He didn't want to go because there was no economic benefit for the US. He had to do his job by punishing people who attacked us and those who sheltered them. He should have stayed in Afghanistan until either Al-Quaeda was finished, and then left.
Appearing tough, warlike and vengeful is important when dealing with these savages. Any other policy makes you come off as a coward and a weakling. But Bush wound up looking that way anyway when he lost interest in Afghanistan and shifted his resources to Iraq, because it was a bigger strategic prize and a potential petroleum moneymaker.
Obama is getting us out, but he can't afford to rush it because then it will look like we are being run out, and that's bad for your street creds in that part of the world. He said 2014, and that's when we'll go. Sure, there will be an immediate collapse of the corrupt and inept Bush/Karzai puppet regime, but we can't be expected to stick around indefinitely propping up that thug.
The same thing happened in Iraq. Come to think of it, the same thing happened in Viet Nam.
Flame » in reply to Which is it? He didn't want to go, or it was his job and he did want to go?
No contradiction.
The whole thread (27 posts)
- Some interesting facts about the Soviet - Afghanistan war.
- Not even Bush wanted to go into Afghanistan.
- Well, most histories say he did. He did not want to be perceived as weak after 9-11.
- Not even Bush wanted to go into Afghanistan.