"Afghan Mission" possibly accomplishing nothing

[ironsides]

Here it says many Canadian soldiers are dying in Afghanistan not actually fighting but from roadside bombs. And they die from roadside bombs because the Canadian military can't afford helicopters to ferry soldiers around the country.

A deadly month, a deadly legacy in Afghanistan - The Globe and Mail

As British politicians are now acknowledging, sending ill-equipped troops to wage war is a recipe for disaster. In Afghanistan, the lack of helicopters has made soldiers extremely vulnerable to roadside bombs – the Taliban weapon of choice – which have accounted for about two of every three NATO deaths in July.
Britain's 9,000 troops in Helmand have 23 helicopters for transport; Canada only recently acquired this capability. Although the Canadian toll in July has not been as grim – only five soldiers have been killed – our casualty rate is still the highest among the allies. And, when surging U.S. troops turn their attention to Kandahar as they've been doing this month in Helmand, things could get a lot worse.

Canada will not send anyone into combat without proper equipped, if they don't have it at the moment, they will get it. Never listen to a Norman, those are the kind of people who get you killed.

Wulfie and ironsides, did you even read the article I linked in the first post? The "Taliban" are apparently not much of a problem compared to our "good friends", the stupid afghan fake-government we helped install

I agree with you, the Afghan goverment is about as corrupt as you can get, unfortunately they are all we have to work with at the moment. The problem in Afghanistan can never end the way we would like it to. They are a bunch of bickering tribes and always will be. The country we have to worry about is Pakistan, just as corrupt with nuclear weapons capable of destroying India or anyone else in the area.

 

[petros]

Maybe Afghanistan needs a mall and credit cards handed out like lollipops?

If Riyadh has la Senza why not Kandahar?

 

[AnnaG]

These sections make it tough to respond.

I mean Iran has been a coherent country like China been.

I heard on the radio the host talking about we've been in Afghanistan too long and how the problem is the Taliban. It's not the Taliban, it's al-Qaeda, a distinction with a big difference. Perhaps now the Taliban are our enemy, since we've been wrecking their country for a decade, I would understand it. Time to give them some presents and leave.

6 of one and a half dozen of the other, IMO. Both groups are extremist nutbars.

I read a report somewhere that said IEDs kill at least as many of the people planting them as they do soldiers.
Unfortunately, the biggest toll is on Afghan civilians.

 

[darkbeaver]

The heroin problem in Russia has been accomplished by the drug trade conducted by the CIA. Incidentally it's the biggest organized crime syndicate on the planet after the bankers. The Afghan mission all along was destabilization of Eurasia for conquest. Illegal drugs fuel many western nations covert operations.

 

[dumpthemonarchy]

Canada will not send anyone into combat without proper equipped, if they don't have it at the moment, they will get it. Never listen to a Norman, those are the kind of people who get you killed.


I agree with you, the Afghan goverment is about as corrupt as you can get, unfortunately they are all we have to work with at the moment. The problem in Afghanistan can never end the way we would like it to. They are a bunch of bickering tribes and always will be. The country we have to worry about is Pakistan, just as corrupt with nuclear weapons capable of destroying India or anyone else in the area.

The Canadian armed forces are woefully underequipped. The USA has so many helicopters they can have black ones flying around spying on people and assisting aliens. But seriously folks, the Canadian military is still very well trained despite poor equipment. But they cannot avoid facts ont he ground, being driven around increases the chance of roadside bombs killing troops. It's tougher to shoot down a chopper and we don't have enough of them. Peacekeepers don't really need helicopters I guess.

 

[Ron in Regina]

They will never unite, they will always be a fractious mess, but we can ignore much of it.

A short invasion in Afghan was okay, ten years is not. It draws us into a place we have no clue about and have no vital interests there. It was al-Qaeda, NOT the Taliban who did 9/11. The Taliban are as harmless to us as the IRA, PLO, or Hamas. They have not attacked us and will not. Afghanistan is as dangerous to us as Thailand. Not at all.

The Taliban are Nutz. They're a danger to anyone they come in contact with
it seems. If Canada isn't in contact with these Fruitloops, they we could
avoid them as long as they don't show up on our doorstep, I guess.

