xtisme, Dio mentioned Iraq in passing, but then Sam had to still reheat some old arguments and some new ones.
I would only say about Iraq that I don’t think they had their Arab Spring until recently also, but then again, can you think how popular would the **current **protests in Iraq against corruption and inaction in government if the 2 million refugees that “voted” with their feet from 2004 on were still in Iraq? (notice that I’m not talking about Saddam being there, I’m referring to the mess we did)
Anyway, Afghanistan is currently number 7 in the failed states index.
Those are the 4 highest scores from the 12 indicators they look at, with a possible 10 as the worse score.
And now that job is complete and they can get started on conditioning Afghanis against terrorism?
You’ve still not made an argument why anyone should think that the U.S. can succeed now when they’ve failed to construct an exit-able Afghanistan for the last 10 years.
Yeah, I think at this point it’s clear our failure in Afghanistan isn’t because of insufficient boots on the ground, drones in the air, or cash down the toilet . . . it’s the incredibly small number of Skinner boxes we’ve sent them!
Support for Taliban is caused in large measure by unemployment and poverty. Had the U.S. spent even modest sums (compared with what it has spent in that country) on job creation, the Taliban would enjoy much less popularity.
The U.S. makes the same mistakes in Afghanistan it’s made elsewhere: backing corrupt politicians, and allowing most of the soldiers to act contemptuously toward the people they’re there to help.
Our important ally, Pakistan, supports the Taliban. Doesn’t this seem like a problem?
OP seems to assume that the Taliban, once back in power, will provide a haven for al-Qaeda. Might they not have instead learned a lesson?
If there is a way to win in Afghanistan maybe it will be that those under the nebulas title of Taliban really don’t want western forces operating in their country and so maybe they will learn not to let foreign terrorist organisations base themselves there. I can see that they might well have realised its best to keep the likes of Al Qaeda out of Afghanistan unless they want to see the return of western forces.
Hey, does your school or your next school offer Junior ROTC? Your’e just about old enough to get an early start on that military life that excites you so much. Then ROTC in college–unless you can swing one of the military academies. Even if there isn’t a war going on when you’re old enough to serve, you can still make a contribution. Or are you the type who would have talked up Preventing Those Dominoes Falling in Southeast Asia–while some mysterious ailment kept you out of uniform?
(One of my uncles served under the real Curtis E LeMay in the 8th Air Force. My father, another vet of The Mighty Eighth, served in SAC after the War. But we only heard* his *LeMay stories from my Mom, since he didn’t survive The Cold War.)
Prove it. There’s very little difference between the behavior of our pet thugs and that of the Taliban.
It isn’t and they already know it. Nor should it, we aren’t Britain in WWII; we aren’t facing a serious threat to our existence, just a blow to our pride.
The military never wants to reduce troops. When have they ever not asked for more troops and money and weapons? When have they asked for a reduction? I wouldn’t put too much stock into what the military wants.
We no longer have any obtainable goals in Afghanistan. Its time to go
