Afghanistan

[tw]

Originally Posted by sugarpop

I think we need to get the fuck outta both Iraq and Afghanistan.

Which means both wars do not meet the criteria for war and the resulting victory.

1) Smoking gun:
Iraq - Saddam's WMDs and intentions to attack America.
Afghanistan - WTC and Pentagon.

2) Strategic Objective:
Iraq - kill Saddam so that he does not attack America.
Afghanistan - remove bin Laden and his allies; making that land hostile to him.

3) Exit strategy defined by the Strategic Objective:
Iraq - stay there forever with military based to dominate the region
Afghanistan - phase four planning.

Not one reasons exists to justify "Mission Accomplished". Every reason exists to be in Afghanistan. Afghanistan would have been a success (according to military doctrine) had our leaders bothered to understand and execute critical points two and three.

We have no choice in Afghanistan just as we had no choice in Kuwait (despite the ignorant naysayers Cheney, Rumsfeld, etc who were finally corrected by Thatcher and Scowcroft). Reason why we must sacrifice so many good Americans in Afghanistan - our leaders were wacko and extremist. So we must fight that war all over again. The second war is always longer and more difficult when a nation screws it up the first time. Another debt we must now pay due to no fundamental military knowledge combined with excessive mental midgetism.