These stats, especially the fatalities,  are too depressing to look at for even more than a few seconds.

Died in vain...when you figure out our "mission" please let me know!

Military suicides are at an all time high as well.

I tried to make a joke in my mind about this, but I can't.  This is just a tragic, wasteful folly.

 My brother leaves for tour #2 ( national guard Military Police ) in May 2010 for Afganiland. The date keeps moving around but he knows he is going. 40 years old in a combat zone.........

 He gets zapped I'm gunna wind up in a tower with a rifle.

Check out this article written by Slowsmile concerning the true mission objective at Raging Debate: http://ragingdebate.com/worldnews/the-geopolitics-behind-the-phony-us-war-with-afghanistan-1 . I did not like what I read not because the article was bad but our intent over in Afghanistan no longer reflects the original mission objectives. It is not the place of the USA to be empire building which is now what Afghanistan has become. It also makes no sense to stay unless Pakistan is willing to order all-in sustained offensive against the Taliban in Wazaristan Province and I don't see such a thing happening anytime soon. If the USA failed to burn the entire poppy crop and replant a replacement crop and revenue stream by now for the people than tough. 

Next terrorist attack from either nation should be provided a demonstration of our intolerance of a population supporting murder at 10 million degrees. I am sure it was a tough call after 911 and I believe the USA did the right thing at the time.

But we are dreaming if we feel we can maintain a permanent presence there. It is time to provide energy security for the people in America using our own resources, not being drug peddlers and hoping we can obtain lucrative petrochemicals deals. It is time to clean up our own backyard before our population decides to go on its own destructive cleanup spree. 

The US is in Afghanistan because a rag tag bunch of guys carried out an operation that stole and crashed planes over the US.  The rest of the multi -national forces are there because the US asked them to be there for it's "war on terrorism".

The US is still in Afghanistan because there is a bunch of armchair US politicians and leaders, presiding in their swish air conditioned offices, who believe::

-   that with all it's men and fire power it can defeat a rag tag army (that has since spread it's activities into Iraq and Pakistan), and can install western style democracy in a country that has entirely different values and which US administrations do not understand;

-  that the US will be attacked again unless it kills off the Taliban; and

-  who believe that a withdrawal from Afghanistan by the multi- national forces would mean the US has lost a war to a rag tag army and that it's prestige in the world (that which is left) would be drastically impaired. 

Now it has become much more about "face" and avoiding humiliation than anything else but those in power will never admit that.  (It's the "war on terror" and bringing in democracy you see and that's a very noble cause.).  It's been going on for about 8 years so the plan must be working.

More US and other country's soldiers are needlessly killed and maimed, and more dollars are burned up, so a bunch of fairly clueless leaders can feel better about themselves and take out even more revenge for the 9/11 tragedy apparently. 

Then of course there are the countless innocent millions in Afghanistan who are suffering badly as a result, not to mention the now tens of thousands of innocent Afghanis who have been killed and seriously injured in this conflict.  Hey ---there are much more important things to talk about though- like the style of dress Mrs Obama was wearing on the news report today.

Unfortunately, our "leaders" are playing the "Great Game".  Its been around for a long time (since the 1800's) and we've been dealt in.  Lives and money mean nothing to our "leaders" - saving "face" and winning the "Great Game" does.  Until our "leaders" are replaced by people who are loyal to the U. S. and its Constitution, we shall remain in Afghanistan, Iraq, and elsewhere until we are forcibly removed.  Therefore, we shall continue to send in more troops, private security contractors (mercenaries), and money to whatever square on the game board our "leaders" decide.  The proper term for the American soldier is "pawn".

I am amazed and appalled by the numbers and the MSM lack of daily attacks on BHO like they did Bush and his admin. I originally was behind the war in Iraq, as I though Sadam needed to go and it would be good to have a base such that no more permission to fly in the area would be needed. Afghanistan was a mistake and was realized by Bush early on. That is why he left there. Britain couldn't do it, the Russians lost almost a million soldiers dead and wounded not to mention the rubels that were thrown away. And now, BHO thinks he has the answer, but doesn't know a whole in the ground to where he left his cigs.

My nephew states that the reason we are not doing well there is that the soldiers do not know whom to trust. You think you have a friend, the next thing you know they are shooting at you from behind your lines.

Pakistan is getting ready to lose its nukes to the Taliban. Though they have many checks and balances before a nuke can be assembled and delivered, the Taliban have their operatives in every level of the Pakistani government - this was noted on Face the Nation just recently.

India and pakistan keep their nukes at bay, but the wild card is the fanatical taliban. They don't care. And you cannot win against someone that doesn't care if they live or die. That is why suicide bombers are so unfortunately successful at what they do.

No, it would be better to bring all home and start to profile. Don't give up rights, but really focus on who is what. that may not be as easy as it sounds, because anyone can be fanatical, but most logically not grandma (at least I wouldn't think so).

So, I hope the elections go the right way tonight. Stop BHO and Pelosi, and Reid in their tracks and maybe, just maybe we can start to sort things out. We shall see.

 The mission was to rout Osama and disband the military training bases. Mission accomplished.

The rest is the difficult part. I was in Afghanistan in 1973. It is a tribal society. You have no clue.

Let them grow their opium. They are not us. And never will be. 

The policy should be containment. Nothing more, unless their behavior becomes so egregious the Civilized World has to once more beat their donkey brains into submission. 

There's a line in the movie 'Gladiator'............"A people should know when they're conquered".

And even if they're not conquered, they will still be ruined.

That's why we have an Army. Quasi imperialist. 

Sort of like the Tar Baby.

Dick

Dick Cheney is a private citizen.  Barack Obama is the President of The United States and has the power to stop this today.  Were he not a fraud he would have already.