The War in Afghanistan is a bad thing.

//I find it interesting that my opponent chose to base his argument around the impact it has on only the USA, when there are other allies dying over there too. I find this direction of argument a bit selfish, and as such I shall look at the wider picture of Afghanistan itself.// This not the case, my terminal impact, extinction, effects everyone, not just the US. Also, on my 1: I talk about an Indo-Pak war which is effecting the people of India and Pakistan in the short term as well as leading to extinction in the long run which effects everyone. So the argument that I am not making light of the other impacts doesn't work. (I admit my second advantage is talking about US hegemony but the terminal impact still effects everyone) On my opponent's 1: First off, the "fact" that we are helping the people there is just not true. "The Afghan politician and activist Malalai Joya has warned that "Obama's military buildup will only bring more suffering and death to innocent civilians."" "Another woman, who goes by the pseudonym Zoya, has appeared in various U.S. media calling for "withdrawal of the troops immediately." She is a member of the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan, a Kabul-based political group that has fought for human rights and social justice since 1977."[1] Our government is ignoring the fact that the people of Afghanistan want us out and that, with increased troop numbers, more death will ensue. There is no humanitarian effort at all: "And Sakena Yacoobi, who founded a network of underground schools for Afghan women and girls, says "most foreign troops are not primarily focused on protecting women and children. Their focus is on beating the enemy, which is very different, and ordinary citizens become collateral damage in the process.""[1] Even Obama agrees on this fact. But here we can cross apply my first advantage which says that with continued troop presence, the Taliban and Al-Qaeda are drawing more vallentuers and thus this will link to my opponent's claim that it will lower education for women as well as sparking an Indo-Pak war which will risk extinction. In that event, extinction out weighs everything else because it is irreversible. If we go extinct, it will not matter who has schooling and who doesn't, we will be dead. On my opponent's 2: I cannot find any source here, if there is one I am open to correction. But that is irrelevant right now seeing as, so far, my evidence that troops being there is angering the people as well as helping the Taliban and Al-Qaeda draw more recruits still stands and thus, as my evidence states, the Taliban will return to power and the rule of the mob will return so this argument doesn't work. On 3: Cross apply my evidence that says the Taliban will return if we continue the war there. Before I go on let me also add this: during the course of the war in Afghanistan, violence has been increasing, NATO alliances are failing and the Taliban is becoming stronger [2] The other problem with the War is the the Taliban has not been defeated, they have just melted into modern Afghan culture. Previously my opponent claimed that the government put in place has been helping but this is not true at all. Conversely, "The Karzai government turned out to be incompetent and corrupt, and never had much influence outside Kabul. It was no match for the Taliban, which began to reestablish itself."[3] "they would need large numbers of ground forces and would become an occupying power propping up an unpopular regime. Between October 2004 and October 2006, U.S. and NATO troops spread out into every region of the country. Not surprisingly, that bigger footprint helped fuel the insurgency, creating today's dire situation." [3] On 4: It may be true that Opium production has decreased but in these "poppy-free" zones, other problems arise. As George Gavrilis says: "Though poppy growing may be eliminated, criminal networks in a number of provinces now focus on refining, stockpiling, and transporting opium."[4] Just because we have, tried, to stop the growing of Opium doesn't mean the illegal trade has ceased. So Afghanistan is still not meeting the standard set by other Muslim countries because the Opium trade is still alive and well. On 5: This may be somewhat true but the problem is that the recruitment of fighters for the Taliban and Al-Qaeda stems from us being there as my evidence from advantage 1 says. They are outraged at us being there and thus we are the cause of the instability. On 6: My opponent doesn't understand my logic and thus I will restate it for him. It is true that Afghanistan was run by extremists earlier but they did not have as a big a recruiting pool simply because there were minimal things to rally the people with yet since the war has been raging, the people are upset and that is the perfect tool to rally fighters thus increasing instability. I hope this has cleared it up more. On 7: My opponent has provided no evidence regarding health care, sanitation, (minimal) economics and technology so we must not look to this. //Overview\ My opponent hasn't tried to negate any of my advantages thus they and their impacts still stand. //On the facts\ 1: No evidence is provided as to the war being the cause. 2: Same as above. 3: Same as above. ect... My opponent provided no warrants for his facts and thus there could easily be an alternate cause so keeping this in mind we must not look to it. I await my opponent's response. [1] http://www.yaliberty.org... [2] http://www.timesonline.co.uk... [3] http://www.newsweek.com... [4] http://www.cfr.org...