http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspxBy Jim Maceda, NBC News Correspondent     No matter how many times I’ve visited the country, or been embedded with US forces, or covered the lives of ordinary Afghans caught up in the almost 6-year-old war, I still cringe when asked – anden-USCommunityServer 2.0 (Build: 60608.1)http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#197969Mon, 21 May 2007 02:18:39 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:197969Average JoeI like this article because it's not yea-rah, mission accomplished, B.S. fluff; it's balanced and honest. One of the points is: "success" is not black and white and that comes across well. As an "average joe" American, whenever I read/hear updates about Afghanistan, I can't help but wonder if (1) our CIA controls the opium drug trade like it did/does(?) for the cocaine from columbia; and (2) if it's not obvious that we're doing good, shouldn't we get out? And NATO too? Good article, Jimmy.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#197970Mon, 21 May 2007 02:20:47 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:197970KatiThe quote by Dr. Wadi Safi, i.e., "This government and all of those in it are thinking only of themselves" seems to equally apply to OUR U.S. government, doesn't it? 80% of "the people" against the war in Iraq, and yet we're still there? Thank you very much Military-Industrial-Complex thugs.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#197971Mon, 21 May 2007 02:22:59 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:197971Allistar Brown, U.K., visiting U.S.it breaks my heart when i read that the "humanitarian" assistance only goes to the former warlords and the government officials. it should be used to get the peasant goat herders satellite internet, which in this day in age, equates to education. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#197972Mon, 21 May 2007 02:24:43 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:197972homiethis country can't even protect our own borders or figure out a way to educate the inner-city blacks in new orleans. i say we get the heck outta there till we can take care of our own. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#197975Mon, 21 May 2007 02:43:50 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:197975Lisa McNeil,Alpharetta,GeorgiaDear Mr.Maceda, I honestly would not know how to answer how it was going in Afghanistan because it all seems full of violence and innocent people being the victims. In the posting it states that Kabul is booming in business with hotels,shopping,trade centers and expensive cars. Yet in some parts of Kabul a reporter would need the same protection to walk the streets as when in Baghdad because it is too unsafe. That seems just incredible that a city can project entirely different images in just one region. I'm sure it must be hard for the people to trust their own government and that makes it more difficult for our troops to work with the people of the region. There is never going to be a way to win or lose this battle. If the troops bring peace to one area then the Taliban and al-Qaida cause death and destruction on another. Maybe if peace is accomplished in a particular part of the region and these groups don't destroy it, then progress is being made. I suppose that in Afghanistan there are good days and bad days. Hopfully someday the good days will outweigh the bad. There might never really be a clear winner of this conflict with regards to any army of men. But I think the only true winning philosophy will be peace. Please stay safe all who report from the Middle East. Peace to all!! http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#197979Mon, 21 May 2007 02:49:17 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:197979Michael McKinleyWhen invaders still bomb a country 9000 miles away after nearly 6 years, it is clear this is a western colonial bombing war on a dirt-poor Muslim country in a resource-rich area of the world. The Afghan resistance, always demonized with the term 'Taliban', will increase as they have hated and fought foreign invaders for thousands of years. The people's hearts and minds, and time and resources are not on the side of the invaders. As the Russians, they will bleed and bleed and bleed. And in the end they cannot sustain it, they cannot sustain a 'trickle' at a time, a few deaths each day, a few million dollars a day, for too many years to come. The illegal attack and occupation of the country and the continued bombing war on Afghans is all wrong, as the invasion by the Russians was wrong. This asymmetric bombing warfare is all wrong and in the end it will produce many more trained resistance fighters as well as suicide bombers. A failed policy, a failed war, and justifyably so - to stop those western invaders of trying it again on some other dirt-poor defenseless country ten thousand miles away from our shores.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#197980Mon, 21 May 2007 02:52:28 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:197980Thomas GalvinMr. Maceda: You say that Afghan civilians are mad about the U.S. presence and are angry at Hamid Karzai and their government. But, if they are mad at the US military for fighting the Taliban are they also mad at the Taliban for putting civilians in harm's way? If they are mad at the government for being too pro-USA don't they recall that USA is the reason why there's a democratic government at all? I wish you could provide some ideas, suggestions and solutions. What should happen? Should we stay indefinitely? Should we leave?http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#197994Mon, 21 May 2007 03:34:42 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:197994Luis VillaThey don't value human life anyways. Killing, for them is just a past time or a way to go to the paradise that they have been promised. Pity.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#197995Mon, 21 May 2007 03:36:14 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:197995Michael McGee Normal, ILThey don't trust their corrupt government? Who'd a thought it was true? They are modeled after our government and we don't even trust our politicians.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#197999Mon, 21 May 2007 03:53:35 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:197999Ric Stoliker Bridgeport CTLET'S SEE the British lost twice in Afghanistan..the USSR also and with more than twice as many troops as NATO and the US...also I believe the pro Soviet Afghan army was much larger than the pro-western (??) one there today..currently at best its a stalemate but does the WEST have the political will to stay and fight????...based on post WWII history I would say nohttp://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198014Mon, 21 May 2007 04:24:41 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198014John Hirte, Kabul, AfghanistanJim, Afghanistan has suffered war since 1979. To say the current conflict is only 6 years old is an understatement. The best way I can understand it is to immagine the effects of hurricane Katrina on this country for 28 years. WW II did not last that long and the US is STILL in Japan and Germany. Who honestly thought we could come here and make everything perfect in just 5 years? CPT Hirte USA, INhttp://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198016Mon, 21 May 2007 04:31:10 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198016Name Withheld By RequestI currently live in Kabul as an INGO worker and this is one of the most reasonable, clearly written opinion pieces I read in the three years I've been here. No hyperbole or left-wing/right-wing rhetoric. The point is: the vast majority of Afghan people are glad we are here and are grateful. But moving a country from a non-literate, agrarian-based, middle-age society to a post-modern, information age society without the benefits of moving through culture events like an industrial revolution or a Renaissance period is going to take a Herculean effort. To simply drop “democracy” out of a plane and then flying away is in the least naïve if not at worst a disaster waiting to happen. This will be a twenty year process…minimum.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198029Mon, 21 May 2007 05:04:31 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198029Baheam, Fremon, Ca"We are winning some hearts, but losing other minds." let me define "some" and "other". you are winning the heart of warlord, druglords and CIA's Afgan couterparts. and you are losing the mind of Afghan nation. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198030Mon, 21 May 2007 05:04:47 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198030Nitin, Ecublens, SwitzerlandJim Maceda's thoughtful piece does much to present a balanced picture of the situation. Yet, it is true that this situation cannot continue forever. There has to be an 'exit strategy' for Afghanistan. A date should be set - even one two years from now - and all forces should leave whatever the situation. The British did it in India and despite a bloodbath, the country survived.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198032Mon, 21 May 2007 05:13:53 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198032ShayeqThanks Jim, this is a good new report. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198047Mon, 21 May 2007 06:49:03 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198047Denys Van Renen, Berson, FranceIt is common knowledge that the cost of the invasions and occupations in both Iraq and Afghanistan is in the $100's of billions of dollars. The clear winners are the arms and logistic suppliers who are on the receiving end of the tax payers’ largesse. Obviously this business far outweighs the profits to be gained from oil exploitation, however, this constituency must also benefit.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198060Mon, 21 May 2007 07:43:23 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198060Shane Corcoran, Waipahu, HISir, You say that "U.S. forces...that operate in the Eastern part of the country...are winning the war there. What WAS the Taliban’s backyard is now theirs." How is it going in Khowst, specifically? I spent some time at FOB Salerno, and the only news I get is when something bad happens. The Afghans I worked with were very positive and forward-looking, but that was 2004-5, so I'm wondering how they are doing now.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198064Mon, 21 May 2007 08:08:35 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198064James Goldsmithlet me get this straight. now the media is saying that we are losing the battle in Afghanistan too? what's next, are you going to say that we should admit that we nade a terrible mistake going there in the first place? Please stop. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198089Mon, 21 May 2007 09:05:27 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198089DyinglikefliesThe shortcoming of American foreign policy has always been its inclination to seek a simplistic view, with a defined beginning, middle and end. While it is possible that the Islamofascist movement in the region, whose tentacles spread to us on 9/11, will burn itself out someday, that may take generations. We have to face the hard reality that we will lose a thousand soldiers a year, or more, as well as many billions in our treasure, to keep the lid on this movement. And we will have to fight these guys, much more intelligently than we have, for decades. Or we'll lose. There are no magic bullets- we found that out by invading Iraq.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198090Mon, 21 May 2007 09:06:41 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198090Phil MurrayWar is tough. Occupation is tough. It may not have worked in Iraq but it worked in Germany, Italy, Japan, Bosnia and Kosovo. It may eventually work in Afghanistan too-- but not if our media locks in on the negative and methodically tears apart every success. The 1960's generation was good at highlighting the flaws of the WW II generation-- but the 60s generation has flaws too-- one is the inability to support ANY WAR, ANY WERE, for ANY REASON. That is a serious flaw because some wars are neccessary. Worse, still, the 60s generation (who are now management in 4 out of 5 major televised media outlets) are expert at tearing down United States military actions-- magnifying the failures that are the part of any war effort-- until that effort disintigrates. The truth is the 60s generation, which brought many good things-- gay rights, environmentalism, womensrights ect-- also wants us to fail in amy military effort-- because many from that generation find these failures to be self validating. Sadly, we have to succeed in Afghanistan-- not only do 25 million Afghans need it-- but 300 million Americans do too. The 60's generation was a great generation-- but it will also be great when most of them retire. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198095Mon, 21 May 2007 09:29:27 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198095Royce.Your opinions are not completely right.Because it is just on your side,as an American citizen.It would better if your put you on the part of an Afghan citizen.Right?http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198097Mon, 21 May 2007 09:53:38 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198097Muhammad, Dubai, you are right its 50-50 bet, but what is the status of common people of Afghanistan? sure they will never win. you cant find the solution of Afghanistan in building 5 star hotels in Kabul. a strong kabul is not of the use of poor people living far from kabul who have nothing to eat. Local Government, the Govt. of the pople. let the Democracy come. hold fair elections in each area whoever win even a talban commander give him rule of that area and provide him funds for development. pull all your forces from his area. Dont interfare as he is elected by the local people. let him do until next elections. Give the common people what they want. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198106Mon, 21 May 2007 10:47:26 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198106Jamie Norwich OntarioThats an easy one. Nobody is "winning".http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198107Mon, 21 May 2007 10:50:50 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198107Bill May, Palm Coast, FLThe only reason that the majority of the American population is against the war is that they have been given incorrect, biased and very incomplete information concerning it from the news media. They do not understand the determination of the terrorists to kill all of us. We either fight and kill them over there, or they kill our people here. Anyone who doesn't understand that is naive, uninformed and will see that the cost will be too much to bear. 9/11 will repeat itself over and over and the press will continue to encourage Americans to forget and turn the other cheek. Thank God there are plenty of Americans who see this and are willing to protect those who live in a fantasy world. Thanks for you excellent, unbiased article. