General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region Forumsso as the Afghanistan war (supposedly) winds down, can anyone tell me what the fuck
was accomplished?
And btw, three more troops were killed yesterday.
war is a racket.
fuck the warmakers.
great article about Afghanistan, troop levels and the never ending shitstorm that is our involvement in Afghanistan:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-11371138
leftyohiolib
(5,917 posts)Solly Mack
(90,778 posts)zipplewrath
(16,646 posts)Without trying to justify anything, the action in Afghanistan accomplished two things. It chased out Al Queda and undermined the structure of that confederation. It also decimated the structure and organization of the Taliban. Ultimately, it chased much of this into Pakistan where we have encountered SOME cooperation from that government. We have been mildly successful in preventing the Taliban from taking back over the power of government in Afghanistan, mostly by propping up the Karzi government instead.
We aren't nearly as "far along" as we got with Iraq, but of course Iraq started out as a much more stable and organized country than Afghanistan. It is dubious that we can continue to support a functioning government there without extensive intervention on our own part. We will maintain some sort of presence there for some time to come.
cali
(114,904 posts)read the BBC article I linked to. The Taliban is alive and well in Afghanistan as well as Pakistan.
And frankly, I don't see success in Iraq.
zipplewrath
(16,646 posts)But it is undeniable that the Taliban are not the formal national government in Afghanistan. Prior to our invasion, the controlled the instruments of national government, including the embassies and the seat in the UN. They used diplomatic pouches to transfer all manner of instruments for Al Queada. They were always in Pakistan, and in fact one of Obama's campaign positions (in '08) was that he'd chase 'em there, along with Al Queda.
I don't see "success" in Iraq either, but they are vastly more "stable" than Afghanistan is, by almost any measure. Stable isn't necessarily good, but it is more predictable and usually avoids the worst of government abuses. It is rather tenuous right now and in fact there are some disturbing signs, including the rising autonomy of the Kurdish regions.
Luminous Animal
(27,310 posts)Iraq is a fucking mess. Civil war, torture, brutal government suppression of the citizenry, massive amounts of refugees.
Today's Iraq:
Today, not to put too fine a point on it, Iraq is a failed state, teetering on the brink of another sectarian bloodbath, and beset by chronic political deadlock and economic disaster. Its social fabric has been all but shredded by nearly a decade of brutal occupation by the US military and now by the rule of an Iraqi government rife with sectarian infighting.
Every Friday, for 13 weeks now, hundreds of thousands have demonstrated and prayed on the main highway linking Baghdad and Amman, Jordan, which runs just past the outskirts of this city.
Sunnis in Fallujah and the rest of Iraq's vast Anbar Province are enraged at the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki because his security forces, still heavily staffed by members of various Shia militias, have been killing or detaining their compatriots from this region, as well as across much of Baghdad. Fallujah's residents now refer to that city as a "big prison," just as they did when it was surrounded and strictly controlled by the Americans.
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/03/living-no-future-ten-years-iraq-invasion?page=1
cali
(114,904 posts)Octafish
(55,745 posts)So even when the war is over all your bases are belong to us.
Karzai - U.S. can have 9 Afghan bases after 2014
RedCappedBandit
(5,514 posts)Scuba
(53,475 posts)sibelian
(7,804 posts)I think that's it.