These people aren't worth it.

[dogtag]

British troops in Helmsland did some fierce fighting so that 80,000 Afgans could safely vote in the election.
10 Soldiers were killed as a result. The number of Afgans who actualy voted - 150.
Not one more Soldier over there should sacrifice his life for these useless and cowardly SOBs
Let the Taliban have them. Just make sure the nukes are safe.

[Mark in Ottawa]

Our very small Canadian army has lost over 125 soldiers in Afghanistan so far (equivalent to about 2500 for the US army, I think) and basically we are supporting a completely corrupt regime that allows, if not supports, the continuing cultivation of most of the World's supply of opiates. In addition, their Parliament recently passed legislation that ensures the continuing subservience of women. I understand that when our troops capture insurgents and turn them over to the Afghan army, they are frequently freed in a day or two, either through a payoff or because they are from the same clan as the local officials. As much as I support our military, unless we are prepared to fight this war seriously (i.e destroy the poppy fields that provide drug revenue to the Taliban, shoot any farmer that grows poppy and shoot any insurgents that we catch as well as any corrupt officials), we have no chance of winning and should leave

[Dan In Indiana]

Agree totally, but first get the MSM out of there!

OFC

[Ping Sr.]

Hey, ya'll gave me an idea.
Lets pull the military out and leave the MSM. They're made for one another!

[CharlieEcho]

We are expending much resource in the country of Afghanistan. Our troops and our Allies are doing their best. Many, more than less, of our Guard and Reserves have maxed out their time. Multiple deploys for the regulars. Push is coming to shove in that part of the world and Iran is pushing. We do not have time, or resource to bring the Afghan people around. Even if we thought we could. No one else has. It's hard to know what has kept Obama on-line to this point. I'm pretty sure it is not to please the conservatives of this country. There is more to know than we see. I only hope Israel can see. My two cents.

[John Kuhns]

Charlie:

My own thoughts on this are it is the sad reality that Obama now has a chance to play with army men since he likely did not as a young Muslim. Only now he is playing with real army men (and the other services as well). I suspect he's reprising the roles of Hitler and LBJ thinking he is smarter than his generals and is choosing the targets as did LBJ.

I am just amazed at the manner in which OEF has been fought. Yes, the troops are doing their jobs in spite of the constraints placed on them. But for some reason, we seem to be fighting the Vietnam War again. Many people put great stock in Gen. Petraeus and commented his book on fighting a guerilla war was the definitive book. The General certainly deserves the respect that goes with his position but until he was appointed to take over in Iraq, he had never seen combat. Secondly, his book was not the definitive work. I think Sun Tzu beat him by about 1000 years. Then there was an earlier book written by another great American: Colonel David Hackworth. The book: Vietnam Primer. I read that book (as well as parts of Petraeus') and it was based on Hack's own experience in Vietnam. The book was so controversial the Army sent him back to Vietnam to either put up or shut up. The end was as he predicted it and Iraq was going the same way before he died. Those same lessons can be applied to Afghanistan.

I also expect to see some kind of action against Iran; either initiated by a direct Iranian attack on us in the region or initiated by the Israelis. I suspect it will be started by Israel and without the blessing of Obama. And it will be kept from him for the obvious reasons. Israel knows they do not have an ally in Obama. He has made that much clear.

[John Sukey]

I also read Hackworth's books, His comment on "perfumed princes" in the Pentagon was absolutely true.

Many of these generals did not get their stars in an INFANTRY unit.

What was particularly disgusting was the awarding of medals in vietnam based on rank.

[John Kuhns]

I also read Hackworth's books, His comment on "perfumed princes" in the Pentagon was absolutely true.

Many of these generals did not get their stars in an INFANTRY unit.

What was particularly disgusting was the awarding of medals in vietnam based on rank.

Correct on all counts. Col. Hackworth was a good man. He responded to a couple of emails of mine. Unfortunately they were lost in a HD crash.

[RED]

A friend of a friend is my friend.

An enemy of my enemy is my friend.

BS!!!!

As much as I liked Ronald Reagan, his actions in Afghanistan were a big mistake. By supporting the Taliban in resisting the USSR he strengthened the them. Heck if the Russkys were still there now we wouldn't have to be. The Taliban were sucking the USSR dry and we should have let them kill each other off.

[Gloria Admin]

I realize that is totally a feminine viewpoint here, but if we are not committed enough to winning a war (meaning politically committed, of course) to go in with every resource we need to totally destroy the enemy in fairly short order, absolutely no holds barred, then I cannot believe the outcome is important enough to kill and maim more of our young men and create more widows struggling to raise their children without a father.

Afghanistan has not been conquered since Alexander the Great and he only held it by putting their tribal leader in charge in exchange for an oath of loyalty and marrying one of his daughters. The Afghanis are at their best in endless guerilla warfare. It keeps them going. Left to peace and civilian life they did build some decent places but don't seem to be a very motivated people. I don't see any strategic value there. If someone screws with us, we should give them a serious butt kicking then leave them to clean up the mess, not commit thousands of our best young people to the possibility of becoming disabled vets or dead, not unless our nation is truly threatened.