Is Afghanistan a worth battle?

[zeitghost]

When it ends, the only thing the UK will have left to make is babies.

And we do seem to be rather good at that, at least.

If you mean underage chav babies, then yes, we lead the world...

Not quite so good at producing babies with an IQ much greater than a dog though.

And the chav ones aren't really up to being cannon fodder any more coz they're too stupid.

[PM-Junkie]

If these idiotic politicians bothered to read history books, they never would have invaded Afghanistan in the first place. Nobody has won a war in that part of the world. Ever.

[zeitghost]

If these idiotic politicians bothered to read history books, they never would have invaded Afghanistan in the first place. Nobody has won a war in that part of the world. Ever.

The Afghans have...

[expat]

If these idiotic politicians bothered to read history books, they never would have invaded Afghanistan in the first place. Nobody has won a war in that part of the world. Ever.

There is that. Including the British Army, who won most things but didn't win that; the Indian Army which in Empire days never lost anything, except Afghanistan; and the Russians, who should have had the firepower to flatten it, and had a pretty free hand, but eventually gave up and retired. Possibly the problem is that it is hard to define victoy in this case, and the Afghans don't co-operate in defining it.

[gingerjedi]

Is Afghanistan just a honey pot, something to keep the extremists busy so they stay away from our doors? I can’t think of any other good reason?

[expat]

Is Afghanistan just a honey pot, something to keep the extremists busy so they stay away from our doors? I can’t think of any other good reason?

It's almost the opposite: the Saudis have for years paid to export their fundamentalists to other places like Afghanistan, to keep the Saudi ruling family safe in power. With the current price of oil so low, and the Saudi wells drying up (OK if you believe them, they have exactly the same reserves as they had 15 years ago), that may not be possible for ever.

Then Al Quada will turn on its real target (Saudi) and an anti-western government will take over there. They will then turn off the taps, and the US will immediately invade, using nukes as needed.

Hence the panic at the thought of other Islamic countries getting nukes.

Worried yet?

[PM-Junkie]

The Afghans have...

...it could be argued that nobody (apart from arms manufacturers) ever wins a war, but that is perhaps far too deep for this forum

[gingerjedi]

...it could be argued that nobody (apart from arms manufacturers) ever wins a war, but that is perhaps far too deep for this forum

"There are no good wars, with the following exceptions: the American Revolution, World War II, and the Star Wars Trilogy". - Bart Simpson

[ratewhore]

I have to say, I heard the 'we fight them either in afghanistan or the streets of british cities' argument and I didn't believe it.

[swamp]

I was thinking of posting a similar poll here.

What are we doing in Afghanistan? Answer: looking for Bin Laden. We lost him years ago, and we should get out.

Frankly if a load of Ruperts and some squaddies want to get shot up in the desert they should do it with their own money.