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198108Mon, 21 May 2007 10:53:31 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198108Ramona Metzger, Centreville MIThe wars in the middle east have been going on over religion for numerous years, prior to Bushs' invasion, and they will continue to go on wether our troops are there or not. We need to get out and let them try to live with each other. We have enough of our own problems that the troops can help out with here. Border patrol, help in New Orleans, and the hurricane season is just beginning. Only God knows what other disasters will happen this year. I support the troops, I myself was in the Air Force, I just don't support Bush..http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198111Mon, 21 May 2007 10:58:27 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198111Chuck, Chicago6 years, thousands of lives, and billions of dollars later the only thing we can say about Afghanistan is: "Well it could go this way, it could go that way." The poor are still poor and they still eat grass to survive. Other than rugs and poppies, the Afghanis don't produce anything people want. The country is a dump. Where there are dumps there are rats. All we've succeeded in doing is force the rats to hide. The only guarantee for Afghanistan's future is that once we leave (and we will), the rats will return. Business 101 - if there's no foreseeable ROI, cut your losses and move on. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198113Mon, 21 May 2007 11:00:55 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198113Afghan GuyDear All, I have been living in Afghanistan for the past 6 years. As an Afghan-American I fully support the US government for comming to Afghanistan's aid. But there seems to be several problems with the way we are operating. 1) If you are going to be the savior then you need to act like it, by helping the people of that country when you know that countries government s corrupted. Lets face it mostly all 3rd world courntries are full of corrupted government officials, and we can start from the top of the list like President Karzai's brother who everyone is claiming that he is the biggest drug dealer in all of Afghanistan whose car was full of drugs when it was stopped. The former Minister of Forign Affairs, this guy had no qualifications to be in that seat, but he was friends with Karzai and got the job. The Distric of Attorney in Afghanistan, should I even mention him, he has thrown thousands of people inside Afghan jails for no apparent reason. We vistited some of the jails and were shocked to find out the percentage of people being found not guilty when send to court (after they were in jail for many months). And we are claiming that we have brought Democracy! Last time I checked you were suppose to be innocent till proven gulity and not the other way around. Next on the list is the Minister of Communication, this guy is getting bribes left and right and has given a contract to his In-Law's family. Last thing regarding these corrupted government officials is that Most Of Them Can Not Even Read! They have their aid write a command for whatever problem you have and since they can not read they will just sign it. So its pretty much save to say that we are losing the battle in Afghanistan, when we still have warlords as Ministers or other types of government officials and are using their powers to fill up their own pockets. Now the people are mad at the US government because they are the ones incharge of Karzai and they are the ones that can control Karzai. Since they are not doing anything, well then people are blaming the US and Karzai for the problems in Afghanistan. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198117Mon, 21 May 2007 11:07:56 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198117Joe Bainbridge Plymouth Meeting PaI just read not only your blog but most of the responses. If it is a 50, 50 situation then I have got to believe that is better than what it was before. I am not saying we have won, but I must feel that we are winning. One of the responses states that "they don't value human life" where is the value for human life in America? I live in Philadelphia were there have been over 150 peopled murdered, is that value of human life. We are only one city there are murders all day long in our great Country.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198118Mon, 21 May 2007 11:08:28 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198118Rich, Pasadena MDOH Goody, Now that the press has decided to make sure we are well on our way to losing in IRAQ we going to try to see if we can screw up the home front in Afghanistan too.... Hell next lets go back and re-examine WWII so we can figure out how we lost that war too. Back then the press realized they had a part in trying to win the war... I wish now adays you'd all just settle for doing nothing rather than trying to make us lose!!!!http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198120Mon, 21 May 2007 11:17:19 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198120JGBell, Mesa, AzIt's NOT who is wining in Afghanistan... but what? "It's The Poppy, stupid." Although, for a nice little drug war... one could look a little more closely to home. Say, 20 miles South of the Az border. The problem with Korea, Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan is that "They" couldn't WALK here. The Mexican drug lords can, and have. Now, with NAFTA they will be able to drive their trucks, quite freely, right up to the front door of your childrens schools. Have a nice day.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198121Mon, 21 May 2007 11:18:42 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198121Stanley T. Johnsonpeople ask us to come help till we get there....let's let them solve their own problems.The money we have spent could have took care of our problems here in the ole U.S.A. Our elderly prescriptions that they can't afford to buy, our borders, more law officers, and mainly to get rid of the pick pockets in Washington in both parties and houses. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198123Mon, 21 May 2007 11:32:05 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198123LTC Bruce Poehler, USA(Ret), Kenansville, NCI appreciate a well thought out report of what is going on in Afghanistan and Iraq. Being a Vietnam War veteran I understand how lack of support on the homefront can nulify the best efforts of dedicated soldiers and civilian nation builders. We need to continue our mission to rebuild Afghanistan while at the same time helping the Afghan Army in its battles against the Taliban and other anti-government insurgents.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198125Mon, 21 May 2007 11:36:15 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198125P.Haag , Rochester ,New YorkThere is no doubt that these areas(Afghanistan/Iraq) of unrest are slowly deterioriating under their present conditions but isn't it possible that the stories and wording used every day to describe their daily conditions are a bit propagandanistic? Our press covering the stories calls the "situations"->The War in...yet there are few exchanges of artillery,fewer air strikes and the "Scorched Earth tactics" used so many times before in theatres of battle are next to zero now.There are no defined lines of engagement,the enemy uses terrorism instead of military tactics to wage it's "war machine" and our press is so biased in it's story telling these days that it's almost like the news coming from inside of Russia prior to the end of the cold war.The present situations could hardly be called wars.The very definition of war has not been seen in both areas in over 4 years.I have friends in the special forces both in Iraq and Afghanistan and the stories they are telling me I've rarely heard on the nightly news or read in the major papers. Why won't our press give us a unbiased measure of what is actually happening,drop the opinion telling and finally tell it like it is?Is telling half truths and biased story telling really covered by the protections in our Constitution for freedom of the press...I think not!!http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198126Mon, 21 May 2007 11:43:55 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198126thomas san diegowhat really bothers me about this whole war thing in afghafnistan, is the fact that how a nation as strong as we are, how we have forgoten. The Russians couldn't do it with all their weapontry. it's HOLY.. what we are diong is loseing American lives. it's not our war. bring our men and women home now. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198130Mon, 21 May 2007 11:53:46 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198130martyThe US knew very well it was getting into because the US was supporting Bin Laden and the Mohjardin to fight the Russians in Afghan. What goes around comes around but the military industrial complex is just fine what all the military action going on all over the middle east, The US economy needs military conflicts to keep the its economy afloat..http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198133Mon, 21 May 2007 11:56:49 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198133Bill, Clarksville, TNIt is a shame that MSNBC spent all that money and time for you to come up with an article that could have been written from New York. We're not winning, but we're not losing. It's both good and bad. People's lives have improved and not improved. Come on. Put some additional perspective into your writing. How is Afghanistan now compared with Afghanistan seven, 17, or 27 years ago? That would take some investigation and real journalism, and more than just a week out in the countryside away from that 5-star hotel in Kabul if indeed you actually spent any significant time away from Kabul. Is that too much to expect from MSNBC? Other comments gush over how this isn't a puff piece. How wrong they are.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198134Mon, 21 May 2007 11:56:50 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198134gregone nuke would end the problems we face there iraq and iran next we got the fire power lets use it http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198137Mon, 21 May 2007 12:07:00 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198137Don Fair, Cumming GeorgiaNice job reporting. To the person that thinks this is a resource rich area, you are wrong, they are poor and do not have much going for them, thats why the drug trade is so hard to get rid of. I will pray for them.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198140Mon, 21 May 2007 12:10:42 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198140john young, Manila, Philippines.U.S. will win..they are fighting a medieval army..but 9/11 evidence points to white house as mastermind, so this war inAfghanistan is an illegal war!http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198142Mon, 21 May 2007 12:12:13 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198142jeff eagan mnIt's time to come home we can't win over their. It's like v.n all over again http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198146Mon, 21 May 2007 12:18:48 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198146Ali, Manama BahrainNo body said war is easy... It costs money, lives and pain. This goes for everyone in Afghanistan and Iraq. US wants to put democracy in the streets of Bagdad and Kabul but can not seem to get the samething in the streets of New york and New orleans. Why should Afghans trust US to bring peace to them. Were they able to bring peace in Vietnam and Iraq? No Body wants the US money more than the war lords who have to sustain the armies that will be used as soon as US goes out of Afghanistan.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198147Mon, 21 May 2007 12:18:57 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198147Jamey Murphy, TennesseeThe Taliban used Afghanistan as a base in which to harbor, train and export terrorism. They destroyed the fledgling government that had struggled since the Soviet Union withdrew. The people suffered under a brutal, unmoving, tyrannical governement under the Taliban. Nations are not made in days, weeks, months, or in a few years. You of the "fast-food" mentality, who want it fresh, hot, and now are deluded. Spend a year in a country like Iraq, as I have and tell me that the Americans there are evil. I saw no evil and those who did commit acts contrary to American efforts were punished. The efforts are genuine in their determination to make the region a better place than the despots who ruled them left them. What is the status of Afghanistan? It exists, with the hope of a better future, what more can any country truely have?http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198150Mon, 21 May 2007 12:20:48 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198150Pedro A Peralta, Miami -FloridaWe went there to get Osama; so far nothing, furthermore the better part of the American Army was sent to Iraq instead. Somebody in power should have said: "let's get this son of a bitch and then let's get the fuck out of there." But no, this is now a fine mess we got into.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198152Mon, 21 May 2007 12:23:11 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198152Proud JoePeople, get a grip. This is the report of a reporter that really knows no more than you and I. Unbiased? I think not. Credible? Doubtful. Don't take my work. Actually talk to the men and women there and you see an entirely different picture. Are there issues remaining? Absolutely? Have we made mistakes along the way? Sure... what ware haven't there been mistakes made? Should we be in both Afghanistan and Iraq and continue working toward defeating terrorists. ABSOLUTELY? This isn't easy. It isn't going to get over quickly. And we spoiled people need to back off and let the military do its job. As the proud parent of a marine who very much believes in this mission, I despise the way the media depicts what's going on. Think about it... how many "positive" stories have you really read? You'd think by the news all was lost... and then you have idiots like Sen. Harry Reid saying we've lost. You owe it to yourself, and to the men and women of the armed services to get the real storie.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198154Mon, 21 May 2007 12:25:14 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198154Proud JoePeople, get a grip. This is the report of a reporter that really knows no more than you and I. Unbiased? I think not. Credible? Doubtful. Don't take my work. Actually talk to the men and women there and you see an entirely different picture. Are there issues remaining? Absolutely? Have we made mistakes along the way? Sure... what ware haven't there been mistakes made? Should we be in both Afghanistan and Iraq and continue working toward defeating terrorists. ABSOLUTELY? This isn't easy. It isn't going to get over quickly. And we spoiled people need to back off and let the military do its job. As the proud parent of a marine who very much believes in this mission, I despise the way the media depicts what's going on. Think about it... how many "positive" stories have you really read? You'd think by the news all was lost... and then you have idiots like Sen. Harry Reid saying we've lost. You owe it to yourself, and to the men and women of the armed services to get the real storie.