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Found some old pictures of Afghanistan and thought I'd share them with you guys if you were interested in seeing it from an army soldiers point of view. http://img31.imageshack.us/g/49170652.jpg/Kind of makes me glad I'm here in the states 
"All I know is, as long as I led the Southeastern Conference in scoring, my grades would be fine." - Charles Barkley
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Thanks for sharing those. You are right, that is one desolate looking place.
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Thanks for the pics . From anyones point of view the place is an armpit .
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It sure is, I never understood why we've spent so much time there. Didn't seem worth it then, doesn't seem worth it now.
"All I know is, as long as I led the Southeastern Conference in scoring, my grades would be fine." - Charles Barkley
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Interesting fact about Toby Keith:
He squeels when there are bullets flying nearby, but not in a girly kind of way. Kind of in a queer eye for the straight guy excited kind of way. Nice guy, but a little weird.
"All I know is, as long as I led the Southeastern Conference in scoring, my grades would be fine." - Charles Barkley
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You know, there are those who believe that the reason is, we want to "control" the opium trade. I just cannot fathom that while calling yourself a public servant.
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You know, there are those who believe that the reason is, we want to "control" the opium trade. I just cannot fathom that while calling yourself a public servant.
I think it's much more likely the mineral deposits in those hills.
#gmstrong
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That too,...man, that terrain is SO tough. Can we even get the deposits out ? Does the cost justify the reward ?
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There are several reasons, IMO,and they're all financial.
There is the gas pipeline that ran into trouble due to security issues with the Taliban ...someone mentioned the drug trade, as well as the minerals.
We're certainly not there to defend our nation.
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That too,...man, that terrain is SO tough. Can we even get the deposits out ? Does the cost justify the reward ?
I don't know. But, since the report of the lithium deposits, we have doubled our troops there.
Now, correlations doesn't prove causation, but if people are willing to believe we are in Iraq for oil, then I don't see why we wouldn't be in Afghanistan for lithium (needed for a ton of things such as batteries)
#gmstrong
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I have no problem being in Iraq for oil since we won't allow ourselves to mine it here. I don't want to "take" it from the Iraqi's either,..
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It sure is, I never understood why we've spent so much time there. Didn't seem worth it then, doesn't seem worth it now.
When we went to war there a number of years back, my impression was we did so to get the guys that nailed us on 9/11.. guys like Bin Laden and his minions.
It's funny, but we haven't accomplished that nor have we really accomplished anything else that I can see.
It's really nothing but a big waste of human lives (americans) and a huge money pit.. I'm completely fed up with our leaders.. completely..
#GMSTRONG
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Daniel Patrick Moynahan
"Alternative facts hurt us all. Think before you blindly believe."
Damanshot
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Not getting Bin Laden is truly amazing,...wonder what ever happened to the stoolie that told us where Sadam's hole was. Wonder where that young Soldier is who got to flip that door open too,....
Can't imagine not getting the intel we need to get Bin Laden.
Weird.
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Conspiracy theorists ( my Father lol ) would point out that if we found him then that would be the end of the booming business of war in that area at least our part in it . He is a tool that is better used if he is still alive because alive he is still the man we can point at as the bad guy .
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Conspiracy theorists ( my Father lol ) would point out that if we found him then that would be the end of the booming business of war in that area at least our part in it . He is a tool that is better used if he is still alive because alive he is still the man we can point at as the bad guy .
I'm not at all sure your father isn't right on the money with that belief.. the twisted logic that our leaders sometimes employ would fit perfectly.
#GMSTRONG
“Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own facts.”
Daniel Patrick Moynahan
"Alternative facts hurt us all. Think before you blindly believe."
Damanshot
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I've posted this thought before, ...., I would have bet BIG money BinL would have been "captured" right before the last election.
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I've posted this thought before, ...., I would have bet BIG money BinL would have been "captured" right before the last election.
From a purely political perspective, I'm a little shocked at that also..
#GMSTRONG
“Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own facts.”
Daniel Patrick Moynahan
"Alternative facts hurt us all. Think before you blindly believe."
Damanshot
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jc
I find this thread very odd. We actually do and did have very legitimate reasons to be in this war.
The reasons to be in Iraq? No. IMO if you want to look at a war with no real validity that we failed to question it would be Iraq.
Fear can cause people to believe anything without checking sources. It can cause them to be blind to the real facts of the matter.
