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Monday, June 09, 2008

Afghanistan: What are we fighting for?


The deaths of three British soldiers in Afghanistan yesterday means that the British death toll in that conflict has now reached 100.

Anyone care to explain what we are fighting for?

UPDATE: The Exile gives his thoughts on this most unwinnable of wars, here.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

I will tell you.
We are fighting to protect the freedom of peasants to grow the corps of their choice that was banned under the undemocratic Taliban.

Douglas said...

Are you familiar with the book America Alone by Mark Steyn? I've just started reading it, and I highly recommend it.

A lot of the war for freedom is in England as well as Afghanistan.

Anonymous said...

I completely agree with you, Neil. Strangely in all the reports I've seen scant mention is given to the number of Afghans who've perished. Funny that.

Nick said...

That's a simple one to answer: we're fighting because the Americans think we should. (And one day perhaps they'll even give us a good reason for thinking as they do - but don't hold your breath.)

Anonymous said...

To begin with we were fighting to oust the Taliban and find Mr Bin Laden (though we mysteriously failed to catch him because of a 'reluctance' to commit American troops at the critical moment)! Then we got distracted by Iraq, fumbled about what do with all this poppy growing, killed one too many poor Afghans accidentally, and allowed the Taliban to reassert themselves (partially) as 'defenders' of Afghanistan. Now we 'cannot leave' because the elected but rather ineffectual and wildly corrupt Karzi government would probably collapse, leaving the poor Afghans back with the Taliban - except in the North where for ethnic reasons they would probably be effectively resisted. In other words it is all terribly complicated and I doubt there is anyone with any sense who imagines that they have a solution! Sadly, especially if you are an Afghan.

Anonymous said...

42% of the world's supply of heroin comes from Helmland province which is UK-occupied. Do the maths.

Anonymous said...

Afghanistan has an 8 billion dollar GDP the state of Georgia has a 379 billion dollar GDP. The state of Georgia raises 20 billion in tax revenues. Afghanistan has a 28% literacy rate. They are a real threat a bunch of goat herders with rocks. Why are we there? the poppies? Why are we there?

Anonymous said...

The question: What are we fighting for in Afghanistan? The answer is very simple, read the Afghanistan Constitution. As we (UK) are a democracy, I would expect our troops are dieing to uphold the rights of: Freedom of speech, freedom to worship, freedom for Sikh’s to build their temples, Christians to build churches etc. One-person one vote and equality of the sexes. I am sure you get the picture. I would not expect our troops to die to uphold an Islamic state.
Has anyone read the Afgan Constitution including Gordan Brown?

Anonymous said...

There are critical pipelines for oil to the Caspian Sea that America lusts for. The war on terror was a smokescreen for American to go in and steal Iraq oil. See http://hubpages.com/hub/Is-America-a-Fascist-State