Per ardua ad astra

The sad truth of the matter is that the wonk who is the webmeister for the DND site probably is a civilian who was tasked because they knew something about computers. As to the MSM and their lack of journalistic investigative skills... that has been covered here many, many times. That class is an option at Journalism U.

The fact is that under the lefties' beloved "International Law", specificially the Hague and Geneva Conventions, Al Qaeda and Taliban terrorists are not lawful combatatants.

These Conventions are readily available on the Internet and I'd recommmend that people actually read them. Such a dispassionate reading can help dispel all the B.S. we're getting from The Usual Suspects in the MSM.

Al Qaeda and Taliban terrorists neither wear a uniform nor insignia observable from any reasonable distance; are not forces under the command of any recognized government; nor do they themselves respect and follow the requirements of the Hague and Geneva Conventions.

Legally, when captured, they are in the same category as captured spies or saboteurs-Unlawful Combatants. After the briefest of summary legal proceedings in the field to establish their status, they can legally be summarily executed.

This was done in both WW1 and WW2 by Allied Forces with captured Axis spies and soldiers captured behind Allied lines on intelligence and sabotage missions. (Information about that is also readily available on the Internet. For example, Allied troops captured quite a few German troops behind Allied lines during the Battle of the Bulge, wearing American uniforms, on intelligence and sabotage missions. They were all rightly, legally executed.)

Instead, today in the Global War on Terror, the US, Canada, the UK, Australia and other nations in the Coalition are affording the captured terrorists treatment that's essentially in accordance to the above referenced Conventions.

That's far more than they deserve. Were it not for the intelligence to be obtained from some of those terrorists, I'd personally prefer that they all be summarily tried and executed. It is their just deserts and would make the right statement to the world.

Article 4

A. Prisoners of war, in the sense of the present Convention, are persons belonging to ONE of the following categories, who have fallen into the power of the enemy:
...
2. Members of other militias and members of other volunteer corps, including those of organized resistance movements, belonging to a Party to the conflict and operating in or outside their own territory, even if this territory is occupied, provided that such militias or volunteer corps, including such organized resistance movements, fulfil the following conditions:

(a) That of being commanded by a person responsible for his subordinates;

(b) That of having a fixed distinctive sign recognizable at a distance;

(c) That of carrying arms openly;

(d) That of conducting their operations in accordance with the laws and customs of war.

So your saying the Taliban arenèt lawfull combatents?

How quickly people fall back to the old ways of lawlessness.

More Murders of women and children coming up daily.
What countries lock people up without trials?

What countries torture prisoners to death?

Must feel brave tying peoples hands up before you shoot them in the head.

This is the country you want to blindly follow to war?

Also the Geneva Protocol of 1925 says,

108. Protocol for the Prohibition of the use of Asphyxiating, Poisonous or other gases, and of Bacteriological Methods of Warfare.

1. It Prohibits the use in armed conflict of asphyxiating, poisonous or other and all analogous liquids, material or devices.

Seems not to many people want to follow the same rules they want others too blindly follow.

Neutral Sam,

Do you think that Al Qaeda and Taliban terrorists wearing ordinary civilian clothing, without any insignia whatever, is "...a fixed distinctive sign recognizable at a distance"?

Do you think that Al Qaeda and Taliban terrorists in civilian clothing:

1. highjacking civil airliners full of civilians and crashing them into civilian skyscrapers; OR
2. setting bombs where anyone-civilian or military-can be killed or wounded; OR
3. sending suicide bombers into civilian buildings and facilities; OR
4. torturing and beheading civilians whom they've kidnapped

constitutes "c) That of carrying arms openly"?

If that's the case, it would appear that your pen name "NeutralSam" is translated as "Morally and Intellectually Neutered".

the "one" in article 4 applies to one section (or clause or whatever it is); in order to qualify for the protection of that section a detainee must fulfill ALL sub-sections of said section, the Taliban clearly do not qualify under this particular section; the anti-american drivel at the end of the post actually describes Saddam's reign to a T.

NeutralSam,

Clearly you are illiterate?

How do people go through life so clueless? Honestly.

Go back and read what you wrote. Repeatedly. Until you understand your errors. Go back to the source material too. Re-read. Repeatedly.

The frustrating thing is that even the clueless are allowed to vote.

And yes, I'm grumpy.

How many times have the US been caught writing false news reports to make the war look better then it actually is?

