Dateline Afghanistan ... Send in the Marines

If you think we're catching OBL, you're crazy. And so we dominate Afghanistan so OBL and his cronies can't congregate there? They'll find someplace else. Why bring back so many body bags for nothing?

Maybe I'm just ignorant. It's entirely possible. But I just don't see the point.

 

This. Domestic counterterrorism is the only type that works.

 

We lost about 37,000 men in that conflict. There was an estimated 2 million civilian deaths in that conflict.

And did we make America -- which I thought was the point of a DEFENSE department - safer as a result of it?

 

There is a long, well-documented history, going back millenia, of foreign superpowers going into Afghanistan and having things go exactly as planned.

Isn't there?

 

We should be ok as long as Charley Wilson does not start providing the rebels weapons.

 

that movie was on earlier......I love that flic.

 

Sorry, but Afghanistan goes hand-in-hand in Pakistan's effort to quash the Taliban. Perhaps some of you missed the missive of a few weeks back when some Taliban chieftain voiced their desire to nab some Paki nukes, which he said they would gladly try to use against the U.S.? So, while the Pakistanis are trying to crush them on their soil, we're negating their fallback positions in Afghanistan. Which, of course, wouldn't need to be done had Bush not gone off on his little crusade in Iraq.

This needs to be done.

 

No, because if Obama finishes the job then it makes it even more likely that the Republicans don't win another election in my lifetime.

 

Except for the fact that the "job" (whatever the hell that is) is never finished because if it were finished and there were no more bogeymen and/or big bad meanie dictators wearing funny little hats to protect us from, well then justifying the ridiculous amount of money we spend on military and defense projects, not too mention our insistence on sticking our noses into everybody's little pissing contest would become a helluva lot tougher.

Like I said, there is too much money and too much political capital involved in building war machines and flag waving for any politician to truly "finish" whatever pointless military excursion we decide to get ourselves into....

 

I know Khe Sahn. Helmand it is not, though both grew wonderful dope.

I would note in passing that Gen. Dan K. McNeill was a shavetail grunt leading an infantry platoon in 'Nam. He has served his time in hell.

We shall see if our leaders have learned their lessons from history.

 

Seems a U.S. servicemember has gone missing there in Afghanistan.

Perhaps its already been discussed on the board, but here's a link to a few-hours-old story.

http://news.aol.com/article/us-soldier-captured-in-afghanistan/553518

 

Point of order ... they were our airplanes. Carry on.