Are events spiralling out of control in Afghanistan?  Anti-American sentiment seems to be growing.?
611787
Events in Iraq and Afghanistan are out of control and history tells us military efforts in both places are doomed to failure. Now for some reason we Canadians have sent troops to Afghanistan.I understand that sometime in the next year it is expected the Canadian troops will take on the full responsibility for the chaos in Afghanistan in order to free up the American troops for Iraq. What does this mean? More dead Americans, more dead Canadians, more dead Iraqis and Afghan civilians. Billions of American/Canadian dollars spent on a war effort which like Vietnam and even Korea was entered into with no viable exit strategy. Millions more dollars in structural and infrastructural damage to countries that can least afford it. And for what? 50 years later Korea is still divided and North Korea is a ticking nuclear time bomb.40 years later Vietnam has fallen under Communist rule. 5 years later there is no end in site for the war in Iraq and the people there are worse off than when Saddam was the leader. And George W. hasn't even started on North Korea or Iran yet. Yikes,where does this madness end?
263704
Currently, there are about 20,000 American troops in Afghanistan at any one time. This number fluctuates on a daily basis as new troops arrive in country and other troops finish their tours and head home.\n\nThere is a plan in place to reduce the number to about 16,000 American troops by bringing in troops from other NATO countries. Hopefully, this will happen sometime this spring.
786132
The USA is obsessed with the concept of world dominance. It has refused to  learn from history and its experience in Vietnam. It could not prevent Vietnam from being a communist  state. It had fueled Afghanistan crisis and now trying to dose it off. Withdrawal from Iraq and Afghanistan will not be that easy and the change of guard in White House will have least impact on taking such a decision.
1038259
Well, yes, at least temporarily.  Most of us are temporarily isolated and hiding ourselves behind fear and cynicism. I hope it's just adolescent growing pains and we'll get over that part and come to our senses again. \nSeptember 11 was not a unifying event, despite the propaganda that's being put out there. We are more nervous, hate-filled, xenophobic, ignorant, scared and YES divided than we have been in many years. We have become disenfranchised (hanging chads etc.), powerless to stop the predators and blood suckers - whether they be living in our communities or our "public servants". These days about the only things that unite us are our sense of betrayal, our powerlessness and our growing frustration with almost all politicians.\nWhy is all this happening? There are no really easy answers. You can't blame it on the Clintons, the liberals, the neocons, on Bush alone or even on the vacuum left by the collapse of the Cold War.\nI hope it is just a temporary phase, something we will grow out of as we embrace the multi-culturalism of the coming years, and set realistic and responsible goals for ourselves.  These MUST be based on moral principals and honorable intentions and actions, and cooperation with other nations.\nEyes wide open!
103347
I think it's kind of gone into a bad light. Although our punishment of bombing Afghanistan fit the crime (in my opinion), as time goes on people do forget what we were trying to accomplish there. And the war in Iraq (which I do not support nor condemn) is taking precedence over what our true cause was.
848850
well its kind of a two sided war. You see, it must be traced back to the source. When the Russians invaded Afghanistan, Usama Bin Ladin as well as Ahmed Massoud (pardon me for spelling mistakes) defended their territory in a combined effort. After that Usama returned without a motivation and needed to pursue further ventures, while Massoud formed america's greatest ally-The Northern Alliance. Then it was that Usama learned of a man(cant remember the name), who was leading forces against the united states. He claimed that america lacked culture and religion and needed to convert to islam. Throughout the clinton administration, there were numerous threats of attacks and who can forget the first WTC bombing in 1993? Then it was in 2001 that WTC was bombed again which eventually led to the events that have evolved into the war today. Even i am no supporter of violence, but you must remember that we cannot rule out who is responsible for the conditions today. Go do some research.
752494
off the rails at this point.The 9/11 controversy,afghanistan and Iraq have not contributed anything positive
295053
No, the drawdown of US troop levels in Afganistan is not and does not look like a withdrawal.  At the same time, our allies around the world are getting more involved in Afganistan as they should have long ago.  As their troop levels increase we are able to reduce US strengths in certain areas.  We are still committed to supporting the developing democracy with whatever forces are needed.
