Something I wish a U.S. president would say about Afghanistan (or some place similar).

[harmonica]

We can't even stop terrorist groups inside the US, so why would anyone think we could stop them over seas?
The Taliban had NOTHING at all to do with any terrorism, and were very anti terrorist.

hahahhahaahhaahahahahahahahahah

 

[kyzr]

Dayton3 yes, you didn't learn anything from Vietnam

.....hey!!! we could stay there 50 years--it would mean nothing--change nothing

Actually, what does VN look like today? Anything like the VN of the 1970s? (50-years later)

 

[Rigby5]

Why not? Somebodies got to be.

Because the US is likely the single worst at doing it because we are the most corrupt.
We lie and cheat, only being interested in profits.
The polls showed that Korea and Vietnam did not want us there.

 

[iceberg]

'Now every Taliban fighter gets his own Humvee': Here is some of the military hardware left behind in Afghanistan

twitchy.com

lord we do some stupid ass shit.

 

[esme]

1) What is the significance of 20 years? It took more than 20 years for South Korean to become Democratic and prosperous. About 35 years actually.

2) What if Afghanistan's neighbors won't do "something". ?

And BTW Russia was in there for 10 years trying to 'fix' it. Then us for 20 years. There is no fix. We spent 20 years training their fighters and billions of dollars supplying them with weapons and then their own forces 'melted' away as the Taliban came on. They are getting what they deserve. Unfortunately for the women. Their men are mice.

 

[harmonica]

"yeah but" was not my argument. There was no "yeah" in my argument.
My argument was that SK appreciated the US beating back the communists after they almost captured the entire country.
My argument is that SK welcomed US support, AFG does not, AFG opposes US involvement, as seen by how fast the Taliban took control of the country.

exactly...and Korea is a peninsula with a very narrow waist--easy to control ....

 

[kyzr]

And BTW Russia was in there for 10 years trying to 'fix' it. Then us for 20 years. There is no fix. We spent 20 years training their fighters and billions of dollars supplying them with weapons and then their own forces 'melted' away as the Taliban came on. They are getting what they deserve. Unfortunately for the women. Their men are mice.

Are their men mice, or duplicitous not wanting to shoot their muslim brothers the Taliban?

 

[Yarddog]

Your idealism just doesn't get reality. AFG needs to evolve on their own at their own pace.
Trying to expedite their civilizing will only result in more beheadings and more girls shot in the head.
Let them evolve without wasting any more US lives or US treasure.
You can say the same for Yemen, or Iran or many other backward muslim countries.
The US is NOT the world's cop nor the world's civilizing agent.
If AFG wants to stay backward who are you to make them change?

I'm not saying there isnt a lot to what you say. There is a middle ground at some point and there are costs vs gains ALWAYS. But I cant help but see, we had a very few people over there only 3,000 at most, in the entire country and it was helping them hold it together, so obviously there were Afghanis who had the will to work with us and trying to do it for themselves but obviously they were just not strong enough yet. I cant see how providing logistics and technical support was such a bad thing. Our presence there I think was also symbolic of our resolve and that along with the Afghan military seemed to be enough to keep the Taliban back.
I'm not convinced as you are that those people all want to remain backwards. They are just facing the Taliban who are actually a minority and made up of different peoples anyway. They are just savages.

 

[esme]

Are their men mice, or duplicitous not wanting to shoot their muslim brothers the Taliban?

Doesn't matter...either way.

 

[Rigby5]

hahahhahaahhaahahahahahahahahah

Actually the Taliban are mostly Pashtun and very anti Arab. The CIA forced the Mujahedeen to accept the Arabs like bin Laden and al Qaeda. The Taliban arrested bin Laden many times.

 

[harmonica]

kyzr my company is buying stuff from them...our manufacturing work force is a bout 30% Vietnamese ..most are barely understandable

 

[Rigby5]

I'm not saying there isnt a lot to what you say. There is a middle ground at some point and there are costs vs gains ALWAYS. But I cant help but see, we had a very few people over there only 3,000 at most, in the entire country and it was helping them hold it together, so obviously there were Afghanis who had the will to work with us and trying to do it for themselves but obviously they were just not strong enough yet. I cant see how providing logistics and technical support was such a bad thing. Our presence there I think was also symbolic of our resolve and that along with the Afghan military seemed to be enough to keep the Taliban back.
I'm not convinced as you are that those people all want to remain backwards. They are just facing the Taliban who are actually a minority and made up of different peoples anyway. They are just savages.

You don't get it.
The Taliban did and do so well because they have support of 90% of the population.
No one likes us.
They just like the money we pay them with.
Which is evil inherently.
So our presence does a great deal of harm, not good.

We are the savages, because we act only for money.
They act out of beliefs and an attempt to do what they think is right.

 

[Yarddog]

We can't even stop terrorist groups inside the US, so why would anyone think we could stop them over seas?
The Taliban had NOTHING at all to do with any terrorism, and were very anti terrorist.

You got a point, maybe we should send sniper teams to S.F. to stop the shoplifters!

Naw, the Taliban was welcoming Alquida and giving them support

 

[Dayton3]

Dayton3 yes, you didn't learn anything from Vietnam

.....hey!!! we could stay there 50 years--it would mean nothing--change nothing

We've stayed in South Korea for SIXTY YEARS and a great deal has changed for the better.

You lose.

 

[Dayton3]

It is not our responsiblity to fix the entire world.

Whose is it then?

 

[harmonica]

You don't get it.
The Taliban did and do so well because they have support of 90% of the population.
No one likes us.
They just like the money we pay them with.
Which is evil inherently.
So our presence does a great deal of harm, not good.

We are the savages, because we act only for money.
They act out of beliefs and an attempt to do what they think is right.

bullshit
1. some of them want us there
2. we act on what we think is right and best for the US...they act on what's best for them--like every country/etc

 

[Dayton3]

Because the US is likely the single worst at doing it because we are the most corrupt.
We lie and cheat, only being interested in profits.

Utterly ridiculous.

 

[Rigby5]

Right? and now we are going to let the Taliban access that 85 billion in weaponry? they will be selling all that soon to the highest bidders.
If we wanted to withdraw, i bet the geniuses in the Pentagon could have still found a better way.
AND... no I'm not talking about going over there and civilizing anyone. they have people who live there who have the will to do that themselves but they are still too weak to stand up to that kind of barbarism. I think they needed just more time.
And again.... look how long we keep troops in S.K. and Europe. If ISIS and AL Quida set up camp again in Afghanistan.. then someday we are going to have to lose thousands of more soldiers fighting another large conflict.
Just because we dont have the patience now.

Wrong.
It was the US who set al Qaeda up in Afghanistan, in 1979, and the Pashtun really did not want them there at all.
But we can't even stop drug cartels in Mexico, so there is no way having troops in Afghanistan does any good at all.

 

[Rigby5]

bullshit
1. some of them want us there
2. we act on what we think is right and best for the US...they act on what's best for them--like every country/etc

Very few want us there, or else they would have beaten the Taliban themselves long ago, when the Northern Alliance was fighting them.
No, the Taliban were the choice of the people.
There is no denying that, and so the principles of democracy say we are the bad guys then.

 

[Dayton3]

No, the Taliban were the choice of the people.

Prove it with evidence from an unbiased source please.