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Wednesday marks the eighth anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan.
The aim was to defeat the Taliban and deny al Qaeda a home base after the September 11 attacks. But today, the Taliban are resurgent, the war has become increasingly deadly for America and its allies, and Osama bin Laden remains a free man. The Afghanistan conflict has gone on longer than anyone imagined it would.
For his part, President Obama says he will not substantially reduce the number of troops in Afghanistan, nor change the mission. But it remains to be seen if he will expand the the American military presence beyond the 68,000 troops already committed as the war becomes increasingly unpopular.
After eight years of war in Afghanistan, are the United States and the world safer from terrorism?
Tell us what you think in the comments section below. Please remember to be respectful and on-point in your comments. Malicious or offensive comments will be deleted and repeat offenders will be banned.
10/09/2009 :: 01:34:16 AM
jackknife701 Says:
GarciaYVega: War is a dirty business. It always has been, it always will be. The fact that we have had a presence in their backyard and kept them looking over their shoulder and over their heads, indeed, has helped keep them off-balance enough to prevent them from scheming and implementing another spectacular attack in the U.S. Also, the situation would not be as bad as it is had we not diverted so many resources to Iraq. If we pull out now, not only will we lose credibility with the Pakistanis, but then Al-Quaida and Taliban sympathetic forces in the “nether” regions of the area will be able to divert its full attention to overthrowing the legitimate gov’t of Pakistan, wherein they would have full unfettered access to Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal. We have to think beyond the first or even second order of impact before we rush to judgement.