🚀 go-pugleaf

In pdx.general Baxter <baxter.spamblock@baxcode.com> wrote:
: "Andrew" <SEE_BELOW_TO_REPLY@bizaveNOSPAM.com> wrote in message
: news:cddzcasduac66084644041805@bizaveNOSPAM.com...
:> In pdx.general Name withheld by request <anon5c6c@nyx10.nyx.net> wrote:
:>
:> :    I believe that the military actions taken against the Taliban and Al
:> :    Qaeda resulted in unnecessary civilian death and destruction. The
:> :    stated mission to get bin Laden was not accomplished.
:>
:> Getting bin Laden was *not* the "stated mission" - the mission was to
:> eliminate the Al Qaeda threat, as the Taliban were actively supporting
:> them.

: It wasn't?  Didn't Bush say something about getting bin Laden 'dead or
: alive'?

No, it wasn't.  Go back and re-read the official statements made at
the time, not rhetoric made by Bush for a TV news soundbite.

Obviously Bin Laden, as the so-called "mastermind" of the attacks
(whether this is true or not is still debatable) was a big target of
the Americans moving into Afghanistan, but he was not himself *the*
reason for going there.  That is - if the US had "gotten" Bin Laden on
the 2nd day of the war, we wouldn't have packed up and gone home -
we'd still be there doing about the same thing, trying to root out the
rest of Al Qaeda.  Bin Laden didn't fly the airplanes into those
buildings; a whole lot of people who hate America were involved, and
Bin Laden is far from the only leader involved.  It's foolish to think
we are after only one guy over there. 

:>Getting rid of the Taliban, a horrible regime worthy of
:> overthrow even without their support of Al Qaeda, was a big
:> improvement in that region.

: Taliban is gone - I don't see much improvement.

No?  The fact that, for starters, women can now walk around
without their entire faces covered and can attend schools again isn't
an improvement?  You must have different standards than I do for
judging these things.

More importantly, if the Taliban was still in charge of Afghanistan,
Al Qaeda would still have a safe haven from which to plan/launch more
attacks.  Getting them out of there doesn't get rid of them, but at
least it disrupts them and puts them on the run.  Even if we don't get
all of the masterminds, keeping them too busy watching their own backs
to focus on the next attacks is some kind of a victory against them.

Andrew
--
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