Once people feel they've been duped one place (Iraq), they suddenly refuse to look at the obvious need and validity to be somewhere else.
I'll say what I've said from day one....I support the troops no matter where they are deployed. They are sent there and are doing nothing more than giving their service and laying their life on the line for their country.
What I often do is question the validity of those who send them where they do.
I have never and will never support the actions our government took by deploying troops into Iraq. However I fully support our actions in Afghanastan and always will. Not necassarily how they went about it, but the fact that we did.
We had a downsized armed forces and tried to attack two fronts at the same time. The first war that was "sub-contracted" in large extent. Very poor strategy.
One war was necassary and had we put all of our resources in that war, we would have accomplished the mission.
Instead, we ran U.N. inspectors out of Iraq who were being given full access and had unmanned U-2 spy planes flying over Iraq watching their every move. There was no urgent need to invade Iraq.
We half A$$ed the necassary war out of sheer stupidity in an unecassary war elsewhere. And in the process decided to sleep with the enemy (Pakistan) and gave them billions not even knowing if they would be our friends in the end.
And the end isn't here yet. That move will bite us in the A$$ too.
jmho
Intoducing for The Cleveland Browns, Quarterback Deshawn "The Predator" Watson. He will also be the one to choose your next head coach.
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Quote:
One war was necassary and had we put all of our resources in that war, we would have accomplished the mission.
So said the British ,so said the Soviets .
Pakistan alone would be a reason that this war would never be "won".
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War for any purpose other than conquering another nation is difficult, at best... and always inadvisable if you can avoid it. In this situation, given the nature of the enemy, it wasn't terribly avoidable.
What we are engaged in is far more a war of attrition and a war of wills.
That doesn't make it un-winnable, it simply means that it will by no means be a short-term venture.
Of what I know of how it is being fought, I would have to think that we're generally going about it the right way, but yes - help from Pakistan would be a nice boost.
Browns is the Browns
... there goes Joe Thomas, the best there ever was in this game.
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If you had the troop strength to control the border between Pakistan and Afghanastan from the onset you might be wrong about that.
But with your troop strength divided on two fronts, I agree with you 100%. We'll never know for sure. However, with that terrain and bordering Pakistan, no logical explanation could suffice to convince me that less was more in Afghanastan.
With 200,000 troops in Afghanastan from the very beginning, our odds would have been substantially better. The rest is conjecture on any of our parts IMO
Intoducing for The Cleveland Browns, Quarterback Deshawn "The Predator" Watson. He will also be the one to choose your next head coach.
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If you had the troop strength to control the border between Pakistan and Afghanastan from the onset you might be wrong about that.
We can't control the border between the United States and Mexico where we have a vested interest and the terrain isn't that difficult and the people could sleep in real beds every night.. yet you expect us to control a nasty mountainous border 10000 miles away when we can't tell the people on one side from the people on the other?
yebat' Putin
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There's a huge difference between "can't" and" won't" DC. But I think you already knew that part. 
Intoducing for The Cleveland Browns, Quarterback Deshawn "The Predator" Watson. He will also be the one to choose your next head coach.
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There's a huge difference between "can't" and" won't" DC.
Politicians are telling me we don't really have an immigration problem other than we can't get them to legal citizenship fast enough.. they tell me the border is secure... so I can only assume there is no "won't" because they have done all they can do.. whatever problem is left is one they "can't" solve... 
yebat' Putin
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Quote:
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One war was necassary and had we put all of our resources in that war, we would have accomplished the mission.
So said the British ,so said the Soviets .
Pakistan alone would be a reason that this war would never be "won".
That's a real problem over there, as we are "friendly" with both, but they hate each other. Exacerbates the situation if you "pick a side."
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Well DC I'm sure you don't believe everything "they" tell you. If you do, I have some deeds for sale.  At least I was honest enough to tell you I only had deeds, not property. That's more truth than "they're" telling you. 
Intoducing for The Cleveland Browns, Quarterback Deshawn "The Predator" Watson. He will also be the one to choose your next head coach.
#gmstrong
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Quote:
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One war was necassary and had we put all of our resources in that war, we would have accomplished the mission.
So said the British ,so said the Soviets .
Pakistan alone would be a reason that this war would never be "won".