We should’ve never joined in with the US in this war. Who said the Afghani people attacked the US? They didn’t.

The truth is just starting to come out now, as the US media starts growing some balls and doing their job.
"On Saturday, May 13th, 2006, at 10:00 p.m., U.S. Forces accompanied by the Iraqi National Guard attacked the houses of Iraqi people in the al-Latifya district south of Baghdad by an intensive helicopter shelling. This led the families to flee to the al-Mazar and water canals to protect themselves from the fierce shelling. Then seven helicopters landed to pursue the families who fled … and killed them. The number of victims amounted to more than 25 martyrs. U.S. forces detained another six persons, including two women named Israa Ahmed Hasan and Widad Ahmed Hasan, and a child named Huda Hitham Mohammed Hasan, whose father was killed during the shelling."

"The forces didn't stop at this limit. They held an attack on May 15th, 2006, supported also by the Iraqi National Guards. They also attacked the families' houses, and arrested a number of them while others fled. U.S. snipers then used the homes to target more Iraqis. The reason for this crime was due to the downing of a helicopter in an area close to where the forces held their attack."

The same agencies you condemn Saddam with accuse the US/Bush of the same Human rights violations and War crimes.

How many times have the US been caught writing false news reports to make the war look better then it actually is?

We should’ve never joined in with the US in this war. Who said the Afghani people attacked the US? They didn’t.

The truth is just starting to come out now, as the US media starts growing some balls and doing their job.
"On Saturday, May 13th, 2006, at 10:00 p.m., U.S. Forces accompanied by the Iraqi National Guard attacked the houses of Iraqi people in the al-Latifya district south of Baghdad by an intensive helicopter shelling. This led the families to flee to the al-Mazar and water canals to protect themselves from the fierce shelling. Then seven helicopters landed to pursue the families who fled … and killed them. The number of victims amounted to more than 25 martyrs. U.S. forces detained another six persons, including two women named Israa Ahmed Hasan and Widad Ahmed Hasan, and a child named Huda Hitham Mohammed Hasan, whose father was killed during the shelling."

"The forces didn't stop at this limit. They held an attack on May 15th, 2006, supported also by the Iraqi National Guards. They also attacked the families' houses, and arrested a number of them while others fled. U.S. snipers then used the homes to target more Iraqis. The reason for this crime was due to the downing of a helicopter in an area close to where the forces held their attack."

The same agencies you condemn Saddam with accuse the US/Bush of the same Human rights violations and War crimes.
It's good to see all these patriots cheering on their baby killing armies. The people of afghanistan will love the troops all the more for it.

I don't know much about "conduct of war" or what "truths" are or aren't coming out in the MSM regarding Iraq and Afghanistan. All I know is that we and the U.S. are over there now and I want these missions to suceed so that the people of Iraq and Afghanistan can have, for the first time ever, some hope for their children and grandchildrens futures (where there was absolutely none before) to live in a peaceful democracy one day. Will innocent lives get lost in these battles? Absolutely! As many as were previously being killed by Saddam (estimates are at 150,000 per year) and/or the Taliban? Not even close! It's a no brainer for me! Why do so many in the U.S. and Canada want these missions to fail? Even to the point where they are willing to sabotage them from within? I really can't understand that attitude at all! And it seems to come mostly from those who claim to be the ones who are "fighting against injustice" (but they deem the U.S. to be unjust instead of the terrorists??!!) - how do they reconcile their attitudes to think that this is "OK", do they not understand the consequences of aborting these missions at this point? Where will that leave millions of people in these countries? There seems to be no thought to the after effects of a withdrawal nor is there any consideration of the possibility that, with the success of these missions, we might yet have peace in the Middle East in 10-20 years (and for which George W. will go down in the history books as the heroic leader who started it all..). Let's not forget how hated Ronald Reagan was during his reign in power (the dreaded "star wars") and now he is considered by many to have been the best U.S. president according to a recent poll (h/t Nealenews), largely due to his part in helping end the cold war and Russian communism. To all those with these "leftist" attitudes - Who would you rather have as your permanent neighbour - an Islamic Middle Eastern country or the U.S.? Why? Think about that!!

Ahhh, the selective memory of the leftist inclined. Throwing out retorical questions without an answer and claiming the moral high ground. After all, we know suicide bombers only hurt or maim uniformed combatants. You pathetic pieces of excretera make me sick.

Neutered sam is anything but a neutralist. After all, we all know that George Bush started the crusades back in the eleventh century.

