For those who were here at the time were most DUers for or against invading Afghanistan?

[NNN0LHI]

[ScreamingMeemie]

1. You could probably pull up a poll or two from that time.

I can't speak for other people.

[NNN0LHI]

2. Of course you can't speak for them you weren't here then

[ScreamingMeemie]

3. I wasn't? Okay...must have been a dream then.

Boy, you've sure turned into a nice person over the years. Have a good day now,
And again, run a search.
Laura, aka MrsGrumpy

P.S. many of us could not register for months because registration was constantly being closed.

[NYC_SKP]

11. You do realize that not being a member doesn't prevent one from reading the boards, right?

Additionally, more than a few members were members under a different user name at earlier times.

So, "being here then" neither qualifies nor disqualifies a person from expressing a valid opinion.

:donut:

[NNN0LHI]

13. But if someone had been lurking during that period they would know that most DUers were for invading

Because that was the case back then. There were very few DUers here against invading. Probably less than 10 percent were against it.

Don

[depakid]

17. As I recall, that's inaccurate

I'd guess the number was far closer to 50%+ than 10%- against an invasion.

Of course, that includes those who didn't want any substantial ground intervention at all along with those who opposed the massive operations that resulted.

[NNN0LHI]

23. Look back at some of the "We must free the Afghan women from the Burqa!", threads

See if you want to reconsider that 50% recollection?

Don

[depakid]

30. That's my recollection of the opinions and the polls taken during the months preceding the invasion

A large majority of DUers were not, as you assert- all "gung ho" to massively invade the country based on the nature of the Taliban.

Some were, and of course, they've been shown to have been shortsighted.

[Wednesdays]

25. According to my profile, I wasn't registered until 2002

But I swear I can remember posting here in 2001, possibly as early as 2000. :shrug:

Maybe I switched accounts? Don't remember doing that.

[NNN0LHI]

26. Never mind, you do know the answer to the question

[Uben]

4. I was "for" getting back at the ones who attacked us.....

...and at that time, it was the Taliban who gave umbrage to AlQaeda in Afghanistan, so yeah, I was for it. Al quaeda's numbers in Afghanistan, by what I've read, is down to less than 100. That's sufficient to withdraw our troops now, IMO. I had a son in law do tours in both Iraq and Afghanistan. I was proud of him for serving but i was vehemently against the Iraq war. I am now ready to end the Afghanistan occupation.

I will never apologize for wanting revenge. I just wish it were done the right way, instead of the way republicans executed it.

[NNN0LHI]

6. You were here then, You were in the majority weren't you?

Most DUers felt like you did, didn't they?

Don

[Uben]

14. I can't speak for others.....

...but I know how I felt then and how I feel now. I know the majority here were against the Iraq invasion because it had nothing to do with 9/11.

[xchrom]

5. i was for and have since changed my mind. nt

[NNN0LHI]

7. I really admire honesty

:hi:

[Le Taz Hot]

18. +1 n/t

[depakid]

8. Depends on what you mean by "invasion"

If you meant a short punitive action against Al Qaeda, that's one thing, a longer campaign to replace the Taliban would be another- and another still would be if you realistically looked at the probable results- a 10-15 year occupation you'd get yet another answer.

Many of us warned at the time that it would end up the latter- and that the latter would end up a quagmire, as has happened so many times throughout the history of the region.

[unhappycamper]

9. I was not actively opposed to the Afghanistan invasion at the time.

A chance meeting with Howard Zinn in 2008 changed my mind.

Our VFP chapter was raising money for the IVAW's Winter Soldier hearings in DC. We had a pretty good snowstorm that day in Boston and the roads were very sloppy w/i the 128 border. The person who was supposed to pick up Howard had problems getting out of his driveway.

I was already at Sev's house when Sev asked me if I could pick up Howard and bring him to the fundraiser. Lucky me - I had Howard to myself for about 20 minutes each way.

[BlueMTexpat]

10. I didn't discover DU until 2003 - more's the pity.

I lurked a lot before I actually joined.

But I was wholly against the invasion of Afghanistan in 2001. And I have seen nothing that has happened since to make me believe that it was ever a good idea.

Yes, the Taliban were awful. But our stated purpose in invading Afghanistan was to "get" Osama Bin Laden. Epic fail! We actually helped to lay the foundation for the Taliban to come to power in the first place with our cockamamie policies under Ronald Reagan - remember those where we helped to develop and train monsters like Osama and his ilk, pandering to the most fundamental of fundamental Islamic crazies. Anyone with even half a brain could see that was a mistake at the time.
And now it looks as if we are helping to lay the foundation for the return of the Taliban. Plus ca change ... .

