“There are almost no recruits from the south,” said Gen. Ali Ahmed to the Observer in July, noting that when villagers do come in contact with ANA, the Pashtuns see them as an “army of occupation” primarily composed of ethnic Tajiks. Indeed, the majority of ANA officers are Tajik …..

http://original.antiwar.com/vlahos/2009/10/26/afghan-army-mia/

As for the idea of scrutinising the muslim population ever closer, I don’t think there’s too much need for alarm (unless the security services are totally incompetent).
If they get information about some individuals being suspect, it shouldn’t take too much to decide what level of risk (or none) they pose.
If they turn out to be benign Islamists, and they get a security file because of that, then tough really. MI5 will hardly want to bother looking into the lives of ordinary muslims who are just going about their everyday lives.

But not a rationale I’ve heard from Brown or Obama.

Why?

No takers. OK I’ll ask an easier one.

Can anybody give me the name of a terrorist who has ever been trained in Afghanistan?

If not, can someone please explain to me how fighting this war will prevent terrorism?

Sometimes, I feel as if I am looking at a naked emperor and everyone around me is admiring his clothes.

Yes, except the Taliban had precious little to do with 9/11 – http://www.gregpalast.com/taliban-911-afghanistan-by-hypnosis/#more-3012

There’s quite a good spat going on between Craig Murray and a mid-level banker from the Daily Kos over the role of Central Asian gas in the decision to keep on hanging in there in Afghanistan http://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2009/11/the_sinister_di.html#comments

Do correct me if that’s not the case.

Do you really believe all the people fighting the British Army in Afghanistan are “radical Islamists”? What an absurd mistake to make – believing your own propaganda.

If Afghanistan sent troops to the UK with the intention of getting rid of our liberal democracy and replacing it with a tribal system of government would it be legitimate to resist?

This is the most stupid phoney war in history.

Can anybody even give me the name of one Afghan terrorist?

It’s all really quite easy provided you remember that we’re talking about people.

We’re fighting radical Islamism. Do you believe that ordinary Afghans are all radical Islamists? That would put you in the Mad Mel camp.

I assumed, wrongly, that a desire among ordinary Afghans for peace would prevail over the prospect of continued war

I love this sort of construction – it’s as if anyone who opposes our presence there must, by definition, not be an “ordinary Afghan”. Presumably he thinks the Afghan Taliban come from Mars or something. Who the hell does he think we’re fighting?