Charley
We don't want the missions to fail but when you have overwhelming stupidity leading our side you realise there is no hope.
These guys are like used car salesmen, they will tell you anything they think they need to in order to sell their snakeoil war.
They went to Afghanistan to get Bin Laden. Did they get him? No.
Did they have to invade an entire country to get him? No.
They kick out the Taliban because, well they were a brutal government. Oh, so we are going to start taking out all the brutal governments? No. Just this one and maybe one more.

Oh, you mean your going after the terrorists in their home country? No.

Well, fifteen came from Saudi Arabia that must be a big breeding ground yes? Yes, but we are not going there. Because? (silence)

So now they have occupied a country and set up a puppet government. Now what?

Now we will occupy it and rebuild it. (fast forward five years).

How is the rebuilding going? slowly, very slowly.

What are we doing then? We thought we'd ask NATO to come in and help us because things are getting a little harried over here again.

There is an insurgency? Yes.

Something like Iraq? yeah something like that.

So its a quagmire? No its just that we have a lot left to do and Karzai needs our help.

You're losing it and he is too? (silence).

How long are the American people going to tolerate a war that is showing no signs of being over and yet will soon be longer than WW2??

The majority think Iraq was a mistake? Now we have American soldiers apparently slaughtering innocent civilians. How much more rope will the American people give you? Another year? Two?
Are you going to be finished what you set out to do? No.
In the end we will have civil war in Iraq and the Taliban back in Afghanistan. Anyone wanna bet different?

Our Troops are doing the right thing now, but how long before they fall into the behaviors of somalia?
Twice they've had to intervene on behalf of the prisoners, torture and murder is going on over there.
Canadian Troops shouild be put in control and make sure justice is done for both sides.

The US should leave.

Steve d. - It's time for a little honesty from you.

You do indeed, hope for the mission to fail.

It's time you simply say so, and be done with it.

Honesty??

It would get in the way of their little debating games. Their "knowledge", their "truth" and their moral high ground.

It would be nice if they would fly over to Kabul and share their wisdom.

As it turns out, not only am I not the only one who thinks this faux-journalism is manipulative, it's not even a right-versus-liberal-media thing. Wonderdog's politics lean way left, but he arguably trashes Koring more thoroughly than I do.

My God, you're a humourless bunch!

Andy

Aha..Kate!!

You cut to the chase.The last thing he wants is a resolution or concensus on ANY topic.It is the warped thrill of getting others to react and dance for him as he pushes their buttons that really gets him out of bed in the morning.
The topics change daily,his tactics NEVER do.

I for one am tiring of his hijacking so many good threads with his partisan misdirections.But,I am equally tiring of seeing so many fellow conservatives lunge for this obvious bait.

kate
Honestly, I believe good men and women are being wasted in Iraq and Afghanistan. I have watched the incompetent leadership, mostly civilian, mostly chickenhawk, since the beginning. I didn't believe they had to go in guns-a-blazing like some cowboy movie.
In five years of this slaughter all I have seen is murder. No one is saved. Nothing has changed.
Afghanistan was in the middle of a civil war. The Taliban and Northern Alliance. We WILL leave at some point. The fighting will resume. I vote to come home and let then continue their own struggle. All we are doing is postponing it.
Iraq was being held together by a despot. It may be that after the Americans leave a despot may be needed to stop an catastrophic civil war. American troops presence is all that prevents it. Unfortunately, as long as American troops remain they will be the major target. Seting up a puppet government whether in Iraq or Afghanistan will in the end be futile. The people see these governments as American puppets. So you see I believe that it is futile to remain in either country. Why waste another life?
I understand there is a corporate agenda in both countries, but I think they would do better to back off and wait until the dust settles before they go in for the business. The pipeline in Afghanistan or the oil in Iraq and the huge infrastructure rebuilding that has to go on will not be moved forward by the aggressive use of military. At this point all they are doing is multiplying their enemies and that is never a good thing.

"How many times have the US been caught writing false news reports to make the war look better then it actually is?"

Hey, you tell us.

Please link to those "false" reports? We are all eyes.

24/7 the MSM pummels the public with an unrelenting negative spin on Iraq and Afghanistan. There are enough established military bloggers to confirm that most of the garbage reported by the MSM is unreliable.

Give me a break.

