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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: cnyndwllr who wrote (271686)	12/2/2009 3:58:54 PM
From: Hawkmoon	2 Recommendations Read Replies (5) \| Respond to of 281500

There's a difference between asking our soldiers to take necessary risks in a mission that offers a decent chance of success versus asking them to be targets in a conflict where the enemy has far too many advantages. Too many advantages? Look we threw out the original Taliban with SpecOps and suitcases of money passed out to various tribal factions. That took down the Taliban, but it didn't create a replacement government. So now you're telling us that the Taliban have more of an ability to "buy off" the tribal leaders? It's not realistic to believe the insurgents are particularly "nationalistic". They are tribal groups ruled by warlord chieftains in most cases, each seeking to dominate, or protect themselves from, their rivals. And this is the case even within the Pashtun tribes. There has been a nationalistic trend within the Pashtun nation for decades, but they can't seem to unify behind anything. Islamic Jihadism IS a potential force behind which they might find common cause, but I doubt that few of them would prefer the strict Taliban interpretation of Sharia law, over what they currently employ. People just do not like to go from freedom to restriction and oppression. Once they feel entitlement, they are loath to give it up. Entitlement is a MORE POWERFUL FORCE than anything you've ever seen. Because entitlement represents self-realization as an individual. And that individual begins to realize they have individual rights, and not just rights that are arbitrarily bestowed upon them by a particular ruler. And, by the way, Normandy Beach was a huge screw up. Sure.. as many such actions were. No plan survives first contact with the enemy. But as a German General was once quoted.. "The reason Americans do so well in war is because WAR IS CHAOS and the American Army practices chaos on a daily basis". IOW, we are adaptable. We take initiative to find solutions for battlefield problems. We alter our tactics to fit the local situation, not the training manuals. We improvise new weapons or tools to counter any enemy advantage. But most of all, we've come to understand, after the carnage of WWI and WWII, and televised coverage in Vietnam, that the US soldier is not expendable and our paramount concern should be providing them the best equipment that we can. You should recognize that global Jihad or a Caliphate movement is not the prime motivating factor driving many of the groups that have opposed our presence in Iraq and Afghanistan. Insurgent resistance to a foreign force exercising police or military power in their land is almost always based on nationalistic and patriotic resistance to foreign rule. Certainly not in all cases and that's why it's critical to broadcast far and wide that the sooner they stand up as a nation and a people to govern themselves, the sooner we're out of there. We stand down as they stand up... And I cannot conceive of many people failing to understand such a strategy, especially when they are sick of the lawless nature of their society. Most Arabs didn't believe we'd ever leave, until we actually started withdrawing troops from Iraq. And now we're seeing far more calm than existed when I was there a few years back. But for most of these tribal leaders in Afghanistan, the Taliban are FOREIGN INVADERS FROM PAKISTAN, where most of their Madrassas are located. So it's those Afghans who we're seeing beginning to stand up and fight, if only because they've experienced what a Taliban government represents. And Ed.. Jihad is Jihad. If you're a young muslim who's been brainwashed to wage Jihad, you can't stop until the battle is won, or you've cashed in your life and collected your 72 virgins in Paradise. Once you've committed to such a struggle, you know nothing else. You live to die. So these folks are NOT just going to stop should the Taliban be permitted to regain control over Afghanistan. That WILL ONLY ENCOURAGE THEM!! Only long term psychological treatment is effective in most of these cases. And that requires moderate Muslim Clerics stepping forward to "deprogram" these fanatics. the real danger comes from nationless people living in the shadows who'd like to initiate the religiously based WW111 scenario that you seem so determined to promote. No.. every "nationless individual" has to live somewhere and find sanctuary within the borders of another nation. And it's pretty difficult, as the Pakistanis and Lebanese have discovered, to confront these factions once they have taken hold and essentially become a "state within a state". But I will admit that the US can't do it alone. These sanctuaries have to be rooted out by the indigenous military forces, or by us, if we have to. That should be a lesson we never forget from Vietnam. The enemy must have no sanctuary. For starters we could take the ONE MILLION dollars a year that every soldier we send to Afghanistan costs and we could use that treasure to equip and man port security and our borders. I'm ALL for increased security, especially on our borders where millions of people cross each year without our even knowing who they are. But I've worked in the security field for well over 20 years now and I'll be the first to tell you that we cannot protect our nation from every conceivable threat. Furthermore, there is always a balance between security and liberty. You can create a "Fortress Amerika", but I think that neither you, nor I, will like it. That's NOT what this country is about. IF you strip this nation of it's individual freedoms in the interest of greater security, you've played directly into the hands of the enemy who seek to destroy our democratic way of life. You keep wanting to fight losing wars thinking you'll "win" this time by doing the same thing that cost you the last war, only bigger this time. That's what I call stupid. Ed You apparently must have a lot of French blood in you Ed.. Because you always seem ready to surrender at the first sign of the fight getting too tough for your liking. Think out of the box.. analyze the threat, and counter it with creative thinking that denies your enemy the advantage. Hawk