# I pit whoever convinced our president to prolong the war in Afghanistan **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 2, 2009, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-whoever-convinced-our-president-to-prolong-the-war-in-afghanistan/519711 "2009-12-02T16:04:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2009, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-whoever-convinced-our-president-to-prolong-the-war-in-afghanistan/519711/81 "2009-12-04T00:03:06Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > Al Queada is not in Afghanistan now. So how will attacking Afghanistan atone for 9-11? They ran to Pakistan. Do you want to chase them there next? We are now fighting in a mountainous land that can not be secured. They will just melt into caves and wait. We will waste lives and treasure, and accomplish nothing. It’s not about atoning for 9/11, it’s about an attempt to stabilize a dangerous region of the world. You have a very short-sighted view of foreign policy. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2009, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-whoever-convinced-our-president-to-prolong-the-war-in-afghanistan/519711/82 "2009-12-04T00:14:11Z")
> [@Kyla](#): > > I agree with your point in general, but this is inaccurate. The US has negotiated agreements with Uzbekistan and Tajikistan to use their land as access points to Afghanistan. You mean two landlocked countries that are blocked in by Iran, Russia, China and Pakistan? How would we get the gear to those countries? I actually don’t know much about how we get to those countries, but it doesn’t seem terribly logistically sound to try and fly all of our equipment from Georgia over Azerbaijan, the Black Sea, and Turkmenistan/Kazakhstan. Basically our main supply is brought in by sea to ports in Pakistan and overland through Pakistan into Afghanistan. I bet that more than likely the entry points in those countries are being supplied by going through or over Pakistan. Maybe we fly over Afghanistan to insert troops or gear from that direction for tactical reasons, but they aren’t a very sound logistical access point for the bulk of our military. [http://www.centralasiatravel.com/images/central\_asia\_big.jpg](http://www.centralasiatravel.com/images/central_asia_big.jpg) But still my point was about our long-standing relationship with Pakistan that precedes the invasion of Afghanistan by pretty much the entirety of my life. We’ve had close relations with the ISI for decades. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2009, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-whoever-convinced-our-president-to-prolong-the-war-in-afghanistan/519711/83 "2009-12-04T00:15:40Z")
> [@Squink](#): > > ??? Oh, I see, you’re debating with someone who isn’t actually present in this thread. Well, carry on. Have a few tokes for me, and keep fantasizing bout the grave threat raised by withdrawal before Karzai dies of old age. > I’ll just close with the wisdom of another proponent of perpetual war, [John McCain:](http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,578807,00.html) > Makes perfect sense, no? No, but that doesn’t invalidate any of the points that I’ve made. Hasty withdrawal is not in anyone’s best interests. It will result in our troops being shot in the back as they leave, and tons of ordnance and other military hardware being left behind as happened in Vietnam and Afghanistan to a lesser extent the last time around. How to withdraw, and how to win are two separate arguments. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2009, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-whoever-convinced-our-president-to-prolong-the-war-in-afghanistan/519711/84 "2009-12-04T00:52:37Z")
> [@mswas](#): > > You mean two landlocked countries that are blocked in by Iran, Russia, China and Pakistan? How would we get the gear to those countries? I actually don’t know much about how we get to those countries, but it doesn’t seem terribly logistically sound to try and fly all of our equipment from Georgia over Azerbaijan, the Black Sea, and Turkmenistan/Kazakhstan. I don’t know the exact route, but I do know that Tajikistan, at least, is part of NATO’s supply route that brings in material to soldiers in Afghanistan. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2009, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-whoever-convinced-our-president-to-prolong-the-war-in-afghanistan/519711/85 "2009-12-04T02:09:50Z")
> [@Kyla](#): > > I don’t know the exact route, but I do know that Tajikistan, at least, is part of NATO’s supply route that brings in material to soldiers in Afghanistan The [Tajikistan route was just for nonmilitary supplies](http://www.france24.com/en/20090206-dushanbe-allow-transport-nato-supplies-afghanistan-tajikistan), after we got kicked out of Kyrgyzstan. Now that the US isn’t actively trying to cram ‘missile defense’ down its old enemy’s throat, Russia has decided to allow flyovers to Afghanistan: [http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/04/world/europe/04russia.html](http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/04/world/europe/04russia.html) > **[Stratfor: The World's Leading Geopolitical Intelligence Platform](https://worldview.stratfor.com/)** These flights will include troops and military supplies. That should decrease but not eliminate our dependence on Pakistan. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2009, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-whoever-convinced-our-president-to-prolong-the-war-in-afghanistan/519711/86 "2009-12-04T15:26:02Z")
> [@Kyla](#): > > I don’t know the exact route, but I do know that Tajikistan, at least, is part of NATO’s supply route that brings in material to soldiers in Afghanistan. Right, but that doesn’t mean that NATO doesn’t stop first in Pakistan. Afghanistan is a poorly connected country, so they may very well ship to Pakistan first and then fly to Tajikistan to supply troops in the north, as it would be easier than going overland through Afghanistan. EDIT: oops I see that **Squink** answered it. I think that says it all really, we don’t want Russia to be our primary ally. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-whoever-convinced-our-president-to-prolong-the-war-in-afghanistan/519711.md?page=4)