The war in Afghanistan

[seeker]

Will someone please explain to me in words of one syllable exactly how British troops in Anfghanistan are fighting for freedom of speech?

And when whoever it is has done that, please will they explain to me exactly what else they are doing there?

My understanding is that they are there because Afghanistan is considered a breeding ground for terrorists that threaten our country and our way of life.

Having said that Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen all seem to be quite good at breeding terrorists so I'm as clueless as the next person.

It all started when George Bush said he wanted to "smoke em out" (of the caves). I think the reality is that we are trying to clear up the mess created by George Bush and Tony Blairs fuck up.

The reason why we originally went into Afghanistan was because of the 9/11 attacks, the then Afghanistan Government's support of the perpetrators and our obligations as a part of NATO.

Why are we still there?

Well in part because the job's not done, the Taliban who made up the Government are still around.

Did we make a mess of it?

Quite probably.

Well, there are a number of reasons:

1. The Taliban were a major supporter of Al Qaeda and were in power
2. Afghanistan was/is a good location for oil pipelines to go through, particularly from the Middle East to CIS countries. The Russians were looking to do a deal; the Americans were not particularly pleased about it.