# America ! WHY THE FUCK ARE YOU STILL IN AFGHANISTAN ? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 8, 2012, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-why-the-fuck-are-you-still-in-afghanistan/615108 "2012-03-08T03:34:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![BlinkingDuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eada6e/32.png) [@BlinkingDuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlinkingDuck)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2012, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-why-the-fuck-are-you-still-in-afghanistan/615108/41 "2012-03-09T21:04:20Z")
We can’t just leave Afganistan without someone else coming in! What would the Afgans DO? It’s their whole reason for existence. To just leave would be to deprive them of their purpose and would be cruel (unless we could line up a substitute). ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2012, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-why-the-fuck-are-you-still-in-afghanistan/615108/42 "2012-03-09T23:51:37Z")
_When you’re wounded and left on Afghanistan’s plains, and the women come out to cut up what remains, jest roll to your rifle and blow out your brains and go to your gawd like a soldier._ – Rudyard Kipling ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2012, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-why-the-fuck-are-you-still-in-afghanistan/615108/43 "2012-03-10T12:38:23Z")
> [@Cicero](#): > > So, if the USA coalition pulled out, would the Chinese step in to protect their investment? That could be interesting. I am quite sure that the Chinese have paid off both the Taliban and the local warlord(s). They are very astute-they have profited immensely from the Afghan war-the sell to both sides. That’s the way to make war pay! ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Kobayashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4af34b/32.png) [@Mr.Kobayashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Kobayashi)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2012, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-why-the-fuck-are-you-still-in-afghanistan/615108/44 "2012-03-10T14:36:08Z")
I’ll also ask Britain! WHY THE FUCK ARE YOU STILL IN AFGHANISTAN ? We are a persistent bunch, granted, but you’d think we’d know better by now. 6 of our soldiers recently fell to a Taliban bomb. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2012, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-why-the-fuck-are-you-still-in-afghanistan/615108/45 "2012-03-10T15:28:53Z")
> [@Mr.Kobayashi](#): > > I’ll also ask Britain! WHY THE FUCK ARE YOU STILL IN AFGHANISTAN ? > > We are a persistent bunch, granted, but you’d think we’d know better by now. 6 of our soldiers recently fell to a Taliban bomb. What are you, William Gladstone? ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2012, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-why-the-fuck-are-you-still-in-afghanistan/615108/46 "2012-03-11T14:28:06Z")
I was in favor of the Afghan War. I am still in favor of the Afghan War. I think it is perfectly winnable. All we have to do is stay there for another fifty or sixty years and make them rich and modern. Picture the South Korean model. Those who want to pull out would leave weak people (gays, women, children) at the hands of their tormentors. I say stay with it until we win it. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2012, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-why-the-fuck-are-you-still-in-afghanistan/615108/47 "2012-03-11T17:09:10Z")
How will military occupation make them rich and modern? ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2012, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-why-the-fuck-are-you-still-in-afghanistan/615108/48 "2012-03-11T17:26:43Z")
> [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](#): > > Those who want to pull out would leave weak people (gays, women, children) at the hands of their tormentors. No, it just means they’ll be in the hands of a _different set_ of tormentors. Just because thugs and tyrants are nominally on the side of America doesn’t make them any less thugs and tyrants; you are indulging in the old American idea that it’s somehow better to be raped and tortured and murdered in the name of America than in the name of someone else. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2012, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-why-the-fuck-are-you-still-in-afghanistan/615108/49 "2012-03-11T17:54:08Z")
> [@The\_Tooth](#): > > How will military occupation make them rich and modern? Hell, if they just sell American garbage, that’ll be an important source of income. Plus, all kinds of money will flow in to help children maimed by landmines. Win win! ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2012, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-why-the-fuck-are-you-still-in-afghanistan/615108/50 "2012-03-11T19:33:09Z")
If we win, we’ll be able to [put our initials on the Big Board of History](http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/thu-september-17-2009/the-unwinnable-war-in-afghanistan). _“…it’s chief exports are heroin and vengeance.”_ ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2012, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-why-the-fuck-are-you-still-in-afghanistan/615108/51 "2012-03-11T19:37:54Z")
