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Will U.S. run for the exit in Afghanistan?
July 10th, 2013
06:28 PM ET
CNN's Christiane Amanpour speaks with CNN National Security Analyst Peter Bergen about the possibility of a total withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan and what the resulting consequences could be.
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Yes, time for the troops to get the h*ll out of there. Enough is enough.
Yup. Who in their right mind thinks that there is anything to be gained by our staying? Could Afghanistan descend into all-out civil war? Of course it could. But our staying longer isn't going to change that. It's time to go.
US will exit asap because they have come to realize that there is nothing to be gained by staying and the trouble arising out of Afghanistan can be contained effectively with the help of drones and satellites.
The fallout of all this is ominous for Afghanistan itself, which will fall back into the hands of Taliban. Also, Taliban consider the US withdrawal as a resounding victory and this will embolden then to start dictating terms in not only in Afghanistan but more so in Pakistan.
India better keep an ever more vigilant watch on the terrorist activities coming from this sh$thole.
The people in Afghanistan will love America for this.
First, the US supports Mujahideen like Osama Bin Laden to fight for them against Russia. After the war is over, these same Mujahideen take the US weapons and the US money and the US training to help form the Taliban movement which then took over Afghanistan and led them into many sad years.
Then, the US used (unsupported) claims against one of the guys they previously funded as justification to bomb Taliban Afghanistan (which they helped create) back into the middle ages – followed by some rebuilding, torture and chaos.
And now they remove the troops because they don't like to lie in the bed they made, so Afghanistan will – once again – fall into the hands of the Taliban.
Great job.
Unsupported claims? Bomb them back into the Middle Ages? First, I take it that you are into the conspiracy theories that 9/11 was done by someone other than AQ. Second, you have never been to Afghanistan if you think it is possible to bomb them to the Middle Ages when that would be a step up to how they were living at the time.
re 1) Nope, I just referred to the FBI which said that there is no evidence linking UBL to 9/11 even 5 years after the US started that war. Remember, the war started after the US commanded the Taliban to hand over UBL. After some forth and back, the Taliban said “if you present us proof that UBL was involved in 9/11, we will hand him over. But until his involvement is proven, he will remain our guest.” The US refused to prove their claim and began bombing Afghanistan. That's the definition of an unsupported claim. But even if UBL was behind 9/11: harboring a criminal is no reason to start a war. Afghanistan did not attack the US.
Re 2) Read my post. I said already that the US-funded Taliban did a “great” job preparing the nation for the middle ages (Sharia law, no education for girls etc.). But according to Amnesty International and other organizations, the overall situation of the people in Afghanistan got worse when the US entered the picture. So Taliban = bad, US = worse.
But none of that is really my point. My point is that the US is – and has been for decades – a major part of the problem in Afghanistan, not part of the solution.
We already abandoned Afghanistan and our promises to them, once before after the Soviets left. Why not do it again? It worked out so well the first time.
Well said. Honesty is calling a spade a spade. The real tragedy is that so many have had to lay down their lives before common sense prevail. Talk about history repeating itself not once but three times first with the Macedonians then the English then the Soviets and now the ...
Leave the Hindu Kush be. They don't need what the so-called civilised world has to offer. When we need a lesson on minding our own business, then we can forget and venture into Afghanistan again.
One feels infinite sadness for the women of Afghanistan. They had a brief, hopeful moment, when it seemed education, employment, a life of dignity were all within their grasp. As for the US and its allies, how much more blood and treasure can they allow to leach onto the stony soil of Afghanistan ? The next nation to be disappointed could be Pakistan. They have long dreamt of gaining strategic depth but chaos and instability in a post ISAF situation could hurt them.
Does it need some 13 years to realize that there was nothing to be gained by that war?
There was no good reason to start it in the first place.
But this is the speed at which the collective political mind works today.
Still some improvement on the 100 year wars of the past.
I hope the USA pulls out of Afghanistan in 2014 because our mission has been accomplished. There is nothing left to do except nation-building and that's not our job. Either the Afghans want to enter the 21st century or be relegated to the dust bin of history. President Karzai is a joke. My bet is that he'll left his own country as soon as the CIA stops paying him . . . and make his way to Dubai where he can enjoy his retirement with all the money he and his family have stolen from the aid donors who have propped up this joke of a leader. I would hate to be the last military member to die for this hopeless cause that has lasted way too long.
Nation building is your job because you invaded Afghanistan and helped destroy it even more. You can't just arm and fund radicals, then bomb the country to rubble and then leave it to the helpless population to work their way out of a misery that they did not invent.
Safety and security are two things a civilian government can't yet ensure on its own because the warlords and Taliban you funded still own the weapons you gave to them. And the population can't do a thing about it.
Polls show that they want neither the Taliban nor the war lords to rule their villages and cities.
If you really want to help the people, keep your boots on the ground but pull out US command. Instead, make them available to Afghan commanders that report to Islamabad. And let the Afghan people decide whether or not Karzai is a joke.