It Is Time
to Move Out Of Afghanistan.
Why are we still fighting in Afghanistan? I know
the present administration set a date to leave in 2014, but the costs are too
high economically, militarily, politically and in human life to wait that long. Some recent tragedies just highlight some of
those costs. An army sergeant was recently charged with
17 counts of premeditated murder in connection with a March 11th attack
on Afghan civilians. Looking at this
case, I believe this was caused by the continuous stress and enormous pressure placed
on our military by our government in the longest war in our history. It is surprising that the Afghan war has been
going since October 2001 so we have been fighting there longer than in the
Vietnam War. Then on March 26th
we hear of another case of an American soldier killed by a member of the Afghan
security/police force. This is a growing
problem that is undermining the trust between the two countries. I read that nearly 80 American soldiers have
been killed by Afghan security forces since 2007 with the most it happening
since 2009.
So now is a good time to
move out, not in 2014 or later as many political timelines go. Most Americans thought that the main mission there
was to find and/or kill Bin Laden. This
has been accomplished. So I guess now
we are there to support the United Nations, who wants us there for the security
of Afghanistan and its government. But besides
the incompetence and poor record of the U.N. in country building there are many
other reasons we should leave. We are
over our heads in debt and the war is very costly, so we cannot afford it any
longer. The government of Afghanistan from
all accounts seems to be unreliable. President
Karzai has been linked to taking
our money and stuffing his and his relative’s pockets. Our military is being used to keep stability
or hold down the fort for the Afghanistan President, while he desires to make
agreements with the Taliban and other tribal war lords. Even the Afghan people do not seem to be very
supportive or appreciative of our efforts.
If we look at the history Afghanistan, it never had much peace and we
cannot bring it to them. They are a
country of tribal warfare
and feuding which has been one of their chief occupations throughout the years. The Soviet Union could not even control them
with their harsher methods and aggressive fighting. It was the Soviet Union’s Vietnam and a major failure for them.
I am not alone on my thoughts. According to a New York Times/ CBS survey more than two-thirds or 69 percent
felt the United States should not be in
Afghanistan. This is not a party issue
either since a majority of citizens of both parties have misgivings about the
war. It is now time for President
Obama to move us out and let the Afghan people to solve their own ageless
problems Afghanistan is not worth the cost no matter how
you measure it.
I disagree with everything you have stated completely on your post It is time to withdraw from Afghanistan. I served in the military and I know many men and women who have deployed and came home, most in one piece some not. The war on terrorism was not just about killing Sadam Hussen or Osama Bin Laden. It was to obliterate terrorism against the United States from the Al-Qaeda.
ReplyDeleteNow, since President Obama decided to pull our troops out before the country has been stabilized that is the cause of so many American deaths. What idiot (beg your pardon for the term but I lack a more accurate term) would pull troops out of a hostile country. We barely helped them set up a government and now we are abandoning them. We will be right back where we were in about two years.
You say more than 80 soldiers have been killed since 2007 with the majority in 2009 right? Well Obama was president for a year by that time and as soon as he put foot in the door he started depleted troop size in Afghanistan. So that is your reason for the deaths of so many soldiers. Because he has not allowed the military to handle a military situation. Instead a man with no military background or training what so ever is given control over them and decides on a whim that he is going to withdraw troops without thinking of the consequences. And the media is even worse they project the image that its because of these killings that we should withdraw from a country. Hello we are still in Berlin and how long ago was that war?
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ReplyDeleteBefore starting to argue about this matter, I just wanna ask man above. Do you think that the reason why Bush administration decided to invade Afghanistan is for the justice only? For killing Bin Laden, and do further things out there, encroach their terrorism? Well, can we seriously rid of terrorism again the U.S by killing Bin Laden? i don't think so.. Well, like you, I was also in the army for 2 years in Korea, I thought that there should be more complicated purpose to invade there not only politically, but also economically in the war. It should not be just such a pure logic what you said which is about keeping justice in the war.
ReplyDeleteI think that it's time(or might be already late) for the U.S to move out from Afghanistan for both economical and moral like what blogger argued.
The U.S seems that has played a role in police state toward the entire world because we have the most powerful techniques and weapons historically ever. Then, that's it? Since we have equipped with them, invading other country can be justified? Or, why do we just report the casualties of us, not for them? If we lost 80 soldiers since 2007 with the majority in 2009, they probably several times, lost weigh more.
As far as I'm concerned, the war should not be justified with any reason. It sounds like I'm idealist or whatever; however, yea, it definitely shouldn't be. It's time for Afghanistan to do purification themselves not by us anymore(actually did enough though..). The nominal reason of killing Bin Laden accomplished already..
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ReplyDeleteI enjoyed this post. It's great to get a perspective from somebody from the Ukraine actually, because I did not know about the Russian involvement with Afghanistan.
ReplyDeleteAnother symptom of being American: limited media.
I agree with most of these points. These are tribal people with religious disagreements. We have no reason to be there anymore. Lets talk about that: why is our military there? I can't find a satisfactory answer to that.
I can understand we went to chase terrorists, but isn't terrorism inately broad in scope? Terrorism has been around for a long time. I'm not talking just Al Quaeda. What about the Bolshevik bombings in New York city during the industrial revolution? Terrorism is a concept that can be derived in the individual. It's a chosen mentality. The Oklahoma City bombing was a terrorist attack by an individual. The attack on the IRS building by Joe Stack in 2010 was an individual act of terrorism.
They call it the Global War on Terrorism. Problem is that new terrorists with new ideals and uniforms will arise in any country in the world. There is no possible end to such an open-ended concept.
Should we leave? I think yes, but we should stick to the given timelines, because the military understands better how a withdrawal will affect those involved. What I wonder more though, is how long until we just invade another country chasing the invisible dragon of "Terrorists"? The dragon has no head or heart, but it has 10,000 limbs.