Afghanistan, Why??

In the news today, thirty U.S. servicemen died when their helicopter was shot down in Afghanistan. Let me get this out to start, there isn't anything in Afghanistan worth thirty American lives.

Why are we wasting lives and money in Afghanistan?  Has anyone heard the old saying that "Those who do not learn from history are condemned to repeat it" ? The Russians, a group of folks famous for brutality, could not win a war in Afghanistan. The Russians were also there for about ten years. What chance do we have? Even if we win what do we accomplish?

Are we there to protect the opium trade? Opium production has been on the rise since the United States invaded Afghanistan in 2001. Incredibly enough, the Taliban had an anti-opium program.  Approximately 90% of the world's opium originates in Afghanistan. Afghanistan is also the world's largest producer of hashish. So are we there to make the world safe for poppy farmers? Let me see if I understand this. We are spending billions building prisons to house drug users here at home, while in Afghanistan we are spending billions so drug producers can live freely. Are you ##**##@@ me? What sense does this make? We can't afford either choice.

In case you haven't noticed, we are in a financial bind. It makes absolutely no sense to waste another dime in that region of the world. Don't waste your time telling me about that "nation building" crap. Here's a simple fact. Not every country is ready for democracy. That's right, it doesn't work for everyone! Let's not spend another penny forcing democracy on a society too corrupt to understand or appreciate it.

I have an employee from Afghanistan who works part time. While Americans are dying in Afghanistan to "help" his country, he is here receiving food stamps and other government benefits. Why do we allow this? Isn't this just a little stupid?

What will happen in the area if we leave? Who gives a rat's behind? I won't even pretend to care about Pakistan. We gave them billions of dollars in aid and then found that they were sheltering Osama bin Laden. As far as I'm concerned, we should have ended any aid at that time. This area isn't like Europe after World War 2. We don't understand their culture and they don't understand ours. If I were in charge of this ball game, I would pack my ball, bat and glove and go home.

This area has a long history of instability. Are we so vain that we believe that we can change this? Go back to my second  paragraph, "Those who do not learn from history are condemned to repeat it."

It's time to cut our losses and bring our troops and our money home. Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan, it's time to learn from our mistakes.