[Plantagenet]

The number of US military deaths in Afghanistan just topped 2000.

The war in Afghanistan continues, but doesn't seem to rate a mention anymore, even as the US casualties mount up.

Where are the anti-war marches?

Where are the any anti-war activists?

Where are the anti-war politicians?

Where is the media coverage of the the war?

Its like the war in Afghanistan has been "disappeared."

I guess the MSM and the anti-war activists and the anti-war democrats are all busy supporting Obama's 2012 re-election campaign, so any mention of the cost and the apparent failure of Obama's strategy in what he labelled his "good war" would be awkward just now.

[Cloud9]

Ask the Russians how this will work out or the Brits or for that matter Alexander the Great.

[jedrider]

It looks like a mostly barren country. A good place to make a stand and show the middle east who is boss there. What? The natives know how to fight back? How dare they?

And so it goes: How an empire bleeds itself to death!

[dorlomin]

Ask the Russians how this will work out or the Brits or for that matter Alexander the Great.

The British continued to use Afghanistan as a buffer state between their Indian Raj and the Russia, Persia and the Ottomans until they quit India.

They had some setbacks but their longterm strategic goals were mostly East of the Kyber and they kept non British influence to a minimal in Kabul.

[dorlomin]

Where are the anti-war marches?

Where are the any anti-war activists?

Where are the anti-war politicians?

There was not a large anti-war movement before the invasion of Iraq. It was mostly focused on Iraq, Afghanistan has multinational endorsement and the Germans and French are active and losing troops as well.

Thousands march in London against Afghanistan war

The UKs "stop the war" movement fell apart even for Iraq as it became riddled with the usual far left infighting and antiwar demos tended to get every other trendy issue tacked onto them (i.e. Palastine and anti New Labour sentiments). Dont know what happened in the US, but there is far less anger here at Afghanistan so less of a base to build a movment round.

[Revi]

Obama says we'll get out by 2014. I think it may be part of his re-election campaign. It's the graveyard of empires, but there has to be a reason why every empire plays with it. Remember Rudyard Kipling's Great Game? We're playing it.

[Plantagenet]

1-2-3-4

What are we fighting for?

Don't ask me

I don't give a damn

Next stop is

_______________ (fill in the the blank)

[Oneaboveall]

I hope you're having fun
Where's your uniform? Where's your gun?
Better rub up that suntan oil
'Cause you'll be fighting in the desert sun

It's not, Vietnam
Just another oil company scam
Salute that flag for Uncle Sam
Get your money out place your bets, it's Afghanistan

Fix bayonets, check grenades, got enough bullets
Got enough rounds to wipe out this place?
We're the infantry and the cavalry
Parachutes fill the skies, bodies burn and people die

It's not, Vietnam
Just another oil company scam
Salute that flag for Uncle Sam
Get your money out place your bets, it's Afghanistan

Fix bayonets, check grenades, got enough bullets
Got enough rounds to wipe out this place?
We're the infantry and the cavalry
Parachutes fill the skies, bodies burn and people die


Read more: CIRCLE JERKS - PAID VACATION LYRICS

[Ibon]

We retreat from Afghanistan slowly and then this massive military industrial complex, that employs so many folks and provides an education and training to so many disenfranchised young people, will then sit idle............ to do what?

To much inertia to just sit idle......we will search out a new task.

[Pops]

The only way to eliminate war is initiate the draft.

[Tanada]

The only way to eliminate war is initiate the draft.

That would work if and only if the political leadership are all drafted and made front line low rank cannon fodder.

[Revi]

Deaths are mounting, but we have been in Afghanistan for only 11 years now and the worst might be yet to come. The Soviets got out after over 200 planes were shot down. They cost a lot of money and it was one of the factors that led to the end of the USSR. Are we going to lose as much? There must be something that's worth a lot in that country for all those empires to want it so bad. Is it the minerals? Or the strategic advantage that is attained by controlling it? Whatever it is it seems like we can't live without it.

[dorlomin]

There must be something that's worth a lot in that country for all those empires to want it so bad. Is it the minerals? Or the strategic advantage that is attained by controlling it?

