The war in Afghanistan was justified.

Invading Afghanistan was not justified. I. The affirmative claims that the Taliban regime was a threat to our national security. This is false, as I shall explain. A. Fifteen of the hijackers were from Saudi Arabia. 2 were from the UAE, and 1 each from Egypt and Lebanon. Not a single one was from Afghanistan. These hijackers were well educated, many, if not most of them, lived in the West beforehand. The affirmative has not proved that they had any ties to Afghanistan. B. Because none of the hijackers were Afghanis, and the affirmative has not proved that they were trained there, it is clear that Afghanistan did not directly cause the attacks on Septemeber 11th. II. Taliban /= Al Qaeda A. Al-Qaeda was behind the attacks on September 11th, however, one who is part of AQ is not necessarily part of the Taliban. To assume such is quite dangerous, for the Taliban is many things, a government regime, a party, and primarily centered in Afghanistan. On the other hand, AQ is a terrorist group, an international one. B. Just because the Taliban has sometimes supported members of AQ does not mean that we have a legitimate reason to eliminate them. The US government has supported the Taliban to fight the Soviet Union, and thus, using such logic as the affirmative, it would then be just for someone to eliminate the US government because it has supported terrorists. Clearly, this is bad logic. C. Because the Taliban regime is what we toppled in Afghanistan, not AQ, it was unjust, because we did not target the creator of the problem. III. AQ is an international organization, invading a country will not stop it. A. Because AQ is not based in a country, invading a single country for the sake of weakening it is foolish. It can simply move to another country. B. Wars in the Middle East strengthen AQ, the destruction caused gives them something to accuse the west, and the US in particular, of. They can now point and claim, "See how those imperialists seek to ruin us!". War only adds fuel to the fire that is AQ. In fact, since the invasion of Afghanistan, there have been even more attacks internationally. C. Increased terrorism in other parts of the world is bad, it rebounds on us. 1. Increased terrorism leads to more destruction, more loss of life, more misery, more economic hardship. 2. These impacts of terrorism beget more terrorism, the violence, lost family members, and struggling economic life give more recruits to terrorist organizations. 3. This cycle continues, feeding terrorism until the point in which we are less safe, because there are many people willing to strike out at us. D. Ultimately, the invasion of Afghanistan has strengthened AQ, and not done enough for the people of Afghanistan. IV. Contrary to my opponents claim, the Taliban actually helped the lives of Afghanis compared to what they had before. A. I will not claim that the life of the average Afghani was good with the Taliban, however, it is not better today, for it is much less secure. B. The life of an Afghani prior to the reign of the Taliban was far worse than it was during the reign. C. Prior to the reign of the Taliban, Soviets were attempting to use the countries resources, crime was common, and order was nonexistent. 1. The Soviets were invading Afghanistan, causing much destruction. 2. Warlords had much power, and robber bands stifled trade by demanding money on roads, raped women, and murdered those who would not pay. 3. Order was nonexistent, the central government was weak. D. The Taliban reformed the government, bringing order, defeating the Soviets, and greatly reduced crime. 1. The government was given much more power, and could not provide order and security to citizens. 2. The Soviet threat was over, Afghanistan did not need to worry about being conquered by a foreigner (until the US came along). 3. Crime was greatly reduced, this is perhaps one of the few admirable things which the Taliban did. Murder, robbery, and rape were all greatly reduced under their strict reign. E. Although the lives of many people were not great, they were certainly better under the Taliban then they were in the period of lawlessness before it. V. America had many alternatives to invasion. A. As I proved earlier, terrorism leads to more terrorism, and our war has increased terrorism. Ultimately, this is counter productive. B. The best solution would have been to counter the rising hate against America with mass media, schools, and the spreading of Western knowledge. C. A more peaceful solution would make us look much better, make us less hated, and still accomplish more than what we have so far. D. None of the real goals of the invasion have been accomplished, and they will not be. The status quo is the worst case scenario, and had we done something different it could not have been worse. E. If the affirmative would like to make this more of a debate towards the impacts of the war, as discussed above, I am willing to do so in the next two rounds, however, I have interpreted this to be a debate on the justness of the war. (Although some impact calculations are still necessary to determine the best course of action) VI. If anything, the US would have been better off invading other countries. A. Saudi Arabia is a known funder of terrorism. Almost all of the hijackers on September 11th came from there, and ultimately, if any invasion would have been just (although I would say none are) it would have been the invasion of Saudi Arabia. In fact, Osama Bin Laden himself is Saudi royalty. B. Other countries are also involved in terrorism, and could have been invaded. C. The invasion of Afghanistan was essentially arbitrary, there were many other possibilities (though the best one would be not to invade). My opponent must prove otherwise. VII. Conclusion AQ carried out the attacks of September 11th, and not a single one of these attackers was from Afghanistan. AQ is not the same thing as the Taliban, and invading Afghanistan has only strengthened AQ. Things were better under the Taliban than before it (although still not good) so one cannot support the invasion on such "moral" terms. America had many alternatives to war, and at the very least had better choices to wage a war against. So vote for me!