Do you believe the main reason we're in Afghanistan is al Qaeda?

[Junkdrawer]

Simple Yes or No...

[MercutioATC]

1. God, I HOPE not.

If it is, we're even dumber than I think we are.

[Junkdrawer]

3. Direct quote from Obama last night...

So I want the American people to understand that we have a clear and focused goal: to disrupt, dismantle and defeat al Qaeda in Pakistan and Afghanistan, and to prevent their return to either country in the future. That's the goal that must be achieved. That is a cause that could not be more just.

[MercutioATC]

6. I know...and that worries me.

I'm hoping that was just rhetoric. If that's actually the goal, we're in big trouble.

[Junkdrawer]

7. Looks like "al Qaeda" is becoming a harder and harder sale...

Kind of like "Commie" in the 70s and 80s...

[MercutioATC]

10. I think of Al Qaeda as ants.

I can spend some money and keep most of them out of MY house, but I'd never consider trying to eliminate every ant on the planet just to keep my house free of them.

Eliminating Al Qaeda is impossible, and there's certainly no sane military way to reduce their threat.

[Ignis]

27. And killing one of your ants doesn't create two others. (nt)

[Zhade]

26. So...we've expanded the war into Pakistan now?

Er, what OTHER bullshit war that turned into a quagmire does THAT remind me of...?

[Junkdrawer]

28. I just saw an administration member on Rachel spouting that line...

and when Rachel said al Qaeda is not in Afghanistan in any numbers, the official emphasized that it's mostly about al Qaeda in Pakistan.

So, yep, Cambodia all over again...

[MrMickeysMom]

32. Sure...

Be right over, and would you like a shake with that?

[MH1]

2. Islamic extremism and Pakistan.

but since most people equate Islamic extremism and Al-Qaeda (although I wouldn't normally) I voted yes in your poll.

Although on second thought (too late) I believe that is why we are staying in Afghanistan, not necessarily why Bush invaded in the first place, and thus not necessarily why we 'are' there now.

[demosincebirth]

4. Whats another reason? I'd like to hear it.

[tavalon]

37. Conoco Natural Gas Pipeline

Check any map. It's there and we going to protect it while pretending to give a damn about the taliban.

[CrispyQ]

41. And the poppy fields. --nt

[dysfunctional press]

5. only in the sense of the security threat they pose to the trans-afghanistan pipeline.

[Windy]

8. we are there because Bush's inept action in Afghanstan and premature withdraw to go into Iraq

destablized Pakistan that has nuclear weapons and fissile materials. And because Pakistan and India are at a hair trigger and a nuclear weapon in the hands of an unstable Pakistan government that could be toppled and taken over by extremists could result in a nuclear war between Pakistan and India... and because India is closely tied to our economy after 8 years of bush ... A war between India an Pakistan would have a further devastating effect on our economy...and the world economy.

And we are also placing troops in Afghanistan because we can't directly invade pakistan because it is a soverign nation (which unlike bush, obama respects) and unstable...

Obama has exerted more pressure on Pakistan by placing troops in Afghanistan. Diplomacy hasn't work... untold sums of money haven't worked. Pakistan needs to become stable. If things gets even further out of control, the results could be catastrophic. US national intrests and national security are at stake.

Why do you think he had the Indian Prime Minister as guest of honor for the first state dinner? Why has Kerry been in Pakistan?

Bush and Cheney caused this mess.


Despite knowing full well the flack he would get from the base, Obama digested the information, weighed the interests of the nation and made the tough decision.

and yes, I HAVE served in the military...so has my husband. and YES, I was AGAINST the Iraq war.

Things are NOT as simple as some of you here think.

[Junkdrawer]

9. See Post #3 n/t

[valerief]

14. We are there because a few people contain to make $$$$ off it. nt

[Windy]

17. That is a very ignorant comment that comes from a lack of intellectual curiosity... too bad! nt

[valerief]

20. Well, you have your opinion (no facts were provided) and I have mine. I guess we're

both ignorant.
:hi:

Well, actually, since you resorted to name-calling, I guess I must be right!!!

[aquart]

11. Don't be silly. We're there because the POTUS' dick will fall off if we leave.

I thought everybody knew that.

