Do you think the war in Afghanistan was a "just" war ?

[kentuck]

I think we would almost be unanimous about Iraq not being a "just" war, but Afghanistan is another story. The people that attacked our country were operating out of Afghanistan. At least, that's the facts as far as we know. And, in your opinion, did we have the right and the duty to find those that attacked us and bring them to justice or to kill them in battle? Isn't there a big difference in the war in Iraq and the war in Afghanistan?

[LynnTheDem]

1. No

Not just.

[JohnnyCougar]

2. The people who attacked our country were operating out of Saudi Arabia

The Taliban were sponsoring and sheltering terrorists, but not the ones that attacked us. What have we really done in Afghanistan? Freed Kabul and not much else. We got our natural gas pipeline, and it's "free enough" for us right now, even though 80% of the country is still growing opium and under Taliban control.

[Booster]

5. We got Bush's guy in to run the country and make sure the

pipeline is protected - doesn't that account for something?

[Captain Lance Bass]

6. Yes and No

Yes we should have gone to Afghani to get Osama and then left.

Of course it could never be that simple now could it?

[KharmaTrain]

17. Also Yes/No

Yes, in assisting the Northern Alliance who had their leader killed just prior to 9/11 and did most of the heavy fighting...our special ops did a great job and then turned it over to an international mission, which is what we did, until the Manchild got Iraq-na-phobia...and blew apart that coalition as well.

Do I feel that we should have assisted the Afghans with weapons and special forces to out the Taliban and then go after Bin Laden? Yes. After that, just like in a real liberation, we'd work with the UN or NATO or other regional organization to create a stable environment for the building of an infrastructure needed to really develop a functional open nation. That doesn't include a pipeline to Uzbekstan. (BTW...this pipeline was used in the Cold War by Raygan as the justification to arm the Mujahadeen)

Today, I heard that only 35,000 ballots have been cast in the Afghan elections. Has anyone heard different? I thought Bunnypants said 10 million.

[IIgnoreNobody]

3. It could have been, but it isn't

[Political_Junkie]

4. In America it is supposed to be

innocent until proven guilty. Yes, we had "the right and the duty" to find our attackers and bring them to justice. But battles are for armies, not criminals.

[TheDonkey]

7. Yes, the Taliban were thugs hiding Al-Queda

we should have went in immedietly after 9/11. Capture Osama, removed the Taliban war lords, and helped the internatiol community rebuild Afghanastan to a stable gov't and continue a smart war on terror.

[Jade Fox]

8. No. I will never accept that we had to bomb that already devastated...

country. Many Americans were hungry for revenge, and Bush gave it to
them. I knew we would abandon Afghanistan afterwards. I didn't buy the
outrage over the Taliban's brutal sexism and fundamentalism, as that had
been going on for years.

[LynnTheDem]

14. And bush rewarded the Taleban...with $40 million of OUR money

In August 2001. A gift. For the Taleban's "war on drugs". Now we've lost both the money & the war. And a whole lot more.

[Zinfandel]

9. Natural Gas PIPELINE!!!

And they got it...Not for you and I,

[liberalmuse]

10. No, I didn't.

I like Clinton's justice--find the perpetrators and bring them to trial. I was in the Army in NBC and they showed us pictures of what the Russians did to the people of Afghanistan (chemical weapons). After that, they had devestating earthquakes and the Taliban. I saw no reason to bomb this 3rd world country the way we did. It was barbaric and senseless. I'd rather we had worldwide cooperation in pursing the bin Laden and the members of the Muslim Brotherhood who planned and helped fund 9-11 instead of the fiasco of war and this brand name 'Al Qaeda' shit thrown about everywhere.

[TrustingDog]

11. if you see a burglar that stole your tv run into a certain apartment...

building... do you have the right to blow up the whole building?

Please remember, Bush and Blair also claimed about having 'solid evidence'... I don't beleive anything they claim, never will ever again forever in all known time zones in all universes.

[Nordic]

12. when the Taliban bombed the buddhist statues I knew

that they were evil motherfuckers and they deserved to go down.

And hell, talk about yer bad karma!

Unless we were fed a total line of bullshit about the Taliban (which is possible I now realize) I have absolutely no problem with taking out the Taliban.