For the British it was a buffer state between the likes of Russia, Persia and their Indian possessions, keeping other influences out, reduced the ability of them to interfere, especially in the volatile NW Frontier tribal areas.
For the Soviets it was wanting to keep the west out of its back door.
For NATO it is in theory preventing Al Queada from using the land as a permanent base. Although there are some theories about hemming in Iran and having access to Central Asia.
When the west leaves it will likely become a proxy war between Pakistan and Iran, although the most likely outcome would be for the west to retain air bases to assist their placemen in Kabul.

[dorlomin]

US women may stage hunger strike in Pakistan in anti-drones protest

Not all have abandoned the battle.

[Plantagenet]

US women may stage hunger strike in Pakistan in anti-drones protest

Not all have abandoned the battle.

Thanks for this Dorlomin. But the coverage of this interesting story about a protest in PAKISTAN by a BRITISH newspaper just proves my point.

Here in the US, there is little to no antiwar activity, and essentially zero MSM interest. Almost everyone in the antiwar movement fell silent, put down their protest signs and stopped protesting as soon as Obama was elected.

The antiwar movement has been silently complicit as 1500 more US soldiers died in Afghanistan and US drone attacks expanded to take in a mix of terrorists, innocent civilians and even US citizens in multiple countries overseas.

[Revi]

I have a few hardcore friends who are still on the bridge. It's been 11 years.

[Keith_McClary]

Afghanistan regime could collapse after troops pull out: report

THE Afghan government could fall apart after NATO troops pull out in 2014, particularly if presidential elections that year are fraudulent, a report by the International Crisis Group says.

“There is a real risk that the regime in Kabul could collapse upon NATO's withdrawal,” said Candace Rondeaux, the ICG's senior Afghanistan analyst. “The window for remedial action is closing fast.”

The report - Afghanistan: The Long, Hard Road to the 2014 Transition - said the country was on course for another set of fraudulent elections after the chaotic presidential and parliamentary polls in 2009 and 2010.

A repeat could undermine what little hope remains for stability after the Afghan government takes full responsibility for security from US-led NATO forces, the report by the respected Brussels-based group said.

The coalition, which has waged an 11-year war against Taliban insurgents, is already drawing down its troops from a peak of some 130,000, and all combat forces are scheduled to quit the country by the end of 2014.


“The Afghan army and police are overwhelmed and underprepared for the transition,” said Ms Rondeaux. “Another botched election and resultant unrest would push them to breaking point.”

The Western-backed government of President Hamid Karzai and the parliament have failed to take any serious steps towards preparing for a clean vote, she said.

“Karzai seems more interested in perpetuating his own power by any means rather than ensuring credibility of the political system and long-term stability in the country.”

The president is constitutionally required to step down at the end of his second term in 2014, and has repeatedly said he will do so, but there are fears that he might try to manipulate the polls to ensure the election of an ally.

“The danger is President Karzai's top priority is maintaining control, either directly or via a trusted proxy,” Ms Rondeaux said.

“He and other leading members of the elite may be able to cobble together a broad temporary alliance, but political competition is likely to turn violent on the heels of NATO's withdrawal.”

The report said the possibility cannot be excluded that Karzai will declare a state of emergency as a means of extending his power, which would accelerate state collapse and likely precipitate a civil war.

“If that occurs, there would be few opportunities to reverse course in the near term. Securing the peace in Afghanistan would then remain at best a very distant hope,” Ms Rondeaux said.

AFP

"precipitate a civil war"? What kind of war is going on now?

[EnergyUnlimited]

The number of US military deaths in Afghanistan just topped 2000.

The war in Afghanistan continues, but doesn't seem to rate a mention anymore, even as the US casualties mount up.

Where are the anti-war marches?

Where are the any anti-war activists?

Where are the anti-war politicians?

Where is the media coverage of the the war?

Its like the war in Afghanistan has been "disappeared."

I guess the MSM and the anti-war activists and the anti-war democrats are all busy supporting Obama's 2012 re-election campaign, so any mention of the cost and the apparent failure of Obama's strategy in what he labelled his "good war" would be awkward just now.

2000 is not really much.
Nothing to report or worry about.