Spend a few weeks daily reading the Belmont Club site, a repository of the best information and analysis on Iraq, Afghanistan and the WOT, then I'll respect your opinion.

http://fallbackbelmont.blogspot.com//

I can't find your source on the al-Latifya incident, care to share it?

Remember in the years running up to 9-11 how the post-modern liberal left took up the cause of the people of Afghanistan? We were told how music and flying kites was outlawed, how women were being shot in the head with AK-47's in soccer stadiums for simply baring their faces (remember the CNN special?), how homosexuals were being executed by having purpose built walls pushed over on them, and how the Taliban were blowing up ancient statues. On and on it went.

The internationalist liberal left shouted from the roof tops that SOMETHING HAD TO BE DONE!!. And we all know which country took most of the heat for "sitting on their duff" and not "doing something".

Well, lordy, lordy, in Oct./01 SOMETHING "was done". Perhaps not for perfectly altruistic reasons (only left leaning liberals have pure motives). But the Taliban did get the boot. And now a UN approved/NATO enabled multinational force is trying to stabilize Afghanitstan and protect it's citizens from the aformentioned benefits of Islamic fascism. And yes, to help prevent Islamic fascists from doing "the full Beslan" at my kid's school.

And which group of ninnies are now beating the matched set drums of pascifism, appeasement, and cowardice?

Bart F
Yes there was a lot in the media about how ruthless the Taliban were. Just like there is a lot in the media about Iran, it has a crazy leader, the mullahs rule, they are harsh and unbending, can't be reasoned with.
How much of this is planted by CIA to soften up the American and world opinion before you move on a country. It happened to Castro, to Saddam, to Noriega, Arbenz,etc.

It was still a sovereign country even though we didn't like the Taliban. Not liking a regime is not in and of itself reason to invade. Harboring terrorists isn't either. America has tolerated other countries harbouring terrorists. The most famous being the terrorists that Kadhafi gave sanctuary to in Libya. They didn't need Libyan oil. Now it is different. The Middle East is becoming less stable. America is looking around to hedge its bets. Libya has Kadhafi's son being groomed to take over and has a stable regime. So its lets do business time. Oil deals are being made as we speak.

Its not about appeasement and cowardice thats just naive. Its about commerce. Its about America Inc.

Jun. 2, 2006. 11:56 PM
Police from across the GTA, led by the RCMP's anti-terrorism task force, swooped down on as many as 12 locations Friday night to arrest members of what is being described as a homegrown terrorist cell. Stan Josey and Michelle Shephard report.

That Terrorist report is from Toronto.

Terrorists in Toronto
As many as 10 are arrested. Bombing was planned.

It is unfortunate when people don't get what they want. Muslim jihadis want to be with Allah - Western troops could easily send them if they adopt a take no prisoners policy, while catering to these fascists is normally a bad idea - this one little exception seems appropriate.

It's ironic - on the very night we hear how close we came to a full-fledged terrorist attack, launched by Al Qaeda, the CBC lies to Canadians about British Army "deserters". The announcer breathlessly announced that the British Army has had 1000!!!! deserters since the Iraq War began.

Wow. Can you imagine? Those poor British MPs, trying to help safeguard military and civilian lives, while still trying to locate 1000!!!! deserters.

Turns out the truth is (as is CBC's wont) much different.

In the past three years, close to 1000 British troops have been reported AWOL. And, of course, you are AWOL if you're as much as an hour late arriving back from leave.

No firing squads for the 1000!!!! deserters. Just some more potatoes to peel for those who can't tell time.

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Fake_news

Under the Bush administration, the federal government has aggressively used a well-established tool of public relations: the prepackaged, ready-to-serve news report that major corporations have long distributed to TV stations to pitch everything from headache remedies to auto insurance. In all, at least 20 federal agencies, including the Defense Department and the Census Bureau, have made and distributed hundreds of television news segments in the past four years, records and interviews show. Many were subsequently broadcast on local stations across the country without any acknowledgement of the government's role in their production.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/13/politics/13covert.html?ex=1268456400&en=2e1b834f0ba8a53c&ei=5088

Al-Latifya

http://community.channel4.com/groupee/forums/a/tpc/f/503603557/m/3960070874/r/5880088184

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article13427.htm

http://uruknet.info/?p=m23644&hd=0&size=1&l=x

"A number [of marines] had moved into small encampments around the dam's entrances that resembled something from Lord of the Flies." 'Marines are good at killing. Nothing else. They like it' 01 Jun 2006

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/06/01/wbush101.xml

infidel
Using armies is getting us nowhere. We are creating more terrorists than we are killing.
We need to do what the Israelis did after Munich. You quietly hunt down the active terrorists and their leaders relentlessly. If most countries did this I think you could be a lot more effective while not giving them daily MSM coverage.