The Taliban are Terrorists. No doubt about it. Canada as a nation on the
opposite side of the Globe isn't their target, from what I understand. Their
targets are those close at hand who do not wish to be under Taliban rule:

Reports Taliban executed 7-year-old for spying in Helmand | WORLD News

Outside of Afghanistan (& possibly Pakistan), at this point anyway, the
Taliban and their idea of forcing strict Sharia Law on anyone & everyone
doesn't seem to be an issue. Does this dismiss their crimes against
anyone that comes in contact with them with a different viewpoint on
religion or dress or Christmas cards Woman's Rights? No, it doesn't.

Should Canada step back and re-outfit its forces? I think it has to.

Should the U.N. walk away and leave the Taliban to terrorize the
Afghani population? I don't want to see that happen at all, and it's long
past time for other U.N. member countries to step up to the plate here.
I'm talking about those that haven't already done so, or have only done
so in a half-arsed accountant/file clerk sort'a manner.....

 

[dumpthemonarchy]

The Taliban are Nutz. They're a danger to anyone they come in contact with
it seems. If Canada isn't in contact with these Fruitloops, they we could
avoid them as long as they don't show up on our doorstep, I guess.

The Taliban are Terrorists. No doubt about it. Canada as a nation on the
opposite side of the Globe isn't their target, from what I understand. Their
targets are those close at hand who do not wish to be under Taliban rule:

Reports Taliban executed 7-year-old for spying in Helmand | WORLD News

Outside of Afghanistan (& possibly Pakistan), at this point anyway, the
Taliban and their idea of forcing strict Sharia Law on anyone & everyone
doesn't seem to be an issue. Does this dismiss their crimes against
anyone that comes in contact with them with a different viewpoint on
religion or dress or Christmas cards Woman's Rights? No, it doesn't.

Should Canada step back and re-outfit its forces? I think it has to.

Should the U.N. walk away and leave the Taliban to terrorize the
Afghani population? I don't want to see that happen at all, and it's long
past time for other U.N. member countries to step up to the plate here.
I'm talking about those that haven't already done so, or have only done
so in a half-arsed accountant/file clerk sort'a manner.....

I agree the Taliban are nutz.

Where have the Taliban conducted terrorist attacks outside Afghanistan? Nowhere.

The Taliban don't threaten Canada, they don't threaten any of our vital interests, therefore, we should not be there.

We have a landmass the size of Europe and we can't patrol it, like under the Arctic ice where USA and Russian nuclear subs cruise. That is where we should put more Canadian resources.

 

[gopher]

"The Taliban are Nutz."

It shouldn't take a foreign invader 9 years or more to defeat a force like that. If Bush/Obama can't defeat them it's because the Afghan majority hasn't bought into Westernization. Therefore, further costly occupation of that land is of no further use.

 

[dumpthemonarchy]

"The Taliban are Nutz."

It shouldn't take a foreign invader 9 years or more to defeat a force like that. If Bush/Obama can't defeat them it's because the Afghan majority hasn't bought into Westernization. Therefore, further costly occupation of that land is of no further use.

Totally.

 

[ironsides]

The Canadian armed forces are woefully underequipped. The USA has so many helicopters they can have black ones flying around spying on people and assisting aliens. But seriously folks, the Canadian military is still very well trained despite poor equipment. But they cannot avoid facts ont he ground, being driven around increases the chance of roadside bombs killing troops. It's tougher to shoot down a chopper and we don't have enough of them. Peacekeepers don't really need helicopters I guess.

Canada has a force there now.

May 20, 2009 – Edmonton – To look at the fatigue etched in Maj. Rodger Lerminiaux's face you would never guess the Griffon helicopter pilot is part of a unit that just made military history.

A few days ago Lerminiaux returned home from Afghanistan where the Canadian Helicopter Force completed its first deployment of choppers in a combat zone.

In a few months the force of CH-47 Chinooks, escorted by CH-146 Griffons, transported more than 6,000 troops and thousands of tonnes of supplies, deftly flying over routes that could have been sown with the roadside bombs that have killed more than half of the Canadian soldiers who have died in Afghanistan.

"It absolutely saved lives," said Lerminiaux, who added the aircraft were sometimes shot at by insurgents.

"Any time you can decrease the amount of people who are on those roads, when you can ferry them by air, you are cutting back the risk."

Canadian helicopters make history in Afghanistan - Helicopters Magazine

I agree the Taliban are nutz.

