• Afghans don't know about 9/11
    59 replies, posted
[quote] KABUL (Reuters) – Afghans in two crucial southern provinces are almost completely unaware of the September 11 attacks on the United States and don't know they precipitated the foreign intervention now in its 10th year, a new report showed on Friday. NATO leaders gathered in Lisbon for a summit on Friday where the transition from foreign forces -- now at about 150,000 -- to Afghan security responsibility will be at the top of the agenda, with leaders to discuss a 2014 target date set by Kabul. Few Afghans in Helmand and Kandahar provinces, Taliban strongholds where fighting remains fiercest, know why foreign troops are in Afghanistan, says the "Afghanistan Transition: Missing Variables" report to be released later on Friday. The report by The International Council on Security and Development (ICOS) policy think-tank showed 92 percent of 1,000 Afghan men surveyed in Helmand and Kandahar know nothing of the hijacked airliner attacks on U.S. targets in 2001. "The lack of awareness of why we are there contributes to the high levels of negativity toward the NATO military operations and made the job of the Taliban easier," ICOS President Norine MacDonald told Reuters from Washington. "We need to explain to the Afghan people why we are here, and both convince them and show them that their future is better with us than the Taliban," MacDonald said. The report said there was a continued "relationship gap" between Afghans and the international community, describing the lack of understanding as "dramatic". US-backed Afghan forces toppled the Islamist Taliban government in late 2001 for sheltering al Qaeda leaders who plotted the 9/11 attacks that killed about 3,000 people. The war has now dragged into its 10th year and violence is at its worst, despite a record number of foreign troops, with military and civilian casualties at their highest levels. Attention is now focused on an exit timetable. President Barack Obama, who will review his Afghanistan war strategy next month, wants to begin withdrawing U.S. troops from July 2011. European NATO leaders, under pressure at home to justify their continued commitment to an increasingly unpopular war, are following a similar timetable. Some are withdrawing troops and others are looking to move from combat to training roles. While Afghan President Hamid Karzai has set a target of 2014, NATO's civilian representative in Afghanistan, Mark Sedwill, said this week "eye-watering levels of violence by Western standards" might mean the transition spills into 2015. That throws the emphasis back on the Afghan government -- widely seen as so corrupt and inept that it is unable to support itself -- and the readiness of Afghan forces to take over. The ICOS report showed 61 percent of respondents in Helmand and Kandahar believe Afghan security forces would not be able to provide adequate security when foreign forces withdraw, and that 56 percent believe the Afghan police are helping the Taliban. It noted there was clear "potential for the Afghan security forces to switch sides" after being trained by NATO forces. The report said 81 percent of those interviewed in the south thought al Qaeda would return to Afghanistan if the Taliban regained power, and that 72 percent thought al Qaeda would again use the country to launch attacks against the West. ICOS senior policy analyst Jorrit Kamminga said the "negative blowback" of the foreign presence could be managed by addressing the chronic poverty, food shortages, unemployment and displacement faced by ordinary Afghans. The report noted improvements in some areas of the south, with the number of people in Marjah, a key battleground in Helmand, who thought NATO-led forces were winning the war almost doubling to 64 percent between June and October 2010. It was also a very different picture in the north, with 80 percent of 500 men interviewed in Parwan and Panjshir provinces thinking the central government was protecting their interests. (Editing by Sugita Katyal)[/quote]No wonder we're still facing fierce opposition. Source: [url]http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20101119/ts_nm/us_afghanistan_report[/url]
Wouldn't really expect them too, they must be so confused about being invaded.
Well that's no good. Explains a lot.
Wow, you'd think someone would have pointed that out to them when the US first invaded. Almost 10 years and they thought the US was doing it for the sake of doing it.
"Oh, [i]that's[/i] why you're here? Oh... well that's fine then" *Taliban insurgents lay down their arms and prance through the meadows hand-in-hand with NATO soldiers*
[QUOTE=smurfy;26162034]"Oh, [i]that's[/i] why you're here? Oh... well that's fine then" *Taliban insurgents lay down their arms and prance through the meadows hand-in-hand with NATO soldiers*[/QUOTE] Seriously. If half the Insurgent forces put down their arms, and say, "Oh that's why you invaded us..." I'll just sit their, and question reality as a whole.
Source?
[QUOTE=faze;26162832]Source?[/QUOTE] Oops, forgot to add that, getting it now.
Perhaps this is why they hate us....or at least part of the reason.
Well shit, we should have told them 10 years ago.
[QUOTE=CowThing;26162939]Well shit, we should have told them 10 years ago.[/QUOTE] Yep, something like... "You have terrorists in your country, we'll be invading now" would have worked just fine.
So this was planned by the US?
Who is this 9/11?
[QUOTE=Sobotnik;26163055]Who is this 9/11?[/QUOTE] Why put the month ahead of the day... Day month year. It makes sense :colbert:
[QUOTE=Sobotnik;26163055]Who is this 9/11?[/QUOTE] Probably one of them new American rappers.
[QUOTE=Sobotnik;26163055]Who is this 9/11?[/QUOTE] 9/11 is a convenience store chain
9/11 Afgans won't get this joke
How would they even learn of it? There's incredibly limited internet access (nearly non existent in 2001), fragile, dilapidated infrastructure, and it's not like the Kandahar Herald is printing out world news. Somebody posted an article a few months back that had an interview of an Afghani farmer who thought the Americans were still the Russians from the 80s, and had never left. News spreads almost exclusively via word of mouth.
[QUOTE=Akayz;26163131]Why put the month ahead of the day... Day month year. It makes sense :colbert:[/QUOTE] It's November 9 obviously.
If only they knew, then we could be tragic villains with a sad backstory.
[QUOTE=Akayz;26163131]Why put the month ahead of the day... Day month year. It makes sense :colbert:[/QUOTE] You don't say second minute hour do you?
[QUOTE=Chilean;26163822]You don't say second minute hour do you?[/QUOTE] So shouldn't it be year/month/day by that logic I always see month/day/year used which is absolutely retarded.
I don't know if month/day/year or day/month/year is correct. I don't know if year/month/day is the best option or day/year/month. All I know for sure is we should definitely have a pointless argument about which one looks nicer.
[QUOTE=Chilean;26163822]You don't say second minute hour do you?[/QUOTE] No. Digital clocks are hours, minutes, seconds. Still makes sense where are you getting at?
Read title as: Afghans work at 7/11
There is little to no communication to the outside world in some parts. I know for a fact that some farmers from Afghanistan thought that the US forces were actually the Soviets coming back after their invasion in the 80's.
Not suprised. Their first glimpse at the rest of the world in 15 years was glints appearing in the sky above followed by everything around them exploding...
[QUOTE=Ridge;26165019]Not suprised. Their first glimpse at the rest of the world in 15 years was glints appearing in the sky above followed by everything around them exploding...[/QUOTE] what a condescending post
[QUOTE=Leon Trotsky;26165050]what a condescending post[/QUOTE] But factual. These people, for the most part, live in the 14th century... It's a major failure of the US intelligence community. If we had told them "Hey, a bunch of guys led by people in your country blew up our buildings and killed thousands, including women and children (against the Quran), and we are here to find them." then I imagine they would have been more willing to help us, and maybe help themselves get away from the oppressive regime that sponsored the attacks...
[QUOTE=AutoTurret;26164247]Read title as: Afghans work at 7/11[/QUOTE] No you didn't.
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