[gkihueonhjh]

But how many lives are we saving?

The problem is you nor I really know the answer to that. The both of us can only speculate as to what will happen if we pull out of Afghanistan or what would have happened if we pulled out at some other time frame. Odds are it will be a real mess but at the same time what are we really doing over there at this point? The real truth is people are being killed over there and have been for a long time, there is little to debate on that front. And take your pick on countries in that region of the world in some level of conflict where lives are lost, with respect to your question. There also seems to be a real absent national government over there with areas of Afghanistan up for debate on who is in control. I am not saying our military is to blame at all, all respect is due to them. Rather our government calling the shots on how Afghanistan is faught is more to blame in relation to how we press Afghanistan to step up and control, protect, etc. their country. What I always seem to focus on is the further we go in this conflict it is unsure what impact we have made in a country that is clearly divided on whom should be in charge. I would favor an intelligence based series of operations in Afghanistan to support our interests over this never ending military occupation for a government over there that seems unwilling, unable, or both to control whatever we take for them.