viewpoint wrote on Dec 17^th, 2013 at 3:00pm:


Maybe you can tell us, as cods, although asked, declined.  What was that job?

viewpoint wrote on Dec 17^th, 2013 at 7:04pm:


Yo, bro!  So, we went to Afghanistan to help me in my taxi business.  Weeeeeelllll, thank you 'boys,' but I saw no difference here at the coal face.

Have another go........what was that 'job' we went there to do, and did we do it?

viewpoint wrote on Dec 17^th, 2013 at 7:12pm:


Will you cry if I keep asking you for several hours?

What was that 'job' you referred to?  The one we left 'unfinished.'

Ex Dame Pansi wrote on Dec 18^th, 2013 at 6:22am:


we lost a few men whilst training the Afghans to stand up for themselves and to fight evil..is that such a bad thing??

wiki
The War in Afghanistan (2001–present) refers to the intervention by NATO and allied forces in the Afghan political struggle, following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, to dismantle the al-Qaeda terrorist organization and to remove from power the Taliban government, which at the time controlled 90% of Afghanistan and hosted al-Qaeda leadership. U.S. President George W. Bush demanded that the Taliban hand over Osama bin Laden and expel the al-Qaeda network which was supporting the Taliban in its war with the Afghan Northern Alliance. The Taliban recommended that bin Laden leave the country but declined to extradite him without evidence of his involvement in the 9/11 attacks. The United States refused to negotiate and launched Operation Enduring Freedom on 7 October 2001 with the United Kingdom and later joined by Germany and other western allies, to attack the Taliban and al-Qaeda forces in conjunction with the Northern Alliance.[23][24]
The U.S. and allies drove the Taliban from power and gradually built new military bases near major cities across the country. However, most al-Qaeda and Taliban members escaped to neighboring Pakistan or retreated to rural or remote mountainous regions. In December 2001, the U.N. Security Council established the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), to oversee security in the country and train the Afghan National Security Forces. At the Bonn Conference in December 2001, Hamid Karzai was selected to head the Afghan Interim Administration, which after a 2002 loya jirga in Kabul became the Afghan Transitional Administration. In the popular elections of 2004, Karzai was elected the president of the new permanent Afghan government, the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.[25]
In 2003, NATO assumed leadership of ISAF, included troops from 43 countries, with NATO members providing the core of the force.[26] Only a portion of U.S. forces in Afghanistan operate under NATO command; the rest remained under direct American command. Mullah Omar reorganized the Taliban movement and in 2003 launched insurgency against the Afghan government and ISAF forces.[27][28] Though vastly outgunned and outnumbered by NATO forces and the Afghan National Army, the Taliban insurgents, most notably the Haqqani Network and Hezb-e-Islami Gulbuddin, have waged asymmetric warfare with guerilla raids and ambushes in the countryside, suicide attacks against urban targets, and turncoat killings against coalition forces. The Taliban exploited the weak administration of the Afghan government, among the most corrupt in the world, to reassert influence across rural areas of southern and eastern Afghanistan. NATO countries responded in 2006 by increasing troops for operations to "clear and hold" villages and "nation building" projects to "win hearts and minds".[29][30]
While NATO forces continued to battle the Taliban insurgency, the war expanded into neighboring North-West Pakistan.[31] In 2004, the Pakistani Army began to clash with local tribes hosting al-Qaeda and Taliban militants. The U.S. military launched drone attacks in Pakistan in order to kill leaders of the insurgent groups. This resulted in the start of an insurgency in Waziristan in 2007.

I just thought it was great they are home for Xmas..I see it doesnt make everyone happy..

Ah yes, friends. Just to think, it all started with this:

KARZAI THREATENS TO JOIN TALIBAN.

And now, without the Amerikans, he is his own man. Read on -

"Australians is it? What on earth are these?"

"Master, they are Amerikans with big hats. The brim, you know, it is up like this..."

"Like this? Kabesh! I am a president and I have no brim at all. Look!"

"Master, this I know. Your hat, it is more a crown."

"A crown? No. It is a humble Pashtun hat, many wear. Nehru - he dressed in such a hat. I think it is most becoming of a modern, demokratic leader, no? A reformer, a statesman, the grandfather of a nation."

"Ah..."

"These Australians, they have no style. Their hats are so old fashioned."

"Yes, Master. Whereas our army, our people..."

"Our army? Kabesh! The Taliban, the Taliban is the future. All over the worlds, they will take over all."

"Australia too, Master?"

"Australia? But of course! Australia, Amerika, Mother England, all. The Taliban is here to stay. In the West, they are called rag heads, can you believe? Towel head."

"But the Australians..."

"Towel is the future, habibi. Towel and rag. Form fits function, no? A hat is just a hat, but a towel you can use to make dry."

"Wash dish, Master."

"But of course! The Australians and their hat heads will melt like snow in Spring, but the Taliban will remain."

"Like the corpse in Winter."

"Like a corpse, it is so. Like a Kazakh funeral that never ends. Ah, Angel of Darkness, Mother of Death..."

"Master..."

"Charity, Mother, mercy!"

"Master, please to restrain! Sisters are in waiting room."

"Sisters?"

"Sisters of Charity, Master. From Kolkata - the delegation of nuns! They might think, you know..."

"Ah, they think. They think! Bring them to me."

"Master, I will not."

"Not? But I am fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Please to bring. I will entertain the sisters. Kabesh! Go go!"

"Master, I..."

"Bring."

"Yes, Master."

"Australian Amerikans in hats with brims. Sisters of Charity with Gud knows what..."

"Charity, Master..."

"Yes, charity. All will come and all will go, but the Taliban... The Taliban is here to stay. The Taliban is the future of the worlds."

"And charity?"

"Ah, there is no more charity, effende. Not for a thousand years, a million..."

"I will bring the sisters, Master."

"A trillion..."

"Master!"

"What?"

"Nothing. I will get the delegation of Indian nuns."

"Kabesh!"

                         ..............................

Karzai meets the lovey JuLiar for the picture.

The brave Mr Abbott engages in a little friendly fire.

It is a jolly war, no?

Please to pull trigger, sir. Just don't shoot our boys.