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Politics : Foreign Policy Discussion Thread -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Chas. who wrote (9329)	11/20/2009 9:04:20 AM
From: Hawkmoon	1 Recommendation Respond to of 15992

Boots on the ground is just not the way to go in Afghanistan, it should be handled politically, black ops and Predator Drones. Gotta disagree Chas... Boots on the ground, both ours AND ESPECIALLY THEIRS, is necessary or chaos and crime will continue to thrive. Boots include professional police and internal security forces as well. Can you imagine how our society would be if we didn't have local and Federal police enforcement?? We often like to imagine such a world. However, I don't think I would like to live in one... ;0) In order to pursue a proper counter-insurgency program, we need to control and protect the population centers, which are potential areas of recruitment for both sides. We need to recruit them into a better vision for their country, but we can't do that if they are afraid to even dare harbor such progressive thoughts. But yeah.. when it comes to cross-border denial of sanctuary for the insurgent Taliban, then black ops, HUMINT/SIGINT and Predator strikes are a good combination. Hawk

To: Chas. who wrote (9329)	11/20/2009 9:56:34 AM
From: Peter Dierks	2 Recommendations Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 15992

It is almost impossible to win the hearts and minds of a people when you are bombing them from 30,000 feet. Some people might feel vindicated as long as it is the other guy who gets bombed. As soon as a tribe member or extended family member becomes the target they turn against the program. I don't know much about Afghanistan except what I read and hear. Some of our troops have done a great job of ingratiating themselves with the locals. When the locals respect and trust their protectors they report any enemy activity. When that happens Al Qaeda can't penetrate the area around our defensive positions to set traps or roadside bombs. General McChrystal requested the troops. Obama appointed him nd now he is not supporting him. Message 25960219 Another thing to keep in mind is the youth of the Afghans: Message 26033563 Are we winning? I don't think so. Are we denying the radicals a base in Afghanistan? Yes.