I never said Afghanistan wasn't struggling. You said Afghanistan was better under the Taliban. You still haven't proven that. All your link shows is that Afghanistan has degraded in recent years...well past the invasion.
Nothing, 911 wasn't our problem, nor was it done by Afghans.
I never said 9/11 was done by Afghans. The Taliban harboured AQ who committed the 9/11 atrocities. You seem to have trouble understanding subtleties.
That's rich. Karzai has brought more corruption and nepotism to government than anyone before him. Opium production is at an all time high. Afghans are being tortured under his watch.
http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2008/07/24/afghan-karzai-drugs.html
http://www.dawn.com/2007/11/14/int13.htm
I agree that corruption is a problem. So what's the solution? Yours would be to abandon Afghanistan, let the government collapse, allow a return of the Taliban and throw the Afghan people under the bus. My preference is to work with them and help them to rehabilitate over time. Besides, find me a government without corruption. Even in Canada, in recent memory, we had various Liberal and Conservative scandals. Now imagine applying the same standard to Afghanistan where there are no advanced accounting, computer systems, etc and you are dealing with tribal power structures and customs, etc. It will take time.
As to the record opium crop...yes it's happened....in Taliban infested areas. The opium is fuelling their war with NATO. Perhaps you should talk to them about switching crops.
No, you're out there to build an oil pipeline which the Taliban refused to allow.
I'll bite. Oil pipeline to where? At best there's TAPI which would benefit India, not the west. So why would the west have gone to war with the Taliban over a pipeline through the most rugged terrain in the world, which in the end would not benefit any western country. Explain that to me.
I know many simple neo cons can't see past these bush talking points of spreading democracy, but that argument fails on many points.
I am not a neo con. I just believe in seeing a Canadian commitment to help the Afghan people through to the end.
When has america ever changed governments for humanitarian purposes?
You're right never for purely humanitarian purposes....perhaps Kosovo...but we do change governments when they start attacking us....Germany, Japan, Italy, Iraq, etc.
Are you really that numb? Al Queda != Taliban. Do you really think dead broke, backward taliban mullahs were behind these bombings?
I never said the Taliban did the 9/11 attacks. The provided a safe haven from which AQ could operate. Harbouring terrorists is something we in the west frown upon. Would you allow a murderer to live in your house?
Hezus Cristo this is like teaching algebra to a carrot.
You seem to have a strange obsession with teaching inanimate objects algebra.
What should have happened after 911? America should have taken a hard look in the mirror and re-evaluated it's foreign policy.
You act like America is the only country in the world who has suffered a 'terrorist' attack. Did France attack any sovereign nation during the bombing campaigns of the 70s & 80s?
There was that little affair of French counter-insurgency ops in Algeria....just preceeding that period. The also subverted many more civil rights of their own citizens in fighting terrorism. That's what made them so effective:
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,176139,00.html
I suggest you read what America has done to nations like Panama, Ecuador and Indonesia to see how your great nation operates in 'spreading democracy'
They act in their self-interest, just like any other nation. And those weren't attempts to spread democracy. How is that different from the Soviets invading Afghanistan, the French fighting in Algeria, the Indonesians holding onto East Timor, etc? Every nation acts in its own self-interest. And indeed, Canadians get to be rather smug when we benefit from them. Who do you think protected us through the cold war?
The Americans help the mujahideen fight off a soviet invasion. Then when AQ sets up in Afghanistan and hits the US, it's all their fault for helping people who came asking for assistance?
Yes, I agree they should re-evaluate their foreign policy. The should stop the billions in foreign aid. They should withdraw their foces from the Middle East and Europe and let those places descend into chaos and anarchy. They should also cancel NORAD and force Canada to actually take responsibility and spend billions more for our own defence.
Typical juvenile neo con tactic: accuse others who disagree with you of supporting the enemy.
And typical of your type to accuse those who disagree with you of being a neo con
Keyboard warriors like keith & hydrogen, who've probably never fired a gun in their life, are gung-ho about sending other lives to their deaths to support some warped ideology of democracy.
As a serving CF Captain I have fired more than my fair share of guns. And no I am not gung ho about sending friends and comrades into combat. Every military officer does so with the gravest of reservations. But we lead our men into battle and put our lives on the line because we believe it is the right thing to do. And because we believe that serving our country, defending her interests and fulfilling the will of our nation is an honourable and noble thing to do.
You obviously would have no clue what that life entails....
But if there were a draft these guys would be the first fleeing the country.
I've signed up....what are you still doing on your couch?
We've become so desensitized to sending troops to foreign countries and getting involved in wars, the peanut gallery round here don't care to stop their daily routines anymore for a period of self-reflection.
I go to work every morning, dreading to hear the morning ops report, hoping everyone of those brave souls made it back from their patrols and that none of our strongpoints has taken casualties. You're the only one who is desensitized to conflict.
As long as I get my triple Big Mac meal for lunch today and catch tonight's episode of Dancing With The Stars, and as long as I can take out a loan I can't afford so I can flaunt my artificial wealth at people with my new Benz, then that's all that really matters.
Guys like me don't eat big macs and watch dancing with the stars. I prefer going for morning PT with my unit and sharing a beer at the mess with some real heros.....