Please explain Cut and Run criteria in light of Afghanistan

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I trust what these guys say a hell of a lot more than the parroted media BS Jar and Razd spew forth.

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That's fine, I guess, but it seems to me like a strange way to make decisions that involve complex geopolitical, social, and historical considerations. But it seems to me like trusting what an assemblyline worker in an automobile plant has to say about automitive engineering, or the fry cook at McDonald's about agriculture policy.Edited to change subtitle, and to add:Like these individuals, I'm sure that the experiences of "these guys" are relevant in understanding the effects of our political and social policies on the people most directly involved; however, it does not automatically give these individuals a deeper understanding than, say, jar or RAZD of the complex interplay of history, politics, or economics that would be necessary to determine the most practical course of action to achieve the desired political or economic goals, nor do they even have a unique ability to determine whether those goals are even desirable or ethical to begin with.Edited by Chiroptera, : No reason given.

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"The fact that a believer is happier than a skeptic is no more to the point than the fact that a drunken man is happier than a sober one." -- George Bernard Shaw

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Let the soldiers fight the war, you just go shop and Dillards and eat McDonalds.

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That's right, RAZD. Don't try to have any say in policy decisions; don't question the authorities, just do what you are told. Democracy is for suckers.

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"The fact that a believer is happier than a skeptic is no more to the point than the fact that a drunken man is happier than a sober one." -- George Bernard Shaw

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RAZD has no say in policy decisions. That's just the way it is.

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Thanks for reminding us that whatever it is that you think your fighting for, it's not democracy.-

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There is information that is not fit for public consumption.

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I understand. Information management is very important in the manipulation of public opinion in a pseudo-democracy.Edited by Chiroptera, : typo

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"My country is the world, and my religion is to do good." -- Thomas Paine

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Why don't you explain how US handing control of Afganistan over to NATO at a time when the Taliban is regrowing in power, the Afghan gov't is asking for more help, and we never completed our mission there is NOT cutting and running?

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Heh. Maybe it's not "cut and run" because once they go in and take care of Iran they won't need Afghanistan for that pipeline anymore.Edited by Chiroptera, : remove old subtitle

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"My country is the world, and my religion is to do good." -- Thomas Paine

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A lesson we (should have) learned from Vietnam is that politicians should not run a war.

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A rather hopelessly idealistic position. What we should have learned from Vietnam, and every other war, is that wars are fought to achieve political objectives. And it is the politicians who set the political agenda. It is the politicians who decide what the political objectives are; then they identify the "enemies" based on how much of an obstacle they pose to the objectives; and then they are the ones who decide how to deal with these obstacles, including whether to use military force against them.In reality, war will serve the political motives of the politicians, otherwise there would have been no reason to go to war to begin with. And the politicians, in real life, will oversee the war in order to ensure that as much of the political goals are met as possible. Wars cannot be fought in a way that jeopardizes the political goals; otherwise war becomes a useless tool of statecraft and no one would engage in it.

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"My country is the world, and my religion is to do good." -- Thomas Paine