[Leaning Right]

Conventional bombing did not break the spirit of the Japanese fanatics in WW II. So I doubt if it will break the spirit of the Islamic fanatics in Afghanistan now.

No, I’m not advocating for a nuclear option in Afghanistan. Neither am I advocating for leaving them alone when they start plotting against us again. So I suppose the only option is to add Afghanistan to the list of endless drone wars.

[Go Gordon]

No, I’m not advocating for a nuclear option in Afghanistan. Neither am I advocating for leaving them alone when they start plotting against us again. So I suppose the only option is to add Afghanistan to the list of endless drone wars.

Can you say MOAB? A dozen of those tossed around would get their attention.

[Zhang Fei]

[Conventional bombing did not break the spirit of the Japanese fanatics in WW II. So I doubt if it will break the spirit of the Islamic fanatics in Afghanistan now.]

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Actually, they were near the breaking point. There was widespread hunger and famine in parts of the country. The amount of devastation inflicted on Japan was severe. Roughly 4% of the country lay dead at war’s end. Whereas we haven’t even scratched the surface in Afghanistan. Out of a population of 35m, we have killed perhaps 85,000, or .25% (including hostile civilians - the Taliban have taken care to kill civilians friendly to the US). To match the Japanese casualty %’s, we’d have to kill 15x the number of Taliban and hostile civilian dead we’ve inflicted to date.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II_casualties#Total_deaths_by_country
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_in_Afghanistan_(2001%E2%80%93present)

The principal reason this war is dragging on is because we haven’t taken the gloves off. Genghis Khan is said to have wipe out entire cities. I’m a little skeptical, because they lived off the land (i.e. local civilians). No local civilians, no food. If you kill them all, what do you do for food on the way back from an expedition? You can’t carry it all with you. Draft animals need to be fed and watered, etc etc. But even Alexander, over a thousand years prior to the Mongols, killed vast numbers of people in cities that resisted him:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Thebes#Destruction_of_Thebes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Tyre_(332_BC)#Conclusion_of_the_siege
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Gaza#Consequences_of_the_siege
https://www.livius.org/sources/content/diodorus/alexander-sacks-persepolis/