Posted on 08/28/2018 12:48:22 AM PDT by Zhang Fei
The United States lost its bearings in Afghanistan long ago. Some of the Taliban’s most senior leaders escaped in late 2001, as did Osama bin Laden. They eventually regrouped and launched an insurgency that continues to engulf Afghanistan in violence. The Bush administration entered the war with a light footprint that was supposed to demonstrate the overwhelming technological superiority of American forces. The Taliban openly ridicules this view in its statements. The Bush administration added more soldiers to the fight over time, but the war effort was always secondary to other concerns.
President Obama and his advisers made a conscious decision to treat the Taliban as the Afghan government’s enemy—not ours. In 2014, Obama unilaterally declared an end to America’s combat role, a pronouncement that had to be reversed. During Obama’s final years in office, the U.S. military also operated under absurdly restrictive rules of engagement. The American mission has been devoted, in large part, to training Afghans to fight and eventually defeat the Taliban. Think about it this way: America has been fighting a war in which it has often sought to avoid direct confrontation with its principal enemy.
During his confirmation hearing on June 19, Lieutenant General Austin S. Miller was asked by Senator Angus King if the Taliban is our enemy. Miller, who is assuming command of the U.S.-led war effort, struggled to respond. He noted that the “Taliban had previously hosted and tolerated al Qaeda,” but claimed “they have now said that that would not be part of their future policy.” Miller sourced his claim to “statements by them” but failed to offer supporting evidence. There is a reason for this: Taliban leaders have never said any such thing.
The United States has asked the Taliban to make such a statement for nearly a decade.
(Excerpt) Read more at weeklystandard.com ...
Our problem in Afghanistan....is the same the Soviets encountered.
We shouldn’t be there.
[Our problem in Afghanistan....is the same the Soviets encountered.
We shouldn’t be there.]
Saudis precipitated that.
Only reason we are in Afghanistan now is for the opium crop.
Naturally. Obama always supported his fellow Muslim terrorists!
Get out. Don’t care. Been there done that. We are broke any way. Build the wall
[Saudis precipitated that.
Only reason we are in Afghanistan now is for the opium crop.]
[Get out. Don’t care. Been there done that. We are broke any way. Build the wall]
Not sure what you’re pushing....but I got half a beer left.
Afghanistan is only a problem if you go sit in their backyard for a bit.
Kind of like what I expect it would be like here.
We’re there for opium.
You seriously don’t see any correlation to the massive opium addiction problem here recently?
Open your eyes.
We’re all being used.
And they don’t even bother to wipe up the mat when they’re done.
Asking for a statement from the Taliban is like demanding a column of smoke hold your beer while you tap your wife.
Old Afghan proverb:
You have the watch, I have the time.
[Not sure what you’re pushing....but I got half a beer left.
Afghanistan is only a problem if you go sit in their backyard for a bit.
Kind of like what I expect it would be like here.
We’re there for opium.
You seriously don’t see any correlation to the massive opium addiction problem here recently?
Open your eyes.
We’re all being used.
And they don’t even bother to wipe up the mat when they’re done.]
Ok...I have thoughts...but I’d prefer you expand on that a bit.
But, I think you probably don’t want to climb Jacob’s Ladder.
All about manipulation.
Three countries used to give Taliban government a formal diplomatic recognition: Saudi Arabia, UAE and Pakistan.
Taliban needed/need to be completely destroyed.
Every single one needs to be dead or jailed.
Should have been finished 15 years ago.
The Russians learned then we learned. Beating the cavemen on their turf is like beating your head against the cave wall unless you carpet bomb the place with nukes leaving it uninhabitable for generations. Just leave them alone to be cavemen. Focus on building the wall and improving border and entry security in the USA. Block all traffic from certain countries. It’s the best we can do. Then focus on more important things like finding a cure for the leftism mental derangement.
America’s loyal ally Saudi Arabia cut the diplomatic ties with Taliban government, two weeks after 9/11.
And the Brits before them. Go read Churchill’s The Story of the Malakand Field Force. It’s free at Project Gutenberg.
And the Greeks/Macedonians before them.
We should have been there for a punitive expedition to crush Al Queda and the Taliban, 2 years max. Then decamped after crushing them, saying don’t do that again, or we’ll come back and mess you up worse. In hindsight, we should never have attempted so-called nation building. Can’t be done with the raw material, both geographic and human.
Wow, some of your detractors have not the slightest clue about geopolitical strategy, what happens if we just run home, etc...
Hard to win a war when your commander and chief lets the other side out of prison to regroup for eight years.
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