https://www.wsj.com/amp/articles/u-...uction-in-violence-in-afghanistan-11582285704 I think going into Afghanistan was totally justified after 9-11 unlike Iraq. Ill be happy to leave. If the US can leave should we fear it turning into another terrorist operations safe zone.
I've been saying it for years but Afghanistan is going to be a repeat of Vietnam in a good way. There's going to be a Taliban influenced govt there for the forseeable future. Defeating the Taliban completely is impossible. But luckily they're not strong enough to control the whole nation. They're despicable awful people; but that's the reality of it, There's probably goingo to be some weird hybrid of an Islamic Republic with democratic elements and a loose confederation govt there. Think the Swiss model meets Iran. We may or may not have troops there (that's a major pressure point in the negotiations) but there will almost certainly be a McDonald's in Kabul and American products used in the urban areas, even if the Taliban forbids it. Life will go on.
Tell that to the Russians. Afghanistan is where wars go to die. It is such a quagmire. There is no easy solutions.
I'm not saying there are. Do you actually read the rest of my post? Or are you just trying to make a good soundbite?
I supported the invasion of Afghanistan but was worried at the time that it would be a quagmire. Afghanistan is truly the place where empires have died. The British were defeated there, the Soviets and now us. It didn't help that we decided to launch a voluntary war too the year after we went into Afghanistan. There is and likely never will be a military solution to Afghanistan. It might be time to let the Chinese step and put Belt and Road through and see if the Chinese model of economic development without military or political intervention can work.
That's fair. I apologize for being snippy. I'm hungover, getting over a breakup, and left my phone in an uber last night. Rough weekend so far
I don't buy that we needed to go in. Not all out for 20 years. There were other motives. Look at how they actually killed Bin Laden... did we invade Pakistan with our whole damn military?
After 19 years? We did leave Japan. As for Germany....there was this small matter called the USSR that NATO was defending Europe against.
The US has 174 bases in Germany down by 200 from the height of the cold war -- there are about 23 bases in Japan currently. In Afghanistan there is this small matter of the Taliban regaining control of the country. Since peaking a decade ago coalition casualties have remained low -- there is no pressing need to give the region back to the Taliban.
The Taliban like it or not run Afghanistan. Even with the mightiest military in the history of the world occupying for 19 years they still run it. Giving the region back to them is I'm afraid a fait accompli.
Taliban and Al-Qaeda aren't the same. Taliban can have that mofo. We have been there past 2007 because it borders Pakistan who has nukes When they can toss a nuke here, i might be worried
They control a portion not the entire country -- they only gained total control in the mid-90s before being run out again in the early 2000s. We're not talking about some great dynasty -- if we leave under the great Trump/ Taliban peace agreement they will definitely control the entire country again in short order.
The problem is not fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan. We pushed them back hard before we changed our mind and pulled back from the outposts when it got nasty. The problem is we can't hit them in Pakistan. Without going into Pakistan we could never win this war. We are just delaying the inevitable. Once we leave they will come flooding out of the mountains of Pakistan and have control of Afghanistan within 18-24 months. Maybe it takes longer if we get frisky with an air campaign to delay it. Obama should have pulled the plug after Bin Laden... claimed victory, thrown a parade, and bring our boys home. When the Taliban start taking over again it will probably not make page 2 in the NY Times.
