It took 6 years to defeat Nazi Germany, after 7 years how come we're getting nowhere with Afghanistan?

Question

Isn't it about time our national leaders acted in a way the people approve of - bring our soldiers back home?

Answer 1

The public at large actually believes the invasion of Iraq is going badly as sectarian violence doesn't seem to stop. What the public fails to see is that the destabilization of Iraq is exactly what the people behind the government want. This war is to be sustained so the region can be divided up, domination of the oil maintained, continual profits reaped for the defence contractors and most importantly, permanent military bases established to be used as a launching pad against other oil-bearing nonconforming countries such as Iran and Syria.

Answer 2

Unless Im mistaken, and I really dont think I am, we havent really been in Afghanistan since the war started. We have a presence there, but we arent as active there as we have been in Iraq. I believe Obama is changing that now though.



At least thats the impression Im under. When I served, I was in Iraq, not Afghanistan. But I was also chAir Force, so that could have been a reason. I was in from 01-05, and a lot could have changed since then.



Youre right, Afghanistan has never successfully been occupied. The only plausible way to do so would be to send such a large amount of troops to actually occupy the country. To do that, wed need to activate every reserve personnel we have, withdraw all of our troops from other fronts, and leave no personnel, or very very little, at our US bases. Thats completely unlikely. We have the manpower, but the inability to effectively use it.



Carpet bombing or dropping a couple of A-Bombs would be the only way to do so, and thats too much collateral damage. Plus Im pretty sure the whole world would hate us, and wed lose all of our allies. It was different during WWII when there was a very real very active threat to the entire world. That threat just isnt really there. Terrorism sucks sure, but they arent trying to take over the world. They just want us out of their backyard.

Answer 3

Every conflict has its unique factors



The reason WWII occurred at all is that tensions remained unresolved following WWI.



Often the flashpoint that brings about a war is very different from the tensions prior to that point.



With Afghanistan there are many considerations. The slump in the economies of teh major powers, the political will of the nations involved, the number of foreign insurgents and another factor is the terrain.



To leave without consolidating a future could well mean that the lives of all those good folk [miltary & civilian] who tried to help, were lost in vain.



OR



To continue only to abandon it later would mean even more lives lost for nothing.

Answer 4

If you are comparing WWII with The Long War, you need to get to work studying. The differences are vast. WWII was the pinnacle of Third Generation Warfare, where the enemy has an army, a capitol, territory, etc...and to beat them, you blow up their troops and march down their capitol city.



This is not the case in the long war. It is far more complex. The 'enemy' doesn't have capitol, territory, uniforms...hell, they don't even have an army, really. They blend in with the civilian population as much as they can. They melt away when they see us coming, and wait until they find a weakness to attack it.



Most civilians aren't going to understand even this basic explanation, much like a family won't approve when a cardiac surgeon cracks open a patient's ribcage.



But both the surgeon and strategy professionals should ignore the opinion of amateurs, and do what is best for their job. This why President Obama is ignoring opinions like "'retreat from Afghanistan." He knows better, and is a good enough leader to make an unpopular decision.



I know you won't agree with me, but I hope you can at least understand that we aren't making these decisions from ignorance. We dedicate our lives to the study of international relations and national security...and as such, our conclusions should be respected.

Answer 5

First off, Nazi Germany existed many more than six years. Americans knew about but choose to do nothing about, We also had many death and problems working our way through Europe. In 1942, we had clear area shots of the concentration camp but weren't quite sure how to approach them. As far as Afghanistan we are having difficulties as this is not the type of war that we have fought before. The terrain is very rocky and hilly. The are millions of caves The basins are filled with small villages and are filled with foliage. It take the troops loaded with equipment about eight hours to climb on hill. The people know how to survive in this environment. They have lived in the caves for years. The troops are working with small groups and do not have the support of the Afghanistan people.

Answer 6

In asymmetric warfare the conventional army loses if it does not achieve victory while the guerrilla wins if he is not destroyed.

----Henry Kissinger (rough paraphrase)



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The last evidence indicates that the majority of Americans favor continuation of the war in Afghanistan while demanding a quick end to the war in Iraq. Remember the Taliban supported the Quaida before and after the 9-11 attacks.