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198157Mon, 21 May 2007 12:26:40 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198157C Hargreaves"...their suicide bombers keep on coming – and exploding – from inside the Pakistan border, where they are trained and equipped..." Can nobody understand the depth of feeling from Pakistan after 'Union Carbide' killed and maimed thousands of Pakistanis in the Bhopal explosion? The Americans offered a mere $10 in compensation to some families. Americans treated the locals like they are rats, and not one American was brought to book for negligence. The USA reaps what it has sown? http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198159Mon, 21 May 2007 12:29:38 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198159Pedro A Peralta, Miami -FloridaWe went there to get Osama; so far nothing, furthermore the better part of the American Army was sent to Iraq instead. Somebody in power should have said: "let's get this son of a bitch and then let's get the fuck out of there." But no, this is now a fine mess we got into.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198162Mon, 21 May 2007 12:32:18 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198162Jim, WyomingWe will never win. Bottom line we either have to treat this as a war or pull out stop the pussy footing around. War is hell, lives are lost families are wrecked infrastructure is destroyed. War should only be used when all diplomatic means have failed. Iraq Was a mistake, Afghanistan we had no chance we did not have relations at all. The so call war on terror will not be won with 9000 troops in Kabul. Sadly the fact is terror must be hunted throughout the world. Somilia, Sudan, Iran, to name a few and terrorist and their supporters ie the money men must be hunted down and treated like the dogs they are. No trials no prisons just body bags. No rebuilding just down right death and destruction to the supporters of terrorist and slave traders. Our job is not to rebuild countries.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198163Mon, 21 May 2007 12:33:06 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198163andy ilko, abingdon, mdThe comments are more interesting than the article. We are now a country of wieners. We are a country that wants instant gratification, if the job can not be completed in 6 months - pull out! It's a good thing that this generation wasn't around during WWII, I seriously doubt that we would have won. D-day alone we lost over 5,000 men in one day!! http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198165Mon, 21 May 2007 12:37:42 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198165Muhammad Bin Naveed, Islamabad, Pakistan.Its not about locking on the negative, its not about bringing democracy, its about a basic failiure to understand the mindset of those whose homes are being blasted away every day. The Afghan nation is one held in a time bubble 200 years old. What you DONT need to do is bring in something that has taken that long to establish i.e democracy into a land which is UNCAPABLE of understanding even the basic concept of it. What they DIDNT need was more money, where those in power have no intention of letting it get into the hands of the deserving. It is still a feudal landscape. Consider some otherworldly power giving the French Arisocrats that much money during the revolution. There wouldnt have been one! Feudalism kills itself. And that takes time. THe biggest mistake the U.S is carrying on and on in the world is to not understand that need for time. Most of the third world is a hundred years behind the States. American Foreign Policy, by demanding so much of a world not equipped to stand at par with it, is throwing every cog, wheel and gyro that the natural mass psychology of humans has caused to function of the past how ever many millenia. Im ranting, and will continue to do so lest i say goodbye.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198167Mon, 21 May 2007 12:38:58 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198167Hussam Kabul, AfghanistanHi Sir, I am Afghan. I grew up in war, educated in war, but don't like to be killed in such a war. There are two kind of wars in our homeland: One is war of the battle fields, and the other is a global one done through electronic systems. Nobody can see how different factions are fighting through this way. Let's to say that KGB is more active than before. Iran is not bad, really working deplomatically... I am thinking that the war in my land will last for decades and nobdoy will win very soon. ... sorry for my English.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198168Mon, 21 May 2007 12:44:42 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198168Ben Mercadante, Odessa FlBen Franklin: "There is no good war, nor a bad peace" Sounds about right.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198169Mon, 21 May 2007 12:47:09 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198169Péter, HungaryI think someone who wants to present a balanced view of the situation in Afghanistan should first of all have clear benchmarks for judgement. There is a document called the 'Afghanistan Compact' from 2006, which has a part titled 'Benchmarks and Timelines'. There are for you the consensual goals of the 'international community' (whatever the latter means in its policy-wise disintegrated form of actual existence) in Afghanistan in that part. One has to look at each of the long list of objectives included in that document and come up with a more detailed picture than an overall 50/50. To highlight some of the most important things in there: by the end of 2010 security and stability should be 'promoted' (literal quote) in all provinces. There is some confusion though beyond the one caused by the wording, too, because elsewhere the document says that all illegal armed groups in all provinces should be disarmed by the end of 2007. But I don't want to present this document as useless by pointing out this contradiction, even if it's an important one. It does provide a comprehensive overview of dimensions in which success/failure could be measured, and so the media should use it I think.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198170Mon, 21 May 2007 12:50:23 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198170Col Mike, Chicopee MAThis is one of the more "fair and balanced" reports I have read in a long time. As a former senior commander of a reconstruction and training force in Afghanistan I have a real understanding of what is going on there. Progress is being made but the enemy is not ready to quit yet and unfortunatelyh will not be for some time yet. Key pieces are the establishment of a "service mentality" in the government officials who must be held accountable for bad behavior as well as ineffective administration AND the willingness of the Afghan people to assist ISAF and the Afghan government to root out the bad guys.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198172Mon, 21 May 2007 12:53:56 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198172Joe,KabulWe are on the right track here, I have been here for 3 years now and we are making a difference and do not let anyone tell you otherwise. The ecconomy is booming, commerece is way up and the sercurity is not that bad, elements still come in from across the border in Pakistan but overall things are way better than under the Taliban. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198182Mon, 21 May 2007 13:05:38 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198182Carlos Cortiglia, London, United KingdomI reckon that as far as Afghanistan is concerned, the present administration should have learned the lessons of history. The Soviets were broken in Afghanistan. They had the hardware and the manpower and they failed miserably without having to contend with things like human rights. I think the West is losing the battle and it is a shame that our leaders are not able to recognize the facts on the ground. Something similar is happening in Iraq and they also fail to recognize the facts. The problem is that once the West intervened both in Afghanistan and Iraq, those who advocate the case of a withdrawal must also recognize that such a withdrawal will be nothing short of a disaster that will encourage those who wish to harm us at home. We have destroyed any kind of stability. If we get out, the terrorists would have won the war and would have the resources to carry out a thousand attacks like the one perpetrated on 11th of September 2001.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198183Mon, 21 May 2007 13:06:43 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198183James, Huntsville, ALAre we to believe the Afghans were better off under the Taliban? Is that the point of this? I have to agree it reads more like "we are losing in Afghanistan" too. What I really love is Mr. McKinley's rant against the operations in Afghanistan. If he thinks the Taliban are so wonderful, then he should just pack up and live with them the way they dictate and then take whatever punishment they desire to inflict when he decides to speak out against them. Nothing like the far left rants to be sure. I would ask oneself, what is better, having a string of hardline fundamentalist Muslim nations that support and facilitate terrorism or trying to teach these people about freedom? I will remind people that sports, television, radio, dancing, music, education for girls, etc, were all banned under the Taliban. Yes, Mr. McKinley, the Taliban are just wonderful guys. That's what's missing in the opinion, perspective. Life under the Taliban was not good for anyone but the Taliban in powerful positions. Yet, we are supposed to now believe it isn't any better. The media bias against any successes of the US is truly amazing. Nothing but doom and gloom and if that doesn't work ratchet up the doom and gloom.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198189Mon, 21 May 2007 13:13:33 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198189Eric, Troy, NYRight you are P.Haag! There appears to be a lack of understanding by the media that their views are as important in ending violence as actual bullets and bombs. The pen IS mightier than the sword. Simply stating tha version of "truth" can either help end a conflict in a favorable fashion or negate all the sacrifice by giving the false hope to the opposition that holding out is an option. This world can not tolerate opium addicts, violent dictators or religious extremists. These "wars" are rationally waged and intended to purge these destructive means of survival from earth not to generate humanitarian issues for the media to cash in on. It IS time for the PENs to get with the program and support the end of these ideologies by printing the real truth, there is no room for violent ideologies even if they claim a right to exist through humanitarian sufferage. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198191Mon, 21 May 2007 13:15:28 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198191Mirtis B. Coggins, Clinton, MDJimmy Carter has wisdom beyond words. I stand with him and applaud him for being brave enough to just tell the truth. Sometimes we have to tell it like it is and let the chips fall where they may. I think he did just that and now he has to be strong enough to stand up to the pressure and not try to defend what he said to every TOM, DICK and HARRY. My comment would be, "If you didn't understand what I meant then I will try to explain it to you," otherwise, I would say, "I said it, I stand by it and I am not discussing it anymore." After all this is a former President who has done more for this country than any President. This is a righteous man which goes without saying. How many people do know who would be willing to do what he has done and continues to do? With poor people, and I have been but not anymore, he has put his time and effort where his mouth is and what I mean by that is, he is not about lip service, he is walking the walk. I could go on and on about this great man who should go down in history as one of the greatest humanitarians of all times. Needless to say, I love Jimmy Carter whose hometown of Plains, GA is only 17 miles from my hometown, Ellaville, GA.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198193Mon, 21 May 2007 13:16:52 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198193Kyle, Greenwood, South CarolinaI tell you whats funny, right after 9/11 we are all sitting back and wanting to know who, why and where are they? We found out who it was, and responded. Now for the years past, all I hear is we need to get out of Afghanistan. We meet resistance and the going gets alittle tuff and now all of a sudden its "Oh this is an actual job, neverm,ind lets go". If we had that attitude in World War II, we would either not exist, or we would be Nazis. No, we need to finish our mission in Iraq and then leave and continue our work in Afghanistan. None of you guys hear of the actual things going down in Afghanistan or Iraq. My brother is in Iraq. The news people lie about his situation. When my brother hands out supplies to Iraqis and is attacked by insurgents, he returns fire. But what does the news say that my brother has done...oh yeah they report that he had blindly return fire and kills civilians. Funny thing is those so called civilians were carrying AK-47s. And in Afghanistan. The Taliban are being killed everyday, not civilians, the Taliban. A non-uniformed fighter. Most of the Taliban are for other Middle Eastern countries. The Taliban killed all of the real freedom fighters in their first and second civil wars in the early 90s. Love America or leave it. All I know is that I am for every single American soldier. I think of all the families involved not just my own. If you really support the troops you would be helping us to win. Its not to far away. We just have to be the Americans of ole. Strong and persistant. And in the mean time, get Bush out of the White House. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198195Mon, 21 May 2007 13:18:05 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198195CassandraThe War on Terror is merely a replacement for the Cold War. A 20+ year conflict with no defined end will do wonders for the oil industry as well as the war industries. It will keep prices up at the $70/barrel mark. This allows petroleum producers to profit from fields that would have never been profitable when oil was down to pre 9/11 prices. War is profit, Peace is Hell!http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198200Mon, 21 May 2007 13:19:15 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198200Casey, KL, MalaysiaI've just finished reading the book 'The Kite Runner'. If what described by the author was true or next to it, I reckon we know nothing of who's winning. The Aghans are losing themselves since 70s'. What they really want is not victory from anyone or to anybody, but merely to WIN back the old good days of their nation. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198204Mon, 21 May 2007 13:22:56 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198204NoneofyourbusinessYou can't speak for all 10,000+ soldiers over in Afghanistan fighting for YOUR FREEDOM!!!! In my eyes, you have put down your own people by stating that their efforts and their lives are not helping. I hope none of these men and women read your article. Although some of it may be true, you have put down the morale and the dignity of those men and women fighting for you butt!!! Stay out of there if you don't agree with it and don't think what they are doing is helping! My husband is over there fighting for people like you who wouldn't send your own son or daughter into war just have others do it for you!http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198206Mon, 21 May 2007 13:26:25 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198206Ethan AllenVery good observations Jim. I agree totally with your perspective.