[mylife]

I always had trepidation with Afghanistan, and I understand your trepidation with Iraq, but Iraq could have been a success.
It still may be.
It will be difficult for the Kurds to stay free once Mookie Al Sadr returns.
Turkey is also going rogue.

[Enterprise]

The young woman questioned what the candidates might do to secure the safety of the women of Afghanistan. The candidates responded generally by wanting to get our troops out and turn security over to the Afghanistan military.

Time permitting the candidates should have pointed out that Afghanistan was the haven for Bin Laden after 9/11.

I think the military situation for Afghanistan can be compared to the military situation for the South Vietnamese. Sure, we got out of Vietnam, but unlimited aid kept going to the North from their communist allies, while we withdrew our aid. The South collapsed. We could get out of Afghanistan, and militant Islamic governments would continue unlimited aid to the Taliban and we would be back where we were before 9/11.

If I were one of the candidates I would answer that I would issue all Afghan females above the age of 12, who wanted one, an AK47, and teach them to shoot it effectively. I would give them 1000 rounds of ammunition. I would tell them that if any male tried to rape her, a member of her family, or a neighbor, to shoot him. And I would tell them to shoot any male who tried to disarm her simply because he didn't want her to have a firearm.