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> I can't recall a single American that didn't want to go into there after 911. You must not have been paying attention. There were a hell of a lot of us, and

> I can't recall a single American that didn't want to go into there after 911. You must not have been paying attention. There were a hell of a lot of us, and we weren't quiet. Or wrong. > I'm afraid this won't be the last time American boots will be in country. Oh, of course not. We'll have left behind whole shipping containers full of the things.

bpodgursky 5y ago
That's not really true. It was very true about Iraq, but almost nobody (I assume there are a couple quakers out there somewhere) was against the action in Afghanistan. The Taliban were widely recognized as the absolute worst, and sheltering Bin Laden was just icing on the cake. This was a close to national unity as anything will ever be.
- herbst 5y ago
  I don't know about America. But back then we had huge demonstrations every weekend in Austria trying to get attention from the US government to rethink their action. The public, here in central Europe, was and still is mainly against the US invading countries for their own means. (This is actually part of the reason so many of my generation learned to hate America for their actions in a early age)
  - boomboomsubban 5y ago
    Those were very likely for the Iraq war. The Afghanistan war happened too quickly to garner any major opposition, and though there was some opposition I'm not seeing four weeks of huge Austrian demonstrations listed on Wikipedia at least. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protests_against_the_war_in_Afghanistan https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protests_against_the_war_in_Af... And I feel like holding massive anti-US protests in the weeks after 9/11 would have been a huge talking point in the last twenty years.
    - herbst 5y ago
      Anti-Iraq was even bigger for sure. And I am not sure they happened directly after 9/11 or only months later. But the sentiment was obvious, many people do still not believe the official narrative and can't excuse starting a war for a wrong narrative. Pretty sure demos startet after the first related WikiLeaks leaks? On a side note I would be surprised if Wikipedia had a line for a few hundred young lefties demonstrating in a basically forgotten country like austria. When I say huge, I mean relatively, Austria ain't big. But there should be Media and pics somewhere I guess.
      - boomboomsubban 5y ago
        >Pretty sure demos startet after the first related WikiLeaks leaks? That's like a decade after the war started. Even in the US, by the time of the Iraq War a significant chunk of the population had turned anti-Afghanistan war, but resistance was very limited in the month between September 11th and the start of the war.
        betsushikime 5y ago
        Sorry but the OP is right. Everyone in Europe was shocked and very, very angry that the US attacked yet another country that wasn't a threat to it and had nothing to do with 9/11. Even today, I personally have no idea what the US went to do in Afghanistan. Iraq, at least, had oil. But, Afghanistan? What was the point?
        bpodgursky 5y ago
        I think you have your history very mixed up. The connection between Afghanistan and 9/11 was very clear to everyone. (And in case you genuinely don't know: the Taliban were openly harboring Al Qaeda including Bin Laden. The US ordered them to either hand him over or allow the US to pursue him. They refused. So, the US eliminated the Taliban.)
        boomboomsubban 5y ago
bostonsre 5y ago
> You must not have been paying attention. There were a hell of a lot of us, and we weren't quiet. Or wrong. What? How old are you? Where did you live when it happened? What community or group was against striking back after 911? How can you even say you were "right" when the rest of the country didn't agree with you? > Oh, of course not. We'll have left behind whole shipping containers full of the things. Do you really think Afghanistan won't be the new isis state? The government is weak and one of the mightiest militaries in the world couldn't help defeat the taliban. The taliban is battle hardened and it seems incredibly doubtful they won't retake the country. If you disagree, please explain how you envision a happy war free Afghanistan that won't breed enemies of the United States after we leave.

bpodgursky 5y ago

That's not really true. It was very true about Iraq, but almost nobody (I assume there are a couple quakers out there somewhere) was against the action in Afghanistan. The Taliban were widely recognized as the absolute worst, and sheltering Bin Laden was just icing on the cake. This was a close to national unity as anything will ever be.

herbst 5y ago
I don't know about America. But back then we had huge demonstrations every weekend in Austria trying to get attention from the US government to rethink their action. The public, here in central Europe, was and still is mainly against the US invading countries for their own means. (This is actually part of the reason so many of my generation learned to hate America for their actions in a early age)
- boomboomsubban 5y ago
  Those were very likely for the Iraq war. The Afghanistan war happened too quickly to garner any major opposition, and though there was some opposition I'm not seeing four weeks of huge Austrian demonstrations listed on Wikipedia at least. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protests_against_the_war_in_Afghanistan https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protests_against_the_war_in_Af... And I feel like holding massive anti-US protests in the weeks after 9/11 would have been a huge talking point in the last twenty years.
  - herbst 5y ago
    Anti-Iraq was even bigger for sure. And I am not sure they happened directly after 9/11 or only months later. But the sentiment was obvious, many people do still not believe the official narrative and can't excuse starting a war for a wrong narrative. Pretty sure demos startet after the first related WikiLeaks leaks? On a side note I would be surprised if Wikipedia had a line for a few hundred young lefties demonstrating in a basically forgotten country like austria. When I say huge, I mean relatively, Austria ain't big. But there should be Media and pics somewhere I guess.
    - boomboomsubban 5y ago
      >Pretty sure demos startet after the first related WikiLeaks leaks? That's like a decade after the war started. Even in the US, by the time of the Iraq War a significant chunk of the population had turned anti-Afghanistan war, but resistance was very limited in the month between September 11th and the start of the war.
      - betsushikime 5y ago
        Sorry but the OP is right. Everyone in Europe was shocked and very, very angry that the US attacked yet another country that wasn't a threat to it and had nothing to do with 9/11. Even today, I personally have no idea what the US went to do in Afghanistan. Iraq, at least, had oil. But, Afghanistan? What was the point?
        bpodgursky 5y ago
        I think you have your history very mixed up. The connection between Afghanistan and 9/11 was very clear to everyone. (And in case you genuinely don't know: the Taliban were openly harboring Al Qaeda including Bin Laden. The US ordered them to either hand him over or allow the US to pursue him. They refused. So, the US eliminated the Taliban.)
        boomboomsubban 5y ago

bostonsre 5y ago

> You must not have been paying attention. There were a hell of a lot of us, and we weren't quiet. Or wrong. What? How old are you? Where did you live when it happened? What community or group was against striking back after 911? How can you even say you were "right" when the rest of the country didn't agree with you? > Oh, of course not. We'll have left behind whole shipping containers full of the things. Do you really think Afghanistan won't be the new isis state? The government is weak and one of the mightiest militaries in the world couldn't help defeat the taliban. The taliban is battle hardened and it seems incredibly doubtful they won't retake the country. If you disagree, please explain how you envision a happy war free Afghanistan that won't breed enemies of the United States after we leave.