The troop deployment to Afghanistan...where do folks here come down on that?

[Ken Burch]

Just askin'.

[JeffR]

1. Bring 'em home.

All of them.

[Occam Bandage]

2. Tentatively for, concerned that the entire war rests on the political situation in Pakistan.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=8206321&mesg_id=8206385

[ananda]

3. No more wars. Period.

nt

[izquierdista]

5. I agree

This better be a deployment to clean up the mess Dubya left behind. If these battalions have large numbers of medical personnel to treat Afghans needing help and engineers to build roads, bridges and sewers, then that will be the change Afghanistan needs.

[Occam Bandage]

7. They do, but we've found over the last half-decade that

humanitarian efforts also require military protection if they are to be effective. It's well and good to drill a well and build a school, but we've just wasted time and money if the month after we leave that area, the Taliban rolls in, forces the farmers into a protection racket, and then murders the teachers for instructing girls.

[TwilightGardener]

4. Send them--with a plan of what they are to accomplish and an end-game.

I really would hate to see Afghanistan fall to the Taliban (and by extension, AQ)--it's getting very hairy over there, with Pakistan losing its grip on that border.

[Aloha Spirit]

6. If we can deal with Taliban funding, including the opium industry, then Afghanistan

has a chance to be a peaceful country again. Afghanis want this but can't deal with it by themselves.
Pakistan needs to get on the right track as well.
IF all this is possible, then the troop deployment will have a chance of accomplishing its goals.

[Occam Bandage]

8. Afghanistan was not a peaceful country under the Taliban.

It was a moderately stable country. There is a significant difference, and one that I would think a fan of Rev. Sharpton would understand.

[Aloha Spirit]

9. Dude,

what?

I'm talking about pre-communism.
How did that suggest I thought the Taliban rule was a peaceful one?
I wrote of weakening the Taliban and returning to a peaceful period that preceded those who I suggested should be weakened.
One of my friends was kidnapped by the Taliban last year. His family is now in the US. They would like to return, some day.

I'm sad you let Al get between us :hug:

[Occam Bandage]

10. Oh, I see what you mean. I thought you were referring to the pre-9/11 days,

and was quite confused as to how someone who obviously appreciates social justice would think that things were peaceful there. My sincerest apologies.

[Aloha Spirit]

12. ha

no biggie.
I'm one of those Democrats who thought there was a good reason to bring international military to bear on the Taliban in 2001, and it sickens me that we lost a delicate opportunity to do something right there.
My feelings on the war there will probably change as the media starts focusing on it, but as long as the Afghans want the Taliban dealt with, we should try to help.

[Ken Burch]

13. This still begs the question: should we EVER have fought against the PRE-Taliban government?

Granted, they were "communist", but at least they didn't stop women from getting education and healthcare and they didn't beat people in the streets with wire whips.

Also, the people who've been our "allies", especially the warlords, are every bit as repressive and retrograde as the Taliban. Is there any reason to think that a "victory" by those people is actually going to be an improvement? Or are we going to go back to the attitude the U.S. foreign policy establishment had towards Afghanistan when it was ARMING the Taliban: that oppression is ok so long as it's "our guys" doing the oppressing?

[Occam Bandage]

15. You mean should we have armed the Taliban against the Soviets?

I think that's universally understood as a bad idea. As for the Karzai government? It certainly has its faults, and warlordism is one of them, but it is better than the Taliban, especially in that it is open to allowing US pressure for human rights. Whether we apply that pressure is up to us, and I certainly hope we do.

[styersc]

11. Obama campaigned on focusing on Afghanistan. I support the ...

effort.

[MadBadger]

14. I'm Conflicted. I feel the need to at least try, while I also dont really think we can "win"