Which is why we should force Pakistan to surrender their nukes.

 

[Tyguy]

we should pull a cod6 and shoot up a russian airport disguised as afghans...let them deal with it.

 

[Shakermaker]

Hamid Karzai, and many people living in the Urban centres are not Pashtuns. So outside of the Urban areas, Karzai holds very little weight.

BS. Karzai is a Pashtun. That was his main requirement for the job. Plus he has been a loyal servant of the West ever since the 90s. Before 2001 while working for an American company he was trying to get a gas pipeline built from the Caspic to the Indian ocean. The main reason Karzai isn't liked is because he is seen as a puppet of the West. Which isn't beside the truth much.



Anyway, on topic: Pakistan is the real problem here. The Taleban are more or less a creation of the ISI, the Pakistani secret service. Having an Islamist regime in Afghanistan was a good way to get rid of the more fundamentalist elements in Pakistan. The troublemakers from provinces like Waziristan, Baluchistan and the North-Western Territories could go across the border and have their fun in Afghanistan. With NATO and the US especially getting a firmer grip on things in the last year the focus of the 'Taleban' shifted back to Pakistan, and that is where the real trouble is at the moment.

 

[Shyam]

Which is why we should force Pakistan to surrender their nukes.

You know they won't do that in a million years, not while India has nukes, and don't expect India to surrender their nukes either as long as China has them. It's a vicious circle.

 

[Shyam]

Anyway, on topic: Pakistan is the real problem here. The Taleban are more or less a creation of the ISI, the Pakistani secret service. Having an Islamist regime in Afghanistan was a good way to get rid of the more fundamentalist elements in Pakistan. The troublemakers from provinces like Waziristan, Baluchistan and the North-Western Territories could go across the border and have their fun in Afghanistan. With NATO and the US especially getting a firmer grip on things in the last year the focus of the 'Taleban' shifted back to Pakistan, and that is where the real trouble is at the moment.

Sorry about that, thanks for correcting me though. And yes you are right, ISI built up this network during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and used it as proxy elements against India and they probably supported the Taliban to keep those elements happy. But I think some of the attitudes of the high ranking officials in the ISI needs to change. They still view India as the biggest enemy and they still hope they can use these fundamentalists as proxies. There are still some people who still believe that some of the terrorist attacks were conducted by using the help of U.S.A. and India.

 

[Mr Stabby]

It's an unfixable quagmire, and it's time to leave.

 

[Shakermaker]

It's an unfixable quagmire, and it's time to leave.

1989 all over again. The Taleban rose to power 7 years after the Soviets left. I bet it is going to be a lot faster this time around.

 

[Krynn72]

Get some godd****in cloak technology, send in silenced snipers. Mop'm up.

Get some godd****in cloak technology.

godd****in

What the **** word is that?

 

[DEATHMASTER]

f***; added an extra d to confuse the dogs of the forum. d****

 

[VictimOfScience]

The situation will not improve if we stay. We need to leave. We need to learn from the past conflicts that we have had no chance of winning.

The focus now should be on changing the policies that brought about this hatred of us in the first place.

 

[Shakermaker]

The focus now should be on changing the policies that brought about this hatred of us in the first place.

Then we basically need to have an alternative power source. The only reason the West has meddled / is meddling so much with the Middle East is oil.

 

[Shyam]

Then we basically need to have an alternative power source. The only reason the West has meddled / is meddling so much with the Middle East is oil.

U.S.A have to make sure that Taleban doesn't rise to power when they leave though. I think the troops have to stay in there for a few years more.

 

[DEATHMASTER]

What's a Taleban?

 

[PvtRyan]

What's a Taleban?

 

[VictimOfScience]

Then we basically need to have an alternative power source. The only reason the West has meddled / is meddling so much with the Middle East is oil.

Well, to be fair, oil doesn't have much to do with Afghanistan. Iraq on the other hand, big time. Same with Iran. But I still don't think that any amount of troops in Afghanistan for the next few years will do anything in terms of posing a serious threat to the Taleban. :E They cross over the porous border with Pakistan and disappear.

Once again I will say that you DO NOT combat terrorism by killing terrorists. You MUST confront and change the imperialist/capitalist/neocolonial policies that have enraged and trod upon so many of our global neighbors. All we do is suck these nations dry of their natural resources for the profit of the multinationals. When something gets in the way of this, we start a war.

 

[TwwIX]

There's no right way out of this, no matter what your opinion may be.
It is just one big cluster ****.

Why the allied forces may have reduced their numbers in Afghanistan, they have in return increased and strengthened them in Pakistan. It's just a matter of time until the Taliban and Al-Qaida overthrow Pakistan's government. When that happens, all hell is going to break lose. Both, Pakistan and India have the nuke and those religious nutbags want their hands on one. I doesn't really matter whether we continue to stay in Afghanistan or not. We already got the ball rolling for worse things to come. The only real solution for this would be Nuclear disarmament. That's not going to happen any time soon, if ever.

 

[VirusType2]

Yeah, I agree.

Radical Islam leaders have stated quite clearly, they will never forgive or forget the past meddling of the West, particularly by the USA, regardless of our new policies and leaders.

So the answer is what? How do you 'disarm' this situation? I don't see how you can.