Russia lost man, Russia beat the Nazi's. Russia fought for 10 years in Afghanistan. They in fact informed the US that it was a loss years ago.

In that case it will be 10 years next year as well ;-)

2/10

Comedic relief http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9SOVzMV2bc

the war on terror is the new cold war, its ment to last as long as possible!! America needs a bogey man to keep its citizens under control

We need a boogieman, you need a Nanny State and CCTV. :P
No good can come of this.

CCTV is good!

Without it I would probably be unemployed still :)

haha fair enough.

Nuke it and turn it into a glass bowl for allah.

They would have to bomb the shit out of Pakistan to reach talibans.Which they are not capable after Iraq,threatening Iran and knowing that Pakistan got nukes.Their penis decreased now that they realise in what kind of mess they entered, but pulling out is not an option.The leading fractions of Al-kaida are still pretty vital and if they would pull-out, then the whole war would be pointless.Afganistan cant exist on its own there are to many "outside" influences that are just waiting for the oportunity...it wouldnt take much time when talibans would return.

Korea---Cuba---Vietnam---Afghanistan---Iraq. They've fucked almost everything up since they ditched the isolationist policy.

Sif China will let them win a war in their back yard.

The point is to pull out when you're really really close.

(point in case, first gulf war.)

Simply pulling out is not a very safe option.


Use condoms!

Shouldn't have gone in to begin with. About the only thing that will get us out in the near (several years) future would be an attack by both Iran and North Korea.

I don't see a problem with the Army being in Afghan, they are keeping the terrorist busy.

Here's an interesting note:

In July 2000, Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar, collaborating with the United Nations to eradicate heroin production in Afghanistan, declared that growing poppies was un-Islamic, resulting in one of the world's most successful anti-drug campaigns. As a result of this ban, opium poppy cultivation was reduced by 91% from the previous year's estimate of 82,172 hectares. The ban was so effective that Helmand Province, which had accounted for more than half of this area, recorded no poppy cultivation during the 2001 season.

Right now Afghanistan produces 90% of the world's opium. Which is the main ingredient in Heroin. NINETY FUCKING PERCENT.

Ever see the film American gangster? Based on a real-life gangster from Harlem who smuggled heroin into the United States on American service planes returning from the Vietnam War? The same shit is happening right now. The British military are under investigation as it's believed one of the main sources of Heroin here in the UK is coming through the British armed forces.

What's also interesting is that they've "recently" discovered three trillion dollars worth of minerals in Afghanistan.

I don't think this so called war on terrorism is going to end soon.

There was no substantial interest for Afghanistan in the United States prior to 9/11 (this is well documented). The reason they went in is the attacks, not the presence of minerals (which they did not know about at the time)/opium/prospective pipelines. The reason the Taliban were able to better control the opium production is that they effectively controlled 90% of the territory (the remaining area being controlled by the Northern Alliance) - this was the first time in decades that a single force had such a large control over the Afghan territory. Today the Karzaï government and American/coalition troops do not have such a control over the territory, which remains largely fragmented, and opium production can therefore go on unchecked much more easily. There is also the problem that opium production insures significantly higher incomes for the farmers, so unilaterally preventing farmers from cultivating it can have a damaging effect on the popularity of the coalition.
I don't have enough data to comment on the possibility that soldiers may engage in trafficking (it may or may not be true, I simply am not familiar enough with the situation to comment), but it's wrong to assume that the US attacked Afghanistan for the opium/minerals/prospective oil pipelines or is staying there because of these.

I completely agree with what you've said.

I'm just trying to point out the irony of the whole situation here.

In their quest to rid the Taliban from Afghanistan the Americans have indirectly killed more people around the world than the Taliban ever did by allowing farmers to freely grow opium.

How can you say that? I feel sad for you.
US is the greatest nation ever existed in human history, so what US do is alway the right thing. US kick Ben Laden's ass in order to avoid another 9/11 and apparently there isn't another 9/11. A huge success! How dare you say Bush, the man of awesomeness, made the wrong decision?
The opium thing is just a little side effect which rooted in the evil nature of the enemy of US. They can just starve to death by themselves, not growing opium. Therefore, how can you blame US for the wrong doing of its enemy?
Praise to the blessed AMERICA!

Mighty America had already won the war as announced by Bush, terrorists in Afghannistan is just an illusion. Can't you people get it?

UK + France now

Pretty good deal imo, if we're cutting military spending then it can only help.

yeah the two countries are going to agree on everything....

Pull out when the Afghan security force is sorted out and prop up said force and current regime with a shitload of money and all will be fine. This is the current plan...

Sure the Taliban are going to be around for many many years to come making a fuss and setting bombs off, but is that any different to what the situation in Northern Ireland was for 30 years? Bombs will go off and unfortunatley there will be more deaths than the Irish conflict but you don't just stop something like this in a few years... it takes a long time, perhaps not even in our lifetime. No doubt people over there are fighting over shit that goes back centuries anyway.

The troops have done a good job over there and continue to do so.

Despite all the fighting we hear about the majority of Afghans are now living a much better life than they where before, especially the women. Sure you could drag up 1000 different horror stories but thats only because thats all the media report on - the bad and never the good. People are quick to complain about something but if they are happy they say nothing.. therefore we only ever hear the complaints. The media only report on the complaints.

Media Bias: Will you hear about the man who helped an old woman cross the street or the man who murdered an old woman? One of those events will happen a million times more than the other but we will only hear about the murder.

northern Ireland, 30 years.. lol

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

"The duration of the Troubles is conventionally dated from the late 1960s and considered by many to have ended with the Belfast "Good Friday" Agreement of 1998."

So 30 years.

Yes ofc there are still tensions and minor incidents and so on but the random bombings and shootings have tapered off to relatively few compared to the 70s.

Ja the Afghani are living much better coz they produces like 100 times more drug every year now. Quite a success! :D

Phased withdrawal until 2014 whence there will be fewer than 1000 serving personnel remaining in the country.

All we have achieve in Afghanistan is a minor improvement to the quality of life of select pockets of civilians and teaching the taliban an inordinate amount about our militiary capabilities, tactics and weaknesses. The entire campaign has essentially been a training exercise for both sides; there has been little of substance achieved by either side really.

At the very least we should have taken control of the opium producing farmers and sold it at a massively subsidised price to third world countries who are in desperate need of strong pain killing drugs (in particular morphine). Think of it as fair trade opiates. The farmer gets a fair deal for his crops, the taliban is denied the massive source of revenue and poorer nations benefit from cheaper morphine.