No one will ever rule Afghanistan from outside... Many have tried none have succeded. Don't these guys read?

A necessary move that will likely be regarded as one of the few foreign policy successes of the Bush Administration. This is contingent, however, on quelling the recent surge in violence and the proliferation of the poppy seed trade. In its original conception and execution, the mission in Afghanistan could easily be regarded as a success. However, by any objective measure the invasion of Iraq resulted in a clear neglect of our continuing obligations in Afghanistan. Another reviewer noted the success of the mission in terms of overthrowing the Taliban, but I disagree with the notion that it has successfully "propped up a democracy." We are long way from that point, and achievement of our primary mission will require a renewed emphasis. Stability, or victory for that matter, in this country is far from assured. We still have a long way to go.

Terrible indeed.

It is a voluntary army. On April 4th, 2004, Army Specialist Casey Sheehan was killed by terrorists in Baghdad. On June 17th, his parents, Patrick and Cindy Sheehan, met with President George W. Bush. Following their meeting, Cindy Sheehan remarked, I now know he's sincere about wanting freedom for the Iraqis. I know he's sorry and feels some pain for our loss. And I know he's a man of faith. She said he brought her family the gift of happiness. Five months later, Cindy Sheehan claimed that President Bush's policies murdered [her] child. Just one year after meeting with the President, Sheehan called the meeting one of the most disgusting experiences I ever had. Now Cindy Sheehan is camped out in front of the President's ranch in Crawford, Texas, along with hundreds of left- wingers, demanding ANOTHER meeting with President Bush, to push her NEW agenda. The fact is, Cindy Sheehan has been USED by radical left- wing groups like MoveOn.org and anti-war protestors -- groups like the anti-Semitic Crawford Peace House, United for Peace and Justice (who led the anti-Bush marches at the GOP convention last year), Code Pink (who disrupted INSIDE the convention hall), the far-left Air America radio network, plus loony leftists like Reps. John Conyers and Maxine Waters, and even MICHAEL MOORE himself. These people don't care about Cindy Sheehan. They don't care about her son. They don't care about the troops. All they care about is their political hate-America agenda. Cindy's own family has released a statement about this whole ordeal: She now appears to be promoting her own personal agenda and notoriety at the expense of her son's good name and reputation. The rest of the Sheehan Family supports the troops, our country, and our President...

The military action against the Taliban is now widely viewed as one of President Bush's positive accomplishments by both conservatives and liberals (the latter still find it rather difficult to say it without mentioning...that was the real threat). Perhaps that is so because we had a name and a face to give provide assurance but the fact of the matter is that we were going after the same people in Afghanistan that we are in Iraq...terrorists who seek to eliminate any nation that has a different view than there own. This is evidenced further by the fact that many still staunchly question why we have not captured Osama Bin Laden. The war on terror is not a war on one man, but rather an ideology that can only be compared to that of Adolf Hitler's and Josef Stalin.

UPDATE: Now that the elections have taken place, there is little question whose side (between the US and the terrorists/insurgents) the Iraqi people are on, or whether they prefer a shot at democracy or continued existence under Saddam Hussein's corrupt dictatorial rule. ORIGINAL COMMENT 11/8/04: Let me just point out the ironic humor of the (now) universal support for the War in Afghanistan. Criticism worldwide was shrill and whiny as the imminent American invasion began. A bunch of young kids from America are going to defeat the war-ready Taliban in Afghanistan, in rugged terrain, where they know nobody, will have no allies, nothing but enemies, where for 20 years the USSR had failed to conquer these fierce people who live in caves and will never surrender. But, today, they point to it as the good, worthy, justified war in contrast to the evil, misrepresented, wrong war in Iraq. How quickly they forget, but they can turn on a dime when a better opportunity to criticize US actions arises. Sorry, guys, we're not all afflicted with the 20 second attention span. I'd have much more respect for you if you picked a side and stuck with it, regardless of the outcome. When it succeeds, reluctant praise is preferable to the borrowing of someone else's pom-poms.

Good idea if we had done it with any lasting effect. Thanks to BUSH (et al) for diverting attention away from the Afghan-region and putting our young people in harm's way in Iraq.

Afghanistan was attacked because of the Taliban and in their refusal to hand over Bin Laden...action well supported internationally and completely justified. Incidentally, one can tell the difference between a worthy cause and an unworthy one...that's where the Repubs go wrong, they can't or don't.

Destroyed the terror bases, ousted the Islamofascist Taliban regime and propped up a democracy all within 3 years. I believe this has been the most overlooked acheivement of the Bush administration.

Good move!! Clinton or Kerry would have just made them say sorry.

Better than the invasion of Iraq. Because we already had proof that Al-Queda attacked the Twin Towers. One of the better moves Bush planned, and BeanoCook is right, we should've gone to war with Al-Queda in '96. It's just Clinton didn't have a plan to defend America.

They attacked us it was very necessary you cannot let a nation get away with attacking your country and since they gave Bin Laden santuary it was the only thing I agree with the third -rate whiteboy Bush on.

Everyone agrees that this was necessary. Too bad it was necessary in 1996. Clinton's biggest failure was doing nothing here.

Absoultely necessary. While a peaceful solution, of course, was sought, it was needed to take out the supporters of the evil Al-Qaeda! Plus, as a dandy bonus, a group of repressed people were liberated. I only wished we had torched all of the opium there, that would have made it a perfect victory for the side of justice...