Because Iraq has been seizing the headlines of late, few people know exactly how difficult the job that US, UN, and the Afghan security forces have been tasked with is.
The military situation in Afghanistan is particularly frustrating because the Taliban are operating almost exclusively out of Pakistan these days. The vast majority of their new recruits come from the Madrassas (schools of Islamic instruction - their school day is split into two parts - morning, study the Koran, afternoon, guerilla training) in the refugee camps in Pakistan. Most of the Taliban recruits, while ethnically Afghan, grew up in the camps, and have never lived in Afghanistan, in fact, many no longer have families in Afghanistan, and the majority of boys have never even been in the company of women - it seems hard to believe but all they know is the Muslim Brotherhood, the Madrassa, and the Jihad.
They sneak over the border, plant mines and IEDs, set up time delayed rockets, or destroy any American or UN assistance projects in villages (they bomb new school buildings, water pumps, anything "the infidels" do to help the Afghans) and then hightail it back to Pakistan. Pashtun tradition is never to give away a man running from his enemies, so the village elders in Afghanistan give them defacto protection, even though they are making their lives hellish. Additionally, the Taliban are still feared by most Afghans, as they are incredibly brutal and singleminded - even by Afghan standards.
The only way to stop the cycle would be to close down the Madrassas and stop the Wahabbis from sending in funds to buy new weapons, both of which will never happen for obvious reasons. Imagine if you will trying to fight the Second World war while simultaneously being required to say nice things about National Socialism and allow Nazi indoctrination centers in allied countries. Imagine Winston Churchill declaring in 1940, "Our problem is Adolf Hitler and the SS who have hijacked the peaceful Nazi political system."
- SEAGOON