British results are likely to be different.

Answer 7

This is probably the best question I've ever seen on here.



Just goes to show, that you can have the best tanks, laser guided bombs and helicopters in the world and still not beat a bunch of fanatic guerrilla peasants.



I wonder if the new £2 billion Astute nuclear submarines are going to be of any use?

Answer 8

The Germans wore uniforms and didn't hide among civilians. We also accepted a higher rate of casualties to achieve goals. We won't win unless we win over the locals and start putting aside rules of fair behaviour and start annihilating anything Taliban - no prisoners, no questions.

Answer 9

The Britt's and Americans need to make the Afghans more scared of us than they are of the Taliban. That's the only way !

Answer 10

with Germany we were fighting a nation and were an occupying force. With Afghanistan, we are fighting an extreme faction withing a country. A faction that is more powerful than the local govt.

Answer 11

WW II was an 'all out' war. The current war is a very limited war.



President dimwit needs to listen to the commanders on the ground.

Answer 12

It's like Vietnam in the 60's/70's.The Vietcong were part of the people,the Taliban are connected to their people.

Answer 13

World capitalism has entered in this new explosive stage of crisis having already behind it a decade of imperialist wars that devasted the Balkans, the Middle East and Central Asia without making possible to imperialism to achieve its goals.



The imperialist war drive, an expression itself of the unresolved and sharpening contradictions of the system in the post-Cold War period, produced new impasses. The "war on terror" terrorist Crusade launched by the Bush Administration led to the swamp in Iraq and to a dead end in Afghanistan that destabilized completely Pakistan and the entire Indian sub-continent. The US war strategy under the Obama Administration shifts its focus to Central Asia not solely by a surge of US and NATO troops but also by building new diplomatic bridges and uplifting a strong network of alliances, which encompasses Turkey, Russia, and Iran.



The position of US imperialism is undermined both by the world capitalist crisis, whose center is located precisely in the US, as well as by the military reverses in Iraq and Afghanistan. Imperialist antagonisms and rivalries are intensifying.



We are very happy, we love all this mess in the World!

Answer 14

because in ww2 we had Monty in charge and paton was only secondary



not only that the British had to run their own War crimes because the Usa Lost Interest after allowing and paying for the Top NAZI leaders to Escape to south america as payment for Fighting the Bolsheviks



the USA will never win in Afghanistan and Iraq as long as they are in charge we could win if the British took over as it is Hearts and Minds

Answer 15

The Crusades took 400 or so years, we're just getting started in this war.

Answer 16

well they knew exactly who they were looking for and Germany didn't use gorilla tactics. They were fighting a country which is much easier to spot than terrorists

Answer 17

Erm, this is WW2, the Brits are Italy, America are Germany and it's going to end with nukes. Are we hastening the end or delaying it, a very good question but in our view we have to bring the political wing of al qaeda to the negotiation table via the tool of military oppression.

Answer 18

We cannot beat them because they are cheating

We go in with missiles ,tanks jet aircraft & helicopters, but they use home made bombs hidden by the side of the road

Answer 19

because its an unconvential war, its like vietnam we lostin there because we're fighting an enemy that wont meet us out in the field, they would rather hit us, then hide in the caves

Answer 20

The World of politics and political correctness is the problem EVERYONE is worried about what others will think if we go in full bore.

Answer 21

I agree,,a few more years out there and it`ll be longer then Vietnam,

Answer 22

Look in the real world.

Decode this lyrics " You'll see "

"Mission Impossible"

"The Longest Day"

"Long road out to Eden"

"It's my party"

"Baby love"

"Good Golly Miss Molly"

"We only just begun"

"Let's twist again"

"One more try"

"Satisfaction"

"Wooly bully"

Luke 21.30-36

Luke 9.25,55-56,60

Luke 2.32

Matt 5.9,14

Matt 1.17

Luke 24.44-45,47-48

Luke 21.22-24

Revelation 22.13-17

What do you think?

Answer 23

the q i have to ask you is are you in the military and are you on the line with the other troops? if not, or even if so, then hit me up on yahoo im and i can tell you all about why we are still here.

Answer 24

German citizens did not blow themselves up after the war officially ended.