Does anyome changed their mind about the Afghan War?

@HoraceGreenley What are the benefits?

@Burnley123 No terrorist attack on US Homeland for 20 years.

@Burnley123 An intelligence gathering outpost in one enemies backyard. This provides the opportunity to keep Al Quida from leaving Afghanistan. This is how you prevent another 9/11.

@HoraceGreenley I do see how that is related to Afghanistan. In addition, there have been several terror attacks against your allies.

@Burnley123 True, but not on a 9/11 scale originating from Afghanistan.

And to be fair, keeping your foot on your enemies neck is a good way to prevent problems.

@HoraceGreenley Hundreds of thousands of people are dead, most of them not enemies.

@Burnley123 Not my problem. If they took care of their own country all this stuff would not have been necessary.

Our duty is to Americans. The minute some place or group becomes a national security threat our government has the moral obligation to protect its citizens.

Are Americans supposed to tolerate thousands of our citizens getting killed on a regular basis to spare people in another country?

@Burnley123 Are Americans supposed to live in fear waiting for another attack? If they did it once and America did nothing they would be emboldened to stage another attack. As they gain experience, proficiency and finding they could carry out nuclear and/or biological attacks. Do you doubt that they would have killed more Americans on 9/11 had they the ability to do so?

Do you think that 9/11 would have been the only attack?

Doing nothing is not an option.

Suffering large loss of life, property damage and damage to the economy so as not to hurt your aggressors feelings is appeasement we can't afford.

@HoraceGreenley 3000 died in 9/11. About a million people have died in wars in Iraq and Afghanistan since the invasions. The US (and Britain) lost more troops on those soils than died in 9/11 and the effect on domestic populations have been devastating. Nothing has been achieved apart from lining the pockets of military contractors.


In addition, there is no link between the invasions and reducing terrorism. Bin Laden was killed in Pakistan and Saddam had nothing to do with 9/11.

The appeasement analogy is ridiculous and quite insulting to British people. Hitler was a direct threat to invading Europe and Al Queda clearly were not. There are plenty of other differences too which are obvious to anyone who has read anything about early WW2. Not all conflicts are like the second world War, to stake the freaking obvious.

@Burnley123 As an English man I don't need to educate you on the failure of appeasement.

If you are incapable of seeing the big picture, then I can't help you.

I hope and pray that no one's life depends on your judgement.

Remember, you are either part of the problem, part of the solution, or part of the scenery.

@HoraceGreenley... or part of the problem like you.

https://watson.brown.edu/costsofwar/costs/human/civilians/afghan

241,000 dead. Tell me what has been achieved?

@Burnley123 My ass was safe for 20 years.

You lack imagination. You think 9/11 would have been a one off?

20 years of ever more audacious terrorist attacks on American interests, culminating in 9/11.

The trend was obvious.

@HoraceGreenley It woukd have been safe anyway. You are statistically more likely to die of a Lightening strike and always were.

Go hide from the lightening. #somethingmustbedone.

@Burnley123 What would it take? Destroy a city with a nuke and kill 250,000 people?

President's can't take that chance. You're arguments smell like a high school kid.

Your judgement is poor.

@HoraceGreenley Just because you are older, doesn't mean that you are wise. It's just experience regurgitating ignorance.

@Burnley123 You speak like a child. Maybe someday you'll understand.

But after 20 years of ever escalating attacks killing more and more people eventually you have to put an end to it.

And you lack of empathy for the victims and their families as well as the Americans who all have targets on their backs is chilling.

Lastly, when America acts weak, it emboldens its enemies. That's bad for America and bad for its allies.

I'm not going to shed tears for barbarians that kill rape victims for fornication outside of marriage and newborns because they are from a different tribe.

If they stay inside their country, they can do what they want. But if they step outside their borders, they are inviting a response.

Time for you to grow up.

@HoraceGreenley I lack empathy? This is from the guy who is happy to sacrifice hundreds of thousands just because he (wrongly) thinks it will protect him.

Lecturing me on maturity is obvious projection.

@Burnley123 You think the people that died are innocent?

As for protecting me, history shows that over the last 20 years the strategy worked. Who are you, Rip Van Winkle?

We already know it's worked.

@HoraceGreenley If it worked we wouldn't be pulling out and the Taliban would not have retaken the country. Of the deaths on Afghanistan, 71,000 were civilians. Or 23 9/11s.

Hpw many Afghan lives is one American life worth?

@Burnley123
You are conflating policy and execution. We're leaving because of the expense. Not in maintaining our troops but in nation building.

The strategy workd. Mission creep became a problem.

The message is, don't attack another country.