The War in Afghanistan

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

Just vote for now - I'll bring in an article discussing it later.

[Reaganfan]

How can people say we shouldn't have? I lean to the Democrats in 2008 but those that hate the wars on terrorisms confuse and aggrivate me so much.

[Hash]

Yes, but now we need to leave [for Canadian troops, atleast get out of Kandahar, but George W. Harper doesn't want to].

[Erc]

I really have never understood Canada's issues with having troops in Afghanistan...would any of our Canadian friends care to explain?

[Ban my account ffs!]

There's a war in Afghanistan?

[Padfoot]

How can people say we shouldn't have? I lean to the Democrats in 2008 but those that hate the wars on terrorisms confuse and aggrivate me so much.

There's a war in Afghanistan?

Although I'm fairly certain snowguy is being sarcastic I think the above quotes perfectly exemplify how the Bush administration has completely bamboozled the American populace and caused us to fall so far behind in fighting real terrorists. 

The war in Afghanistan is the real war on terror because thats where the terrorists that attacked us were based as well as the government that actively enabled them to function.  The war in Iraq is a completely separate issue that is not linked to the war on terror in any way, shape, or form.  Unfortunately, Bush managed to hoodwink the entire country into think Iraq is the central stage for the war on terror.  As a result, almost no one has realized Afghanistan has been slowly slipping away.  Also, it made it nearly impossible for people to criticize the war in Iraq for a long time without being accused of "hating the war on terrorism."    So now when Democrats talk about withdrawing from Iraq people assume they want to end the war on terror but I haven't heard a single Democratic candidate say that they'd leave Afghanistan or end the war on terror.  To be fair, I actually haven't heard any candidate lay out a plan for Afghanistan which is an even bigger problem.

Bottom line, we need to pull out of Iraq so that we can properly fight the war on terror in Afghanistan.

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

How can people say we shouldn't have? I lean to the Democrats in 2008 but those that hate the wars on terrorisms confuse and aggrivate me so much.

This poll kinda confirmed what I was thinking - most people support it, even Dems.  My U.S. Rep Carolyn Kilpatric said her priority is to get us out of Iraq and Afghanistan - and it was always my understanding that troops in Afghanistan was pretty universally supported.  I was gonna do a blog post on it, but kinda wanted to confirm my hunch - I'll post the article with her quotes later today or tomorrow.

[Gabu]

Unlike Iraq, Afghanistan is fine (relatively speaking).

[Ebowed]

Whether it was justified or not, it doesn't seem to be working.

I think it's a sad reflection on our society when we passively support one war mostly because it's not as visibly botched as another one.

[opebo]

No, I don't think that attacking the country was quite the appropriate action.  Though I must say that the way it was done - CIA operations, 'local forces' bombing, limited US regular troops on the ground - was an absolute masterpiece.  What's the name of that plane again that is an old prop-driven cargo plane that tilts to one side and circles, strafing the hell out of those below?  Oh yes the AC-130.  Talk about a British style gattling gun against spears slaughter...

[Filuwaúrdjan]

I support the West not abandoning Afghanistan in the selfish, cynical (and, ultimately, counterproductive) way it did in the early '90's.

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

This was the War that needed to happen.

However, when I look at the planning and the brilliant internal work done by the coalition and NATO... I see all of that going to waste on a war which was unnecessary and took away vital resources, allowing for the Taliban to re-establish itself on both sides of the Pakistan/Aghan broder.

[Person Man]

We really need to figure Afghanistan out. Of course, if we didn't choose to conquer (after we toppled Saddam and decided we liked Iraq, our liberation became conquest) Iraq, this entire "Patriot War" would be over. We need to work hard on Afghanistan.

[JSojourner]

How can people say we shouldn't have? I lean to the Democrats in 2008 but those that hate the wars on terrorisms confuse and aggrivate me so much.

There's a war in Afghanistan?

Although I'm fairly certain snowguy is being sarcastic I think the above quotes perfectly exemplify how the Bush administration has completely bamboozled the American populace and caused us to fall so far behind in fighting real terrorists. 

The war in Afghanistan is the real war on terror because thats where the terrorists that attacked us were based as well as the government that actively enabled them to function.  The war in Iraq is a completely separate issue that is not linked to the war on terror in any way, shape, or form.  Unfortunately, Bush managed to hoodwink the entire country into think Iraq is the central stage for the war on terror.  As a result, almost no one has realized Afghanistan has been slowly slipping away.  Also, it made it nearly impossible for people to criticize the war in Iraq for a long time without being accused of "hating the war on terrorism."    So now when Democrats talk about withdrawing from Iraq people assume they want to end the war on terror but I haven't heard a single Democratic candidate say that they'd leave Afghanistan or end the war on terror.  To be fair, I actually haven't heard any candidate lay out a plan for Afghanistan which is an even bigger problem.

Bottom line, we need to pull out of Iraq so that we can properly fight the war on terror in Afghanistan.

You are my new favorite Atlasian.  I couldn't possibly agree more.

The Decider's attention span is a bit shorter than that of my seven year old. 

[Eraserhead]

I supported the war at the time but I'm not totally sure how I feel about it at this point.

[Person Man]

I supported the war at the time but I'm not totally sure how I feel about it at this point.

One reason to support this war is because this war has united the broader civilization instead of dividing it, like Iraq. Of course that's changing...but that's why its time to work hard now.

[Tetro Kornbluth]

Whether it was justified or not, it doesn't seem to be working.

I think it's a sad reflection on our society when we passively support one war mostly because it's not as visibly botched as another one.

Or is that just the media perception? How much Reports on Afghanistan do CNN, FOX, etc do these days anyway.

Excellent post. Fully agree btw.

[War on Want]

I am completley in favor of the War in Afghanistan. We should withdraw almost all of our soldiers in Iraq and place them in duty here, to pound the Taliban and Al-Qaeda into pulp, instead of fighting a war of occupation against people who are not exactly our enemies.

[Secretary of State Liberal Hack]

Bumping this to remind people that almost everyone supported the War in Afghanistan at one point.

[Lechasseur]

Bumping this to remind people that almost everyone supported the War in Afghanistan at one point.

Unlike for Iraq, I can't see how anyone could have possibly opposed the invasion of Afghanistan.

I mean, you couldn't just let the Taliban harbour terrorists like Osama Ben Laden. They had to be punished and the terrorist harbouring had to be put to an end.

Other than for counterterrorism reasons, America's credibility would have simply collapsed if they allowed the harbourers of Al Qaeda to go unpunished, and if anything would have probably encouraged further attacks as America would have looked weak.

Overthrowing the Taliban was the just decision and it was the only strategically viable one as well.

[jaichind]

Bumping this to remind people that almost everyone supported the War in Afghanistan at one point.

I remember being opposed to it in 2001.  I was for some special op hit to kill OBL and his gang but not invasion.  It did violate Afganistan sovereignty which made me uneasy but 3K+ were murdered in my own city so I sort of saw past that concern.