Taliban in Talks with Karzai Government

[Rick]

Is it just me or is this a slap in the face of everyone that has served over there? Doesn't this legitimize who they are and what they've done? Maybe it's just me but I think this is just wrong.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...100506636.html

[BENESSE]

Well, it doesn't sound right but it is a step in a direction that wasn't tried before. Beats fighting, which so far hasn't led anywhere productive nor will it, if we continue with business as usual.
Whether we like it or not, Taliban is not going away in that part of the world and we may as well learn how to deal with it. We've done it before with reprehensible leaders & governments and this is no different. Unless we're prepared to annihilate them back to stone age (if only they weren't already there), this is the only viable alternative IMO.

[trax]

Sorry Rick, warriors being betrayed by politicians isn't news to anyone else.

[Pal334]

Another farce in the conduct of relations with that "country". It is an artificial entity so it can be a named space on the map. The people are tribal, most don't even know who their central government is, and don't care. They have 80 or 90 %(not sure which) illiteracy and have made no attempt to change it!!!
It is a slap in the face of our military who have served or are serving there. I say, let them rotten in h**L, the whole place is not worth one American life. Their way of life is fighting, let them fight with each other.

Mmm,, boy, that felt good getting it off my chest

[Rick]

I don't care what those towel wearers say, the enemy of my enemy is still the enemy of my enemy. They become my friend when they prove deserving of that title. Right, Canada? Say Amen, England.

[BENESSE]

Another farce in the conduct of relations with that "country". It is an artificial entity so it can be a named space on the map. The people are tribal, most don't even know who their central government is, and don't care. They have 80 or 90 %(not sure which) illiteracy and have made no attempt to change it!!!
If they don't care, why do we?
It is a slap in the face of our military who have served or are serving there.
Yes it is, especially because they didn't need to be there in the first place.
I say, let them rotten in h**L, the whole place is not worth one American life.
No it's not worth it...just wish we realized that before we sent a single troop.
Their way of life is fighting, let them fight with each other.
That's what they want as well. They've been doing it for centuries and aren't about to change just 'cause we asked them to.

Mmm,, boy, that felt good getting it off my chest

We had so many 20/20 hind sights, one would think we'd start seeing more clearly by now. Loosing lives in vain is a terrible way to learn.

[Pal334]

"We had so many 20/20 hind sights, one would think we'd start seeing more clearly by now. Loosing lives in vain is a terrible way to learn."

as long as people continue to vote in "career politicians" it will not change

[BENESSE]

"We had so many 20/20 hind sights, one would think we'd start seeing more clearly by now. Loosing lives in vain is a terrible way to learn."

as long as people continue to vote in "career politicians" it will not change

Pal, the viable choice of candidates has been dismal for quite some time. People who I thought were right and who I actually voted for didn't have a prayer. And that says more about the collective "us" than it does about them. Which means to me that I should be more ticked off at my fellow countrymen than the politicians the majority of them vote into office.

[Pal334]

B, you hit it right on the head, "we" get what we vote for

[beetlejuicex3]

We had so many 20/20 hind sights, one would think we'd start seeing more clearly by now. Loosing lives in vain is a terrible way to learn.

Didn't we go there to root out Al-qaeda who hijacked and rammed planes into the world trade towers and the pentagon killing 3,000+ American citizens?

I think it is a worthy cause.

Were there any better options at the time? Should we have done nothing?

Our soldiers, dead and living, are all heroes and and I don't feel any of them died in vain in Afghanistan.

[Rick]

Actually, no. We dove into Iraq because there weapons of mass destruction. Remember those? The ones the UN Inspectors could find and didn't think were there? Yeah, those. THEN we moved over to Afghanistan because...well...because why not?

[tsitenha]

Speaking in geographic/historical terms (no politics implied) Afghanistan is not the root of these problems but where the root is... well...that's also where weapons of mass destruction do exist.

It's like looking under the street light for your car keyes when you lost them in the ditch...just because the light is better

[beetlejuicex3]

Actually, no. We dove into Iraq because there weapons of mass destruction. Remember those? The ones the UN Inspectors could find and didn't think were there? Yeah, those. THEN we moved over to Afghanistan because...well...because why not?

October, 2001. Afghanistan Invasion.
March, 2003. Iraq Invasion.

[Rick]

Oh, sure. Throw out facts. Real nice.

[BENESSE]

October, 2001. Afghanistan Invasion.
March, 2003. Iraq Invasion.

Nine years later we're still there, wondering why. It's like fighting metastatic cancer with HeadOn (apply directly to theforehead) because it works on headaches and cancer can be a headache.

[trax]

Rick I know one Canadian who agrees.

GreenBeetle, your dates are ok, but I don't agree with that being the real rationale for going into Afghanistan.

[beetlejuicex3]

Fair enough, the real reasons are only known by a few probably. But why do you think we went to Afghanistan?

It's not for the poppies and until recently no one thought they had any oil.