Afghanistan - Why ?

[Not So Wise]

There are a few reasons but the main one is the taliban, bat tulip crazy ultra hardline religious fundamentalists running any country would be a pretty bad thing for the world as a whole.

[swamp]

There are a few reasons but the main one is the taliban, bat tulip crazy ultra hardline religious fundamentalists running any country would be a pretty bad thing for the world as a whole.

Shame we supported them in the past.

[snaw]

Shame we supported them in the past.

My enemies enemy and all that ...

Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

[Paddy]

The terrorists,Taliban and Al Kaida where put there by the US and UK to push out the Russians and grow opium to sell in the USSR in order to destablise the USSR

[The Lone Gunman]

AIUI:
After 9/11 OBL and his boys hid in Afghanistan under the shelter of the Taliban regime.
The allied forces in the war on terrorism politely asked for the Taliban to hand over said terrorists. They refused. They were asked again and told that failure to comply would put them in the same box as the terrorists and the allies would come in under a flag of war.
They refused. There we are.
Then the Muslim extremists starting raving about crusades and enlisted any muppet dull enough to believe them and tried to make out this was an attack on Islam. Thus we have an entrenched guerilla war in a country where that situation has never worked out well.

[eliquant]

Its partly to secury a territory to host an oil pipeline to the Caspian sea.

[ace00]

The old "oil pipeline" story - the armchair general's favorite.
Why we're there - OBL was based there. We went in as 9/11 was (officially) "a declaration of war" which brought in NATO.

[rabiddog]

Gawd ! Another few soldiers killed and just been watching some total 'thing' (government spokesman) explaining that it's got nothing to do with lack of resources, lack of manpower or lack of working kit - the situation will improve and we'll keep pumping resources into it until it does (maybe they should divert misclaimed expenses into the effort !).

Wasn't The Oil Pipeline story originally a plot line from a bond movie ?

[xoggoth]

Gawd nose. I suppose, unlike Iraq, there did not seem much doubt of the Taliban's support for terrorism and it was "justified"

But then, given that the military might of Russia failed despite the geographical closeness anyone with half a brain might have concluded that invasion would be a huge task and that it might have been far simpler and cheaper to prevent another 9/11 by proper control of immigration, having better homeland security and improving relations with the saner Muslim nations. Syria for example. (I said sane not pleasant.)

[scooterscot]

I think people get passionate about this campaign every time the news reports another loss from our armed forces.

Have you ever watched the channel 4 programme about the RAF in Afghanistan? It's inspiring stuff and makes me want to get out there on the first plane and pick up a weapon and support the cowards that attack using these IED's

Whatever the reasons this war started are not the same for it continuing, one way or another this war will end and it's going to be a boot belonging to the black watch firmly placed over the neck of Mr taliban