This guy nails it.
I believe there are ten basic arguments against the War in Afghanistan:
1. The U.S. has no strategic interest in Afghanistan. There is no oil. Afghanistan has no natural resources (beyond poppies and pomegranates).
2. Osama and Al Qaeda are no longer in Afghanistan. They long ago moved to Pakistan.
3. Bringing “democracy” to Afghanistan will never work. The country is tribal, with no history of democracy.
4. No country and no army from Alexander the Great on has ever succeeded in conquering and/or subduing Afghanistan.
5. The Taliban, though nasty, pose no threat to the United States.
6. Afghanistan is a sinkhole. Corruption is rampant. Most of our aid money disappears.
7. America begun the War in Afghanistan on October 7, 2001 in response to the 9/11 attacks on the U.S. The stated aim of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan was to find Osama bin Laden. Despite eight years, the U.S. has not found bin Laden. Presently, the U.S. has no clear objective in Afghanistan.
8. The War in Afghanistan is a waste of precious American lives and precious American dollars.
9. Despite our best efforts, our military activities kill innocent Afghanis regularly. This does not endear us.
10. America itself was founded by Americans who didn't like the British meddling. Why would the Afghanis feel different?
Afghanistan is an "industry" in Washington. If it were closed down and our troops withdrawn, hundreds of thousands of military, of consultants, of suppliers would find their jobs threatened, their incomes disappearing and their egos shattered. But this War must be ended as quickly as possible.
The major predicted "consequences" of ending the War are that the Taliban will take over and allow Al Qaeda to re-establish terrorist training camps -- which will be used to launch attacks on the west. The Taliban has been in control of vast areas of Northern Pakistan for years. And Al Qaeda is based up there, and presumably has re-established training camps there. Despite that, and because of superior homeland security and intelligent police and intelligence work, the U.S. has not sustained a terrorist event in over 8 years.
Further, I do not believe our pulling out of Afghanistan will prove as disastrous to the Afghans and to stability in the region as the self-interested Afghan-careerists are predicting.
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