Why do folks keep trying to liken our current Afghanistan operation to what the Russians did?

[ncteechur]

It is not the same. I hear this over and over again. The Russians couldn't do it. The Brits couldn't do it. Ghengis Khan couldn't do it. I don't believe our mission is the same as those missions.

[daninthemoon]

1. The landscape is still the same. So is the tenacity of the local population.

Our political aims are certainly different, which also makes our methods different. It is also important to know the history of a place before a war. It's one of the lessons of Vietnam. Let's hope for a better result.

[elleng]

2. You're correct, its not the same.

Prez O studied the matter, and is seeking to do OTHER, entirely.

Still will be difficult, but success much more likely than those others. The folks who try to liken it either don't read, can't read, or don't want our current operation to succeed. Not YOUR students, tho, eh?

[mix]

3. after seven years

just what is "our mission" in Afghanistan and how is Obama's new policies there "not the same"?

Is our occupation more noble or effective somehow than those before it?

[Windy]

4. It is totally different. We have world support in this effort

because the rest of the world recognizes the significance of AlQueda operating with impunity and becoming a force in Pakistan, an unstable country with nuclear weapons and who is involved in an ongoing battle with India.

As someone said on MSNBC. In just a few days, Obama has brought the world back to where it was as to scentiment toward the US immediately after 911.

Remember, we funded the mujahadeen in Afghanistan against the Russians... and the rest of the world condemned what the Russians were doing. That is not the case now.