Why are we even in Afghanistan?

[s.a.f]

On thursday 8 British troops were killed making a total of 15 dead this week.
I know we invaded Iraq on the premise that there were WMD's to be found, (not to mention oil) :whistle: but I still dont know what the hell we're supposed to be in Afghanistan for?

 

[oni]

To take control of the opium poppy fields.............................

"Allied" troops love poppy fields...............................

Ooops I mean give them democracy and kill off the Taliban........................ :whistle:

"EVIL" towel heads............................................

 

[s.a.f]

But we're not actualy doing anything to stem the heroin trade.
And of all the evil supressive regimes across the globe, what does the Taliban have to do with us? Why should we care about whats happening in an Islamic country 1000's of miles away. Why is it worth spending billions of our tax £'s on and losing 100's of our soldiers?

 

[optimus prime]

Because UK, US and other intelligence agencies have evidence that most of the terrorists attacks and thwarted terrorist attacks are launched from there.

 

[Jm0311]

Because UK, US and other intelligence agencies have evidence that most of the terrorists attacks and thwarted terrorist attacks are launched from there.

This is true. And being to Iraq myself and seeing it first hand. We have made a difference by killing all those terrorists

Oorah to the Marines in Helmand Pro.

 

[oni]

I was taking the piss......................................

The heroin trade has gone up.........................

We should have gone into Afghanistan in the first place and not Iraq.........................

It is no good trying to stop the heroin trade........................the farmers cannot make the money on any other crops.............................

They need to give the farmers another way.....................

From what I can remember about 80% of the worlds production of heroin comes from Afghanistan..........

So much for the war on drugs.................. :whistle:

 

[s.a.f]

Because UK, US and other intelligence agencies have evidence that most of the terrorists attacks and thwarted terrorist attacks are launched from there.

What Terrorist attacks?
The only terrorist attack in the UK (5 yrs ago) came years after we'd gone into Afghanistan and was done by so called British muslims not Afghans.
As far as I'm aware there were also no Afghans in the planes on sept 11th (8yrs ago). Are you saying that if we were'nt over there killing Taliban then these kind of things would be happening to us regularly?

This is true. And being to Iraq myself and seeing it first hand. We have made a difference by killing all those terrorists

Oorah to the Marines in Helmand Pro.

I take it thats a typo and you meant Afghanistan not Iraq, yeah sure we've made a difference. There are a few communities of dirt poor farmers (some of who'm are growing the poppies that end up flooding the heroin into our country) are no longer being persecuted but we're paying a hell of a price in both the cost of the operation and in dead young men.
And we've commited ourselves to have a continous presence there indefinatley. The taliban will never go away so the minute we leave they'll just continue where they left off.

 

[Jm0311]

Because UK, US and other intelligence agencies have evidence that most of the terrorists attacks and thwarted terrorist attacks are launched from there.

What Terrorist attacks?
The only terrorist attack in the UK (5 yrs ago) came years after we'd gone into Afghanistan and was done by so called British muslims not Afghans.
As far as I'm aware there were also no Afghans in the planes on sept 11th (8yrs ago). Are you saying that if we were'nt over there killing Taliban then these kind of things would be happening to us regularly?


[quote="Optimus prime":1a05w8vi]This is true. And being to Iraq myself and seeing it first hand. We have made a difference by killing all those terrorists

Oorah to the Marines in Helmand Pro.

I take it thats a typo and you meant Afghanistan not Iraq, yeah sure we've made a difference. There are a few communities of dirt poor farmers (some of who'm are growing the poppies that end up flooding the heroin into our country) are no longer being persecuted but we're paying a hell of a price in both the cost of the operation and in dead young men.
And we've commited ourselves to have a continous presence there indefinatley. The taliban will never go away so the minute we leave they'll just continue where they left off.[/quote:1a05w8vi]

That is correct. The Taliban is never going away. Only way is to make a deal with them by they are so "anti west" that it may be impossible

 

[CCS]

"EVIL" towel heads............................................

You're just jealous because they can hide their hairloss and you can't.

 

[Bryan]

I still dont know what the hell we're supposed to be in Afghanistan for?

For god's sake, there were terorist training camps in Afghanistan. Aren't you aware of that?? Do you think we should just look the other way, and say "Boys will be boys"? Sheesh...

 

[optimus prime]

I take it thats a typo and you meant Afghanistan not Iraq

Yea, sorry, I meant Afghanistan.

 

[oni]

You're just jealous because they can hide their hairloss and you can't.

Well how do you know I am not in the pic........................................ :whistle:

I let Cassin hold the RPG-7 because we would never hear the end of it, if he did not........................................ :sobbing:

Dave takes such a good pic.....................................

 

[s.a.f]

I still dont know what the hell we're supposed to be in Afghanistan for?

For god's sake, there were terorist training camps in Afghanistan. Aren't you aware of that?? Do you think we should just look the other way, and say "Boys will be boys"? Sheesh...

Finally someone gives one valid reason, but I'm not hearing any news reports about training camps. Surely the same camps also exist in practicly every single country across the middle east? And I'm sure we were tackling the problem of these training camps back in the 90's with covert ops.
Do you really believe that these camps are worthy of a full on invasion/occupying force?

 

[optimus prime]

[quote="s.a.f":3ivdtzjd]I still dont know what the hell we're supposed to be in Afghanistan for?

For god's sake, there were terorist training camps in Afghanistan. Aren't you aware of that?? Do you think we should just look the other way, and say "Boys will be boys"? Sheesh...

