Why are we in Afghanistan for the long haul?

[sad sally]

By Eugene Robinson, Published: May 3

Show of hands: Does anybody really understand the U.S. policy in Afghanistan? Can anyone figure out how we’re supposed to stay the course and bring home the troops at the same time?

I’m at a loss, even after President Obama’s surprise trip to the war zone. The president’s televised address from Bagram air base raised more questions than it answered. Let’s start with the big one: Why?

According to Obama, “the United States and our allies went to war to make sure that al-Qaeda could never use this country to launch attacks against us.” I would argue that U.S. and NATO forces have already done all that is humanly possible toward that end.

The Taliban government was deposed and routed. Al-Qaeda was first dislodged and then decimated, with “over 20 of their top 30 leaders” killed, according to the president. Osama bin Laden was tracked to his lair in Pakistan, shot dead and buried at sea. To the extent that al-Qaeda still poses a threat, it comes from affiliate organizations in places such as Yemen and from the spread of poisonous jihadist ideology. Al-Qaeda’s once-extensive training camps in Afghanistan have long been obliterated, and the group’s presence in the country is minimal.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/leaving-yet-staying-in-afghanistan/2012/05/03/gIQADCB1zT_story.html

[obxhead]

1. We're not in Afghanistan for the long haul.

We're going to be there permanently.

[sad sally]

3. Sad to say, I think you're correct - as long as we have leaders who make their policy (which makes

it ours, whether we want it or not) to be the adjudicators of right and wrong in the world, we will remain forever as occupiers.

[AnotherMcIntosh]

2. Why? The answer, of course, is money. Our money to those who can take it from us.

Some of it can be found here:



Thankfully, our politicians and those related to them are not allowed to invest in companies engaged in war-related enterprises.

[Vincardog]

4. We went to Afghanistan to "stabilize' the region so they could build a pipeline. Look at the bases

and the pipeline route for proof. We will stay as long as the energy companies meed us to protect their profits.

[sad sally]

5. And to provide the security for China's extraction of minerals.

[truth2power]

6. You are correct!! It's all about the pipeline. And did you ever notice

that no one in the corporate media ever, EVER mentions the pipeline? You would think someone would at least bring up the subject so it could be ridiculed as just another conspiracy theory.

It's almost as if the govt. and their stenographers don't want the American people to even THINK there might be plans for a pipeline, because that would lead to asking inconvenient questions.

[Vincardog]

7. That question being "Why is it the US military's job to subsidize the profits of EXXON?"