809168
Considering exit polls showed more people were concerned with the recent scandals than with the war, probably not...but it might have been closer.\n\nI have to admit I'm surprised to see changes happening so quickly though... apparently Dubya is not actually a president-shaped cd player with 'stay the course' stuck on infinite repeat after all. I mean this man has been beating his head against this particular brick wall for years now... while some 6 billion or so people throughout the world said 'Uh, buddy... you fu.cked up and this is NOT actually working' and all it took was a thorough official trouncing of the GOP to get him to realize that maybe SOMEbody ought to be looking for actual solutions. So I guess he's not entirely brain dead after all, but it still bears mentioning that my eleven year old niece was able to figure out that Iraq wasn't going very well quite some time ago.\n\nOf course it remains to be seen if anybody can really pull our collective American butts out of this mess, but at least we have some hope.
701093
It's been very under the radar but a Taliban like movement is happening in Somalia right now.  These Taliban like radical Muslims have taken over 1/2 of Somalia and turned it into radical Muslim state that is looking a lot like Afghanistan (before 9/11) and that means a serious terrorist training ground.  So that's why the US military is in the Horn because Somalia might turn into the next Al Qaeda training site and that would be much worse than Iraq.
1048177
Nope America is talking back to the government. New groups have been formed and the Government must face issue. And these groups are growing more everyday and uniting with each other. These groups are all nationalities and religions and race. They are showing their power as citizens . and it looks like they are winning-towns are taking action now to stop Illegal traffic
313545
What really frightens me is HOW America has gone about the war on terror. After 9/11 we had much the worlds sympathy and support, then Bush went after Iraq under false pretenses causing many countries to withdraw their support. Much of the public opinion in America toward Islam has become down right racist and many people that support the war on terror seems to revel in the idea of a genocidal war on Islam rather than a war against terrorists (just check out some of the answers to the religious questions on this site). Now America has to deal with huge backlash of hatred, and possibly more terrorist activities on American soil, because of its current foreign policy and, in my opinion, it has been our past foreign policies that have put us in this mess in the first place.
919198
IT IS AN AL QUEDA PLOT TO DESTABILIZE THE COUNTRY AND TO GET THE REST OF THE WORLD TO BLAME THE US FOR THE PROBLEMS. THE MAJORITY OF THE TROUBLE MAKERS ARE NOT EVEN FROM IRAQ. THE PROBLEMS IS THAT THE IRAQI FACTIONS ARE NOT GOING TO ALLOW THE INSURGENTS TO KILL THEM WITH OUT A FIGHT. IT SEEM LIKE A CIVIL WAR BUT IT IS AN INTRICATE PLOT TO DESTROY THE AMERICAN PROCESS. THAT IS WHY WE HAVE TO STICK IT OUT. IF WE RUN WE WILL BE ASKING FOR FURTHER PROBLEMS ON OUR HOMELAND.
960788
Yes, but it's more a occupation than a war, I believe George W Bush already declared victory in the war part of this whole messy plan. Most Americans care about our soldiers over there but with all the other worries about a "rigged" election coming, immigration which is a vital issue, and just the legitimacy of our government is a worry many have and this tends to take attention away from Iraq, if you remember the real war was suppose to be in Afghanistan, not Iraq. And now with the nuclear talk coming up again it's no wonder the attention and support our troops are getting has diminished. This is not the fault of Americans, it's the fault of this administration in their inability to do anything right and honest. Shame on Bush and all the people who back him, you can support our troops without supporting our president and the idiots running this occupation.
415123
No. It is this involvement that keeps creating reactions over there against us.\nThe truth is that the US-backed central government has made all sorts of deals with local warlords and provinical warlords and feudal drug lords because it doesnt have enough power. As a result, we are supporting a bunch of criminals/former Taliban by propping up the Afghan regimes.\n\nSince the defeat of the Taliban all these warlords have become 'legitimate' politicians and are resuming the export of opium and other drugs. That is the order Western countries are maintaining.
920454
that's one messed up place for sure...if a truly democratic govt. took over they'd probly want the USA out anyway, so maybe that's why there is continued violence there to keep it weak and dependent on the USA.....the US is making hardened army bases all over that country that makes it look like they want to stay.
489171
No. But as JD has pointed out on other posts, it's really ironic, because that is actually a distress signal (Hanging our flag upside down.) Our nation is in distress and it is at the hand of the illegal invasion that is occurring.