Panorama Mission Accomplished? Secrets of Helmand

[minestrone]

I used to have a manager that was an Afghan national, thick as 2 short planks, the company loved him though, they used positive discrimination, if he had hacked his leg off and said he had lost it standing on a landmine he could have been running the place.

[DodgyAgent]

Certainly Iraq was no threat to us.

Not directly but it was certainly a threat to the stability of the middle east

[zeitghost]

So are you saying that Iraq and Afghanistan would have been far better places to live that they are now? And are you also saying that the world would be a much safer place had there been no intervention in Iraq and Afghanistan

It is all too simple to brand Bush and Blair as war criminals. It is certainly hip and cool and "caring" to hold this view - apparently but it is sheer cowardice to lay alll the blame at their door.

The blame lies in not being aware of history.

The blame lies in the sheer incompetence of Bliar and Bush.

Do you think that the world is a safer place with the Pakistani Taliban?

I have no quarrel with the idea of bombing the tulipe of the Afghan hell hole.

It's the loss of American & UK troops over the intervening 10 years that I object to.

Iraq is, of course, a rather different question.

I suspect that the world would be a safer place if the monster was still in power. He kept the lid on things.

Just ignore the "hip and cool" cliches about Blair and Bush being war criminals.

Er, you're the only one mentioning them as "war criminals".

I mentioned them as a pair of feckwhits totally unaware of history.

Not to mention that we'd all be better off if Gadaffi hadn't been offed in the Arab "Spring".

[minestrone]

Not directly but it was certainly a threat to the stability of the middle east

Well thank God we have America who got right over there and nipped any trouble in the bud.

[SupremeSpod]

I suspect that the world would be a safer place if the monster was still in power. He kept the lid on things.

That can be said about a number of dictators.

[MyUserName]

So were the locals better off before we went in or are they better off now?

[cailin maith]

So were the locals better off before we went in or are they better off now?

I reckon they would say it's the same. Still tulipty.

Which is a bloody disgrace given all the lives lost.

[sasguru]

Not directly but it was certainly a threat to the stability of the middle east

Was it? After the Iran-Iraq war of the 80s, which didn't really affect oil supplies, and the invasion of Kuwait, Saddam wasn't going to try anything.
He was a counterweight to Iran, which now has too much influence and power.
I reckon the middle east is less stable now.

[SupremeSpod]

It says a lot about the Septic idea of "freedom" too.

Absolutely.

Look what happened when the "Iron Hand" was removed from what was "Yugoslavia", Iraq, Libya, Egypt. These are examples of countries where the "problems" still exist.

[DodgyAgent]

So were the locals better off before we went in or are they better off now?

Good! add in is the world a safer place and then debate the question.

Just ignore the "hip and cool" cliches about Blair and Bush being war criminals. These are lefty cliches of total irrelevance.