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Then he re-enlisted in the interim. At some point, deployments become a choice.
Quote:
Originally Posted by 415_s2k
My dad was in Iraq for 1.5 years.
My uncle has been there for 7 years (!).
Neither of them ever, for any reason, left base unless they were on patrol.
FWIW, Afghani locals are reporting that it was not one soldier, but it was a group of them. This would not be the first time something like this has happened, regrettably.
How has your uncle been deployed for 7 years?
The 172nd was deployed for 16 months, and that was the upper end of deployment length with a guaranteed 12 month home stretch between deployments.
By that rationale, why blame a killer for a crime they committed yesterday?
THE SIMPLE FACT OF THE MATTER IS THAT BUSH STARTED THIS WAR. That means that it's HIS fault. I know that a lot of GOP supporters/anti-liberals bristle when people "blame Bush," but you know why people keep blaming him?
Because it's still his freakin' fault that these wars are going on.
It doesn't matter whether it's four years or four hundred: these wars started under his administration, and there's no further discussion on the matter. Once you do something, it's been done; no matter how much you wish it away, the reality doesn't change! If you break a Ming Vase, whose fault is it: yours, or the guy who has to come sweep it up and try to glue it back together?
I'll also add: we conspicuously are no longer in Iraq, and that happened under Obama's administration.
Congress agreed to this war.
Including your SOS and VP.
We are no longer in Iraq because of the agreement made by Bush, not Obama.
I think this whole exercise in Afghanistan should be a lesson to us when responding to massive acts of terrorism such as the kind that occurred on 9/11. I think the lesson that we take from this should be to police and destroy terrorist infrastructure and command-control hubs, but avoid nation-building like the plague.
In a way, we can be forgiven for the mistakes we've made there: I think we were responding to the fact that the deteriorating conditions in Afghanistan were what led to the Taliban's grip on power in the first place, which might be true. However, history shows time and time again how ungovernable Afghanistan is, and we just didn't have the resources to impose ourselves and develop a functional state. We certainly didn't and still don't have the resources and the national resolve to occupy a foreign country for 10 years. We taught the Taliban a lesson; we seriously disrupted and destroyed much of Al Qaida; we have a better understanding of the political causes of terrorism; we have much better information gathering networks that can intercept terrorist transmissions now; and we even killed Bin Laden and have jailed many of those directly responsible for 9/11. We have largely accomplished our most important objectives.
I think this incident is a wake-up call. We need to withdraw. Unconditionally. It's past time to get out. The people in Afghanistan don't want us there, and we probably don't really want to be there a day longer anyway.
Its a tribal society, very isolated pockets of people here and there. Nothing resembling an entire country.
This is the most important distinction to be pointed out about Afghanistan. Just like Iraq was complicated because of its sectarianism and regionalism, Afghanistan is a complex undertaking because of its tribalism. As you say, Afghanistan is not a country; it is a collection of tribes. These tribes resist centralized government, which is one reason why the Taliban flourished during the Soviet occupation.
This thing is over. There is no coming back from this incident. Afghanistan was already deteriorating, but now it's over the cliff. From Quran burnings to mass murder of women and children...Americans will never be seen as friendly occupiers ever again. We need to get out.
FWIW, I agreed with Bush in going to Afghan though.
So did I. Bush was distracted by Iraq, let Afghanistan fester and the substantial financial/infrastructure aid promised by the international community didn't really materialize and it wasn't until Obama took office that Afghanistan was moved to the front again.
This is the most important distinction to be pointed out about Afghanistan. Just like Iraq was complicated because of its sectarianism and regionalism, Afghanistan is a complex undertaking because of its tribalism. As you say, Afghanistan is not a country; it is a collection of tribes. These tribes resist centralized government, which is one reason why the Taliban flourished during the Soviet occupation.
This thing is over. There is no coming back from this incident. Afghanistan was already deteriorating, but now it's over the cliff. From Quran burnings to mass murder of women and children...Americans will never be seen as friendly occupiers ever again. We need to get out.
They burn their own Korans and kill their own women and children. They should practice what they are trying to preach.
They burn their own Korans and kill their own women and children. They should practice what they are trying to preach.
Pot, Kettle , black.
Hypocrisy is a global disease.
America should get it's crap together, before trying to tame the world.
Afghanistan is another black stain on American.
If congress would just get rid of the CIA, they wouldn't need third world countries drugs to fund their murder.
Afghanistan is nothing more than a funding mechanism for Black Op murderers, and the honorable soldiers know this.
There is no mission in that dirt hole, other than CIA funding and a base to take over Iran.
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