[JVS]

12. LOL

[stray cat]

13. Pakistan and nuclear weapons play a role as well

[stray cat]

15. A pipeline didn't fly planes into buildings.

[Subdivisions]

16. Niether did a single Afghani. n/t

[anonymous171]

22. Neither did Afghanistan. I don't see your point. nt

[Political Heretic]

24. Actually, yes it did.

It's our money grubbing, imperialistic, sense that we own the world and have a right to do anything anywhere we want that brings terrorism to our shores. It's military bases all over the world. It's thieving oil from other countries. It's building pipe lines through other people's deserts....

A pipeline brought down the towers just as much as a plane did.

[ipaint]

18. Not at all.

"A former Marine Corps captain with combat experience in Iraq, Hoh had also served in uniform at the Pentagon, and as a civilian in Iraq and at the State Department. By July, he was the senior U.S. civilian in Zabul province, a Taliban hotbed.

But last month, in a move that has sent ripples all the way to the White House, Hoh, 36, became the first U.S. official known to resign in protest over the Afghan war, which he had come to believe simply fueled the insurgency.

"I have lost understanding of and confidence in the strategic purposes of the United States' presence in Afghanistan," he wrote Sept. 10 in a four-page letter to the department's head of personnel. "I have doubts and reservations about our current strategy and planned future strategy, but my resignation is based not upon how we are pursuing this war, but why and to what end."

But many Afghans, he wrote in his resignation letter, are fighting the United States largely because its troops are there -- a growing military presence in villages and valleys where outsiders, including other Afghans, are not welcome and where the corrupt, U.S.-backed national government is rejected. While the Taliban is a malign presence, and Pakistan-based al-Qaeda needs to be confronted, he said, the United States is asking its troops to die in Afghanistan for what is essentially a far-off civil war.

...With "multiple, seemingly infinite, local groups," he wrote, the insurgency "is fed by what is perceived by the Pashtun people as a continued and sustained assault, going back centuries, on Pashtun land, culture, traditions and religion by internal and external enemies. The U.S. and Nato presence in Pashtun valleys and villages, as well as Afghan army and police units that are led and composed of non-Pashtun soldiers and police, provide an occupation force against which the insurgency is justified."


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/26/AR2009102603394.html

American exceptionlism and arrogance. Despite the absolute deadly toxic mess we left in iraq people here still think we are going to succeed through military occupation, bombs and corrupt puppet governments. Somehow that combination is a solution worthy of the loss of more lives on all sides.

In the meantime and on the lowdown the military is busy empire building in jordan, saudi arabia, kuwait, iraq, afghanistan etc., etc..

http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/175159/tomgram:_nick_turse,_out_of_iraq,_into_the_gulf

It is insanity.

[Sebastian Doyle]

19. Today's episode of Sesame Street is brought to you by the letter "P".

ELMO:Mrs. Obama, tell Elmo what the letter "P" means
MICHELLE: Well, Elmo..... the letter "P" can mean many things......




....like Pipelines.......



.....or Poppies.........



.....or Pakistan.

ELMO:Gosh! Elmo really scared now! :scared:

[Junkdrawer]

21. Great minds...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=7140934&mesg_id=7141006

[Historic NY]

23. No, it more like because we made FUBAR of the place in the first instance..

if we leave w/o fixing the mess we made or at least trying to fix the place we will never be able to leave.

[ipaint]

25. When staying makes it worse, that theory doesn't work. n/t

[Laelth]

29. No. A natural gas pipeline is why we are there. n/t

:dem:

-Laelth

[Historic NY]

30. how much has been constructed?

[ShamelessHussy]

31. hell no, that lame and worn out NARRATIVE only still works on the elite.

commonsense is all your need to see through that nonsense.

[niyad]

33. no, we are there for some damned oil/natural gas pipeline.

[Junkdrawer]

34. Morning kick

:kick:

[tavalon]

35. No, the phrase you are searching for is The Conoco Pipeline

[Echo In Light]

36. No more than I believe in the Easter Bunny

[Junkdrawer]

38. Kick

:kick:

[blm]

39. That Bush went IN there? No. The American people and most lawmakers? Yes.

Now we're stuck with no good choices because of Bush's 8years of neglecting the very real problems in Afghanistan and Pakistan as he used that region only as a smokescreeen.

I wanted the troops out within the logistically possible timeframe of 6-12 months. I hope the 18 month timeframe that Obama is looking to achieve works.

[lady lib]

40. I think we're keeping an eye on Pakistan and their nukes. nt