[Old Teufel Hunden]

"If the act of one lone firestarter can jeopardize the safety of all of our troops in Afghanistan, then what is the purpose of our remaining in that hell hole?"

I suppose that is a separate question that has to be answered. I think the real question is, are these backward thinking people able to be self governed and enjoy freedom and liberty? It's just a plain fact that some civilizations are not yet evolved enough to understand freedom. I do have my doubts. However, we still need to be there because as far as we know, the leaders of Al Quada are still alive and need to be wiped out or they will be a constant threat to our security. If somewhere along the way, these backward people arrive at some form of modern government, that would be icing on the cake.

If not, leave a strongman in charge who will be friendly to the U.S. One we can influence to enact reforms to slowly bring these people into modernity. Leftist may not like to hear that, but sometimes reality gets in the way of utopia. We can't all be sitting around singing "I like to teach the world to sing in perfect harmony" while drinking our cokes...

[P-Marlowe]

However, we still need to be there because as far as we know, the leaders of Al Quada are still alive and need to be wiped out or they will be a constant threat to our security.

They are everywhere. They are in Libya and we are giving them air cover. They are in Egypt and they are preparing to go to war with Israel. They are in Pakistan. They are in Iran. They are in Bahrain. They are everywhere. Should we send our troops everywhere?

We have no legitimate mission in Afghanistan. I don't support the mission because there is no mission. We are merely treading water and enabling the Afghanistan government to grow more and more militantly Islamic.