Anyway if we wanna talk about the will and voice of the people, perhaps our governments could start listening to the voice/will of Australians, who want them to withdraw.

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11th. Oct. Troops in Afghanistan

Q. Thinking about the Australian troops in Afghanistan, do you think Australia should:

	Total 11 Oct 10	Labor	Liberal	Greens	21 June 10	March 09
Increase the number of troops in Afghanistan	13%	10%	20%	6%	7%	14%
Keep the same number of troops in Afghanistan	24%	26%	29%	14%	24%	24%
Withdraw our troops from Afghanistan	49%	50%	41%	73%	61%	50%
Don’t know	14%	14%	10%	7%	8%	12%

49% of respondents believe Australia should withdraw our troops from Afghanistan, 24% think we should keep the same number and 13% think the numbers should be increased.

Support for withdrawal has dropped from the 61% recorded in June but is similar to the result recorded in March last year.

50% of Labor voters and 73% of Greens voters support withdrawal but 49% of Liberal/National voters favour maintaining or increasing the number of troops.

Source: Essential Media

Come on fd, do you honestly still believe the elections in Afghanistan were an authentic representation of the will of the people there?

Keeping in mind they were found to be fraudulent, keeping in mind that they were boycotted by large sectors of the society, keeping in mind that the national will of the people tends to be going against the occupation and the government it endorses...

Think about what you're banking your credibility on here.. My advice would be to abandon your leaky boat whilst you still can, because it's not going to float much longer.

If the US wanted to establish genuine democracy in Iraq and Afghanistan, they would have staged elections at the outset.

Instead, the US waited for 3 years in Iraq, and during this time the previous institutions of government were destroyed. They didn't call it Shock and Awe for nothing.

During this time, the power and water suppliers were privatised, new 10-20 year oil contracts were drawn up, the museums were looted and burnt, and Ba'athist Party members were banned from holding government positions - a direction that left only religious and militant groups to enter the vacuum.

When the elections happened, they were a mere formality. The institutions of state had already been destroyed.

Elections mean nothing when the elected have nothing to govern, and no rule of law in which to act.