Losing a War

Weekly Standard ^ | August 27, 2018 at 4:53 AM | Thomas Joscelyn

[Zhang Fei]

After we leave Afghanistan, it's only a matter of time before the Taliban helps al Qaeda put together another 9/11 on US soil. While I'd like to say that after such an atrocity, we'd nuke Afghanistan until it glows, does anyone really think a country that shrinks from waterboarding could ever exterminate an entire country?

[1_Inch_Group]

Our problem in Afghanistan....is the same the Soviets encountered.

We shouldn’t be there.

[Zhang Fei]

[Our problem in Afghanistan....is the same the Soviets encountered.
We shouldn’t be there.]

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Unavoidable after 9/11.

[1_Inch_Group]

Saudis precipitated that.

Only reason we are in Afghanistan now is for the opium crop.

[DakotaGator]

President Obama and his advisers made a conscious decision to treat the Taliban as the Afghan government’s enemy—not ours.

Naturally. Obama always supported his fellow Muslim terrorists!

[raiderboy]

Get out. Don’t care. Been there done that. We are broke any way. Build the wall

[Zhang Fei]

[Saudis precipitated that.
Only reason we are in Afghanistan now is for the opium crop.]

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Not the Saudi rulers, but dissidents who wanted the US to attack our Saudi allies. We’re in Afghanistan because the Taliban helped train the 9/11 hijackers. Maybe you think the entire defense and intelligence establishment of these United States are a bunch of lying traitors. I don’t.

[Zhang Fei]

[Get out. Don’t care. Been there done that. We are broke any way. Build the wall]

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Venezuela is broke. Zimbabwe is broke. Maybe some Americans are broke. But as a country, we’re the opposite of broke. Military spending is less than 10% of all government spending.

[1_Inch_Group]

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.

[davius]

Asking for a statement from the Taliban is like demanding a column of smoke hold your beer while you tap your wife.

[mad_as_he$$]

Old Afghan proverb:

You have the watch, I have the time.

[Zhang Fei]

[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.]

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We have a drug problem because we don’t kill drug traffickers. It’s similar in other countries that don’t put drug peddlers in the ground. Drug companies have legal sources of opium for the manufacture of painkillers and antidiarrhea meds. https://www.deamuseum.org/ccp/opium/production-distribution.html They don’t need to smuggle it in.

[1_Inch_Group]

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.

[granada]

Three countries used to give Taliban government a formal diplomatic recognition: Saudi Arabia, UAE and Pakistan.

[ifinnegan]

Taliban needed/need to be completely destroyed.

Every single one needs to be dead or jailed.

Should have been finished 15 years ago.

[Boomer]

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.

[granada]

America’s loyal ally Saudi Arabia cut the diplomatic ties with Taliban government, two weeks after 9/11.

[FreedomPoster]

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.

[Paul R.]

Wow, some of your detractors have not the slightest clue about geopolitical strategy, what happens if we just run home, etc...

[just me]

Hard to win a war when your commander and chief lets the other side out of prison to regroup for eight years.