$360 Million US Tax Dollars Wind Up In Taliban’s Pockets

Yes, a fraction of your money that you pay in taxes has gone directly into the pockets of the people our soldiers are fighting.  In this case, with the war in Afghanistan,  aid money the US government has paid to the community and governments ends up in Taliban hands.

Aghanistan is a very corrupt country with many ties to the Taliban.  Is it time to pull our troops out?  Yes.For some reason our government thinks that the people in the Mid East need to be in a democracy.  They don't want us there.  They don't want our help.  I saw this story first on a yahoo post, and a US soldier with 4 deployments under his belt summed it up pretty well with a comment:

I wish that I could say that I still believe in our mission in Afghanistan, but I'm sorry to say that just isn't the case. Many of us just don't see the point anymore. We are supposed to be "winning the hearts and minds" of the local Afghans, yet it seems that our progress is constantly going backwards instead of forward. We patrol the same villages and markets day in and day out, making our presence known. We build roads, schools, dams, set up plumbing, even set up medical aid stations so that the locals can recieve health care. Even after all that, we can tell the locals still don't trust us and they don't want anything to do with us. All we ever hear is "there is no Taliban here" followed by handshakes and peace signs. Yet, when we return to the same villages, instead of handshakes and peace signs, we are greeted with small arms fire, RPG's, and IED's. It's is very clear to most of us that we have nothing these people want. They take our help and our supplies, and then turn around and take help and supplies from the local Taliban commanders as well. We are wasting out time here and many of my brothers and sisters in uniform have paid the ultimate sacrifice. A lot of us believe that we need to leave here, leave these people to their own fate. Democracy and the "American Way of Life" just isn't gonna work here. They can't even have a proper election without the Taliban or some local warlord getting into the mix. There will always be lawlessness and violence in this country, no matter what we do. I think it's time to pull our forces back and wait and train for that war that actually is in the best interest of our country as whole, not just a few. I pray that war never comes, but if it does, I will be the first in line to fight. I am soldier first, so I will go where my leaders tell me to go and will fight the battles they tell me to fight. But it's time to pull us out of here.

Let's listen to Jose and get the majority of them out of there.  This is the Vietnam of my generation.  A war that will go on forever with no clear end.  We need to focus on our own economy, people, and safety at home.  We can continue to fight terrorism in different ways.

I also need to make it clear, I support our troops.  I just don't support this war that's been going on for nearly 10 years.