Hi ghi,
Originally posted by ghi
Russia lost in Afganistan, 15-20000 men and half milion wounded, and achieved nothing after 10 years of bloody war.
I don't understand what's the American goal in Afganistan?
Were looking for Bin Laden , but if they didn't find him in 5 years what for those troops still there?
Bush"s utopic ideas of building democracy in those radical islamic societies looks soo naiv ,
Let them few more centuries to evolve from cavemen to homosapiens, maybe after try again
The US situation in Afghanistan is rather one of "damned if you do, damned if you don't."
If the US withdraws from Afghanistan, the Taliban will come flooding back in from their safe-areas in Pakistan. They will wipe out what little existing infrastructure that has been established and then gradually tighten the noose on Kabul until the Kharzai government collapses. Once they have re-taken, Southern, Central, and Eastern Afghanistan, aside from returning the populace to the full-blown version of 7th century Islamic hell-on-earth the country will become a major center of Jihadi training for groups like Al Qaeda once again.
On the other hand, if the US stays in Afghanistan, the country will never be pacified. This is because the Taliban have a safe haven and endless supplies of fresh fighters just over the border in Pakistan. In order to pacify Afghanistan, you'd have to be able to eliminate the Wahabbi training and supply structure over the border - which our "allies" the Pakistanis would never tolerate. As it is, no substantial improvement in the life of the Afghanis is possible because as soon as you establish say a free medical clinic or a school for girls, the Taliban infilitrate overnight, slaughter the doctors/teachers and blow up the facility and then return. Their current "game" is caching their weapons since they know that the coalition cannot fire on an unarmed Afghani and picking them up for the operation and then dropping them literally as soon as they are done. So we will bleed soldiers and money in that country unless and until we change our overall strategy.
- SEAGOON