Finally someone gives one valid reason, but I'm not hearing any news reports about training camps. Surely the same camps also exist in practicly every single country across the middle east? And I'm sure we were tackling the problem of these training camps back in the 90's with covert ops.
Do you really believe that these camps are worthy of a full on invasion/occupying force?[/quote:3ivdtzjd]

You should research the Taliban and find their overall aim for this world.

 

[s.a.f]

You should research the Taliban and find their overall aim for this world.

I think you are confusing them with Al Queda.
The Taliban are simply a religous/political group, who came to power in the Afghan government who's aim was enforce a strict version of Islamic law in Afghanistan. Initially they had the support of the majority of Afghans as an alternative to being ruled by the Mujhadeen. The word Taliban means student. Until 2001 they were not concerned in conflict with the west and even had support from us until after the events of 2001.

 

[oni]

Finally someone gives one valid reason, but I'm not hearing any news reports about training camps. Surely the same camps also exist in practicly every single country across the middle east? And I'm sure we were tackling the problem of these training camps back in the 90's with covert ops.
Do you really believe that these camps are worthy of a full on invasion/occupying force?

S.a.f

Please read up on the Soviet war in Afghanistan...................................

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_war_in_Afghanistan

We (The West) helped train these people to fight the USSR...........................now this problem is coming back to bite us on the arse.....................

 

[s.a.f]

I know all about the Soviet - Afghan war.
We helped arm and train the mujahideen over 20 yrs ago these skills/weapons have been passed indirectly to the Taliban. So therefore we have inadvertantly boosted their abilities to fight against us.
Kind of proves my point we should have just left our noses out of it back then.
The Russians failed in Afghanistan to a huge cost and the same will probably happen eventually to us.

What does that have to do with us as an occupying force today?
The question remains why are we over there?
Why is it our problem?
Why dont we just get the f*** out and leave them to it (Afghanistan)? Save ourselves £billions and stop more of our troops from being killed.

 

[oni]

The Geneva accords of 1988, which ultimately led to the withdrawal of the Soviet forces in early 1989, left the Afghan government in ruins. The accords had failed to address adequately the issue of the post-occupation period and the future governance of Afghanistan. The assumption among most Western diplomats was that the Soviet-backed government in Kabul would soon collapse; however, this was not to happen for another three years. During this time the Interim Islamic Government of Afghanistan (IIGA) was established in exile. The exclusion of key groups such as refugees and Shias, combined with major disagreements between the different mujaheddin factions, meant that the IIGA never succeeded in acting as a functional government.[74]

Before the war, Afghanistan was already one of the world's poorest nations. The prolonged conflict left Afghanistan ranked 170 out of 174 in the UNDP's Human Development Index, making Afghanistan one of the least developed countries in the world.[75]

Once the Soviets withdrew, US interest in Afghanistan ceased. The US decided not to help with reconstruction of the country and instead they handed over the interests of the country to US allies, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. Pakistan quickly took advantage of this opportunity and forged relations with warlords and later the Taliban, to secure trade interests and routes. From wiping out the country's trees through logging practices, which has destroyed all but 2% of forest cover country-wide, to substantial uprooting of wild pistachio trees for the exportation of their roots for therapeutic uses, to opium agriculture, the past ten years have formed permanent ecological and agrarian destruction that Afghanistan may never recover from.[76]

Captain Tarlan Eyvazov, a soldier in the Soviet forces during the war, stated that the Afghan children's future is destined for war. Eyvazov said, "Children born in Afghanistan at the start of the war... have been brought up in war conditions, this is their way of life." Eyvazov's theory was later strengthened when the Taliban movement developed and formed from orphans or refugee children who were forced by the Soviets to flee their homes and relocate their lives in Pakistan. The swift rise to power, from the young Taliban in 1994, was the result of the disorder and civil war that had warlords running wild because of the complete breakdown of law and order in Afghanistan after the departure of the Soviets.[77]

The CIA World Fact Book reported that as of 2004, Afghanistan still owed $8 billion in bilateral debt, mostly to Russia.[78]

Ideological impact
The Islamists who fought also believed that they were responsible for the fall of the Soviet Union. Osama bin Laden, for example, was asserting the credit for "the collapse of the Soviet Union ... goes to God and the mujahideen in Afghanistan ... the US had no mentionable role," but "collapse made the US more haughty and arrogant."[79]

We created this problem, we have to sort it!

 

[s.a.f]

We created this problem, we have to sort it!

Seems to me that the soviets are ducking their responsibilities more than us.

Also seems that we offered them our help and they just bit the hand that was feeding them.

So thats it we'll stay there and help wether they want us to or not? This is going to be one big long and costly thankless task. :dunno:

:doh:
Or possibly I've missed the whole point and the minority want us there while the minority see us as invading infedels and are trying to scupper everything we're doing.

 

[Jm0311]

[quote="s.a.f":16wxcdbw]I still dont know what the hell we're supposed to be in Afghanistan for?

For god's sake, there were terorist training camps in Afghanistan. Aren't you aware of that?? Do you think we should just look the other way, and say "Boys will be boys"? Sheesh...

Finally someone gives one valid reason, but I'm not hearing any news reports about training camps. Surely the same camps also exist in practicly every single country across the middle east? And I'm sure we were tackling the problem of these training camps back in the 90's with covert ops.
Do you really believe that these camps are worthy of a full on invasion/occupying force?[/quote:16wxcdbw]

I have buddies in Afghanistan now. There are few embedded US reporters with the Marines. Dont rely on news reports.

There are no camps in Iraq