Do you think the USA is wasting its time in Afghanistan?Why are we there?

I personally don't believe the US should be in Afghanistan but we aren't "doing NOTHING." In reality, our soldiers are killing lots of terrorists, suspected terrorists, and civilians over there. The casualties of war are explained by saying that if we didn't kill them now, they would collaborate to carry out more large scale terrorist attacks worldwide. Additional spy research and targeted bombing (no troops on the ground) could prevent what's going on, but that's neither here nor there. We should use all of the money being spent in the Middle East on our own country!

I think the military is still trying to kill the Taliban, the ones they cannot make deals with to keep their poppy fields or sell drugs. The Taliban was protecting al Quaeda when bin Laden was alive. Pres. Obama did kill several top al Quaeda leaders last year. There are business interests in Afghanistan like minerals and natural gas that we are getting. We have military bases all over this part of Asia, Kyrgystan, Uzbekistan, Kazakstan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, mainly I think to strike Iran and to antagonize Russia. So it is not for nothing. We the people get nothing out of this military spending. I doubt any of them actually think they can convert other countries into American colonies but maybe so. We fund or pressure all of the governments in the Gulf and North Africa except Syria and Iran. If their leaders can be bought off, they serve the U.S. needs.

We never leave any country we go into! Except Vietnam where as there we were beat and put out. What would we do with our troops if we left? What would happen to all the companies that makes food and medical supplies that go to our troops, and the counties that there in. We have thousands of troops and US citizens in many many countries around the world. Yes Afghanistan is a wast of our time, but so are a lot of other places were in.

*Cough* You know, it is an *international* force of NATO soldiers. Even though we all know that one of the main reasons the Americans stay is because they want to prove that they can be the first in history to actually pacify Afghanistan, something not even Soviets could, no one want to leave before they do. So many dead, so much money spent... Do you really think the US' allies would be glad that you chickened out *now* and left us there alone? We *must* win, or the international loss of face for the West would be enormous. We will finish what we started. The Taliban must at *least* be reduced enough that they can never take over the country again.

I think the purpose was to secure the country under american control before putting gas pipelines across Afghanistan. However, the US government has not learned from history and is being defeated by the same people who defeated the Rusians and the British on their land. They might as well give up and leave.