Author Gets It Right: Pakistan is Our Enemy

[Doncorelone]

Tried the 'grab them by the balls and the hearts and minds will follow' in Vietnam, it didn't work. As I said, if you do shit like that, you sully the moral aspect of the war you're fighting, and hand over legitimacy to the Taliban, as you're conforming to a perception of always oppressing Afghans/Muslims. At least with a democratically elected leader, you can fall back on them being somewhat legitimately elected, as opposed to the Taliban leadership. That's a bigger moral advantage over them than just installing some dictator.

As for the permanent presence, we're talking around 10,000 troops at most, most of whom will be training the Afghan Army (Which is being bankrolled by the US) it's hardly something which is unmanageable.

[Philly]

You don't get it. There is no moral advantage to invading a country and making them adopt a style of government they've never been inclined towards.

And yes, it is unmanageable because it was unmanageable even at the height of our presence. The afghan army won't be better suited to make it manageable than the US forces and their allies were.

[Doncorelone]

[Philly]

When the soviets were trying to occupy Afghanistan we helped the rebels fight them out but we never invested in what kind of a place Afghanistan would become. Then many years later we invaded to put a government we could live with in place. Had we done it how I am suggesting we wouldn't need to invade. Anything we need to influence over there could happen through our puppet dictator.

As long as we have a permanent presence there and are in charge of maintaining the Afghan military force there won't be any legitimacy to their "democracy" anyway. Push comes to shove they can only elect a government that we will tolerate.

[Doncorelone]

[Philly]

Lol of course we are only going to let them elect a government we tolerate. If they elect some terrorist group I guarantee we don't let that shit fly after we spent the last 10+ years fighting a war over there.

[Doncorelone]

[Spider]

Afghanistan will revert to bearded hillbillies cutting people's heads off. Its a certainty. Count on it.

There is nothing at all that can break through that ignorant fundie-forcefield. Can't even blame the government. Its the ignorant rednecks in the hills, and they will stand for nothing other than a near stone aged mentality.

Trying to clean that place up is pissing into the wind.

[eynon81]

[eynon81]