We missed our chance in Afghanistan
I couldn’t agree more with the letter in today’s Opinion section of the Post that was written by J.M. Haas than if I had written it myself.
Afghanistan is a political and social quagmire of gigantic proportions and the people of that country are so divided and fractured that it is easy to see why corruption is the order of the day.
They prefer their hard line conservatism and seem determined to live several centuries behind most of the rest of the global community. If we had any chance at all of uniting the country and leading it in a new direction by helping repair and build a new infrastructure, creating a new school system, offering medical assistance and the hundreds of other actions that helps create a stable economy, it was immediately after we helped the Afghans defeat the Russian army.
However, the U.S. Congress and their corporate masters with their usual lack of foresight and empathy couldn’t have cared less.
We had another chance immediately after the World Trade Center disaster but the Bush gang was more interested in creating another Vietnam-like debacle in Iraq - and we are now suffering the economic, social and political consequences of both misadventures right here in our own country.
Terry Kippenberger
University City
We refuse to win, pull them out.
Nice - Sounds like Terry is already making excuses for the “loss” in Afghanistan by blaming the Bush Administration. I would like to remind you that during the campaign, Obama made it very clear that Afghanistan was where he would concentrate his efforts against the “terrorists” who took down the World Trade Centers on 9-11. So, now that Obama has been in office 9 months and has done NOTHING toward fixing the quagmire in Afghanistan, suddenly idiots like Terry Kippenberger go back and blame the Bush Administration for not taking care of it years ago.
Well, that’s convenient and it’s very similar to blaming Clinton for not taking care of Osama Bin Laden when he had the opportunity during his 8 years in office. So, basically - if you go by Terry’s rationale, Bill Clinton is the person to blame for the problems we are having in Afghanistan, because Bush “inherited” the problem from the passive Bill Clinton who had several opportunities to capture Bin Laden.
Time to take care of business - and that pussy Obama will do nothing to help our brave U.S. Soldiers if there is any possibility that his decision could backfire and make him look bad in the eyes of the European’s and Middle Eastern Muslims.
No, really, we just need patience. There’s light at the end of the tunnel. We can’t let the first domino fall. Just a few thousand more troops. All we need is the resolve. Pacify the countryside. Sound familiar?
Gaucho,
Well stated.
Egoist,
What do we ‘win’? If it is so important that we win, why haven’t we won, already. In just a few months, this war will be the longest war in our history.
If winning means stabilizing the central government in Kabul, I’ll ask you just how do you do that. When was the last time that there was a stable, central government in Afghanistan? Has there ever been a central government outside of the population centers? Do we have a plan to democratize people who have lived under tribal systems for millenia? And, why are we at war with the Taliban? Did they attack us? Yes, they have extreme ideas and want to destroy us, but that describes a lot of people in the world. Yes they have extreme ideas and want to impose those ideas on everyone, but I can find people like that right here, within a short drive. Yes, Bin Laden was given comfort by Sheik Omar, but there’s a few Bin Ladens in the world, literally and figuratively that have been helped by people in our own government in the past.
Gaucho,
How do we win in Afghanistan? Bush couldn’t figure it out in 7 years. Obama hasn’t done any better in 9 months. Please tell us how our military can “win” in Afghanistan. You said, ” Time to take care of business - and that pussy Obama will do nothing to help…” and that sounds like somebody that knows what to do. What do we do Gaucho? A president, an army, a nation waits for you.
Lunar - It is simple. Carnage and attrition!
We can’t fight a war with 24 hour media coverage and politically correct military operations. The rules of engagement have become so ridiculous that our soldiers can’t even engage in a firefight unless they have the approval of the commanding officer of their brigade (which could take several radio calls to get approval just to shoot at the enemy).
Here is how you win the war:
1. Add 100,000 troops to the area immediately
2. Shock and Awe the mountain ranges and suspected terrorist camps for 2 months straight with bunker buster bombs and tactical nukes (neutron bombs) I’m not talking about thermonuclear weapons…
3. Send in special forces in large numbers to sweep areas where we have intelligence of enemy forces. (kill them all)
4. Tell Pakistan that we do not need their approval to kill or capture enemy combatants on Pakistani soil.
5. Change rules of engagement to kill on sight if enemy is armed. No prisoners unless we suspect they have info. Extract info using any means necessary.
6. Tell all leaders in adjacent countries to Afghanistan that if we will not be responsible for killing any of their people if they choose to be in the war zone. And…we well hold any government responsible for supporting the terrorists/insurgents.
7. Pay Afghani’s to turn in Taliban fighters and locations.
George Bush was a pussy too. Both Bush and Obama want to look tough during the war, but they both also want a politically correct war to “save our image abroad” and to be “sensitive” to the Muslim population. No one likes us in the middle east anyway, so being politically correct will do nothing to help our efforts. Win the Goddamn war first and then tell the Europeans that they WILL help us or all funding to the UN will be cut off immediately. 4 billion per year.
That’s a start…
Jellio - Like I said, we refuse to win. My idea of winning is way the hell out of style: when you have a threat / attack, you go in and crush the threat w/o any concern for your enemy and all concern for your own men - meaning bomb from the sky w/o mercy and with overwhelming technology (not on horseback); after you have reason to think that you’ve destroyed the threat and its wherewithal to reassemble (because you also demoralized their side), you get the hell out. That is the purpose of taxing me to keep rockets (or whatever) from flying into my house, our cities… Anything else is nothing more than egalitarian “war” - putting our men below animals in value, and exporting welfare.
The problem is that even if we “won” we wouldn’t be “winning” anything.
Go big or stay home. Our men and women in combat deserve no less. Far too many young Americans have been maimed or killed for domestic political gain.