Ten reasons to get the troops out of Afghanistan MY

RESPONSE

1. The death rate is rising on both sides. The number of British troops who have
died is now higher than those killed in 6 years in Iraq. Fifteen soldiers died in the
first two weeks of July alone. No one keeps track of the number of Afghan dead
but it numbers tens of thousands since 2001. In May more than 140 Afghans,
mainly women and children, were killed in one air strike.

THIS IS WAR, what do you expect? In war people die. The number of Afghan dead?
Or the number of Afghan soldiers dead?

2. This is an unwinnable war. The Taliban was defeated in 2001 but is now growing
in strength. Osama bin Laden has not been captured. The war is supposedly
about defending the Karzai government. But his government is one of the most
corrupt in the world. Neither he nor the occupation forces have brought any real
improvements for the Afghan

The Taliban was not defeated, Taliban control of government was defeated. The
Taliban retreated to regroup and evolve so they could regain control. The Taliban
collapsed in on itself, but is regrowing now. How is the government corrupt? And
even so, the point of establishing democracy is so elections can be held. If you can
hold elections you can change who is in power.

3. Gordon Brown claims the war is about combating terrorism. But there was no
terrorist threat to Britain before the war in Afghanistan, or before the war in
Iraq in 2003. It is those wars and their consequences that have made Britain a
target. Even MI5 told the government the Iraq occupation was likely to increase
not decrease terrorism.

Gordon Brown says the War on Terror is about combating terrorism. In

Afghanistan, the war is on drugs and establishing a democracy that the people of
Afghanistan are asking for. It is not about Al Qaeda, bombings in London, or
anything like that. The war in Afghanistan is about killing the drug trade. (I believe
 around 90% of the world’s heroin comes from Afghanistan...) If you get a legitimate
government in power, then dangerous, illegal drugs will dry up from the street. Thus
reducing crime rates, NHS spending on addicts, rehab, etc.

4. We are told this may have to be our ’30 years war’. We have fought for eight
years and the situation is getting worse. Children as yet unborn will be dying if
this war is not stopped.

This is just random emotive rubbish which doesn’t particularly make a great deal of
sense. Useless propaganda.

5. The war is spreading to Pakistan, which is a nuclear state, opening up the

prospect of an even more terrible conflict.

Hold on a second, Pakistan hasn’t really been too stable a country, ever, let’s not
forget that. The reason behind you saying the war is spreading to Pakistan is that the
Taliban are retreating into Pakistan, because they are leaving Afghanistan. If
Pakistan was a stable country, they wouldn’t allow the bad people to get into the
country to start with.

6. Life is getting worse for most Afghans under occupation. There is a huge refugee
problem. Corruption is rife. While Tony Blair promised in 2001 ‘we will not walk
away’ Afghanistan remains one of the poorest countries in the world. According
to the United Nations life expectancy has fallen for Afghans since 2003. Far more
is spent on the war and the military than is spent on reconstruction. Aid meant to
help the Afghans is not getting through to those who need it.

Life is getting worse for them under occupation? They’re not under occupation, they
still have free trade and everything like that, the ISAF are if anything improving the
quality of life in Afghanistan. When there is a war raging in a country, money has to
be spent on winning the war, and in a poor country, this is bound to have an effect
on state services. Would you rather have safe streets and poorly built roads, or guns
and bombs on the street and quality bus services?

7. Britain has spent £4.6 billion on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq every year –
enough money to create 200,000 graduate jobs annually. We should be funding
these jobs, not wasting more money on war. Unemployment must not become
arecruiting sergeant for the army.

To the contrary, in times of financial hardship, military service has often been the way
to go. Check the First World War, Boer war, etc. Where has the £4.6 billion gone? It
hasn’t just gone to a big green war machine, people are employed in the army, in the air
force, the navy, civilian contractors, healthcare providers, oil companies, every industry
which supports (physically, not in terms of emotively) war, has benefitted from this
extra revenue – thus keeping people in jobs. More than 200,000.

8. More troops or helicopters won’t help. The NATO forces are not losing because
they don’t have the equipment but because they are in Afghanistan.
More troops and helicopters will help, with enough manpower, a major offensive
would break the Talibans spirit, quell their numbers, reduce quantity of opium-
producing poppy fields and this will eventually lead to victory.

9. We were told that the war in Afghanistan was to liberate women. But women’s
lives have not improved. Death in childbirth is rising. The Karzai government
even tried to pass a law allowing rape in marriage. Despite all the talk about
troops helping girls to go to school, less than a third of Afghan girls are in school
and less than 10% can read and write, 7 years after the fall of the Taliban.

Death in childberth is rising through poor healthcare standards, fuelled by the

negativity of there being a war in the country. When the war is won, healthcare will
improve. As to the rape in marriage, this is not true. 7 years after the fall of the
Taliban, 33% more women are in education and there has been an increase in 10%
of women’s literacy rate.

10. The majority of Afghans do not want the war and occupation. The majority of
British people think the troops should come home by Xmas at the latest. In two
recent polls 56% (BBC and Guardian) and 59% (ITN) want the troops out.

As the late British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli once said, “There’s lies, damn
lies and statistics.”

Moral of the story? Look at the positives which come from this war ending. What
does this war mean to the non-Western world? Defying the Western world is
acceptable? Being anti-democracy is good? The bottom line is this war is so the
masses can benefit, and I’ll leave you with a quote from Churchill.

“Never was so much been owed by so many to so few.” – Winston Churchill.