This war has lasted over TEN YEARS and the generals tell us that things are now getting worse, not better. Let's look at the facts:

* The number of Coalition casualties has increased each year since 2003 (source: http://icasualties.org/oef/).
* The Afghan government is hopelessly corrupt and incompetent and routinely criticizes the U.S. military
* The current president won re-election with outright fraud
* Afghan fighters have a safe refuge in Pakistan

It's time to cut our losses and leave. Yes, the government will probably fall to the Taliban, but there are many unstable, extremist governments in the world that are not friends of the US. Sometimes we have to live with imperfect realities.

Yes, there are many unfriendly governments, but only one harbored a terrorist group that killed 3,000 Americans.

I hear that argument made often, but it is a irrelevant in today's world.

Even if the Taliban takes control of the country, there will never again be terrorist training camps in Afghanistan. The CIA will have a robust presence there for decades. Al-Qaeda will not be foolish enough to create targets for the drones/cruise missiles.

I agree, hanso. Al-Qaeda left Afghanistan years ago and they aren't going back. It's pretty clear that they are much better off where they are now, in northern Pakistan.

They can plan their operations and recruit more effectively in Pakistan than they ever could in Afghanistan. We've done them a favor by kicking them out of there.

Yes, and that's precisely why wars don't work when fighting terror. Al-Qaeda is not an enemy that requires large territories and military infrastructure. If we expend enormous resources removing them from a country, they simply move somewhere else.

Bin Laden and his cronies were in Sudan before they moved their operations to Afghanistan, and now they are in Pakistan. If we decide to clean house in Pakistan, they'll go to Somalia or Yemen. It never ends...

What about the Taliban training in Central America? Why is our government turning and looking the other way when the camps are much closer to home? Bush was in office when these camps were found.
Is the Afgahanistan war turning into the new Vietnam. A no win war and costing to many American lives. Time to COME HOME!

We should never have gone there. Past history shows that no invading armies were ever succesful. Two examples, in the 1800's the British Empire tried it and were evicted, soundly beaten with their tails between their legs. Remember the Khyber Pass.
About 30 years ago, the Russians tried and were roundly beaten too. Now, the US and allies will get the same.
They tell young soldiers that they are going over to build schools so that women can get educated. B.S.
As soon as our Military leaves, things will go back to normal as they prefer it that way. Their culture is that women stay at home to take care of the children and has been the same for a thousand years or more.They have their own set of rules that nobody can change.
Thanks to Wikileaks, we now know that Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies supply all that is necessary for the Taliban to continue fighting, with the best weapons and equipment that their petroleum dollars can buy. They can go on fighting invaders forever. Best is to leave, the sooner the better because, to me, it looks like another VietNam.
Oh yeah; Afghanistan is very rich in minerals, including gold and very heavy deposits of petroleum. Is this what the allies really want?