The U.S. military command in Baghdad acknowledged for the first time yesterday that it has paid Iraqi newspapers to carry positive news about U.S. efforts in Iraq, but officials characterized the payments as part of a legitimate campaign to counter insurgents' misinformation.

Hows this penny
Military Says It Paid Iraq Papers for News
Possible 'Improprieties' to Be Investigated

By Josh White and Bradley Graham
Washington Post Staff Writers
Saturday, December 3, 2005; Page A01
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/02/AR2005120201454.html

In a statement, the command said the program included efforts, "customary in Iraq," to purchase advertising and place clearly labeled opinion pieces in Iraqi newspapers. But the statement suggested that the "information operations" program may have veered into a gray area where government contractors paid to have articles placed in Iraqi newspapers without explaining that the material came from the U.S. military and that Iraqi journalists were paid to write positive accounts.

Well,that blows my theory to hell!
I was convinced that we were relatively safe from terrorists as a successfull attack on our soil would naturally steel our resolve to committing troops.I have believed that DISSENT in some of the West was an important aide to Bin Laden,something he would nuture,not kill.

If this Toronto story is indeed accurate,it speaks volumes of just how unsophisticated these people really are,or maybe they do not even realize the strength of anti-war propaganda already circling here.(His particular cave may not have cable)

And again I have to ask...WHY is the west "dicking around" with Pakistan when some of the murderers of our young and brave Canadians are safely hiding there?

Terrorists arrested in Toronto!

One potential target was an office building near the CN Tower or so the news states. Young men of 19 and early twenties.

Steve d Enough of your talk of wasting good men and women in Afghanistan. Time to become a defendant along with other informed Canadians.

This is a gathering storm aimed at destroying our freedoms and the degree of fairness our less than perfect democracy provides. TG

AHA!
It seems reports are these thugs are NOT al Qaeda related,my theory still holds!

BTW,EXCELLENT WORK stopping them BEFORE they killed!!!BRAVO!!!

Soon now some leftie will come out with the theory that this "small" group in toronto were the only "home grown" terrorists in Canada and now they have been arrested we have nothing else to worry about.

See, here's one of the more perplexing moral/logical inconsistencies of the pro-war geniuses:

The Bush Administration's policy of invading countries and kidnapping suspected Islamic saboteurs from sovereign nations is analogous to going door to door killing all of your neighbours in order to prevent your house being broken into - all while leaving your front and back door wide open.

There were hardly any Muslims in Canada pre-Trudeau; now, we accept tens of thousands of them every year. If we are to believe the rhetoric here at SDA about "islamofascists", wouldn't your time be better spent lobbying for immigration reform rather than advocating the invasion of foreign nations?

Roman General: "Sir, the Huns have sacked one of our garrisons. What shall we do?"
Roman Emperor: "Err...increase immigration from the Hunnish empire? And spend 100 million dinari to recognize their substandard credentials?"

It may be a peculiar feature of political correctness here in Canada that what SDA commentors regularly advocate - war, genocide, ethnic cleansing, etc. - is OK, but nobody, and I mean nobody, dares bring up immigration, lest they be labelled racist. More clearly, it's OK to be pro-war, pro-genocide, etc., but not OK to be in favour of a more secure immigration policy. Strange, no?

another typical CBCpravda backhanded swipe at the yanks. US unemployment rate at a low , yet its reported negatively. Canadian unemployment rate 50% higher gets a mention near the end. They just keep hammering and yammering without a mention of US prosperity, because it doesnt fit their model society. Canadian unemployment rate of 30 year low is still higher by 50% than the yanks 5 year low.

U.S. job creation weaker than expected in May
Last Updated Fri, 02 Jun 2006 08:57:29 EDT
CBC News
Job creation in the United States missed economists' expectations last month, as employers added only 75,000 new staff to their payrolls.

Economists had been looking for job growth of roughly 175,000.

The May job creation figure was the weakest since October 2005 when the U.S. economy was still hurting from the fallout from the hurricanes that struck the Gulf Coast.

