Could U.S have attacked Afganistan Without 9/11?

[AGENDA21]

Whats your opinion on this? Could some event prior to 9/11, have been used to attack Afganistan and would it have been justified?

[arcane1]

1. why not?

it worked for the Soviets

without them, there would be no al Qaeda to deal with today

[rolleitreks]

2. I wish we'd stopped the destruction of the Bamiyan Buddhas. n/t

[leftstreet]

3. Sure

They can "justify" any attack they want.

But without 9/11, Americans wouldn't have known or cared about why we were attacking some "terrorists" in "some country somewhere."

[AGENDA21]

5. Without 9/11 American citizens

would not support an attack...but didnt Al Qaeda attack U.S targets before 9/11?

[Igel]

4. There's what I think would have been

legally acceptable, and what I think would have been politically acceptable.

AQ was undoubtedly behind a number of attacks of the US: the Cole, a couple of embassies. They're US soil. But we're unlikely to be as bent out of shape as the Chinese were when a bomb fell on their Beograd embassy. Less nationalistic, for all the ranting.

Those events could probably have been used as a casus belli if the Taliban had not turned over AQ's leaders. The usual "You share all the intelligence you have that proves their guilt and we'll get back to you--oh, you say it'll reveal your intelligence sources and let them work around you...? Well, that's not our problem ... hee-hee" would have been less unpalatable, however, domestically. And it wouldn't have flown internationally. Sure, drop a bomb or two, but nothing serious or sufficiently organized.

What's legal is frequently what you can get by with; arguing that, strictly speaking, you have a legal case is frequently beside the point.

[terryg11]

6. of course

under different pretenses most likely but still could have done it

[bowens43]

7. According to published reports

the plan to invade Afghanistan was on bushes desk on 9/9/2001.

http://ist-socrates.berkeley.edu/~pdscott/qf911.html

[MidwestTransplant]

8. Who knows. We would be in Iraq either way though.

[SoCalDem]

9. Clinton actually tried, and the republican congress pilloried him

and yelled "wag the dog"..and started more investigations.. remember the "million dollar missile to destroy a $10 tent in the mountains"..?? that was when he tried to get bin Laden.

[enigma000]

10. A Selected President would not have a lot of

authority to go to war. Especially one that most Americans would not find necessary.

[RufusEarl]

11. Afghanistan 3 months BEFORE 9-11

The US had announced the war in Afghanistan 3 months BEFORE 9-11
Between June and July 2001, The US Government was informing other governments that we would be at war in Afghanistan no later than October!

How lucky for our government that just when they are planning to invade another country, for the express purpose of removing that government in order to build an oil pipeline through Afghanistan, a convenient "terrorist" attack occurs ( from Afghanistan ) to anger Americans into support for that invasion.

An invasion that would lead to countless other invasions and countless billions of our tax dollars to fight the greatest un-winnable war (the war on terror) since the last un-winnable war (the war on drugs) by an earlier Bush president.

http://www.govsux.com/9_11.htm

[leftofthedial]

12. then, no

now, yes