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198207Mon, 21 May 2007 13:26:38 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198207mohamad faisal khanzada pakistanan interesting article but please dont blame pakistan for all your ill deeds.pakistan too has got a big problem with the suicide bombers who are not humans as no religion teach us to kill.we all can live in peace and that is through peaceful diologue.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198208Mon, 21 May 2007 13:28:14 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198208An Expat Kabul, Afghanistan"And while there may be bubbles of peace here and there, overall, Kabul is too unsafe today for a foreign reporter to walk its streets without the kind of protection he would take into the streets of Baghdad." That's a bit of stretch, I've lived here for almost 2 years and have never been bothered on the streets, pick pocketed or worried for my safety. I feel safer in Kabul than I do in certain parts of the UK and North America. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198209Mon, 21 May 2007 13:29:42 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198209Jim, Milwaukee WisconsinIt is a cold hard reality that our exit strategy for Afghanistan and the Middle East is: “We don’t exit” Either we fight them on their soil, or they will come to us as they did on 9-11. Their leaders are not common sense people who we can reason with. They are international gang bangers who live for the fame of the moment. Just like our teenage gang bangers who fully expect to die or end up in prison, these international players are essentially the same. The west is rich and powerful. By attacking the west they can achieve their 15 minuets of fame. The terrorist attacks on the West are not over. We will have additional attacks in the US and the West. However, if we allow them to reorganize, the terrorist attacks on the West will not only increase but will also become more effective. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198210Mon, 21 May 2007 13:29:58 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198210BillyBoy, Tampa, FloridaWe will win eventually, problem is winning will cost a few far more than the victory is worth. But it will not be the first (or last) victory we achieve in the middle-east that has this downside (nor is it even the first such victory for the past 50 yrs). The upside is a few others will be happy regardless of the cost since they always make sure someone else pays the price.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198212Mon, 21 May 2007 13:30:55 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198212L Myers Tampa,FLIn all the news reports I have followed regarding the Iraq war, I have never seen any which address the issue of where the "real terrorists" - those who would choose to destroy US citizens in our own homeland - actually reside. Our administration has painted a picture that the war in Iraq is against those who would do just that. However, I sense that this is a Shiite-Sunni civil war, and that that the powers-that-be controlling the conflict are nowhere to be found - as least, not in Iraq. And I suspect that they are controlling the battle from afar, in Pakistan and Afghanistan, and have their underlings paying a dear price for doing their dirty work. This article casts a little light on the subject, but never really addresses the relationship between the powers residing in Afghanistan and the front-line troops in Iraq. Just once I would like to see some information about the "real terrorists," so that we can make informed decisions about the US role in that region. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198214Mon, 21 May 2007 13:31:45 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198214Caryn WilliamsHow can you call anyone a winner when it comes to war? I understand that there will always be wars to fight- but who can be called a winner when the cost is a loss of human life for both sides? I support our soldiers and their families completely. I do feel that the war in Afghanistan/Iraq needs to be brought to a conclusion. I don't believe in sacrificing lives for political agendas when there doesn't seem to be any evidence of improvement. My thoughts and prayers go out to all the men and women serving our country and their families at home hoping for their safe return.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198217Mon, 21 May 2007 13:34:25 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198217Jim, Austin, TXThanks for the report. Wish it were more positive but reality sometimes can't be that way.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198221Mon, 21 May 2007 13:37:30 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198221Jerome Jeffers, Elkhart, INI was for the Afgan incursion from the beginning after 9/11. However, I thought the Iraq invasion would be a major mistake from as early as Sseptember of 2002 when they (the neocons) started to beat the war drums. I think we have a chance to stabilize Afganistan, but don't see that for Iraq. Morally, we can't pull out and let the Sunis and Shieites slaughter each other. It is war without end; this is what has me so depressed.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198222Mon, 21 May 2007 13:39:44 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198222Jorge I. Gomez, San Antonio, TXI wish I could believe anything from american media, the same media that is afraid to tell the truth about the worst administration in U.S. history. This administration loves to play with semantics hoping that with the change of meaning they can change reality. How many times can they lie and still keep and straight face and credibility. With this reporter's explanation we can assume that Iraq is in the same situation. If McCain can take stroll throught a market, then everybody else could do the same. McCain did not say there were 5 helicopters, hundredes of troops, several hummvees, etc. He was a walking fort and he had the gall to say he and Petraus took a stroll in the "Park". The same happen in Afghanistan. This reporter and american media see the glass half full and try to sell the good with the less bad. The military, also, have no credibility. One general said that they had killed, at one time, 400 insurgents, when rebutted he went down to maybe 300, or was it 200 hundred. It got to be like Mawell Smart from Get Smart TV series. But when they killed entire families, including women, children and senior citizens, they try to keep quiet. The first thing that NATO is going to claim following Bush's scripted answers: They were all terrorists". This administration has zero, nil, nada credibility and so does american media, the darling of the Bush administration.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198225Mon, 21 May 2007 13:41:45 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198225Johnny Dukes, GermanyMaybe the media is seeing this war through rose colored glasses. How about embedding some of these reporters with Taliban units for a few days. Then we could get a truly balanced report.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198228Mon, 21 May 2007 13:42:37 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198228jdnoonan, tampa, fla.The great "spring offensive" of the Taleban seems not to have succeeded or at least to have been delayed. The media predicted that Afghanistan would fall back into their hands because the Bush administration was wrongly focused on Iraq. Why not a column on how badly the media misjudged things or how well the military (ISAF) countered the Taleban? Spring "ain't over yet," but the military forces have done far better than the British in the 19th cent. or the Russians in the 20th. Tell us why things are working as well as they are.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198231Mon, 21 May 2007 13:45:58 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198231An Afghan in Wasington I went to my native country after 27 years and although I was expecting to see enormous destruction and devastation after so many years of invasion and war, I was also hoping to see progress and a better future. Unfortunately I was discouraged by the slow progress and unfortunately I did not see a very bright future either. I went to see my people, not politicians. I traveled to different parts of my country, met different groups and talked to the local ordinary people. I saw with my own eyes how resistance is formed. When a father does not have a job, cannot provide for his family and the future is somber, well the result is that you add one more to the list of the Taliban, the only organized group to resist the coalition involvement. In Afghanistan people judge the Americans thought the actions of the Afghan government that is totally corrupted. I went to different government offices and witnessed by myself the briberies and mistreatments of the people. Without a bribe nothing can get accomplished and how can someone who’s family is near starvation bribe to get an ordinary document like an ID card done? Also there is a lack of communication between the coalition and the people of Afghanistan. This results in misunderstanding, misjudgment, mistrust and lack of cooperation. Generally people still have a positive sense for the American involvement, but this feeling changes every day when mistakes are made both by the Afghan government and the coalition forces. I strongly believe that a better communication with the local population is the key to success. If that communication is through a trustful Afghan government so be it, otherwise the US should get in direct contact with local groups and work toward a better future for each region. There are ways to engage the locals to take responsibility for there own regions, from creating a better environment for the population to the security of their own surroundings. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198234Mon, 21 May 2007 13:47:52 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198234joseph p bell 2 ellis st woburn ma 01801 781-932-16406 yrs in Afghanistan ,a smaller country than Iraq,with aRestaurateur ?in command from Baltimore Maryland ,Give me a break :Remember all the"american iraqis" who lied about everything in Iraq ,Chalabi;How can the us (american government expect to win )they can't even clean up New Orleans ;when you talk about the money that went for assistance did not reach those that need it the most ?the same is true right here . Did you see 60 minutes last night on how Grumman screwed the Coast Guard of 100 million dollars ,Gen. Myers ,remember 911 ,he is there with a 200thousand dollar salary plus his retirement pay ,talk about fair ... All i remember is how the Afghans took 8 yrs to destroy the Russian Army with our help ,and now the Poppy's we allow them to grow are growing out of control ,the object of the game is to keep the americans drugged up and drunk so they can be controlled like we are now ..President Carter was right blasting this administration .GHWB as compromised Pres . Bill Clinton ... want more write me at belljp@rcn.com http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198235Mon, 21 May 2007 13:48:06 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198235Teish, Hartford, CTThank you for your observation and your willingness to name the complexity of all that happening in Afganistan. I am not academically educated at all. I only am an observer. Democracy and the creation of it as we observe in the United States is a extraordinary process where I do not believe you ever arrive. The infracstructure is established through and an inordinate push for fairness and a framwork of just rules. And then there is survival and corruption both of which go hand and hand when economics are particullarly challenged for people and the framework has not been deeply rooted. I will stop here but I hope some day soon a group of people could sit down in Afganastan and make small head ways for the establishment of a stronger framework or rules that everyone abides by. I think deep down people want this. I pray for peace first individually and then collectively for all who live in countries where this struggle is a constant, momemt by moment experience of survival. Thank you for sharing the truth as seen by your eyes. I no ultimately how difficult change is myself, as I struggle to take responsibility for subtle angry patterns and thoughts towards myself and others. This shift is a daily struggle for compassion for a habitiual mind set that needs daily to be infused with love and pray. Blessings, Teishahttp://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198243Mon, 21 May 2007 13:56:06 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198243MSG. Mtn RangerHA HA HA HA HA HA, HO HO HO HO HO, HA HA HA HA. Good Lord do I ever look forward to reading some of the comments left by clueless people. Some of which probably NEVER leave the safety of their own house after a 9 to 5 job. Especially the guy Michael Mckinley who wrote on May 20th. Ha Ha HA. What a joke... I have personaly seen the good and the completely AWFUL side of the war for over 12 months. I can honestly say that it sickens me that America looks at their own people like "WAR MONGERS" instead of realizing the WE DIDN'T START THIS SHIT!!!! Regardless of how you feel about Iraq, we DO belong in Afghanistan. That is where they Train, and brainwash future terrorist. God help this Nation when the minds of "turn the other cheeck" Liberals run this Country. If the News reported 1/10 of the good over there insterad of the old "If it Bleeds it Leads" attitude, the world might see something really is being done. I DO however appluad this article by Jim for not taking EITHER side. He simply reported what he saw. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198246Mon, 21 May 2007 13:56:53 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198246Christopher VerneyTHREAD (via trackback embedded in reference SOURCE link); Coomment: “I think it’s sad that President Carter’s reckless personal criticism is out there,” White House spokesman Tony Fratto responded Sunday from Crawford, where Bush spent the weekend. “I think it’s unfortunate,” [for BUSH] Fratto said. “And I think he is proving to be increasingly irrelevant with these kinds of comments.” (SOURCE: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18759682/) Those who would think, espouse or propagandize former president Carter as irrelevant (to them, perhaps not to the world) should meet him, see that very bright look in his eye, and/or read relevant books, like "Palestine - Peace not Apartheid". According to U.S. law, I believe he has another congressional or presidential Term available to him should he seek more direct and spotlighting input and action. Like Herbert Hoover, an engineer and humanitarian, based on his activities during the last twenty years or so, he offers well-intended, positive contribution to the world.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198247Mon, 21 May 2007 13:57:41 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198247TROY GILMORE,JR.ARE YOU SERIOUS WHO IS WINNING IN AFGHASITAIN,THIS IS NOT A FOOTBALL GAME TO SEE WHAT THE FINAL OUTCOME WILL BE MEN AND WOMEN MILITARY AND CIVILIAN ARE DYING OVER THERE I WISH OUR TROOPS WERE NOT EVEN THERE AND I AM A VETERAN WHO SUPPORTS THEM ONE TWENTY PERCENT,AND IT MAY NOT BE IRAQ,OKAY BUT MY FELLOW VETERANS ARE DYING AS TO WHO IS WINNING HARD TO TELL ALL I DO KNOW IS THIS I WISH IT WERE OVER AND OUR TROOPS WERE BACK HOME HOW'S THAT FOR AND ANSWER. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198251Mon, 21 May 2007 14:01:06 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198251Aftab Anjumthe other side of story is that american government in their effort to dump their condoms,are ending in a bitter honeymoon.