by: Hannah Small
It appears that the saying “things have to get worse before they get better” still holds true. Over the weekend we have learned of the eight U.S. soldiers that died in an east Afghan battle, this also happens to be the most U.S. causalities in single battle since July 2008. In July nine American soldiers were killed in the same province as the newest battle. This tragic even should be able to heat up the debate in Washington over the eight war in Afghanistan, as of now President Obama has been receiving flack for his antics concerning the war. Many consider him to be at fault for the increase in troops and not trying to draw ourselves out of the area, a columnist for National Times stated “Afghanistan is now Barack Obama’s war, a war other world leaders want to distance themselves from, and a war over which Obama is paralyzed.” In March President Obama had announced to send more U.S. troops over to Afghanistan, but now it seems that many think the plan should be reconsider and we are no longer fighting for the right reasons. Originally we had gone in after September 11 to gather control of the Taliban and reconstruct the country. Now eight years later, it appears we have steered away from the original attack and are looking more for control of the country and want to run it ourselves. At what points is the line drawn where we realize there is nothing more we can do and we are just hurting our own civilians. Plus it seems that our own country needs the most help right now, and our focus should be on getting our own country back on track. I would be interested to know who feels we should continue the battles in Afghanistan or is it time to bring all the troops home?
8 comments:
I think we should pull out. Why do we want this country anyway? Why do we need them to have a democratic government? It will not erase terrorism. I think the Daily Show a couple weeks ago also brought up the good point that this is essentially one of the only countries on the face of the planet that has never been conquered.
I also think we should get our troops out of Afghanistan. My cousin is a special ranger and has been doing high risk confidential missions in Afghanistan for a couple years now. It is hard to hear about other soldiers dying in Afghanistan and just hope that he will be safe. The United States tries to act like the "world police" too much. We need to focus on and fix our issues before we try to institute democracy in other countries.
I also agree that we need to evacuate the country as soon as possible. What are we even doing beside wasting money and killing innocent people.
Bring the troops home. I don't understand why we are forcing our ways upon this country. We have our own problems in this country. And, you're right, all this war is doing is increasing our national debt. Let's get out of there.
I agree that we should not be in this war anymore, and that the troops need to be brought home. The difficult part is that, as one of you said, we act as the "world police" a lot of the time, but also that the American mindset is heavily invested in patriotic pride. I think this is part of the reason why we haven't pulled out, we haven't set up a democracy or achieved any of the other rather unspecified goals we set for ourselves. We as a nation need to get over the idea that we failed, and do the right thing.
Bring them home! This war has gotten so far out of whack it is ridiculous. There is no reason for our troops to be over there any more. No matter how hard you fight, how much you care, or how many troops you send to the middle east - THERE WILL ALWAYS BE TERROR IN THE WORLD. It is just a fact that our presence in Afghanistan, no matter how much good it does for that country and its civilians, it is still making people mad, and terrorist organizations are still pumping out insurgents. It is a lost cause at this point and that country is definitely better off then before, but it is time to cut our losses and bring our troops home to focus on what matters most - not our ego or how we think other countries should be governed - our own country and getting it back on track.
We absolutely cannot pull out of Afghanistan mainly because the people there really do want a change but the Taliban are very secretive and could just be waiting until we leave to reestablish themselves as political, religious and military dictators. I am a pacifist at heart and never prefer to fight but winning the war in Afghanistan is absolutely necessary for both the U.S. and local people (politically, socially, morally). I believe America can still be that beacon of hope in the world, and if Obama sends more troops over there and we beat the Taliban then terrorists all over the world will think twice about messing with us because they can count on that we will finish the job we started. Also, local people would then be truly free to establish themselves as a country by involving themselves in their government and not just have to be "along for the ride" at the hands of a crazy dude preaching in a cave.
This is an issue that is quite prevalent to me – as military – and one on which I have thought much about. There is no simple solution, we can't simply pull out. When we leave, there will be a power vacuum that could be filled by Pakistan (terrible for the Afgan) or India (or terrorist, or taliban...). If the Indian military takes Afganistan (they already have troops stationed there) it could result in a heightened tension between India/Pakistan (nuclear armed, militarized nations) who HATE each other. The result of our leaving could be far worse than our staying. We must stabilize the nation before we leave.
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