Arm the govt to the teeth, and have THEM liquidate everyone that has no alliegence to the country.
> Arm the govt to the teeth... <
I fear those arms would just end up in Taliban hands.
Consider a soldier who is in the current Afghan army. He’d have to know which way the wind was blowing. He’d have to know that once the Americans leave, the current puppet government will collapse.
That soldier should probably desert the first chance he got. Because if he waits too long, he’ll probably be killed in the collaborator bloodbath that is sure to follow the Taliban victory.
Thanks for nothing, George W. Bush.
“Arm the govt to the teeth, and have THEM liquidate everyone that has no alliegence to the country”
That is the old CIA solution - install a dictator with a big mustache, and let him run roughshod over his political opponents, to control the place, and protect America’s few key interests (anti-communism, anti-terrorism, etc.).
It is a cheaper way to achieve a few American interests, than trying to support and re-build a whole society (Nation building).
Afghanistan is not a profit center for the USA, it is an unproductive expense. We need to re-structure to reduce costs. We should not go on paying their whole Defense budget forever - time to sink or swim.
A big consideration in Afghanistan is the role of Pakistan in supporting the Taliban. Even though the Taliban are ethnically Afghan Pashtun tribesmen, they came to power in Afghanistan as virtual surrogates of the Pakistani Intelligence Services (ISIS) and Military. Pakistan still hosts and supports them in safe havens along the Afghan border. Ultimately, effective leverage has to be put on Pakistan, to achieve a successful outcome.