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198254Mon, 21 May 2007 14:03:44 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198254L.A Marti, Plantation, FLI think the way Bush handled this war was perfect, in the beginning - an immediate response. Kudos! Then, everything he did thereafter was a botched up job. Bush the father sent 27,000 troops into Panama to take out Manuel Noriega in December of 1989. Compare this to the 11,000 troops that Bushy, Jr. sent to Afghanistan to fight the killer of the World Trade Center. As an introductory force, fine, but that was IT!!! What is wrong with you? There are more cops in NYC alone, than soldiers we sent to Afghanistan. Now, because of this phony war in Iraq that was foisted upon us we are unable to send in anymore troops to take out Al Qaeda/Bin Laden once and for all. This only leads me to believe that we want this war to go on in perpetuity. That way, the warmongers can feed the Military Industrial Complex. Congratulations to Ex-Pres Carter for telling it like it is with this administration.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198257Mon, 21 May 2007 14:06:33 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198257TROY,ORLANDO,FLORIDAARE YOU SERIOUS WHO IS WINNING IN AFGHASITAIN,THIS IS NOT A FOOTBALL GAME TO SEE WHAT THE FINAL OUTCOME WILL BE MEN AND WOMEN MILITARY AND CIVILIAN ARE DYING OVER THERE I WISH OUR TROOPS WERE NOT EVEN THERE AND I AM A VETERAN WHO SUPPORTS THEM ONE TWENTY PERCENT,AND IT MAY NOT BE IRAQ,OKAY BUT MY FELLOW VETERANS ARE DYING AS TO WHO IS WINNING HARD TO TELL ALL I DO KNOW IS THIS I WISH IT WERE OVER AND OUR TROOPS WERE BACK HOME HOW'S THAT FOR AND ANSWER. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198262Mon, 21 May 2007 14:09:57 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198262TESTRUN#1bin laden is a creation of our cia. 9/11 was an inside job. you know it and i know it.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198264Mon, 21 May 2007 14:13:25 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198264A.Q.Wazirzada, Sydney, NSWWe have the solution right in front of us. If anyone studies the history of Afghanistan, he will know that the Pushtuns have always formed the government in the center. 65% are Pushtuns, the Uzbek the Tajik the Hazara and a few other minorities form the remaining 35%. At present this large majority is invariably kept out of government.What you see in Aghanistan is predominately a power struggle. The majority is using all means available to it to come back into power. It is wrong to equate the Pushtuns with Talibans...the fundamentalists...a movement which gained impetus due to a power vaccuum after the ouster of the Russians. This movement further found a commonality with the Wahabi movement of Saudi Arabia after a lot of funds started flowing in from that country. The Pushtuns are a very vital part of the heritage of Afghanistan.The previous two ruling dynasties 'The Saddozais' and the 'Mohammadzais'were all Pushtuns. The Pushtuns will never accept the rule of the non-Pushtuns, everyone in Afghanistan knows this. They are the only one to bring peace to this troubled land; and ofcourse they are the majority and have been in power since the creation of Afghanistan. If there is a free and fair election they will certainly emerge as the winners. Anyone who has studied Pushtun culture and tradition would know that they have an honour code which predates religion. It is said that the Pushtuns consider them selves as Pushtuns first and Muslims later.Therefore,the present fight is actually between the minority supported by the allied forces against the majority....the Taliban's are just side issue. The Taliban movement at present is being fueled by hatred by the general populace for the occupying forces and the incessant killing of the innocent civilians. Hamid Karzai although a Pushtun, has no ligitimacey and grass root support and is seen by his countrymen as the puppet of the West. When the power is restored to the Pushtuns...that is the majority... they are the only ones who can reign-in the Talibans.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198277Mon, 21 May 2007 14:17:59 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198277Tim Hogan, St. Louis, MissouriToo bad, we DID get a rah-rah piece and no coverage of the continued US tolerance of the Afghanistan drug trade, which we and Mr. Karzi are unwilling to stop. go to http;//dangerousintersection.org/?p=406http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198278Mon, 21 May 2007 14:19:14 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198278MonetWho is winning HERE? How can we call America a democracy when 90% of Americans do NOT want to be in Afghanistan... and yet we are still there! The Pentagon Thugs argue that "we don't conduct military operations on the basis of opion polls"... what arrogant jerks. We have no business meddling in the Middle East. No wonder they hate us. We have brought this "terrorism" upon ourselves. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198281Mon, 21 May 2007 14:21:03 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198281Steve Hasty, Washington, DCFor the individual with the extraneous and irrelevent comment on Bhopal: Bhopal is in INDIA, not PAKISTAN.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198290Mon, 21 May 2007 14:29:52 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198290AnonymousThis story is fairly on point. Do you know the Taliban (TB) has burned over 200 schools since the start of 2007 because there were girls getting an education there? Some of these schools were paid for by NGO's and were brand new. The TB want their populous dumb for a reason - to control them and that is only one of the atrocities. In the cities, progress is considerably noticeable but for the average, poor Afghan not living in cities, they are in Stone Age, except with maybe a cell phone - no kidding. Families/villages may share a vehicle (most vehicles are Toyota Corollas) between them. The reason why it is not safe for westerners in Kabul (or anywhere for that matter) is because the TB kidnap them for ransom - money speaks volumes in Afghanistan. Another problem with the TB is that one could watch them cross the border, shoot at NATO troops, and then walk back across and NATO cannot return fire. Other players are in the mix but the powers at be "feel" diplomacy is the best course of action. Tell that to the local or the NATO troop that just got schwacked by an IED with materials and personnel brought in from outside this country. Almost all of the suicide bombers are not Afghan - they are foreign fighters. Corruption is rampant but that is a three fold issue: education, it's part of the culture, and tribalism. What US citizens take for granted in the US, education, infrastructure and technology, is very lacking in Afghanistan. Some people have never seen a computer, let alone know how to read or write and women are worse off with an illiteracy rate of 94%. The other issue is that corruption (embezzlement, bribing) is part of the culture. They have tried to bribe US soldiers in order to not get in trouble - it didn't work. Trying to teach and punish corruption is probably the most frustrating issue in Afghanistan which is compounded by my last point - tribalism. They protect family/tribes here - even if they are mass murderers, and this can go way up the government chain. Fixing the corruption problem will fix about 80% of the problems in Afghanistan and provide that much needed money to develop a sound infrastructure that reaches to all of Afghanistan and for them to start providing for their own security. Often times, it is like working with children and trying to explain right and wrong and there is no exaggeration there. As I am constantly reminded, the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan is a sovereign country (that wants our help - mainly our money). It will fall into ruin if NATO were not here, but with help, comes the issue of wanting to help themselves and not individualistically but holistically, which as illustrated earlier, is foreign to Afghanistan because people owe their allegiances to tribes, not country; nationalism is unknown in Afghanistan. The main issue here is not about US and NATO foreign presence because most of the Muslims here do not want TB rule, but to get us out and for Afghanistan to be self supporting, there is going to be a heavy, heavy learning curve for Afghans to start helping their own countrymen and women for the betterment of Afghanistan. Take away the corruption and the outside neighboring countries' bad influences and provide education, Afghanistan would prosper as it did in the 60's and 70's. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198300Mon, 21 May 2007 14:32:46 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198300Jason, Portland, ORAfghanistan is not a poor country, it is rich in opium and gold. Under taliban rule, it was illegal to grow opium. They reduced exports by 95%. The remaining 5%? grown in the north. So you invade because of 9/11, and what do you know, opium exports back up to pre-taliban levels. And what do you know, unocal pipeline built by halliburton. And the gold? It's alright though, they're not people, let's nuke them because they're jews-I mean terrorists. Yeah, America is about as democratic and free as Nazi Germany. You're free to fatten the pockets of those invested. Stupid, stupid Americans. That's what we are.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198308Mon, 21 May 2007 14:36:51 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198308M Hatim, Lahore, Pakistan A really good report, supported by such a favorable response reflects_ a good sense still prevails amid hypermyopics.We hope that concerned think-tanks may learn atleast a bit out of it.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198314Mon, 21 May 2007 14:41:47 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198314Terry Fisher Phoenix ArizonaCharles DeGaulle told John Kennedy, "Stay out of Vietnam. It is an unwinnable situation. Leave it alone or suffer what we did." Kennedy thought, "That's the French. Is anyone surprized? We are the AMERICANS. Any dangerous situation can be tenable if brave men make it so." Ten years later, trillions of wasted dollars later, hundreds of thousands of dead or blind and maimed men later we understood what DeGaulle said. The Russians could have, and probably would have, told us the same thing about Afghanistan. Would Bush have listened? Not on your life. We are the AMERICANS. And a ten year, senseless war, in a country that is none of our business, starts over. The only difference will be, I hope, is our troops will not have to be rescued from a roof top by the last helicopter.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198331Mon, 21 May 2007 14:53:52 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198331American Taxpayer! Your Town, USANobody is winning. American taxpayer is losing!http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198340Mon, 21 May 2007 14:59:19 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198340Jonathan Fitzner, Chicago, ILGod bless the United States effort in Afganistan! May the good guys find and stop the bad guys from pillaging and killing. May the good guys help the Afghans recreate a nation where they can live and take care of their families.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198341Mon, 21 May 2007 14:59:25 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198341Michael Krivda, Perkasie PAThe sad news is that we cannot "win" in Afganistan for the same reasons that the Soviets could not win there. Quite simply, the folks we are fighting will continue to fight for the rest of eternity and I doubt that we are willing to do that. Plus, it only takes a small number of fighters to blow up schools and threaten civilians and that is their most effective weapon. In a nation like Afghanistan it is virtually impossible to completely wipe out a group like the Taliban. Like the IRA in Ireland or the Bathes in Spain or the Tamil in Sri Lanka, the Taliban will continue to fight for decade after long decade. I doubt that we will want to sustain that effort and the moment the US and NATO leave, the Taliban will move it. All that we can hope to accomplish is to hold them at bay for as long as we are there. I doubt that anyone would call that winning.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198344Mon, 21 May 2007 15:00:45 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198344German A., Roseville, MNIt comes down to this, "their" definition of winning is waiting the coalition out. Each offensive season when a few, lose a few and then rest for the winter. Tie down the troops for a long stay with a gov't that is truly not extending its control over the whole country successfully. The popy servers as a cash crop for weapons etc. Are we winning? We would have to go into the mountains as we should have done initially and not in the manner of how we did it. Sorry, it is not only Iraq with the Planners & Joint Chief of Staff and the upper civilian leadership FAILED. Yes, the Tailban were overthrown . . . my reaction is, "So what!" six years later. We missed it!http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198345Mon, 21 May 2007 15:00:48 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198345German A., Roseville, MNIt comes down to this, "their" definition of winning is waiting the coalition out. Each offensive season when a few, lose a few and then rest for the winter. Tie down the troops for a long stay with a gov't that is truly not extending its control over the whole country successfully. The popy servers as a cash crop for weapons etc. Are we winning? We would have to go into the mountains as we should have done initially and not in the manner of how we did it. Sorry, it is not only Iraq with the Planners & Joint Chief of Staff and the upper civilian leadership FAILED. Yes, the Tailban were overthrown . . . my reaction is, "So what!" six years later. We missed it!http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198351Mon, 21 May 2007 15:02:58 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198351TESTRUN#1To Jim: the REASON that they hate us (and might come here) is because we were/are over there in the first place, dropping bombs when in the cold war with the soviets. To Tim: It's pretty well known in Europe that the U.S. (CIA) is controlling the drug trade. Members of the E.U.'s Drug Enforcement Agency equivalent have backtracked the sources to American-funded teams. Scary isn't it!http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198354Mon, 21 May 2007 15:04:42 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198354kate,pa.u.s.a.my only wish is that we all get along with one another and not force our ways on these poor people who have lived this way for over a thousand years.may our god have mercy on us all.