Why do we hardly ever hear anything about the "front" in Afghanistan anymore? Just Iraq, Iraq, Iraq?

Just Iraq, Iraq, Iraq. Facts please. Try to avoid political bashing.

Asked by Tulip_is_gone 45 months ago Similar questions: hear front Afghanistan anymore Iraq Politics & Law > War.

Similar questions: hear front Afghanistan anymore Iraq.

Sorry, I haven't held a security clearance since 1994, so I have to go by the news media. Presuming that the media got the broad outlines right, it went like this: In late 2001/early 2002, we pushed the Taliban (and their allies in al Qaeda) out of control of Afghanistan, although there was still fighting in the mountains. We spent 2002 trying to destroy both forces.

My impression at the time was that most survivors had retreated into Pakistan. But that’s just one former sergeant’s analysis, based on the data in the news media, plus what friends in the military were free to say on the Internet.In late 2002/early 2003, we withdrew troops from Afghanistan and prepared to invade Iraq. This included the troops who had been most effective at tracking down Taliban and al Qaeda: the Special Forces Group that trained on the cultures and languages of Southern Asia.

The Special Forces were replaced -- by the Group that trained on the cultures and languages of Central and South America. (One of my informants is a member of that Group. A fluent Spanish speaker with a Costa Rican accent, he was told to learn Pashto after he arrived. ) Needless to say, efficiency plummeted while troops who were supposed to be able to mimic citizens from the next city/province struggled to learn the language and culture, while also trying to keep up pressure on Taliban and al Qaeda.

Largely, however, it’s a numbers game. We have about 168,000 US troops in Iraq, but only 24,800 in Afghanistan. Being a larger country with a much larger population, there is much more fighting in Iraq, even in proportion to the number of US troops deployed.

Additionally, most of the fighting in Afghanistan is traditional battlefield style (which the US military does more efficiently than anyone else in the world), while most of the attacks in Iraq are planted bombs and suicide bombers. Why do we hear more about Iraq? More "news" is going on there.

Plus, the US doesn’t want to say too much about our successes, out of the fear the enemy will learn something from a press conference that will help them to become more efficient. Sources: Daily news for the last six years Murstein's Recommendations Imperial Crusades: Iraq, Afghanistan, and Yugoslavia Amazon List Price: $15.00 Used from: $4.00 Average Customer Rating: 4.0 out of 5 (based on 4 reviews) The Blog of War: Front-Line Dispatches from Soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan Amazon List Price: $15.00 Used from: $1.99 Average Customer Rating: 4.5 out of 5 (based on 19 reviews) Two radically different viewpoints on the wars. And they *BOTH* have facts on their sides.

Anyone who thinks war is simple, hasn't been involved in one..

Fewer deaths, fewer changes The body count in Afghanistan is a tenth the count in Iraq. Bodies always make news. Even more, it's that the Iraq situation is more complicated.

Sure, Afghanistan is at least as much of a mess, with Taliban insurgents making inroads and actually controlling broad swaths of the country. (Actually, nobody really controls large swaths of the country. ) It's a relatively simple story of a weak government beset by rebels.

But Iraq has an uneasy detente: a government finely divided between Shiites and Sunnis; deliberate provocation of some Shiite groups via Iran; the Kurds wanting to secede and launching attacks into Turkey. And most importantly, Iraq is an issue in the Presidential campaign. Some people want the troops withdrawn; some don't.

Afghanistan is a settled issue; the only question is whether we'd put more troops there, and the only way to get them would be to pull some out of Iraq. There's still plenty of news in Afghanistan; Google News reports 79,000 news stories. But few of them involve American dead, and most of them don't change the overall situation radically..

I heard recently that in the past month, news about Iraq was down to 3% of news airtime …where a few months ago it was 15%, so Iraq has been out of the headlines too. I don’t know the stats for Afghanistan, but that’s much less of course. It’s been displaced by election, recession and scandals -- and of course entertainment news, that perennial American favorite.

