Sun, 07 Mar 2010 00:49:18 +0000

1) While we may not be fighting the Mujahideen as they were during the Soviet invasion, but the same folks are fighitng and the same weapons/training we gave them are being used just under a different banner. You can look that up if you'd like.2)If the insurgency is so unpopular, then why is the US military having such a hard time getting people to even sign up for the new Afghan Army? We raised an army with a large, evil force threatening torture and death during the Revolutionary War so why can't they? And even the people who do sign up don't train hard or seem to care at all about the bigger picture. There are many outlets to check that fact, but if you will not take my word for it, there was a great piece done by 60 minutes entitled "The Quiet Professionals."3) You say "the US invaded to destroy al-Qaeda for carrying out the attacks of Sept. 11." We've accomplished that. I don't see anywhere in your explanation of why we went to war that we needed to nation build after we destroyed al-Qaeda. You inadvertently justified leaving Afghanistan with that comment because we have accomplished what we signed up to do. 4)Once we defeated the Taliban, there was no option as to what government the Afghani people were going to pick; we told them they were going with democracy. That's not our right, we don't know any better than they do and in fact we most certainly know less about their country than they do. It is outrageous to assume that what Mr. Goodwin is trying to get at is that the Taliban government is better than democracy, but you must understand that it is more imperative and meaningful if they do this stuff on their own and for themselves without us holding their hand like a new born baby. If they've really had enough of what's going on, they should be on the edge of their seat trying to fix it. It should be their responsibility to fix it. We are not the world police and we are not better than everyone else. This same scare tactic was used during the Vietnam War. It was all about "Oh my God, if we don't stay and build Southern Vietnam up more people are going to die and we can't have the Soviets color another part of the map red." In case you don't know, more people didn't die, zero Americans lives were lost, and the Soviets didn't gain anymore power after we left. I'm not afraid of a couple hundred guys who hide in caves all day. She was a devoted volunteer with Mission of Mercy, and worked as a clinical dietitian and diabetes educator. Much of her time was spent managing in the dietitians department at the University of West State Medical Center as well as working in a private practice.