The comments I have read thus far betray preprogrammed antisemitism and Communist overtones. The war in Iraq was a war with Iran. So was the war against the Taliban in Afghanistan. All one had to do was look at the map and fill in the almost complete circle of occupied territories and allies surrounding Iran. Iran understood immediately and resumed its Nuclear Program. The reason why you occupy Afghanistan and Iraq rather than take on Iran is the Persians are largely pro Western and pro America. Their youth is intelligent and increasingly secular and plenty of people either remember or have read about their beautiful countries prior to Soviet sponsored coups that changed their governments. Persians and Jews have a long history of mutual affection. The problem is, culturally, no mater what the popular pro West sentiment, all bets are off the second troops set foot on their soil. You cannot win a war against intelligent people by force unless you slaughter and imprison an entire generation, put fear into the lives of the remaining and reeducate the youth like the Communists in The USSR and Asia. Going to war with terrorist sponsoring countries like Afghanistan and Iraq...please don't try to tell me the USSR past and present hasn't done the same (so has France, Britain and Germany). Terrorism, a problem Soviets have been causing and dealing with far longer than America, is a Hydra, so a two pronged attack on Afghanistan and Iraq not only put troops into the back yard of a country that has been holding the world hostage with its one and only resource, but it also allowed America to deploy Tactical Nuclear Warheads that can now strike any target in Europe or Asia without the high yield of an ICBM and in a fraction of the time. What offends all of you is how well America has done it, by comparison to you (There were fewer deaths since the beginning of the war than in the opening day of the invasion of Normandy )

The main reason that the USA has an occupation force there has nothing to do with Iran or Israel. The excuse was "to liberate women" there. That is now "passe". The place of women in Afghan society has not changed to any measurable degree except in Kabul. The sole reason it is there is the search for and exploitation of its mineral resources - just as was the main reason - for example - its War with Vietnam. As there are no mineral resources to speak of the last USA administration determined on the vast chemical resource - Opiates - which the current administration still encourages the cultivation of. For what purpose? To supply adequate medical drug manufacturers in Switzerland? Or to keep a reason for continuation of the War on Drugs? Recognizing that the Principles of that administration and of Halliburton are the ex President and Vice President and that is Bush and Cheney along with Bin Laden and Dempsey and the strong influence they have on the Military - there is no wonder why the USA is stepping up its illegal occupation of Afghanistan - is there? "What's To Be Done?" "Where To Begin?" Let's reintroduce "Reason" into "Reality" in the World of Politics today.