I am not a pacifist.

I firmly believe in assassinating those at the top of evil enterprises. The fish rots from the head. To kill the snake, you lop off its head.

I think when somebody is evil, good people should kick their ASS.

Which is why I want GWB's and PNAC's ass to be kicked soundly. I want our own terrorists brought to justice. I want them in JAIL.

America's leaders have become the enemy of the world. We have become the bad guy. If we had any sense of decency, we'd have already put them in jail, forcibly if necessary.

[The Traveler]

13. Yes

The Taliban had the opportunity to cough up Bin Laden. They refused. Pretty stupid of them ... but they were the kind of guys who blew up gigantic and ancient Buddhist sculptures so how smart could they be?

Not all wars are unjust, but all wars are unfair to the innocent bystanders, the poor people caught in the crossfire. For this reason, we should strive to avoid war. We had to bust up al Qaeda, and there was no credible option to invading Afghanistan.

Iraq is a different matter. It is a stain upon our honor as a nation. It is a symptom of the cancer upon the soul of our nation.

[RaleighNCDUer]

15. I've doubted it from the start.

Sure, Al Queda was there. But we were supposedly friends with Pakistan, and the Taliban was a Pakistani creation. With proper pressure AQ could have been forced out, and once in the open we could have gotten them.

But we weren't interested in AQ or OBL. We wanted a pipeline from the Caucasus.

[HuskerDem]

16. Our attacks against some targets in that country were justified

Our overthrow complete with egregious puppetry was not.

[Eye and Monkey]

18. No, not "just".

[Eugene]

19. Justified to a point.

Bin Laden attacked the U.S.
It was morally right to go after him.
But just shooting back at the bad guys
did not cure terrorism in the long run.
Bush's over-reliance on brute force
has made the world a more dangerous place.

The Iraq war is aggresion pure and simple.

[gavodotcom]

20. Yes, I do. The operation of that war has been troubling to me.

I believe that the invasion of Afghanistan was the right and just thing to do. We needed to destroy al-Qaida, we needed to destroy the Taliban, and we needed to capture or kill Osama bin Laden.

So far, we have done none of those things. And it absolutely worries me to the core.

Every day that bin Laden avoids US custody, sympathy for Al-Qaida grows stronger. Bin Laden made a NAME for himself by 'defeating' the Soviets--how much longer can we afford to allow him to evade responsibility for his actions?

Whether you would agree with the righteousness of his popularity or not, it in a way depends on how you view history.

The theory I've come to accept regarding bin Laden's ability to recruit members of Al-Qaida, and financial backing for terrorist activities, stems from this history.

After conquering much of the world, then coming under foreign occupation by the British and the French--and their (and the US's) self-serving policies come at the expense of the Arab people, and the impotency that Arab nations have displayed regarding Israel, I believe that a sense of nationalism, or even pan-nationalism, has developed in the Middle East. Sympathy for al-Qaida and Osama bin Laden stems from both a longing for this past triumph, and from the current humiliation they are now experiencing.

Bin Laden gives many disenfranchised Arabs a hope of spiritual and military assurance--or even superiority of their perspective, and this is further augmented by a seeming indoctrination of this perspective by the governments of these countries in an attempt to displace resentment stemming from poverty and despotism.

What is going on in Iraq is not a seperate issue in this line of reasoning, it is a DIRECT CONSEQUENCE of it.

The administration's timing of it's war against Iraq was horrendous, its planning worse, its justification patently untrue and deceptive. These have managed to defile our credibility in our war against Afghanistan, while simultaneously displaying the recklessness of an administration with a weak 'peacock President' (all feathers, no substance)--an administration out of control, without a clear message, without a clear plan to win these wars, and without the public and international support such a campaign would need. I can assure you that had we not engaged in war with Iraq, no one would question--at least the decision to go to--the war in Afghanistan.

What has happened in the last four years is what I voted against in 2000. They have failed to prevent and dilute the consequences of both our and European foreign policies of the 20th Century. What we have sown, we have reaped. And the administration has done nothing to stem the problems we now face.

[Zhade]

21. Without evidence that could hold up in court? No.

NT!