Oh shit, this doesn’t look good. [Rogue US soldier kills 16 Afghan civilians](http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-17330205) [Went house to house on rampage,](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2113410/US-soldier-shoots-dead-16-Afghan-civilians-house-house-shooting-spree-suffering-mental-breakdown.html) [poured chemicals, burned bodies, “laughing and appeared drunk”,](http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/03/11/us-afghanistan-civilians-idUSBRE82A02V20120311) [9 children, 3 women among dead.](http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/11/world/asia/afghanistan-us-service-member/index.html?hpt=hp_t1) He’s a staff-sergeant, gave himself up after the slaughter. I hope this scumbag realizes that any US soldiers that are killed because of this will be down to him. ---
**Author:** ![Cubsfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Cubsfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cubsfan)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2012, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-why-the-fuck-are-you-still-in-afghanistan/615108/52 "2012-03-11T20:19:10Z")
Jesus Christ. I think it’s very likely this guy is going to end up with the death penalty. What a major clusterfuck this is going to turn into. Though I don’t doubt the guy did this I’m pretty skeptical of any dramatic accounts provided by village elders and Afghan officials. I’ll believe there were drunken troops and bodies being burned when it’s confirmed by an outside source. ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2012, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-why-the-fuck-are-you-still-in-afghanistan/615108/53 "2012-03-11T22:37:32Z")
> [@Cubsfan](#): > > Jesus Christ. I think it’s very likely this guy is going to end up with the death penalty. What a major clusterfuck this is going to turn into. If he gets convicted, I hope he doesn’t get pardoned like McCally. Just a horrible story all around… ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2012, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-why-the-fuck-are-you-still-in-afghanistan/615108/54 "2012-03-11T22:51:54Z")
> [@Cubsfan](#): > > Jesus Christ. I think it’s very likely this guy is going to end up with the death penalty. Not a chance; he was killing Afghans, not [del]humans[/del]Americans. The impetus will be to sweep everything under the rug, pretend it didn’t happen, and blame any complaints and reprisals by the Afghans on their barbarous and ungrateful nature. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2012, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-why-the-fuck-are-you-still-in-afghanistan/615108/55 "2012-03-11T23:00:50Z")
The whitewash has already begun, and you can see it in the linked article. It’s a “deeply regrettable _incident_”, not a mass murder or even an alleged mass murder. And a commander says, “our thoughts and prayers are with those caught in this tragedy”. Was it a flash flood? ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2012, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-why-the-fuck-are-you-still-in-afghanistan/615108/56 "2012-03-11T23:59:40Z")
The guy snapped-probably saw too many buddies killed or had their legs blown off. We are asking our soldiers to do the impossible-keeping peace in a place that doesn’t want it. That said, hope this incident accelerates our departure. ---
**Author:** ![Condescending\_Robot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a183cd/32.png) [@Condescending\_Robot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Condescending_Robot)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2012, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-why-the-fuck-are-you-still-in-afghanistan/615108/57 "2012-03-12T00:23:06Z")
Obama did what you are supposed to do in our awful political culture when a soldier (a person who has chosen killing as a career) somehow demonstrates an enjoyment of killing: praise the military for being flawless. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2012, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-why-the-fuck-are-you-still-in-afghanistan/615108/58 "2012-03-12T01:12:49Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > If he gets convicted, I hope he doesn’t get pardoned like McCally. Are you referring to William Calley? ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2012, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-why-the-fuck-are-you-still-in-afghanistan/615108/59 "2012-03-12T01:26:23Z")
He should be given to the Afghan government for trial and punishment ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2012, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-why-the-fuck-are-you-still-in-afghanistan/615108/60 "2012-03-12T01:50:27Z")
> [@The\_Tooth](#): > > How will military occupation make them rich and modern? US contracts, jobs with the Americans, huge sums paid to opium farmers to drive up the international price, building programs, graft, bribery all the things that happened in 1960 Korea. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-why-the-fuck-are-you-still-in-afghanistan/615108.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-why-the-fuck-are-you-still-in-afghanistan/615108.md?page=4)