The US kicked the Taliban out of Afghanistan in less than 90 days while the Russians couldn't accomplish the same thing in 10 years
not really true. we drove them out of the main population center and into the hills and tribes. we also did not have us arming the taliban against us. remember, the '80s war in afghanistan was a proxy war for us. a chance to degrade the russian military and morale. it worked well.
We did that with the help of Afghan insurgents (commonly known as using special warfare tactics) who wanted the Taliban out.
kind of. we did what we did in the '80s and paid them. that was their interest. money and the chance for their own power base.
We also failed to monitor and promote a central govt and train a force of motivated soldiers and police
not sure this is possible. unlike iraq, afghanistan has never had a functioning central government. the loyalty of the population has always been to the tribe. while you have strong tribal influence in parts of iraq, iraq has a long history of functioning as a nation with national interests.
Listen folks Afghans are just people, the average Afghan father wants the same things for their children that we do.
common western mistake in thinking. yes, the afghan father want his family to survive, but that does not translate into a dislike for the taliban. the taliban was primarily the religious police force, of a religion that the people of afghanisan embrace. in cities where there is exposure to outside influence, there may be some chaffing against the rules, but in the outlying regions, the rules are embraced. iraq was not dominated by islam, it was dominated by saddam. killing a man is far easier than killing a repressive belief system.
we are concentrating on the wrong enemy. the taliban is no threat to us except as a supporter of AQ. at this point, their main support comes from the income of the poppy fields. AQ is pretty much out of afghanistan. so should we be. we have the ability to monitor afghanistan and take out training camps as they pop up. we have the ability to destroy the poppy fields. it is not in our interest to "rebuild" afghanistan.
while we dink around there, AQ trains elsewhere.....even perhaps, by intel reports, in central and south america. certainly in our own country. i predict that in the next 10 years, Ft Hood type attacks will be more common. we will begin to experience what israel has known. even our own AG has changed her tone and in this case, i don't think it's political expediency that has done it. it was the reality of the intel.
before we can win, we need to define not only what winning is, but who the enemy is.
