Bruce Haigh should get into politics himself, with his ‘must do’ and ‘need to’. As I suggested recently, Mr. Haigh is one of those disillusioned leftish diplomats who is, and will continue to be, at odds with a party he thought would do want he wanted it to do.

I think that the Afghans should be left to get on with killing each other, and all Australian troops should be withdrawn.
But, I don’t suppose the Rudd Government will listen to me any more than they will listen to Bruce Haigh

The more opinions I read about Palestine, Iraq and Afghanistan the more I am convinced that we are in the early stages of another 30-year war. When will we learn not to take sides?

I could not agree with you more Mr.Right.
If the Poms and the Ruski's couldn't subdue the Afghan people, then what hope have the Yanks and their allies with their "brute force and ignorance" tactics. They would get more "bang for their buck" if they were to just buy the opium and burn it. That would accomplish the threefold job of providing the population with a living, getting the opium off the streets of the West and saving the lives of the NATO troops.

David

tThe Taliban were started by Clinton with Bhutto's help and funding from the Saudi's and UAE to counter the so-called northern alliance who had destroyed almost all of Afghanistan in the years after the Russians had destroyed large chunks of it in the war funded by Jimmy Carter to send the Russians broke.

The Taliban did destroy the poppies but were dreadful bullies, just ask the thousands of refugees who escaped them. But hang on a minute. When they came here we locked them in cages in the desert, turned them away or drowned them so I guess the Taliban were pretty nice after all.

Two things never cease to astonish me. 1. That it is well known that the US had decided to bomb Afghanistan in July 2001 to get that pipeline across from the Caspian Sea, 2. I still don't know why we invaded and occupied the whole country because some arabians committed a crime in the US.

WE have not achieved one single thing in Afghanistan except to make it infinitely worse for the people.

“The war in Afghanistan has boosted the growing of poppies for opium.”

That might be so but at least women are not reduced to second class citizens and are allowed to be educated.

“Instability and the inability to upgrade infrastructure caused by the war has made the viability other cash crops marginal.”

More likely, the incumbent government is considered by the growers less inclined to summary execution than the Taliban.

Re” In backing the Mujahidin against the invading Russians the US encouraged and backed the heroin trade as a means for the Mujahidin to be self-funding thereby reducing the cost to US taxpayers of bleeding the Soviet Union.”

Two comments

The amount the USA spends on anti drug initiatives, it would have been cheaper to buy the entire opium crop at source and I am sure the minds the USA buys to develop strategy had that figured.

More certain – a common and greater enemy makes for strange bedfellows.

“foreigners and dispossessed young men otherwise known as terrorists.”

Terrorists are creatures of opportunity. They have been around since before Rome invaded its sister Italian states and will be around after Afghanistan is a peaceful haven, they will just move on.

“boosted the confidence and hardened the resolve of the Taliban and their backers.”

And similar could have been said about the reaction of IRA to the entry of UK forces into Northern Ireland in the late 1960’s.

As dearest Margaret said “All attempts to destroy democracy by terrorism will fail. It must be business as usual.”

“it was brought home to me that no outside military force could hope to impose its will on Afghanistan.”

And I thought Afghanistan had its own government, who the Australian forces were supporting. Maybe they should reinstall the royal family.

“If the government were serious ….. the Taliban and their backers.”

I see no evidence to suggest they have not been doing so since we arrived in Afghanistan.

Marilyn Shepherd “We have not achieved one single thing in Afghanistan except to make it infinitely worse for the people.”

Afghani women would disagree with you.

Heaven's above Col Rouge, Afghan women are not getting any better deal you silly twerp. There are 2 million widows begging in the streets, girls as young as 8 are being sold into marriage, rape is rife and women are self-immolating on an horrendous scale to get away from rape and brutality.

I think you live in fantasy land mate. It might be safe for a few women in Kabul but even women MP's couldn't be seen in public without being threatened with death.