[Tatiana]

12. Ashamed to admit that I was for it (but against Iraq invasion).

By 2004 presidential election, I'd started to have doubts and by 2005 supported a complete withdrawal from both Iraq and Afghanistan.

[MineralMan]

15. I wasn't on DU, but I was very opposed to it at the time.

Still am, but now I want it ended in a way that doesn't produce even worse effects.

It was my contention at the time, and it remains my contention, that Afghanistan was a stupid, stupid thing to do. No matter how long we stay, and no matter how hard we try, Afghanistan will revert back to an ugly tribal and cultural battleground shortly after we are no longer there. Our presence will make no difference. Thus, it was and is a waste of time and resources.

[Octafish]

16. The drunk warmonger George W Bush rushed -- and lied -- America to war.

DU was one of the few places where sanity "reigned" and opposed him.

[Solly Mack]

19. I was one of the "10 percenters"... Haven't changed my thinking.

[NNN0LHI]

22. One of the few and the proud

:toast:

[Solly Mack]

33. I happily embraced all the names we were called.

:)

[Wednesdays]

27. Same here.

I can't say the support for invasion was that high, but I remember even liberal boards and Mike Malloy calling for us to "support our president." :puke: This country was totally fucking insane. I never "fell in line."

[NNN0LHI]

29. You have a great memory

Even Bartcop was calling for Bush to "Glass", Afghanistan.

Don

[Solly Mack]

32. Me neither. Didn't support the POS before Sept. 11 - on Sept. 11 - after Sept. 11.

Just wasn't going to happen. I knew better. I knew the fuckers would use it to advance their criminal impulses.

[bigwillq]

20. I was always against it (nt)

[LiberalAndProud]

21. I wasn't on DU, but I didn't ever formulate an opinion.

Since I was powerless to change the trajectory of world events, I chose to hope for the best. I had a feeling that it wouldn't end well. Clearly, my early misgivings were correct, but I was never coherently "against" the invasion of Afghanistan. It was clear to me at the time that the target was really Iraq. I remember Rumsfeld on my TV the night following the attack on the WTC. He had already made the connection to Saddam. That part smelled fishy, extremely. I was always against the invasion of Iraq, and the two "wars" soon became conflated in my mind.

[CJCRANE]

24. I was for it up until

they let Mullah Omar and Bin Laden escape.

Shortly after that I joined DU to try and find out what the WOT was really about.

[Wednesdays]

28. What, didn't the MSM tell you everything you needed to know?

;)

[Codeine]

31. I was for invading.

I thought we'd make a concerted effort to hit AQ operatives with special operations troops. We cocked it up badly. I was wrong to assume it would be handled that way and wrong to support the invasion.

[MilesColtrane]

34. I was for it at the time.

It made sense to me, if in fact Bin Laden and AQ were based there.

There seems to be little reason to be there now after Pakistan's ISI helped evacuate hundreds of Taliban from Kunduz in November 2001 and Bin Laden escaped from Tora Bora in December.

We should get the hell out and quit propping up Karzai.

But, it's not going to happen, because the Pentagon and the WH want a close place to stage attacks on Pakistan.

[bemildred]

35. I was here, I was against it, I would not venture to guess how DU as a whole would have voted. nt

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

36. I was here and spoke out against the utter stupidity of both wars then and now.

The invasion was so Bush could look "decisive" and the current FUBAR is so Obama can look "tough" and won't be blamed for another lost war.

[Anser]

37. I was against...

But I remember what you are talking about. There was a peace movement organized against the war in Afghanistan. Later, when the drums were being beat for Iraq, suddenly the peace rallies burgeoned in size.

The prevailing "Liberal" or "Progressive" mindset became to point at Afghanistan as an example of a "good war" compared to Iraq's "bad war." There was a minority of us who were dismissed as impractical "pure pacifists."

At least, that was my perspective at the time.

Of course, considering the high emotion, and the national narrative at the time, I don't really blame anyone, ESPECIALLY those that have since come around.

And.. considering the historic numbers of dissenters for the Iraq war, its not like more dissent for Afghanistan would have changed much.

[lumberjack_jeff]

38. I can't speak for anyone else. I was for.

I was for a quick, punitive attack and then leave 6 months tops. I'm not a fan of nationbuilding.