a war of “choice”. During the recent news coverage of the budget impasse I heard too many Democrats blame the budget deficits on two costly “wars of choice”. So many elected Democrats repeated that line that I have to believe that they were reading from the same talking points issued by the DNC. I can understand them calling Iraq a war of choice but when did Afghanistan earn that dubious distinction?
It burns my ass as I lost several close friends on 9/11 and I had been through the Path station at the WTC no less than 20 minutes before the first plane hit. For any elected official to go on national tv and imply that we had any other choice but to use force in Afghanistan is full of it. If that were the case than WWII was a war of choice.
Liberals not being in touch with reality!? Stop the presses!
I know how you feel though. The lack of news coverage of Afghanistan at all makes me mad daily when I compare it to emails I get from friends/family in country. They essentially ignore that there is even an actual war going on but they are the one’s trying to make it a “better” place by spending millions of dollars training ANSF and settling all the personal disputes.
If we’re going to go after AQ, we need the balls to hit them in Pakistan, Chechnya, the West Bank, Sudan, Somalia, Yemen, etc. What we’re doing in Afghanistan is alright, but it’s not going to solve the issue of terrorism anywhere on the planet except in Afghanistan.
It’s like fighting a war in Korea or Vietnam in the hopes of defeating global communism. Sorry, ain’t gonna solve it by staying within a limited theater.
When it became more about nation building by injecting a national democracy when they don’t want it than about preventing another terrorist act + avenging 9/11.
I think we can fight and defeat Al Qaeda without spending over a trillion dollars playing country builder for people who don’t really care for it in the first place.
As pointed out AQ mostly left Afghanistan once we went there. We’ve paid almost no overt attention to where they went.
The initial incursion into Afghanistan in pursuit of Bin Laden and other key al Qaeda operatives was fully justified.
But now it appears we are attempting to rectify all of the social, economic, and political conditions which permitted a terrorist organization like al Qaeda to flourish.
Going after terrorists is one thing (and one which I support). Trying to correct all of the ills of the world that lead people to adopt and support a militant terrorist agenda is beyond our means.
You hit the nail on the head. Afghanistan should have been a “Military Punitive Expedition”. Once we were done kicking their asses, we should have left with a promise to return at any random time and do it all over again.
This. The war in Afghanistan has long since passed it’s usefulness. We’re staring at the pink elephant across the border in Pakistan and we’re too timid to kill him. Nothing we ever do in Afghanistan is going to change the culture there. Democracy in a backwards, savage land that time forgot will never last. It’s way past time to get out.
Yup. It stopped being about a violent upheaval of bad men and more about irrigation and paying for dead goats. I would call it a war of choice, but I’d call it a war that lost direction.
Justifiable war, but choices have been made that expanded our scope beyond what we should have justified. There is still a more limited scope mission that makes a LOT more sense, but will only work on the context of us actually hitting targets across the order and not acting like diplomatic vaginas when it comes to negotiations with regional powers.
Here is another reason to leave. Between the political leaders and the US populace addicted to dancing with the stars we don’t have the willpower to effectively engage enemies anymore.
I personally think trying to make stone age muslims think we are their friends is a losing bet.
Several Taliban detainees who had been captured in February after being observed placing bombs in the culverts of roads used by civilians and military convoys near Kandahar were fed, given medical treatment, then released by American troops frustrated by a policy they say is forcing them to kick loose enemies who are trying to kill them.
Washington, Jefferson, Adams, Madison, Monroe, Franklin, et.al. were NOT “bequeathed” to us from the British - they were of Britsh extraction, but rose up from under the monarchical thumb of England, and FOUGHT their way free.
For Iraq, Afghanistan, Egypt, Libya, Bahrain, et.al. to “succeed” the way nation-builders would like them to, then from their OWN RANKS must emerge THEIR “Washingtons, Jeffersons, Adams, Madisons, Monroes, & Franklins, et.al.” We cannot bequeath such luminaries TO them - THEY must emerge and grab hold of liberty and self-governance for themselves. UNTIL such time as they do, NOTHING will change.
Muslims natural leaders aren’t jeffersons. Their leaders are mohameds that cut people’s heads off. Islam is a nasty religion and a cancer to the rest of the world. They need an iron boot to be kept somewhat civilized.
Whatever the current reason or lack thereof for being there, the Democrat whiners should realize that these wars were ones that the majority of Democrats voted for (ie, the Ds CHOSE to do it) and that the “trillions” of dollars deficits don’t come from the wars. The numbers don’t add up. Especially since the deficits have jumped since O came to power and drew us down in Iraq.