Despite budget cuts and ban, Obama buys Russian helicopters

[eric]

No they aren't, hence the training camps you mentioned were of no consequence to 9/11

[NAB]

[eric]

Which could have also been done in the places I mentioned where AQ already has/had operations.

[NAB]

[eric]

[NAB]

[The Dharma Bum]

Of course, but it won't work there either.

[eric]

[Kane]

Afghanis at that point in time were predominately a part or ally of the Taliban as they irrefutably won the civil war after Kabul's fall in 1996. You're playing with semantics if you think NAB's referring to regular Afghan people...since they last ruled their country in the 60s' and 70's before Russia.

The Taliban were notorious in the region for harboring radicals from several elements operating throughout Central Asia. It's reported that AQ had camps alongside Islamic Extremists out of Eastern China, Chechnya, and even Pashtun fighters taking on Musharraf (Even as the ISI funneled support to the Taliban....). So yeah, regardless of your assertion that decentralization means a more mobile/nimble enemy the point still stands: they were there and we took the fight to them because they harbored our attackers.

Spider's point wasn't that if we had acted beforehand this would've never happened, it's that regardless of what we did we still have to address the current problem. Had we not invaded Afghanistan and attacked AQ the way we had would we be dumb to assume they'd just stop? Probably. Will there be even more repercussions from what we've done in Afghanistan? Sure. But that was his point, shit is f**k either way.

[NAB]