Where have the Taliban conducted terrorist attacks outside Afghanistan? Nowhere.

So it is easy to correlate the increasing amount of opium production in Afghanistan to the strengthening and reemergence of Taliban in the past few years not only in the violence in Afghanistan, but in Pakistan as well.

But other than that the Taliban seem to have no interest in any operations outside of Afghanistan.
http://www.terroristplanet.com/opium.htm


We all will be out very soon one way or another.

 

[Johnnny]

We havent accomplished nothing but kill alot of militants

 

[Cliffy]

We havent accomplished nothing but kill alot of militants

...and a lot of innocent women, children and elderly. Collateral damage, the price of war - all in a day's work. We were conned into being there and it is time we wised up and got the hell out. We have lost too many of our young fighting ghosts. We are no longer fighting the Taliban, we are fighting farmers whose families were our collateral damage. I doubt if we were invaded that any of us would stand for a bunch of foreigners murdering our families. We would take to the hills and shoot back. We would use any tool at our disposal to run the pricks out of our country. It amazes me that Canadians think the Afghani people should just accept their dead as the price of democracy. This whole situation would be a joke if it wasn't so tragic.

 

[ironsides]

We havent accomplished nothing but kill alot of militants

Slowed down or stopped the attacks here at home for a while. That is something positive.

...and a lot of innocent women, children and elderly. Collateral damage, the price of war - all in a day's work. We were conned into being there and it is time we wised up and got the hell out. We have lost too many of our young fighting ghosts. We are no longer fighting the Taliban, we are fighting farmers whose families were our collateral damage. I doubt if we were invaded that any of us would stand for a bunch of foreigners murdering our families. We would take to the hills and shoot back. We would use any tool at our disposal to run the pricks out of our country. It amazes me that Canadians think the Afghani people should just accept their dead as the price of democracy. This whole situation would be a joke if it wasn't so tragic.

As for collateral damage, that is the price paid if you support and or allow terrorists to use your country. There is no sanctuary. This is not a game.

 

[AnnaG]

I agree the Taliban are nutz.

Where have the Taliban conducted terrorist attacks outside Afghanistan? Nowhere.

Two Taliban militants arrested planning Karachi attacks | DesPardes.com | Breaking News|Latest News|India News |Pakistan News|Politics News |Bollywood News|Cinema News|Hollywood News|Cricket|Business News|Sports News|Health News|Science & Technology

5 killed in Pakistani Taliban attacks near U.S. Consulate in Peshawar - Los Angeles Times

The Taliban don't threaten Canada, they don't threaten any of our vital interests, therefore, we should not be there.

It is ok if they threaten the welfare of people as long as it isn't us, right?

We have a landmass the size of Europe and we can't patrol it, like under the Arctic ice where USA and Russian nuclear subs cruise. That is where we should put more Canadian resources.

So people cruise around our Arctic. Big deal.

 

[gopher]

We havent accomplished nothing but kill alot of militants

And after nine years of corporate profiting from the war, the military industrial complex is very proud of that phase of Bush/Obama's "accomplishments".

 

[Cliffy]

As for collateral damage, that is the price paid if you support and or allow terrorists to use your country. There is no sanctuary. This is not a game.

The death penalty was banned in Canada because most people felt that capital punishment puts us in the same shoes as the murderer. Terrorizing a nation because you feel threatened by a few of its occupants is just damn right insane. You will never convince me that American Foreign Policy is anything other that completely insane, murderous and sadistic. America is not free because it is a nation that is imprisoned by its own paranoia.

 

[ironsides]

The death penalty was banned in Canada because most people felt that capital punishment puts us in the same shoes as the murderer. Terrorizing a nation because you feel threatened by a few of its occupants is just damn right insane. You will never convince me that American Foreign Policy is anything other that completely insane, murderous and sadistic. America is not free because it is a nation that is imprisoned by its own paranoia.

There is nothing at all paranoid about it, put simply if you attack us you will be punished in kind. When the WTC was attacked, they didn't check to make sure all non combatants were safely out. America is free (as well as those around us) because some are willing to pay for that freedom with our lives if that is what it takes.

Canadians owe their freedoms also to those who paid the ultimate price, to bad some of you act like spoiled children and just don't appreciate what you have or what it costs. Time outs just don't work.