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198363Mon, 21 May 2007 15:11:16 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198363Aaron, Denver, COTime to go back to the simple facts people. We ether fight and kill the extremists where they try to hide, train, and buy a nuke, or YOUR city is going to be the next 9/11 times 100 when some nut-job shows up detonating the big bomb in your home town killing you, your family, and everything you love. War has never been nice but it is nessary at times to protect the things that you wish to preserve. This is not a new thing and has been true throughout all of history. Talk softly and carry a big stick, and be ready to use it to defend yourself! So all you "get out now we are losing" people. If it were up to you this country you live in would soon be sent back to the stone age because we would not have the ability to strike and kill those who would kill you and the rest of us who wish to live a good life with our familys. Hooraah Troops! Kick those nut-job's arses now before they can bring that bull back to our own backyard!http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198369Mon, 21 May 2007 15:18:34 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198369Sean, Torrington CTToo bad Bush cut and run from Afghanistant to tilt at windmills in Iraq!http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198377Mon, 21 May 2007 15:26:23 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198377Steve, Rancho Santa MargaritaI think this article underlines the key problem. In countries like ours we are used to thinking of winning wars by building overwhelming forces who will quickly decimate the enemy. If we don't quickly achieve victory we presume that we need more people, more equipment, more technology, more money. The taliban knew from the beginning that they would never win at such a game. They had no vast funds for armies, no sources of battle turning technology, etc. Instead they have focused on what they do have: the ability to doggedly persist in a vision with endless self sacrifice, over centuries if necessary with the goal not of overwhelming their enemy but simply wearing them out as the Afghans did with the Soviet Union. The war against the taliban is more akin to the war against cancer. There is no magic bullet. No point in the foreseeable future where we can say the problem is solved but rather small, qualified victories which with persistence and continued work, increase over time.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198380Mon, 21 May 2007 15:27:39 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198380john floridaEric,Troy, ny You are right on the money, the pen is just as bad as a bomb. The pen is being used to kill any effort of showing any kind of progress by this president. The failed policy talking point is being drilled into our heads on a daily basis to the point that you can't stand to hear it any more. Then you Harry Reid declaring that the war is lost,as if our people on the fronts need more bad news from the home front.And now you have an election pending in 08 so the pens have their work cut out for them. They spout off every chance they get about our loss intead of reporting about what can be done all you here is what can't be done. The media and the left wing part of the dems is seems is trying to lose the war for all of us.While our people are their doing a dirty nasty job that was a long time coming.We hear that Kabul is doing well andt that get's poisened by the rest of the country is falling apart. This article passes over lightly about the roads being built and the schools being built. This is progress that did not even happen in this country under any form of government that came before us. Yet we hear that the cia is running drugs and our soldiers are dieing for no reason and the population is being murdered by our people, is it possible that all we do is destroy, is it possible that we can't even get credit for an outhouse at the hands of this media. One starts to wonder who the enimy is.wer this Clintons war you would see rose petals in the streets for him because he was their lord and savior no matter what.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198387Mon, 21 May 2007 15:31:55 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198387David, Clearwater, FLWe need leaders who are not shortsighted to just look at the next election. We have been fighting a war on the cheap. Who even knows its going on? Are you paying extra taxes, buying war bonds, having your kids drafted? It's "over there" and the ones suffering are the volunteer forces and their families. We need leaders who will tell us the truth. And a big part of that is WE BLEW IT! Big time. Admit it and let's get this straightened out. And that means COMMUNICATING with the other Arab countries - listening. That will not be Bush. So we will have to wait for 2009 for the next President.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198391Mon, 21 May 2007 15:33:00 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198391Ted Zimmerman, TXThe CIA controls: (1) the cocaine trade from Columbia; (2) the opium trade from Afghanistan; (3) 75% of small weapons sales around the world; and now, (4)100% of Iraqi oil. The American public has been told lies for a long time about this.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198392Mon, 21 May 2007 15:33:08 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198392John Doe, Seattle, Wash.I'm with Homie -- clean your own house and then worry about the situations of others. Until we do that, there will be no respect.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198393Mon, 21 May 2007 15:33:47 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198393he heWe are all human beings here... can't we just get along?http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198401Mon, 21 May 2007 15:39:11 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198401John Koivula, Vista, CaliforniaThe following from your article sounds like a description of the fortified "Green Zone" in Baghdad... In Kabul "business is booming. 5-star hotels, shopping malls, modern glassy trade centers, electronics stores and expensive foreign cars jam the streets...bubbles of peace here and there, overall, Kabul is too unsafe today for a foreign reporter to walk its streets without the kind of protection he would take into the streets of Baghdad." This is no description of any form of real success. Also consider that the Russian military machine had a common border with Afghanistan, and untimately gave up (lost). http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198408Mon, 21 May 2007 15:43:00 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198408Trevor, South Haven, INWhy do we not learn from History, from Caveman to Civilizations, we are still bend upon recreating the Wheel, “Might is always right”. History is rich with Barbarians/Nations... who have invaded, killed and plundered in the name of peace, religion or superior race. All the great and formidable empires of the world, one day will perish. For the average Joe, watch your own actions for there is accountability, and do not believe everything, as the most dangerous man is a liar. God has given each one of us a compass to determine the right from wrong, you do not need a Priest or Politician to tell you what to love and hate or justify a wrong for a wrong. If your heart is moved to a tear, on a death of innocence either Afghani, American or Iraqi Kid, know that there is hope as humanity is still in your soul. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198419Mon, 21 May 2007 15:46:44 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198419rolo tomasi; seattle, washington This was a very thorough, realistic article about Afghanistan. The writer who comments that you just don't go in and win the war in months, and then come home to the happy marching band. The fact that we are in Afghanistan is much more praiseworthy than Iraq. It sounds hawkish but I believe the best thing the USA can do whenever they withdraw from Iraq as well as Afghanistan is TO LEAVE AT LEAST 2 STAFFED AMERICAN MILITARY BASES THERE. This is the old Truman doctrine, and although it sems imperialistic, the very presence of 2 bases in each country will remind the natives they have redress if totalitarian factions try to enslave the nations again.Eventually........say 3 or 4 years if it is the DEMOCRATIC vote of their nation, asking us to leave..........by all means, LEAVE. None of these problems are simple, but knowing that we have given the countries an opportunity for self- rule, (wouldn't be nice if they CHOSE democracy), and now is the time to leave, letting them make their own triumphs and mistakes. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198427Mon, 21 May 2007 15:54:06 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198427Brian H West Coast NAJeff J; More? Someone would want more illiterate inanity? What a fool. Terry; If your prediction comes true, it will be because the media is Gaullist, and carries on his suborn/subvert/sucker-punch America policy. I am in daily contact with people working hard in Afghanistan and Iraq; their little and large successes are thrilling, and 0% of it is reported. Go figure. If the U.S. succeeds in Afghanistan and Iraq, it will be despite the Osama+Europe+Media triangle. Quite an opposition. Pick your side. I know mine.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198435Mon, 21 May 2007 15:58:08 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198435Brian H West Coast NACorrection, not Jeff J, Joseph Bell. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198455Mon, 21 May 2007 16:09:20 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198455jane of all tradesDoes everyone seem to forget that it was our government who started this? Who are we to think that we can go anywhere, start wars and kill leaders just for our own benefit? We would have nothing to do with this if not for the money. They say revenge for 911, but the only people who pay are the innocents who watch their loved ones be slaughtered. Bin Laden will never be found, mainly because we aren't even looking for him. Our president's fair trade, Saddam for Usama and we got what we want. People are dying horrible, painful deaths and we act as if it doesn't occur.This war is about pride and money. The death toll will only rise and we will continue to add to the chaos as long as there is something to be gained. IMPEACH BUSH AND PUNISH HIM FOR WAR CRIMES.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198460Mon, 21 May 2007 16:12:33 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198460Katiit's better that the cia control the poppy/opium drug trade than the taliban. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198463Mon, 21 May 2007 16:14:03 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198463Doug Cooper, Eagle IdahoLet me get this straight - the Stone Age religious warlords of the Taliban, soundly defeated in 2001, stage some attacks, and again are wiped out every time they try to surface...and the media is trumpeting a failed policy and the mean old US is at fault. Give me a break. 1000's of years of tribalism cannot be changed overnight, but for once, the Afghan people, ALL the people, have a chance to determine their own future. Give people their freedom, and the tools to change their own future and that is the greatest gift one could ever get. I am sick and tired of the cynical and comfortable critics decrying our efforts. What arrogance it is to enjoy freedom and then deny the efforts of those to obtain freedom who have never known it!!!! Have you forgotten what the Taliban did to their own people...and allowed to happen to us by harboring and supporting Al Qaieda? Thank God you no nothing critics were not in power in 1941. Hitler was just misunderstood... Yes we are winning in Afghanistan...but the overnight success crowd, that is so out of touch with reality, expects instant results where none have ever been obtained before. You have no sense of history, or sacrifice or the value of freedom. I call it the Somalia syndrome - where we complete the mission, lose 18 brave men in a battle in which we kill and wound 1000 of the enemy (Red Cross figures) yet we call it a great defeat and then abandon a country and mission because of worry about the horrendous casualties we suffered. Somebody forgot to ask the military that day what they thought. Thank goodness that we have an admisinstration that understands history, listens to our military and does not cut and run based on polls answered by people who know nothing but what they read in the media. We just had 8 years of that and I was involved at the highest level and saw it happen. No more. And Terry Fischer - you have no sense at all of Charles deGaulle...thank God we don't get our advice from his legacy. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198466Mon, 21 May 2007 16:15:00 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198466Denver, Coloradoagree that hurricane katrina proved to the united states that we can't even take care of our own problems. in denver city, only 30% of the latinos and blacks graduate from high school. say it with me, people, "first things first. first things first!" once we take care of our own issues, then we can go a-plunderin in the mid east! http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198474Mon, 21 May 2007 16:17:29 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198474What's the Truth?cheney is a liar and a weasel for continuing to try to make the iraq-bin laden(afghanistan)-9/11 link. i hate liars.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198475Mon, 21 May 2007 16:18:28 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198475Scotty, NVThe Russians are laughing at us now! http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198482Mon, 21 May 2007 16:24:26 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198482Jim SeattleThere being many facets to contend with when it comes to the conflict in Afghanistan I cannot think that anyone can or will win this encounter. While the Taliban is a force to reckon with and one that creates chaos, warlords, the Afghanistan National Army and the Afghanistan National Police are as much of a problem as the Taliban is. Another thing that most people don’t realize is that the average Afghani is more likely to be harassed, beaten and mugged by the Afghani national police or the Afghanistan national army than it is by a warlord or Taliban insurgents. Another point which is overlooked is that programs such as the Afghan first initiative and the Afghanistan first directive will fold like a cheap suit when American forces finally pull out. The largest mistake American/Nato policy has made, other than allowing insurgent elements to slither back over the border into Pakistan after a night of rocketing camps like Salerno, J-bad, and Orguni is to have created a massive welfare state without a check and balance system. Its nice to have these directives but without enforcement they are useless. Most construction at Nato camps is done by Pakistani companies, the work they do is often times sub-standard creating safety issues, most of the work done by Afghani’s is labor related. Instead of teaching Afghani’s to build using standard techniques incorporating such things as building codes, construction methods and safety they instead put them into a position where the work they do will eventually fail due to lack of building standards. Doing work for the sake of having something for them to do is a miserable way to conduct business, and does a disservice to those they we are trying to teach to be self-sufficient. But my opinion is that this occupation isn’t about teaching self-sufficiency its about gaining military airfields and bases to replace those we will loss in turkey and other places closest to the middle east. If we were truly intent on helping Afghanistan help itself we would stop hiring outside agencies to rebuild their infrastructure and teach them how to do it for themselves, as a wise man once said long ago, give a man a fish and he eats for a day, teach a man to fish and he eats forever. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198489Mon, 21 May 2007 16:27:39 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198489H. S. Plouse, Medford, ORTo Muhammed bin Naveed: Well said. I think the US has done good things in Afghanistan. I think the Taliban was a horror, not only for the world but, particularly, for the Afghans (we'd not have been so immediately successful in dislodging the Taliban, after all, had they had a larger base of support or had indigenous opposition to them been less robust). The problem, however, is in attempting to immediately transition from a tribal/feudal society to a full blown modern democracy. It is no indictment of the Americans or of the Afghans that full blown participatory democracy with checks and balances, free trade, a regular market economy, etc. didn't immediately take root there. It IS an indictment of the Americans that they apparently believe that you can leapfrog 500 years of developmental history and it is an indictment of the Afghans that they are not willing to try to at least leapfrog some portion of that history. Then again, anyone who's ever raised a teenager knows that they have to learn everything their own way in their own time, so it's hardly surprising that a nation which has lived the same way for 2,000+ years might have to make mistakes too. There is still time to salvage matters, however, by trying to work within the framework of Afghan culture, rather than simply trying to displace it and to install our own, and there are certainly ways to tailor our efforts more effectively to the realities on the ground. If, for instance, instead of alienating the farmers by destroying their poppy fields (leaving corrupt warlords and the Taliban with a monopoly), we allowed our pharmaceutical companies to contract with them, everyone might be better served and the American effort might, ultimately, be more successful. Similarly, politically, we might recognize that a "tribal-based" republic might be more successful than the type of "direct democracy" which we've favored. The Afghan people would then, at least, have a recognizable, political framework within which to work, and the variant tribal groups could act as a restraint on each other. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198492Mon, 21 May 2007 16:28:57 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198492Just a Working Man, CanadaTerrorism cannot "burn" without the three "Pillars", MONEY, POPULAR SUPPORT, OPPOSING FORCE. Remove any of these and just like a flame which needs Fuel, Heat and Oxygen it will go out. If you remove Opposing Force terrorist become the government and "legitimate", remove Popular Support and the terrorist becomes a Dictator or Totalitarian government which eventually the people will overthrow on their own, remove the Money and there can be no weapons, supplies etc. Many Americans do not realize 9/11 were SAUDI's. Bin Laden is SAUDI. The financing came from SAUDI. The U.S. government knows who the money men are but they are still walking around because they are either connected to or are part of the SAUDI royal family. Who benefits from instablility in the Middle East? Big Oil. How do you stop terrorism..shut off the oil, shut off the money. Mine the ports, destroy the piplines not a single soldier needs to die. Short term damage to Western economy will be huge but alternative fuels will be forced into the forefront. Domestic oil will have to be sold locally instead of overseas at a better price and Big Oil will begin to lose its grip on Powerhttp://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198494Mon, 21 May 2007 16:30:25 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198494Lee Chalk, Surrey, B.C. CanadaDear Jim: I have read your artical on afganistan and the readers coments on the situation. I would like to point out that the U.S. is not alone in this war on Teror. I am a Canadian and my wife is American. Canadians are fighting alongside U.S. troops in Afganistan. More Canadian troops have died in Afganistan than any other conflict since the Korean war. We Must win no matter how mutch it costs in resources or human life. The prospect of alowing the taliban to return to power in Afganistan would fuel and insurgence of terorist atacks against western interests around the globe. If our intervetion in Afganistan helps the Afgan people thats great, but lets not forget why we went there in the first place. We went there to destroy the terorists that killed our family members on September 11,2001. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198507Mon, 21 May 2007 16:36:25 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198507Steven, Denver, USAWell, supposing we do lose in Afgan/Iraq, the good news is we can always nuke their entire civilization and chalk it up to "we tried". There's no reason to go to war with anyone including a "primitive" culture (a primitive culture capable of killing 3000 Americans on their home soil) with both hands tied behind our backs. If we had nuked Hanoi in 1974 we wouldn't be discussing this "war" right now because people would know better. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198510Mon, 21 May 2007 16:38:00 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198510nick sauser, pasadena, md.I for one can not believe it - a NBC Correspondent writing an article that states in Afganistan there is "no better than a 50-50 bet" success or failure. We must have come a long way for this article even to be considered to be written. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198523Mon, 21 May 2007 16:43:15 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198523Saleh Al Kindy, Muscat, OmanI think you are among the only handful of Americans who may be considered as moderately reasonable. However, the Americans need to first understand the cultural behaviour of Afghanis. It is a rule, or rather "an outstanding efficiency" to practice corruption, whether political or financial corruption. Thus, it requires a thorough and serious research to find an effective measures to torpido this behaviour first. Then the Americans may find it smoother to create a friendly nation. Another serious deficiency among the Americans or we may call it "a compensating blunder" is the cultural behaviour of treating themselves as "licenced to kill and torture". I remember, when I was a child piping at a newspaper seeing an American soldier caring three Vietmanise (bodyless) heads from their hair proudly. I think you know what they did in Iraq continue to do. This is another major factor that needs serious dressing. The Americans should allow the Muslims popolation to love them by rejecting Zionism propaganda.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198552Mon, 21 May 2007 16:58:44 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198552AmericanMuslimahConvertI don't think the point to this article as some have said, is to say that we're losing, neither is it to say we're winning. In this type of a war there really is no winner or loser, all you can do is fight for forward progress. The governments in this region have been dictatorial and based on personal gain and oppression of the masses. 1) The people do not exactly know how to respond to freedom. 2) The leaders do not know how to properly lead. Plus you are dealing with issues of basic human rights, and you are dealing with religious leaders who are abusing their very own religion and turning believers into fanatical zealots. This is not just a war on terror, or going in and killing the bad guys. It is as much a socio-economic war as it is a military strategy war. Should we be there in the first place? Some say yes, some say no, but it's a little late for that consideration now. Those considerations should have been thought of when we were all gung-ho for the war on terror because we were reeling from an attack that we now suspect our very own government might have staged on us. Should we stay there? We can pull out, yes... and that would halt the progress (what little or lot there may be) in it's tracks and then it would be up to the people to fight the oppression. Or we could have the fortitude to stay. I don't necessarily like the idea of the war continuing in Afghanistan, however since we've seen fit to impose our values on an entire society, it seems a pointless waste to give up a job that's half way done. Iraq however is a completely different ballgame. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198573Mon, 21 May 2007 17:07:41 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198573Eoghan Faquhar, Ann Arbor, MichiganEveryone else won long ago, the US and American citizens lost. We have lost fine young men and women, the future of our country. We have lost Billions of dollars, poured into the sand. Meanwhile, social security is failing. How about injecting a couple hundred billion into social security? Want a war everyone supports? Let them come over here and start something.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198582Mon, 21 May 2007 17:08:56 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198582Saleh Al Kindy, Muscat, OmanI think you are among the only handful of Americans who may be considered as moderately reasonable. However, the Americans need to first understand the cultural behaviour of Afghanis. It is a rule, or rather "an outstanding efficiency" to practice corruption, whether political or financial corruption. Thus, it requires a thorough and serious research to find an effective measures to torpido this behaviour first. Then the Americans may find it smoother to create a friendly nation. Another serious deficiency among the Americans or we may call it "a compensating blunder" is the cultural behaviour of treating themselves as "licenced to kill and torture". I remember, when I was a child piping at a newspaper seeing an American soldier caring three Vietmanise (bodyless) heads from their hair proudly. I think you know what they did in Iraq continue to do. This is another major factor that needs serious dressing. The Americans should allow the Muslims popolation to love them by rejecting Zionism propaganda.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198585Mon, 21 May 2007 17:10:23 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198585Joe Douglasthe whole piece is junk. if you can not even communicate in the local language and did not move around w/o security guards armed to the teeth even in the capital city, much less the countryside, how did you come by your observations? Talking to some self serving guy like Karzai or an american general? you call that a real assessment of the situation in Afghanistan? Give me a break.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198588Mon, 21 May 2007 17:12:02 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198588A patriotic U.S. citizenMaceda reports that 10,000 American soliders are fighting in eastern Afghanistan. Think about that. Manhattan has twice the number of police officers! I absolutely supported us going after the Taliban after 9/11 but this is what happens when we drop the ball and go into Iraq. We forgot about Afghanistan, where the real threat is. Don't blame the media either, because they are just as likely to be killed or kidnapped as American soliders. (Like those two ABC News journalists that were ambushed a couple days ago.) And to the gentleman that made the comment about McCain walking through the market... come on. If you had Apache helicopters and a large contingent of troops guarding you there you would think it was safe too. Great job reporting.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198598Mon, 21 May 2007 17:17:24 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198598erick de pinoyWinning and losing is a matter of choice. Afghanistan and Iraq are two different war and yet has the same meaning of why we have to win. If we let the US armed forces to do the talking instead of our Politicians the war might have been over by now. Think for seconds if our enemy knows that we mean business then they will quit but since terrorist realize they have allies from within the fractious politician in America then they will continue with their struggles though twisted it may be. War in Afghanistan is easier than the war in Iraq since our mainstream left leaning media concentrate more on Iraq because it legitimize their twisted policy. I voted for Bush twice. He did very well on our economy but I agree that he is the worst president to lead us in time of war. He should have been more forceful and more Churchill like leadership and not the subdued and almost annoying maneristic response. President Bush; it is not too late yet to be a good leader. have a Reagan like determination and the world will look upon you as strong moral and political leader. Please think America first before other countries. Do what is right for America and everything will fall in place.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198599Mon, 21 May 2007 17:18:14 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198599Lee Chalk, Surrey, B.C. CanadaDear Jim: I have read your artical on afganistan and the readers coments on the situation. I would like to point out that the U.S. is not alone in this war on Teror. I am a Canadian and my wife is American. Canadians are fighting alongside U.S. troops in Afganistan. More Canadian troops have died in Afganistan than any other conflict since the Korean war. We Must win no matter how mutch it costs in resources or human life. The prospect of alowing the taliban to return to power in Afganistan would fuel and insurgence of terorist atacks against western interests around the globe. If our intervetion in Afganistan helps the Afgan people thats great, but lets not forget why we went there in the first place. We went there to destroy the terorists that killed our family members on September 11,2001. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198603Mon, 21 May 2007 17:19:28 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198603cj, Rose Canyon, UT.Thank-you for the report on Afghanistan.I live in a very beautiful place, but just 3 miles from my home (as the crow flies) is a military training ground where I hear artillery and bombs on a reg. basis. War is REAL to me everyday. My oldest son has been enlisted since '95, & is going to Afghanistan in June, leaving his little family...The military is doing their best---with what they have. ???How many in the military feel our own gov. let them down years ago when enlisted #'s were way down-(esp.in a time of "peace")- and many have now had to go in several times to both Iraq and Afghanistan? War is NEVER the answer, but when a whole country is threatened, it is the only way to slow down the bloodshed that exists, and have an opportunity to educate and make changes. Granted, drug wars and warlords are keeping most countries that are in turmoil from ever progressing or changing. "The greatest evil can be found where the greatest good exists". Our military is like a small "ambassadorship" for good in a big pot of sewage. Those who come in contact with our military in those countries, may just get a glimpse of HOPE they need...to go on...to do better themselves---what more can we give them? NO amount of $$$ or military presence will change it all, but the good that is happening...however long it takes, is what can HELP! Comments from Pedro in Miami are inappropriate because of the language...and WHO ever said going into this war that there would be a quick fix?? There will NEVER be a quick-fix for anything in this world. Many of the wars my uncles and grandfather fought in were long-term & many hundreds of THOUSANDS were lost or taken...to WHAT??? DEATH...is death the end?? Not at all! It is my own belief that it is the true beginning of something much better and bigger than this earth. We WILL see our loved ones again...God is GOOD..."if you want to find out what's right in the world, ask a child or a grandmother"...can someone ask the children and grandmothers in Afghanistan ??? I would want to hear their comments. Thank-you...http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198607Mon, 21 May 2007 17:21:22 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198607Greg D, Philadelphia, PAWow. Jim's tone is one of exhaustion. He must have endured many sobering and frightful scenes. It seems like he's just happy to be home and wants to say, "Good bye and good riddance! I ain't going back to that god-forsaken place again!"http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198617Mon, 21 May 2007 17:26:10 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198617Luba, New York, New Yorkwe were supposed to kill Osama B. and instead we started a War? What is this? After 9/11 attack Bush did not know where to take the War? He started the War in the wrong place. Palestinians/Arabs are the once that responsible plus those who supported the attack. I think Iraq had nothing to do with the attack. No body is killing in the name of God. Only those who don’t believe in God. And those who mentally challenged. