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Will the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan lead to greater stability?

 

 

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Cut & Run before the job is done will only result in a repeat of 9/11 in spades and this country will have no one to blame but ourselves.

Our enemies view things from a long-term point of view and have no intension of standing down until victorious, while this country continues to demonstrate nothing more than a sound-byte attention span and no will to win any extended conflict since WWII.

Robert Ireland Post 174 (PUFL)

Submitted by Bob95490 : Jun 22, 2011 11:33pm

I don't believe we have the political will to take the fight to the bad guys, I believe we are way to politically connected to the money-men( the house of Saud comes to mind) who finance these "Warriows of God" that hide in the shadows and take no personnel risks in the fight against America. The so called goverment of Afghanistan is one of the most corrupt in the entire world and has been for the last 400 years! When our presence there requires huge bribes, looking the other way when the enemy arrives to bribe the same official, we are in a worst no-win situation than Viet-Nam!!
I know this will be unpopular with some, If I were in charge, the troops would be out, lock,stock and barrel in six weeks! Then I'd load up the airborne spray assets and spray every poppie field until I was satisified they were gone. ( carpet bombing comes to mind as well)

Submitted by billy.w.cook : Jun 23, 2011 10:32am

I still remember how we "declared victory" and then left Vietnam. How many thousands (millions?) died as a result of that strategy? Why do we not learn from history?

Simply stating that the war is subsiding, and then choosing to blindly believe what we tell ourselves, strikes me as the epitome of hubris.

I don't want to be there any longer than necessary, and I think we should leave. But to pat ourselves on the back for a job well done seems foolish.

Certainly our enemies throughout the world know that they just need to outlast us. We're not interested in victory. Or, as I heard one commenter say this morning, our enemies tap their bare wrists and say, "You may have the watches, but we have the time..."

Submitted by NickMDN : Jun 23, 2011 4:05pm

The war in Afghanistan just an ongoing saga.The Afghanistan "military" is still not prepared to take over
after a 10 year presence of the US military? My guess is they will never be ready. The government is corrupt and will fold like a deck of cards without our military presence. The rules of engagement with the enemy are sheer nonsense and are soldiers suffer and die because of it. If the Aghans were so intent on getting rid of the Taliban their army would have been ready years ago!

Submitted by k962 : Jun 23, 2011 4:15pm

Afghanistan and Pakistan are basically Rural Tribal
Areas and considering their Mentality a Respect for
Central Authority with Representation is Completely Alien
to their way of Life. We must understand Russia withdrew
many years ago realizing the futility of their efforts.
We have No Business staying more than 100 days as the former President Bush declared in our Kuwaiti Assist. We
Must keep our engagements focused on a Short Stay with a
Well defined Purpose and then leave the Country. We also
must consider to cease with the Billions of USD's of Aid
as little can be shown as what our USD's has really accomplished.

Submitted by haseinc : Jun 23, 2011 4:51pm

I agree 100% Bush and Chaney and the big money Military/Industrial complex of greedy corporations failed to complete the "victory" in Afghanistan in 2002, they 'FAILED" to eliminate Bin Laden when they had the chance and chose to open a "Second Unnecessary Front" in Iraq. Yes Saddam was a "Brutal Dictator" but the U.S. Propped him up as long as he was fighting Iran?? We could have gone in after Gulf 1 and with the help of all the Shia's from Basrah and the entire U.N. could have taken all of Baghdad and the rest of Iraq with relative ease. But Bush Senior on the advice of the chicken hearted in his cabinet and chairman of the Joint Chief's he stopped because they were "Afraid" of the "body bags" that would be coming back!!! This country has NEVER been the same since the "FAILURE" in Vietnam. We have spent Trillions in Afghanistan and Pakistan and WE are deeply in debt and have not made any real progress in our "Security"!

Submitted by bellis39 : Jun 24, 2011 12:22pm

Here is the long and short of what is going on in the Middle East.
Iraq was invaded because Sadam was a bad person! He was shipping in all the things he needed to create WMDs. The UN found shipping labels that proved that they were actually shipped, and about 25% of those precursors are missing.
Afghanistan was a hot bed for both the Taliban and Al Qaeda, they needed to be eradicated and neutralized.
In both countries the fight against terror rages on. It is not as easy as destroying a opposing army and moving on. We are fighting a war terror. Counter Insurgency is the focus of the troops in the Middle East which means that we as the forces on the ground need to teach the Afghans and the Iraqi's another way of life, we need to show them there is a better way.
Politics are an ugly business, I would have thought that we learned during Vietnam but we have not! We still have politicians that believe they know more about fighting war than the actual military leaders that do the

Submitted by Rob97 : Jun 24, 2011 2:18pm

Reading through comments it's refreshing at how well informed and thought provoking our veterans are! Dumping the billions of dollars in there for ten years has taught us only at this point, that history only repeats itself and we apparently learn nothing and are willing to continue having our troops suffer the ultimate consequence for a cause with no end in sight. It is put much more eloquently in the book I just read and I highly recommend it to all out there who may not have read it yet. It's close up, personal and in your face for those who want to know what it's presently like there. The book: GREETINGS FROM AFGHANISTAN - SEND MORE AMMO - DISPATCHES FROM TALIBAN COUNTRY. By Capt. Benjamin Tupper [2010]. It is well written, concise and to the point. It is gut wrenching and mind bending. I pray for my son recently deployed there and all his comrades for their survival and safe return home. How many sleepless nights will I have?? God Bless you all!

Submitted by Woodman : Jun 24, 2011 2:27pm

See the vote totals ! I am a proud vet, but the Legion keeps praising the government's running of the war. Are the leaders of the Legion getting Liberal? They say to celebrate the decision that Obama has made, where clearly we are all againt how the war has been run and now how we are pulling out, lets get it done right and stop playing political WAR !!! The leaders of the Legion need to stop praising everything done including rewarding Gen Petreus with a high legion award when he is the one failing first in Iraq and now Afghan ! They are saying they representing the vets?

Submitted by soldier333 : Jun 25, 2011 12:02am

I think we need to be 100% certain we have done everything we can to ensure things are done right before we pull out. I know people are pressuring the government to pull out. However, if we pull out before there is stability we just might see another 9/11 or worse.

Submitted by Triplemi : Jun 25, 2011 11:07am

I totally agree with Bellis39. The Afghanistan War has been a failure. Many (both Civilian and Military) have said that there is no 'military' solution to this situation, yet we continue to listen to the Generals and the results are tragic.

Submitted by rcdonline : Jul 3, 2011 12:29pm