Another Side to Afghanistan

I am not writing a research paper or anything serious about the War in Afghanistan. I just had to debate about it today at school, and I came across a different viewpoint than most point out.

In the late 70's, Afghanistan was going through a bit of chaos, believe it or not. Thousands of Afghan Muslims joined a force called the Mujahideen. The Mujahideen declared a holy war on non muslims, including the President, who was assassinated pretty quickly. The country was spiraling down very quickly. When a new President came into power, many of his forces deserted him, and the country was in danger of being overrun by the terrorists, the Mujahideen.

The President called for help, and the Russians sent thousands of troops. After a while, it became clear, despite that Russia was the second most powerful Military in the world, they were no match for the religious fueled Mujahideen on their home court. Russia withdrew, and Afghanistan got much worse. An enormous civil war broke out, thousands were killed, and terrorists were able to set up shop without any fight. Afghanistan's already low economy, plummeted to the bottom of the world, and there are still Russian land mines that kill and maim children every day.

I relate this to todays dilemma, because there are many parallels between the Russian occupation, and the United States occupation today. Most people are calling for a swift and complete withdrawal of American forces. It's hard not to agree that too much money and lives have been spent there, but I think people need to think about the repercussions of pulling out now. Like in the 70's, Afghanistan has been involved with terrorists, many of whom have caused such a long occupation from the United States.

If the U.S. were to leave the country overnight, Afghanistan could go straight to chaos again, like it did when Russia gave up. If we could go back 10 years and not ever occupy Afghanistan, that would be a great idea, but now that we have been there for so long, and spent so much money, it seems a bit disappointing to leave, and risk that the country goes right back to the way it was. Now that the U.S. has spent so much, I think people should consider not giving up. It would not only say that all the lives and money lost were for nothing, but it would allow yet another middle eastern country to spiral into dangerous territory.