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198639Mon, 21 May 2007 17:39:41 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198639kelly anderson Delburne Alberta, Canada.Who's winning in Afghanistan? Iraq? Somalia? Tibet? Korea? The answer is the same everywhere. I AM. And I want peace, this is my universe. So be it.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#198992Mon, 21 May 2007 21:47:26 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:198992Christopher VerneyFollowing Eric Troy, Joseph Bell and L. A Marti, I would offer the opinion that in wars of state, which may be started by politician, directed by general, fought by soldier, let's consider the impact on cummulative individuals, fact and even perception of fact, of more value than fictionional embellishment, subjective treatment, and twisted hearsay. Rather than propaganda, perception of irrelevancy, and hopeless ness, let's engage with as much of the whole picture including going back to the Carter years, development from Camp David accords through more recent Geneva and Oslo inititives, Baker shaking hands with Hussein for Reagan about during the Russion 10-year Afghan incursion, Balfour declaration, and beyond. Without placing too much emphasis, Mr. Carter remains relevant and well-intentioned as he ever was, whether as President of a country, historian and peace-maker, or leader of a humanitarian foundation. His continuing analysis, commentary and suggestion for charting a Roadmap through “Palestine peace not apartheid” is an engaging, positive, and constructive influence.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#199002Mon, 21 May 2007 22:04:15 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:199002Paul Anderson, Palm Bay, FloridaWhy doesnt anyone follow the money? Where the hell is your journalist integrity? Sen. Kerry pointed out four years ago that we are seeing MORE poppy production since we liberated the country than when the Taliban was in charge. Given our governments long history of drug dealing and the associated scandals (Iran Contra anyone), one would have to infer we are somehow involved in this drug trade. The warlords are not doing this by themselves. They do not have the agricultural means. There is no way that this much herion is passing under an occupation forces nose without them seeing it. So much for nothing but the facts....http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#199037Mon, 21 May 2007 22:55:47 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:199037Greg, Palmetto, FLExcellent story and a close representation of what the thought pattern is, especially from a gentleman who is there on the ground. It makes ME think. Good job, Jim!http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#199100Tue, 22 May 2007 00:15:56 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:199100haTell me the definition of "success" and I'll tell you who's "winning"!http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#199101Tue, 22 May 2007 00:15:56 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:199101haTell me the definition of "success" and I'll tell you who's "winning"!http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#199129Tue, 22 May 2007 01:03:20 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:199129Nathan Young, Billings MTTo Saleh Al Kindy, I can't help but feel there are some serious cultural assumptions being made. Unlike in many middle east counties, religion is NOT that big of a deal in the United States. Here you can know someone your whole life and not know what religion they are. And while there may be large numbers of christians who find there way on to television, there are still plenty of other religions here to. We do not consider these wars christian verses muslim, even if you do. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#199357Tue, 22 May 2007 12:47:37 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:199357Washington Sucksone question you could ask americans is: does anyone even care who's winning anymore? it's all been lies, lies and more lies. it's disheartening when our politicians and intelligence community lies and lies and lies...http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#199368Tue, 22 May 2007 13:09:24 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:199368A.Q.Wazirzada, Sydney, AustraliaIf we pass this simple test then we are winning otherwise wisdom demands that we should cut our losses and get out. -Has Osama been arrested or killed -Has Al Qaida been made inoperative -Has the Taliban been squashed and eliminated as a fighting force -Has a democracy or something similar to it been established -Has the drug Mafia been made inoperative so that they can no longer profit extensively from drugs -Do the citizens all over Afghanistan feel more secure and safe from exploitation and excesses committed by people in power -Is the whole region more stable than what it was before the invasion If the answer to most of these questions is yes; then it is a win-win situation otherwise it lose-lose situation. Elimentary my dear Watson. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#200192Wed, 23 May 2007 01:56:51 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:200192Umpie, Boston, MAYes, a reasonably well balanced article, the comments about which indicate that too many of us are taking from it what feeds our preconceptions. Afghans, like Iraqis, Americans, and the rest of us noble and pitiable mortals, should not be viewed either as culturally worthy of costly assistance or as too morally imperfect to deserve it. Similarly, whether or not America can show measurable "victories" in the war against horror, we should not view that war as a struggle either worth being in or too disppointing to continue waging. Living the life each of us was born into is not always easy, and today's world hosts millions who are unhappy and who blame others for it, some being so resentful that murder and suicide seem desirable options. Those who reside in countries whose governments are unable or unwilling to distribute the collective wealth fairly are particularly at risk. And in cultures where authority figures teach that the god who made each of us actually mandates the senseless killing of his human creations who do not dress or pray a certain way, the attraction of giving one's existence importance with a good, destructive jihad is often irresistable. So long as human nature influences the best and worst of us, that will not change. Can we pretend, then, that Shia who want to kill Sunni, or that Hutu who despise Tutsi, or that Syrians who covet Lebanese independence, or that Afghans who hate opponents of their poppy-growing, are any less threatening to humanity than generic Muslim extremists who believe that Allah requires the butchery of all "infidels?" Should we accept the liberal insistence that America is hated solely for its imperialistic militarism and not for its successes in uplifting and empowering those who would work to improve their social and economic conditions? Should we believe that ignoring the plight of non-Americans in Iraq or Darfur or Seoul will endear us to the poorly informed millions who curse us merely because such an enviable, democratic, non-Islamic republic as ours dares to exist? No ideological struggle, not the fight around Kabul nor the ongoing one in all constitutionally elected legislatures, depends on the ethical infallibility of its combatants. We do not free enslaved peoples or disarm random murderers because the victims of insensitive power are themselves flawless or saintly. When we take such action, it's because our own survival in a world of unrestrained evil is almost inevitable . What we may be sure of is that abandoning non-Americans in need and retreating from far-off battlefields against injustice are not, as isolationists suggest, gestures of peaceful intent. Regardless of how difficult the effort involved, even in an era conditioning us to expect instant gratification, we must assure the defeat of indiscriminate, conscience-dysfunctional murderers. In the absence of that recognition, and however much of our treasure we continue to dispense with non-judgmental smiles and waves, our childrens' future is darker than it would be with committed parents. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#200369Wed, 23 May 2007 08:24:18 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:200369John DoeRussian have understood that Afghanistan cannot be defeated and withdrawn their troops. Why America repeats these mistakes Though is not repeat of mistakes, it is attempt of some people to earn money on war.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#202116Thu, 24 May 2007 04:17:11 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:202116B.T. WorldThe war on Afghanistan is already lost and justifiably so. Time and guerilla-type asymmetric warfare are not on the side of invaders. When I saw that the Bush-Cheney regime's response to 9/11 was to turn a defense against stateless terrorism (a reaction to decades of political and military interference in the Middle East and Central Asia) into large-scale military attacks on two sovereign Muslim states, I realized that the Bush administration was committing a global strategic blunder and a terrible war crime - with open-ended disastrous consequences for Afghanistan, for Iraq, for our country and for the world. By launching colonial bombing wars on non-christian darker skinned poor people and illegally occupying two much smaller countries more than 8000 miles away from our shores, two so-called civilized, rich, but racist and powerhungry western nations destroyed the hope for a new and first century of global peace. Greed, oil, gas, power, arrogance, ignorance, as well as racism led 3 white anglo-saxons (an incompetent moron from Crawford, a chickenhawk gangster politician from Wyoming and a pious slick liar from Britain) into committing global war crimes. Over 700,000 have died so far and the illegal wars initiated by the US and UK governments have not stopped. The illegal wars will cause ripple effects and more political explosions in other Muslim countries (Algeria, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Kashmir, Mindanao, Somalia, etc.). It may take 5 or 10 years but Bush has no idea what he unleashed, no idea at all. And the expansion of global state and gang terrorism is thereby assured. Failed colonial wars, failed policies of violence will reap much more violence in return. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#203408Thu, 24 May 2007 23:02:25 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:203408Carolyn H. Ontario.Canadato Lee from B.C. You're absolutely right .This is where the "War on Terror" is and should be fought.Many of our good neighbours to the south,who are writing here,seem to have forgotten that the terrorists of 9/11 were trained by Osama and when they went to war, it was to get rid of him and his cronies(that they had set up in the first place).Iraq was an invasion and should not be the prime objective.Canadians are fighting in Afghanistan, but we used to hear how we wouldn't go to Iraq.We need to stay in Afghanistan and we need more troop support there.Too bad another corrupt Gov't was put in place .Will we have to fight them in 20 years?http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#203519Fri, 25 May 2007 01:22:39 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:203519Poetry, Orlando, FLWe may not solve warfare or famine in your time. But the cure of all disease may be within our grasp. Imagine the if the trillions spent on "Wars of Choice" or "Wars against a concept" was spent testing every natural and artifical substance known to man against every disease known to man. Imagine if we spent the remainder on determinine the molecular structure and sequencing the genes of every disease so that we could construct cures that while harmless and inert to ourselves, are deadly and irrestible to the viruses, anti-viruses, and bacterias that plague us. War is not the triumph of God. War is the failure of men. Though there are necessary wars such as World War II, most wars could be prevented. For instance, if we stopped buying oil from Saudi Arabia, the money that finances terrorism would dry up and the so called "War Against Terror" would be over. It is instructive to note that no major politician has as his chief goal, destroying terrorism in this way. Perhaps they don't really want it to stop....And besides, every major politican is getting bought by foreign oil interests and domestic big oil. We could easily use things such as coal and nuclear energy to be free of those who fund terrorism. Unfortunately, the politicians have yet to find a way to get paid if we switch to domestic energy sources. Every pundit who says we can't switch to domestic energy is also on they pay roll of big oil and foreign oil interests. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#205431Sun, 27 May 2007 23:56:22 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:205431Laura OstermanMr. Engel, Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, and Buddhists ALL believe in ANGELS. Heaven's M.A.G.I.C.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#205799Tue, 29 May 2007 00:40:28 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:205799Don Dodge, Tempe, Az.The reason we cannot find bin laden and bring him to justice is because Dictator Bush is wasting our time, money, and lives in Iraq, a country that had NOTHING to do with 9-11. We need to start focusing our efforts on going after the REAL terrorists who want America destroyed and stop wasting time fighting Dictator Bush's personal war. He got rid of his families(NOT USA's) enemy Saddam, so why are we still there when the REAL threat to USA runs free to attack us again.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/20/197962.aspx#206669Tue, 29 May 2007 19:16:18 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:206669Carl Griffith---Richmond, Va. USAWe have friends in Iraq and I know there are a lot of instances where these guys do a lot of good. Some of the Iraq people praise them. Why does the media only tell how many were bombed or killed everyday and never show any good deeds at all????