____Afghanistan
Edited Aug 4, 2004 12:21 pm
Ethnolinguistic Groups in Afghanistan
(1782 previous messages)
- Feb 1, 2010 5:13 pm (#1783 of 1800)
Who here knows anything about military strategy?
JayH - Feb 3, 2010 5:59 pm (#1784 of 1800)
Hey. Most folks don't demonstrate their ignorance about the military. Of course, having the largest military force makes the US target NUMBER ONE.
I'm glad Kitty wants more peace in the world - too bad there are fanatical Muslims who don't.
- Feb 3, 2010 6:42 pm (#1785 of 1800)
Hey. Most folks don't demonstrate their ignorance about the military.
They don't?
How many of us in these forums have served in the military, let alone seen action or vetted strategies?
I could talk about military stuff but clearly it would all be second-hand info.
I think wcoast was a marine so you must defer to him in all things military.
Sukey
- Feb 23, 2010 5:58 am (#1787 of 1800)
Has there ever been a war in which civilians did not die?
Sukey
- Feb 23, 2010 5:59 am (#1788 of 1800)
Well "ever" in recent memory.
Claude Dorsel - Feb 23, 2010 6:23 am (#1789 of 1800)
Yes, Sukey, but, wars in which most dead were civilians only happened after WWI.
Yes, Sukey, but, wars in which most dead were civilians only happened after WWI
Only if you're looking strictly at wars fopught in Europe in the past few centuries. There were lots of massacres in the course of the first Crusade, and in the Thirty Years' War. In a lot of ancient wars the object was the annihilation of the entire enemy population.
I think it was only in the wake of the truly horrific atrocities of the Thirty Years' War that the European powers decided to conducts wars differently, for a while, anyway.
In Europe, that is. In other parts of the world, of course, Europeans continued to massacre and enslave the native populations.
But getting back to western Europe, this is the first time there's been peace between Britain, France, Spain and Italy for as long as 60 years, since long before they were separate political entities. Western Europe hasn't experienced anything like this since the Pax Romana.
Claude Dorsel - Feb 23, 2010 3:56 pm (#1791 of 1800)
Well, Sukey said "in recent memory".
As a kid, I used to calculate how many years there had been between the wars, afraid to realise we were soon doomed to another.
Sukey said "in recent memory"
Yes, and I pointed out that massacres were committed by Europeans outside of Europe without cease before WWI.
And its 65 years since Germany ceased to be Europe's chief agressor.
- Feb 23, 2010 7:11 pm (#1794 of 1800)
Do you trust Germany now, Pelle?
Yes.
- Feb 25, 2010 5:12 pm (#1796 of 1800)
OK then.
JayH - Feb 27, 2010 9:38 pm (#1797 of 1800)
In the Southern US, there were groups who terrorized the citizens long after the war ended - thousands died. For 150 years after the Civil War, there continued to be conflicts, hate-mongering and rabble-rousing that could become violent - criminals continue to be arrested and prosecuted.
Claude Dorsel - Mar 2, 2010 9:24 am (#1798 of 1800)
From the British STOP THE WAR COALITION newsletter:
63% IN BRITAIN SAY TROOPS HOME BY CHRISTMAS
Despite the best efforts of the government and media, the war
in Afghanistan is deeply unpopular. Last week's BBC poll
showed that 63% of the British public want the troops home by
Christmas (SEE http://bit.ly/9meRQf ).
In Germany opposition to the war has recently risen to 69%,
reflecting a trend across most countries in the US-led
"coalition", and last week the Dutch government was brought
down because of its support for the war.
None of this is surprising. NATO's campaign is both brutal and
doomed, and its claim to be "protecting" the Afghan people is
less than persuasive when in the last few weeks we have seen
the offensive on Majah kill dozens of civilians and drive
thousands from their homes.
The attack on Marjah was always more of a publicity stunt than
a military exercise. Predictably, most of the mainstream media
has reduced its reporting to reading out Ministry of Defence
press releases. (SEE http://bit.ly/aDxlD3 ).
However, Marjah is the warm up for the much bigger assault
later in the year on Kandahar -- Afghanistan's second biggest
city -- with the prospect of many more civilian casualties.
With the three main parties in the upcoming general election
all supporting the war in Afghanistan, Stop the War will be
organising, meetings, debates and protests across the country,
campaigning for the policy that two thirds of the electorate
want: the withdrawal of all British troops.
PS: A French majority is also against this pointless and destructive war.
- Mar 2, 2010 2:48 pm (#1799 of 1800)
We in the US can't really complain. We started this war and Obama ran for election under a pro Afghanistan war banner. The feeling among some here is that leaving now would make matters worse.
Sukey
- Mar 3, 2010 10:26 am (#1800 of 1800)
Count me among the "some here".
____Afghanistan