There isn’t much exciting coming out of Afghanistan, just a slow steady plod against the Taliban, with the odd raid on Al-Qaeda/Taliban leadership. The other thing is, people generally support the Afghanistan war-- it’s Iraq that has had all the controversy, the ongoing search for justification and the hard fighting. Controversy, squirming politicians and deaths make for compelling headlines..

Its because of the media.. The reason you only hera about Iraq, and very little about Afghanistan is because thats what the left, librally biased press wants you to hear. They don't want you to hear about Afghanistan because things are going to well there for their liking. If no one dies, or a solider is not killed, they don't print it because they don't want you to hear about the good things.

Same with the Iraq War. If its not nedative, it does not get covered. BUT!

If you really want to know about the war in Afghanistan, why not ask the guys that are there and the people that are on the "frint lines". You can find places that post news about it and you can get the "other"side of the sories that are not covered. Check this out: youtube.com/user/3rdID8487 A YouTube channel that has over 650+ videos about whats going on over there, positive videos, not the negative crap you get from the press.

Videos done by the men and women that are over there fighting these wars. Sources: Personal KNowledge and experience in the military, and youtube.com/user/3rdID8487 Video Here is a video done by the men and women in Afghanistan: This edition features stories on supplying warfighters to the Afghan national army with food and fuel, the opening of a school in Kabul built by the International Security Assistant Force and augmenting the Army with Navy Engineman working as mechanics for the Army. Hosted by Staff Sgt.

Trevor Pedro.

Editors & Publishers decide where reporters go. Free lancers make their own decisions. But they have to consider what the editors & publishers wish to see.

The media is against the whole Iraq war & it is easier to criticize. They do Afghanistan on occasion, but there is 9-11 to consider & that would really up their readers. The Iraq War is not an illegal war.

People say economic sanctions & diplomacy was the answer. They could have been. But with Communist China, Russia, & France/Chirac selling weapons & other contraband to Saddam, .... The Oil for Food Program has the same 3 countries on the take, along with many others, it was not in their personal interests to stop these moneymaking activities.

BTW, these are 3 of the 5 vetos on the UN Security Council. The fault lies with the inaction of the UN, not the US & Britain & the other coalition nations. Saddam had the UN weapons inspectors kicked out of Iraq for almost half the time between the end of the Gulf War & the Iraq War.

And the UN talked, talked, & talked, .... All Saddam had to do was get a WMD-Free certificate from the UN, they would not give him one. Why? All these guys said after the fact, that they knew Saddam had no WMD.

Okay, why no certificate? Saddam was involved in the World Trade Center bombing in 1993. One of the planners was on his payroll, Ramsey Yousef, his uncle Kalead Sheik Mohammed was a major planner.

A week or two ago Kalead Mohammad was identified as having part in 9-11. Saddam was not one to give up easily. The burden of proof was on Saddam.

Czech intelligence said they had Mohammad Atta meeting with an Iraqi agent in Prague. War opponents say the guy was an alcoholic & could not be trusted.US Grant was an alcoholic, yet he was the only Union General who could win battles. The Czechs stand by their report.

The Brits stand by their assessment that Saddam had people trying to buy yellowcake in Niger.As a comment stated, even the Russians couldn't do it. Well we have the technology and add that to their ruthlessness, it would have been over long ago. This is a bit more than asked, but I read some comments & took care of it here.

Keep in mind France & her history. The Catholic French plotted with the Moslems to destroy the Catholic Hapsburgs.

" "Why Bush went to Iraq instead of Afghanistan?! " "What does/did it mean if a couple was "Going Steady"? I don't hear this much anymore.

What age-range couples did this? " "What constitutes a civil war? Is Iraq going through one right now?" "Whatever happened to the hole in the ozone layer.

You don't hear about it anymore. Did we fix it?" "I am trying to find a book, a biography, about the afghanistan war.

Why Bush went to Iraq instead of Afghanistan?!

I don't hear this much anymore. What age-range couples did this?

Whatever happened to the hole in the ozone layer. You don't hear about it anymore. Did we fix it?

I am trying to find a book, a biography, about the afghanistan war.

I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.