6 ms·

Wouldn't it be easier to make Afghanistan a 51st state? And let 'em keep their culture and religion locally instead of repossessing them?

gruez 5y ago
> Wouldn't it be easier to make Afghanistan a 51st state? That's probably an viable option last century (see: Philippines, Guam, Puerto Rico), but colonialism/imperialism is out of style right now so it would definitely not be easy to do that.
junon 5y ago
Are you implying that the US has rights over Afghanistan?
- slumdev 5y ago
  It did until a few days ago.
  - jdavis703 5y ago
    At least legally, the US had no “rights” over Afghanistan. Afghanistan was not a colony, territory or state of the US. The government was “free” to kick out the US whenever they wanted.
    - hhsbz 5y ago
      The president was a US-educated pawn. No chance he would've kicked out the US, which is why the US put him there.
      - junon 5y ago
        That didn't afford the US any right to annexation.
    - slumdev 5y ago
      I agree 100% in principle. In practice, US foreign policy doesn't recognize international law and never really has. The US could annex Afghanistan, and apart from the CCP doing a lot of complaining about it (primarily because they want access to Afghanistan's mineral wealth), nothing would happen.
- Trias11 5y ago
  No just implying that importing 20000 foreigners from totally different culture into US is not a good idea
  - Bayart 5y ago
    That's a drop in the bucket for a country that's already full of people from all over the world and constantly bragging about its diversity (despite looking very monocultural from the outside looking in).
geofft 5y ago
If the last 20 years of American presence in Afghanistan are anything to go by, no, it's not actually easier.
throwawaysea 5y ago
It may have been preferable for the Afghan people, the vast majority of whom prefer a democracy with election processes, and the vast majority of whom are young and mostly know the post-Taliban life under America's watch. It's unfortunate that America threw away its foothold in the region and has created another set of humanitarian crises - and I don't mean just displaced refugees but also women who will be brutally oppressed under Taliban rule.

gruez 5y ago

> Wouldn't it be easier to make Afghanistan a 51st state? That's probably an viable option last century (see: Philippines, Guam, Puerto Rico), but colonialism/imperialism is out of style right now so it would definitely not be easy to do that.

junon 5y ago

Are you implying that the US has rights over Afghanistan?

slumdev 5y ago
It did until a few days ago.
- jdavis703 5y ago
  At least legally, the US had no “rights” over Afghanistan. Afghanistan was not a colony, territory or state of the US. The government was “free” to kick out the US whenever they wanted.
  - hhsbz 5y ago
    The president was a US-educated pawn. No chance he would've kicked out the US, which is why the US put him there.
    - junon 5y ago
      That didn't afford the US any right to annexation.
  - slumdev 5y ago
    I agree 100% in principle. In practice, US foreign policy doesn't recognize international law and never really has. The US could annex Afghanistan, and apart from the CCP doing a lot of complaining about it (primarily because they want access to Afghanistan's mineral wealth), nothing would happen.
Trias11 5y ago
No just implying that importing 20000 foreigners from totally different culture into US is not a good idea
- Bayart 5y ago
  That's a drop in the bucket for a country that's already full of people from all over the world and constantly bragging about its diversity (despite looking very monocultural from the outside looking in).

geofft 5y ago

If the last 20 years of American presence in Afghanistan are anything to go by, no, it's not actually easier.

throwawaysea 5y ago

It may have been preferable for the Afghan people, the vast majority of whom prefer a democracy with election processes, and the vast majority of whom are young and mostly know the post-Taliban life under America's watch. It's unfortunate that America threw away its foothold in the region and has created another set of humanitarian crises - and I don't mean just displaced refugees but also women who will be brutally oppressed under Taliban rule.