Well, Iraq, one-time center of the Arab-Islamic world, has already proven itself unable to defend against allied military forces.
It seems to me that Afghanistan is viewed as the unshakeable stronghold, where 20th century infidels have consistently been repelled.
This is why, despite it being a beaten-down country whose civilians deserve relief, it seems important to defeat the most extreme of extremists. It must be demonstrated that the impregnable caves and hiding places are vulnerable and that the shrewdest cult heroes are mortal.
The psychological impact of losing there will be immense to extremists, except for the young & dispossessed, who are vulnerable to the appeals of vultures in every non-neutral nation in the world.
A negotiated non-peace will be viewed with derision, imo. So far, though, our bombing campaign displays a clear lack of strategic innovation, and our propaganda campaign appears to be equally clueless.
Surely, there must be a US military planner capable of being this war's Marshall, Patton, or Sherman... if so, his hand in this is not yet evident. |
