The reset button is carefully guarded, or maybe its been disassembled by our self-serving politicians to protect them in servicing their elite masters every desire. Military lives and resources have always been easily replaceable and waste of same formerly gained public acceptance without question.

Guantanamo is a place where righte are not existing. It is a concebtration camp. If you like I can send you a shield for the entrance "Death makes free".

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Scientia et potentia humana in idem coincidunt, quia ignoratio causae destituit effectum
Sir Francis Bacon

On ne voit bien qu'avec le coeur. L'essentiel est invisible pour les yeux
Antoine de Saint-Exupery

My apology for the incorrect country reference, USSR. Most reports put the number of USSR troops in Afghanistan at over 100,000.

The Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan 1979-1989

Leaving Afghanistan to pursuit of its own ideology would be the best solution, but that doesn't seem to be acceptable to currently the US.

I can see trying to have a reasonable discussion with you is impossible. Frankly, I find it sad that you can sit there and diminish the concentration camps by comparing them to Gitmo. Shame on you.

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There can be no bystanders in the battle for survival. Anyone who will not fight by your side is an enemy you must crush.

We are at war with forces too terrible to comprehend. We cannot afford mercy for any of its victims too weak to take the correct course. Mercy destroys us; it weakens us and saps our resolve. Put aside all such thoughts. They are not worthy of those in the service of country.

No worries man. I think everyone understood what you ment when you said Russia.

__________________
There can be no bystanders in the battle for survival. Anyone who will not fight by your side is an enemy you must crush.

We are at war with forces too terrible to comprehend. We cannot afford mercy for any of its victims too weak to take the correct course. Mercy destroys us; it weakens us and saps our resolve. Put aside all such thoughts. They are not worthy of those in the service of country.

I never can accept concentration camps. No way. And Guantanamo is a concentration camp and it's not alone. Oh - and not to forget: a lot of my ancestors died in concentration camps.

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Scientia et potentia humana in idem coincidunt, quia ignoratio causae destituit effectum
Sir Francis Bacon

On ne voit bien qu'avec le coeur. L'essentiel est invisible pour les yeux
Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Initially, Afghanistan was invaded in response to 9/11, which I think you know. The goal was to retaliate against not only al-Qaida, but also the Taliban government, which harbored the network for years. Neither goal has been greatly successful, and the Western forces continue to try to defeat the Taliban (like someone said, though, Pakistan is key to this problem) and to ensure that al-Qaida cannot operate from Afghanistan (again, Pakistan).

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No man is an island...
Each man's death diminishes me,
Because I am involved in Mankind.
And therefore, never send to know
For whom the bell tolls;
It tolls for thee.
—John Donne

Taliban are present in both Afghanistan and Pakistan, openly operating in both countries. Why is it so important to eliminate an ideology supported and popular in both nations? 911 was a long time ago and we've killed and maimed far more Afghanistani than American losses suffered in 911. It would seem attacking Pakistan to eliminate the Taliban in a country predominately fundamentalist Muslim would be as stupid as it gets, inflaming Eastern Asia and the ME with nuclear weapons bound to come into play.

yea your right, we should have done nothing.....we are never truly innocent of anything anyway and besides, we deserved what we got.....

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No individual can plan his own existence in their view.

So the state planners must arrogate to themselves the right to manipulate any sector of the economic system if the good of “society” or the “general welfare” is paramount.

Ipso- if the rights of the individual get in the way, the rights of the individual must be sublimated.

The Road to Serfdom
FA Hayek (interpretation)


Mortgage Backed Security survivor

The invasion of Afghanistan wasn't just about retribution--NATO and the US weren't gonna just kill 3000 people and then leave. The aim was to remove the Taliban, a clear sponsor of terrorism, as well as a terrorist network with global capabilities. And I agree that attacking Pakistan would be utterly foolish--I doubt that is anywhere on the US's agenda, though.

__________________
No man is an island...
Each man's death diminishes me,
Because I am involved in Mankind.
And therefore, never send to know
For whom the bell tolls;
It tolls for thee.
—John Donne

I had no problem attacking Afghanistan for harboring our enemy but the nation building part became seriously sidetracked by the folly of Iraq, creating what's basically a mini-Vietnam with Pakistan representing N. Vietnam. And Pakistan is not one of our normal fall-down military opponents. So what are we still doing in Afghanistan? Ego?

for someone with a German flag.....meaning as you said you "know" what a concentration camp IS…….I find your comment completely uneducated, and to be gracious, highly suspect, misleading and egregious.

__________________
No individual can plan his own existence in their view.

So the state planners must arrogate to themselves the right to manipulate any sector of the economic system if the good of “society” or the “general welfare” is paramount.

Ipso- if the rights of the individual get in the way, the rights of the individual must be sublimated.

The Road to Serfdom
FA Hayek (interpretation)


Mortgage Backed Security survivor

Took the words right out of my mouth!!!

Ditto.

Tell the Germans to take their Boy Scouts and go home. We need soldiers in Afghanistan. Real ones with guns.

So you are saying that the problem in Afghanistan is US political?

I honestly can't disagree with that.

Afghanistan is a real problem though. Iraq is an artificial problem created by the USA.

No matter how stupid, or how fucked up US Iraqi policy is, that just doesn't excuse treating Afghanistan like a ugly duckling. Afghanistan is one of the world's worst trouble spots and unless the problem is dealt with, it will never, ever go away. It is thus in the short-term, medium-term and long-term interest of NATO to address it.

And yes, Pakistan is the key here. Apparently the Taliban is entirely 100% a Pakistani organization (seeking to take over both Pakistan and/or Afghanistan) for militant Islam.

Nation building, as bad as NATO or the US is at it. If Afghanistan is just abandoned by the West, we have the possibility of a completely failed state or a reversal to pre-2001 conditions. I'd assume the forces are there to prevent both things from happening, but it seems that the former may be unavoidable, unless the insurgents can be defeated in Pakistan. It seems that we would have to deal with the ISI too, from what I've read of connections in the past between the intelligence agency and militant Islam.

__________________
No man is an island...
Each man's death diminishes me,
Because I am involved in Mankind.
And therefore, never send to know
For whom the bell tolls;
It tolls for thee.
—John Donne