Despite the tepid job growth, the U.S. unemployment unexpectedly dipped by 0.1 of a percentage point to 4.6 per cent — the lowest rate since July 2001.

The U.S. Labour Department also reported that average hourly earnings rose by just one penny, and the length of the average working week fell to 33.8 hours last month from April 33.9 hours, which was a 3½-year high.

Canada's unemployment rate for April hovered around a 30-year low of 6.4 per cent. The jobless report for May will be released June 9.

After reading Steve d. and Bob's comments, I am convinced these people want these missions to fail just so they can be proven right that it was all George Bush's fault! Personally, I couldn't give a rat's a** about George Bush but I refuse to believe this "Michael Moore crap" that these missions are all about some corporate/oil hidden Bush/CIA agenda - talk about twilight zone!! Corporate American (or Canada) is NOT the enemy and in fact does a lot of great things for our communities (in fact I work for one that makes huge profits but also runs scholorship programs, 3-4 fundraising events every year where employees really put their money where their mouth is - more than I can say for a lot of you "lefties"). In order to distribute wealth, you first have to create it!

I think it's extremely naive to believe that democracy can be installed in a country "overnight", the reality is that it takes 10-20 years for things to change. Maybe the Bush government's biggest flaw was in NOT telling people this truth right at the begginning! We have become an "instant" society and if things are not resolved quickly they are deemed to be failures. Thankfully, we didn't have this attitude during the 2nd world war!

Are these recent events with the Marines horrible? Absolutley, without doubt!! How often has this type of thing REALLY happened over the last 4 years? Not a whole lot! I believe the men and women fighting over there are good & just but, like in any group, you will have some "bad apples", why should they be any different (they are not super heros you know!!).

If you are sincere about truly wanting to help the Iraqi and Afghan people, get behind this war! There is no other way.

"paid Iraqi newspapers"......so what's that got to do with the MSM reporting here? The NYT's? WaPo? Anyone?

Again.....I can't find your source on the al-Latifya incident, care to share it?

Charley

It is simpler than that. They are doomed to failure. There is no question about that. Bush is already a failure. These things are already settled.
What I would like to see is for Bush to agree with his people and withdraw the troops.
Is it so hard to understand that I don't like to see any people's lives wasted? Hundreds of people are dying monthly and hundreds more are maimed. It is all for nothing, except if you believe a larger more corporate agenda is at play, then it makes sense. Otherwise it is over. Most military men that I hear on the media will tell you it is hopeless.

Steve d. You've already declared all lost in both Iraq and Afghanistan??!!Wow, how sad for you!! How especially sad you must be for the people in those countries who, according to you, will no longer have any hope whatsoever for a future of peace, democracy & freedom for their children.

I am much more optimistic and would rather believe reports directly from Middle Eastern bloggers and soldiers who are actually out there in the field rather than a bunch of reporters who sit in a bar in Bahgdad and swap horror stories which they in turn print as "news" (spin). I haven't been seeing nearly as many stories lately about the so-called "civil war", even the reports of bombings have become much less frequent over the past few months. In fact, up until a couple of weeks ago or so I noticed that there have been many a night where there has been abolutely NO MENTION of Iraq on the news at all (no news is good news). Things are heated right now but will calm back down by fall and the good work that was/is being done (hospitals, schools, etc) will continue at a slow and steady pace. The only reason Americans want to pull out is because the MSM has gone out of its way to report only the bad and none of the good so how can people make an informed decision on only half of the information? It's not hard for me to find lots of good things that are happening over there but most people won't bother to look for it (they assume, incorrectly, that the news is unbiased. It was a shock for little ole naive me to learn over the last year or so just how extremely bais they are once you start to actually check on stuff being reported!).

Name a country that the US ever brought democracy too?

sharia law is the law of Afghanistan they still cut hands off, stone people and behead them.
So understandably the women want change but others don't. What happens if they elect a softer form of Taliban?

At least our troops are standing up for human rights over there. I feel sorry for the americans they'll have to live with their troops when they come back, bad habits are hard to shake.

Neutral Sam
Japan and Germany, mostly Japan

After all, we know suicide bombers only hurt or maim uniformed combatants.
Texas Canuck

We also know that only insurgents are killed when the US drops bombs in residential areas. Plus we know white phosphorus only seeks out the terrorist.

There goes the news again saying that the 17 are suspects, why wait lets hang'em now.
Just because our troops are over there helping to murder their women and children doesn't give them the right to come over here and think of attacking us.