We did have an enemy and we needed to go in there make a show of force remove the enemy and get the heck out.
Making a big show of force and getting the heck out, would only allow the specific direct enemy (Al Qaeda) to return. And the Taliban was and to a great extent still is closely entwined with Al Qaeda.
Then when they come back in they would claim victory, and in a certain sense to a small degree they would be correct, and to a much greater degree enough people would believe them for it to help them gain in power and prestige.
You need to read the history of Afghanistan - especially during the Russian occupation
The Russian where trying to effectively add Afghanistan to their empire. We are doing no such thing. Also the Russian army was of much lower quality, not just in terms of equipment and training, but in terms of such things as efforts to show respect to the local people and their culture, and in terms of discipline, you had Soviet soldiers selling weapons to the Afghanis. The Russians also to deal with American support of those who opposed them.
So you have different forces, going in to the country at different times, for different reasons, acting differently, under different international conditions, and with different local opinions about the operation.
7 years into the war against one of the weakest countries on the planet is an embarrasment.
7 years to defeat the main force units of such a weak state would be an embarrassment, and beyond that it would be incredibly pathetic.
7 years in an anti-insurgency/anti-terror campaign is hardly unusual. |
