Should we end the war in Afghanistan? (polls, Baghdad, soldier)
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When the stinger missile was given to the Afghanis it grounded the Russian helicpters and planes except those flying high altitude. They were fighting blind at that point in hostile territory. They should have just packed things up right then and there because it was over. The US military will never have problem as there is so many platforms from which they can do those operations and the chances of them getting their hands on anything effective as that was is about nil. Comparing the Russian experience or any other powers experience there to the current environment really isn't fair.
Just read a good article that relates to this subject. The uS and British troops are trying to wrestle the Hemland province away from the Taliban. However, the Afghan police in that region have been so brutal and oppressive that the people there actually prefer the Taliban, who were actually greeted as liberators.
Afghans turn to Taliban in fear of own police - Yahoo! News (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090712/ts_nm/us_afghanistan_police - broken link)
Now that you've read this articl, let me go back to one of the points that I originaly made; alot of regions in Afghanistan are brutal regions where people have been fighting for thousands of years. If we take out the bad guys, who says that the people that we replace the bad guys with aren't going to be even more brutal and tyranical? If we are going to be occupying another country and replacing one oppressor with another, what is this going to accomplish? If we put a police force in control of a region and they go around raping little boys, how are we going to win over the hearts and minds of these boys families? How much more likely is it that these boys will hate us and flock to Al-Qaeda? How much more likely is it that these boys will try to kill our troops?
My point of view on this is quite simple. I'm an Army vet and I fought in Iraq. Our approach to both Iraq and Afghanistan was completely wrong from the beginning. First let me say that I don't think we should have ever started either one of these wars, but if we are going to be there then we need to fight these wars the same way we fought WWII. Draft a couple of million Americans into the military and hit them like we mean it. Carpet bomb every single city in the entire region into rubble. Line our troops up at one end of the region and march across the place in lockstep killing every single person that resists or has the capacity to resist. Kill every one of their political and military leaders. Kill every single one of their religious leaders that that doesn't openly reject terrorism. If any of the people rise up to protect the clerics, then kill them too. All of them. Flatten every Mosque. Flatten every Madras. We all know the problem is bigger than Afghanistan and we need to be taking out the entire region or we are just wasting lives and resources. To pretend otherwise is just ridiculous. The first country on our list after 9-11 should have been Saudi Arabia, not Afghanistan.
Good Lord. Could you imagine this kind of right wing extremism taking over our government?
On the one hand he doesnt think we should have started the wars in the first place, which is entirely accurate (as we should not have) but in the next breath he advocates violence against innocent men, women and children.
This is typically the same type of logic that the world witnessed take power in Germany in the 1930's, it doesnt matter if you are right or wrong, you just kill anyone who opposes you. Thats exactly what the Nazi Party did all across Europe, they took from others thru violence.
My point of view on this is quite simple. I'm an Army vet and I fought in Iraq. Our approach to both Iraq and Afghanistan was completely wrong from the beginning. First let me say that I don't think we should have ever started either one of these wars, but if we are going to be there then we need to fight these wars the same way we fought WWII. Draft a couple of million Americans into the military and hit them like we mean it. Carpet bomb every single city in the entire region into rubble. Line our troops up at one end of the region and march across the place in lockstep killing every single person that resists or has the capacity to resist. Kill every one of their political and military leaders. Kill every single one of their religious leaders that that doesn't openly reject terrorism. If any of the people rise up to protect the clerics, then kill them too. All of them. Flatten every Mosque. Flatten every Madras. We all know the problem is bigger than Afghanistan and we need to be taking out the entire region or we are just wasting lives and resources. To pretend otherwise is just ridiculous. The first country on our list after 9-11 should have been Saudi Arabia, not Afghanistan. This patchwork approach is only allowing this war to drag on. WWII was over in 4 years. And we have been in Afghanistan for 9 years! WTF?!!! There's only one way to fight a war if we are going to win. We played this same politically correct game in Vietnam and look how that turned out. If we don't have the stomach for winning this war, then we shouldn't have ever started it. War is a brutal, nasty business and should always be the last resort, but once you are in one then you fight it to win.
If we aren't going to fight this war to win it and win it with finality, then we need to get the heck out now. We shouldn't waste another single American life when we clearly have no intention of winning.
I'm glad that you wrote this so that these people can hear why we shouldn't be in Iraq and Afghanistan from somebody who has fought the war on terror. If you are saying that the only way to defeat all of the terrorists militarily is by basically flattening the whole region, I agree with you. As I see it we have 3 options.
1) Get out and risk having the Taliban take control of Afghanistan.
2) Continue the occupation and continue putting the lives of the troops in danger, continue putting the lives of innocent Afghans in danger, run the risk of inflamming anti-American sentiment in Afghanistan as well as nuclear armed Pakistan, run the risk of stengthening Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and waste billions or perhaps trillions more at a time when we need to invest in getting the economy back on track and reducing the defecit.
3) Flatten the whole Middle East. Of course this could lead to the whole world condemning us for genocide and could inflame anti-American sentiment all around the world. This would create a major economic crisis in the Middle East that would surely affect us. Think of how much a gallon of gas would cost if there was no oil production in the Middle East. This would send the prices of almost everything sky high due to increased transportation costs. If you're thinking about a Marshall Plan for the Middle East after we level it, with a major economic crisis on our hands and a budget defecit forecast to hit $1.8 trillion, forget about it.
As you can see all of these options have their cons. However, if I had to choose one of these options, it would definitely be option #1.
3) Flatten the whole Middle East. Of course this could lead to the whole world condemning us for genocide and could inflame anti-American sentiment all around the world.
I know it may seem a little crazy, but I've got a hunch that if we flattened the whole Middle East and killed millions of people, alot of people would be pretty upset with us.
On the one hand he doesnt think we should have started the wars in the first place, which is entirely accurate (as we should not have) but in the next breath he advocates violence against innocent men, women and children.
The only conclusion I can draw from this is that you feel Al Qaeda and the Taliban who were harboring them should have been left to continue there terrorism after killing 1000's of innocent people?
So what is your solution to ruthless people that fly planes full of people into buildings full of people and are willing to hang bombs over children's heads and detonate them?
Take a long hard look as this scene could play out in this country then maybe some of you will get it.
The only conclusion I can draw from this is that you feel Al Qaeda and the Taliban who were harboring them should have been left to continue there terrorism after killing 1000's of innocent people?
So what is your solution to ruthless people that fly planes full of people into buildings full of people and are willing to hang bombs over children's heads and detonate them?
Take a long hard look as this scene could play out in this country then maybe some of you will get it.
It already has.
Got Dick?
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There's only one way to fight a war if we are going to win. We played this same politically correct game in Vietnam and look how that turned out. 
