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).
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
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!
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?
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.
How will military occupation make them rich and modern?
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.
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!
If we win, we’ll be able to put our initials on the Big Board of History.
“…it’s chief exports are heroin and vengeance.”
Oh shit, this doesn’t look good.
Rogue US soldier kills 16 Afghan civilians
Went house to house on rampage, poured chemicals, burned bodies, “laughing and appeared drunk”, 9 children, 3 women among dead.
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.
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.
If he gets convicted, I hope he doesn’t get pardoned like McCally.
Just a horrible story all around… 
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.
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?
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.
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.
Are you referring to William Calley?
He should be given to the Afghan government for trial and punishment
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.