What should an oppressed and attacked nation do ?

[IamDZJ]

Less talk, more action, thank you very much..

[Pisho]

First everyone who wants to bring change (goodness),change yourself to the better.

Awal Zaan Bya Jahaaan.

Thats what i meant
But i would rather hav my own people fix my country rather than westerners who r not tha same religion as us....

Same thing potato patata

[Afghanistan2010]

Less talk, more action, thank you very much..

That is what im talkin' off..

[sunni]

fight back!

[pashtanajan]

The best kind of way for Afghanistan to protect, defend and fight back is through the use of awareness and educating the masses. In today's world, it is not guns and bombs that rule but education and information. Through the internet, if Afghans become more educated they can raise aware the international community and regular folk across the world about the truth and what the oppressors are actually doing. Once the international community is aware of why the oppressor is there, the oppressor cannot fight the world and must step back.

[Haris]

When I was making this thread so it was not specifically about the Afghanistan war but it was a general poll. But all the members posted taking Afghan war in mind.
You are right that from whose perspective are seeing the situation. For many one could be idiot fighting an invader who is far more stronger but at the same time he is a hero in the eyes of so many others. But if we agree on one thing that foreign invasion or occupation must not be accepted in any way, no matter whatever the internal differences a country has. The international community can help and assist, pressurize and take some other necessary steps but invasion is not acceptable then we can reach to a final conclusion that who is right and who is wrong because internal differences of a country should be their problems and only they are the ones to make it solved.
So for me, those who fight for the people and land no matter who they are, to which party they relate, to which religion they belong to, whether secular or religious they are great people in my eyes.

Yup, I agree Friend.
I also meant in a general sense but only used the Afghan war in the 1800s as an example because I have a bit of knowledge on it and it fits perfectly with the point I was trying to make (about perspectives and the difficulty of answering the question). I could just as easily have mentioned the Japanese after having 2 atom bombs fall upon them by the Americans.

Should they have continued fighting (facing complete annihilation) or were they right to give up (and subsequently becoming the fastest growing economic power in the 80s and still being among the most developed nations on Earth)?

[RevolutionThroughReason]

When fighting a war your first and FOREMOST obligation is for the welfare of your people; your decisions must be made based on that precept fundamentalliy. Any combative activity must be for that purpose alone; without it there's no point of combat. By killing your own people whether deliberately or accidentally, you harm the welfare of your people which defeats the purpose of combative activity; once you have done that then you're no longer fighting for your people but against your people and merely become another enemy.

This is the case with the Taliban, if they just fought like REAL men and stopped suicide bombing and indiscriminate attacks, they COULD be heroes. But now it is too late because they have declared SUICIDE attacks are HALAL, and thus made themselves guilty.

[torkham]

is the oppressor internal or external?
is the attacker foreign or homegrown?

machivelian, as in The Prince, reasoning may be order of the day.