Exactly.. whats even more insane,, we provided the weapons and money that the afgans needed to defeat the Soviets.. We did that.. we saw what could be done with almost no weapons compared to an overwhelming force..
Yet,, we went there anyway...I supported it because I thoiught we were going after the people that hit us hard on 9/11... But clearly, we've failed at that objective..
This entire war has been a bungled mess from day one.. Of course, I didn't see that then,, but it's clear as can be now..
In fact, our entire middle east policy has been a joke for decades....
#GMSTRONG
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Daniel Patrick Moynahan
"Alternative facts hurt us all. Think before you blindly believe."
Damanshot
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There are those who would say that is a result of giving in to the Israelis in 1948.
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There are those who would say that is a result of giving in to the Israelis in 1948.
Could be I guess.
#GMSTRONG
“Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own facts.”
Daniel Patrick Moynahan
"Alternative facts hurt us all. Think before you blindly believe."
Damanshot
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I supported it because I thoiught we were going after the people that hit us hard on 9/11... But clearly, we've failed at that objective..
because we didn't find Bin Laden? I mean that is great for PR and a media spectacle and all, but I am pretty sure taking down the more general Al-Quaeda controlling the region was and is more important.
#gmstrong
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I am more diasappointed than anyone that we've haven't hung this ... in Public Square,...however, there has not been an attack like 911 even get close to getting off the ground since then,....and who knows how many others have been stopped that we don't know/haven't been told about.
I guess I have kinda reserved myself to the fact that it's not just getting BL. We have to shut down the whole thing.
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I am more diasappointed than anyone that we've haven't hung this ... in Public Square,...however, there has not been an attack like 911 even get close to getting off the ground since then,....and who knows how many others have been stopped that we don't know/haven't been told about.
The more I look at it the more cynical I get.. I suppose the fact that there hasn't been another attack is a positive.. on the other hand, since the attack, our economy has collapsed (twice), we surrendered or have debated surrendering a tremendous amount of our individual liberty in the name of our own safety, 10 years ago I didn't give two thoughts to Muslims, now we have public school systems giving them days off for their religious holidays, we are debating when and where they can build mosques, our government is paying for imams to go on tours promoting peace, we have fought two wars that contributed greatly to our financial collapse, our allies don't like us any more (and Obama has done little to fix that), and we have had THOUSANDS of Americans killed in two wars which, even if we win, give us very little benefit beyond freeing Muslims from evil dictators so some other evil dictators can eventually take over the country.....
Do you think they really need to attack us again to declare another victory? They breached the dam so to speak, we are now imploding from the inside.. they can just sit back and watch and sabre rattle every now and then so we run like scared dogs to enact some new piece of legislation..
I bet they get quite a bit of amusement out of it honestly. I can see a group of Muslim extemists sitting in a hut somewhere in Afghanistan or Pakistan going.. "What can we do next?" "I don't know.... eye glass cases, let's screw with eye glass cases." So they make a phone call and plant some e-mails about some terrorists trying to make bombs out of eyeglass cases, the FBI discovers the e-mails because they are supposed to ... we have a big celebration about the potential attacks we thwarted and within 15 days we have new legislation that has TSA confiscating all eyeglass cases at the airport while the Muslims sit over there laughing their asses off.
No sir, they do not NEED to attack us again.... hell attacking us again might be the BEST thing they could do for us (I don't say I'm hoping to lose American lives) but an actual attack might be one of the few things right now that could pull Americans together and do something to galvanize us...
yebat' Putin
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Quote:
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I supported it because I thoiught we were going after the people that hit us hard on 9/11... But clearly, we've failed at that objective..
because we didn't find Bin Laden? I mean that is great for PR and a media spectacle and all, but I am pretty sure taking down the more general Al-Quaeda controlling the region was and is more important.
Great,, have we accomplished that? NO,, have we gotten close to accomplishing that? NO
I believe I read recently that this is officially the longest war America has ever fought. Not sure, But I bet it's the most expensive war in terms on Dollars.. But not in terms of American lives. (I"m very thankful for that)
This war is a failure.. it has failed to accomplish anything.... Al-Queada still exists,, we've killed off a few leaders, disrupted some of thier plans.. but overall, they are still there, they are still a major threat..
#GMSTRONG
“Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own facts.”
Daniel Patrick Moynahan
"Alternative facts hurt us all. Think before you blindly believe."
Damanshot
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