posted on Mar, 30 2008 @ 07:17 PM
I decided to start this topic to examine the UK's role in Afghanistan - in particular the public's perception of the conflict and the reasoning
behind it.
I get the sense (from comments here on ATS, from people I know, and from the media) that many people are lumping Iraq and Afghanistan together. You
hear comments like "We should just leave altogether" applied to Afghanistan just as they are to Iraq. Not only do I think this is incorrect, but I
also think it's dangerous.
Iraq and Afghanistan are two separate conflicts, regardless of how governments try to link them. Afghanistan was fully mandated by the United Nations
and was a response to a series of attacks which killed over three thousand people. 67 of those people were British citizens, meaning that our country
was directly affected by the attack. We had a duty to respond.
Now I don't want to turn this into a thread about Iraq, since I know it's very controversial and people have a range of opinions on it that have
been discussed in depth elsewhere.
Instead, I'd like us to look specifically at Afghanistan and how popular perception has changed since 2001. Has it changed? Why? Does anyone else get
the sense people are writing off Afghanistan as 'just another Iraq'? Does anyone think we should leave Afghanistan? I'd like to hear your
reasoning.
Oh, and on a related note from Afghanistan, I was amazed to learn of the bravery of one young Royal Marine from 40 Commando who
threw himself onto a hand grenade to save his comrades... and miraculously
survived the explosion! Hopefully the MoD will put him forward for the Victoria Cross; he has certainly earned it.