10 Years Ago Today...

[Alexander Ostmann]

...the US and its allies entered Afghanistan to liberate their people from the Taliban (and among other reasons as well). We've come a long way but we still have a long way to go, too. Let's not forget those 2,754 coalition troops that have died and the many more thousand casualties that have befallen every participating nation (including Afghanistan). Let's also not forget the sacrifices that the wounded make everyday to live with their scars, physically and mentally. And finally, let's not forget the families of soldiers that live a part of the war everyday.

 

[Moyako]

...entered Afghanistan to liberate their people from the Taliban

I lol'd

 

[Sufyan]

Liberation is a very dirty word.

 

[Peter.Steele]

Yeah, we're only in Afghanistan for the oil. Everyone knows that.

 

[Rrralphster]

So far, so good.. eh?

 

[Colt .45 killer]

Yeah, we're only in Afghanistan for the oil. Everyone knows that.

*ppssst*

thats iraq!

 

[Ermac]

What a tragic waste of human life.

 

[Raptor341]

Disgusting. Really, all some of you can say is "its all about the oil". I expect this from the those who think everything in life is a conspiracy but he was just trying to respect the fallen of the alliance and afghans themselves. Get your heads out of your asses. I will not say that everything the mission has done over there as been right at all but at least someone took up the fight, I remember why we went there. 157 of our members our there too ( Canada ), and I am proud of what they have been risking their lives to try to build, even if the odds are so against it.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-15093744

Raptor341

 

[Homuth]

So where is it all good for Raptor? You seem to be the guy to know.

 

[The Masta]

Yeah, we're only in Afghanistan for the oil. Everyone knows that.

It's the consoles fault!

 

[Reise]

Those who are uninformed will make jokes about oil and Osama bin Laden, which the fighting in Afghanistan isn't really about at all. The Iraq war kinda overshadowed it and magnified the controversy of action in the middle east. Though I will agree a lot of it does seem to be protecting interests and assets left over from the late 70s-early 80s when we were helping against the Soviets.

It's drawn on for quite a while but we can't abandon the people there.

 

[Peter.Steele]

Disgusting. Really, all some of you can say is "its all about the oil". I expect this from the those who think everything in life is a conspiracy but he was just trying to respect the fallen of the alliance and afghans themselves. Get your heads out of your asses. I will not say that everything the mission has done over there as been right at all but at least someone took up the fight, I remember why we went there. 157 of our members our there too ( Canada ), and I am proud of what they have been risking their lives to try to build, even if the odds are so against it. I am a service member and I do believe everything Im told blindly, and anyone in a good democracy should question their leadership, very much so in times of war like this but please, at the very least reseach the conflict before you say something so blank as "its all about this" unless that is truly the only its about, and it is not. Read this, it might help a little. I'm sorry if Ive come off strong, but its a strong issue.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-15093744

Raptor341

"I have six feet of Russia for you fritz!!"

1. I'm a US vet. I was on active duty on 9/11, and had plenty of fun and games that day, that week, and for a couple years after.

2. Sarcasmeter. Check yours, I think it's broken.

3. There's no oil in Afghanistan, genius. There's nothing there but jihadis, opium and leftover Soviet landmines.

 

[Sufyan]

The old Taliban government had no interest in the outside world so they did not care much that foreign Islamists used the Afghan mountains for training camps. Most of them came to Afghanistan to train for fighting in their own lands and topple their own governments, but then you have the tiny camp widely known as "Al-Qaida" ("The base") that believes the various Arab regimes, Saudi Arabia especially, can not be toppled without first getting America to abandon it's middle east interests. Not being able to match the American military might, Osama and his likeminded outlaw friends resorted to supporting opportunistic terrorism, including supporting Khalid Sheikh Mohammed who asked for funding to go through with his plan: the "planes operation", more commonly known as 9/11 or september 11 attacks.

Even before the September 11 attacks it was known that Osama Bin Ladin was hiding in Afghanistan and they were trying to build a case against him as the leader of a criminal organisation responsible for the 1998 bombings of US embassies and the 2000 bombing of USS Cole. Though he didn't have a direct role in any terrorism, Osama was justifiably seen as a danger to American interests and security. The US government demanded the Afghan Taliban government arrest and hand over Osama to America, the Taliban cheekily responded "Prove that he is guilty first", which wasn't well recieved in the US. In a very short time the Taliban government was destroyed and driven out of power in a spectacular invasion.

This is about as far as I can tell the story without going into politics. It is not about liberating people, Hitler used that excuse too. It is about protecting those that are useful to American interests, like the royal Saudi family and other Arab governments, from militant Islamists that seek to replace them. Afghanistan is rather insignificant to the world, it just attracts the kind of criminals that America sees fit to stomp with multimillion dollar bombs and gunships.

This might not be the story as you would deduce it only from western media. I am Muslim, and so I've been inclined to look at the Islamic scholarly perspective. This is a huge embarrasment to Muslim intellectuals, many who praised Osama as a hero and model Muslim for his efforts in the Soviet-Afghan war, but later having to admit they were wrong when he made himself an enemy of Saudi Arabia and eventually the rest of the world. The story of "Al-Qaida" and the Taliban can not be fully understood without the Islamic and Arab perspectives. The western perspective is slightly modified to fit the "war on terror" narrative. Far from a conspiracy, but you need to look at all angles to make out something resembling historical truth.

 

[Alexander Ostmann]

he was just trying to respect the fallen of the alliance and afghans themselves.

Thank you. At least someone understood my post.

 

[Shadrach]

While the original intent of the Afghan invasion in 2001, and the possible success thereof, can certainly be discussed, there is no doubt now that the nations involved must be in it for the long run.

If we - my country is involved too, and I have a step-brother there - pull out and let the Taliban take over again, the Afghans will be cast back into medieval tyranny, with repression of culture and women's rights. This is not something that we can allow to happen to the people of Afghanistan.

I am against war, all wars are cruel and unjust, but once you start them you have to finish the job.

 

[C_Gibby]

I never understood the modern wars at all, but from what I'm hearing, nobody over there even wants the UN's help.

 

[aesdana]

text

I find it amusing that there are still people who believe Afghanistan can be conquered.

Vietnam

Iraq

 

[SalCos]

I lol'd

 

[Shadrach]

I find it amusing that there are still people who believe Afghanistan can be conquered.

Vietnam

Iraq

The UN and NATO are *not* conquering Afghanistan - there is nothing there to conquer. The Taliban was one of the cruelest, most repressive regimes the world has seen, and even though the US invasion came as a result of the attacks on 11/9 2001, the effort after has been to secure the civilians.

Iraq is different, for one thing there is the oil, and it is obvious the intentions of the US 2003 invasion was to secure these this oil (and possibly some scary kind of father-son pride for the Bushes), and that the claim of WMDs was a blatant lie.

Like I said, once you go in with troops and overthrow a government, is it your duty to stay until the security of the civilians can be assured. If the troops are pulled out now it will cause the Taliban to take over in a short time and all hell will be loose.

 

[Reise]

I never understood the modern wars at all, but from what I'm hearing, nobody over there even wants the UN's help.

The scattered farmers and villagers tend to be happy with anarchy when they are armed with US and Soviet weapons capable of destroying their enemies and neighbors.

Why should they want our help? They take it because we aren't there to hurt them intentionally and we potentially save them from the occasional civillian massacre. Getting rid of insurgents from the Taliban is just a bonus.