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2009-04-15 Afghanistan
AFGHAN-'NAM BLUES
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Posted by ed 2009-04-15 10:04|| || Front Page|| [7 views ]  Top

#1 In a way its our first "Sci-Fi" war. It reminds me a little of Scalzi books and wars.
Posted by Jack is Back!">Jack is Back!  2009-04-15 12:27||   2009-04-15 12:27|| Front Page Top

#2 It was a terrible mistake to try to salvage *anything* from the old Afghan way of doing business, out of "cultural sensitivity". That is like refusing to vaccinate their children against polio out of "cultural sensitivity". Insanity.

Instead, we should have rounded up every intelligent and educated Afghan we could find, and put them to school to be trained how to run a modern government.

Then we should have written them a modern constitution and required that they follow it for 20 years before any modifications could be made.

Every unemployed adult, male or female, would be put to work doing *something* productive, with most of the men out in the countryside improving the national infrastructure. Their typical wage is so low, we could have done this for just $1B a year.

All children would be put in safe public schools near the provincial capitals and taught a secular, western education. The only bow to their culture would be that boys and girls would be taught separately until high school. Girls would wear ordinary clothes and headscarves.

Any unauthorized border crossers would be shot.
Posted by Anonymoose 2009-04-15 13:48||   2009-04-15 13:48|| Front Page Top

#3 How do you deal with a roach infestation? Put on the lights and step on those scampering about?

Or dealing with their nesting places?

Failure to deal with the Pakistani military has its consequences.
Posted by john frum 2009-04-15 14:15||   2009-04-15 14:15|| Front Page Top

#4 If peace and security were achieved in Afghanistan, the first thing that would happen would be manifestations of sectarianism. Karzai's Pashtun-supremacism alienates minorities. Let's not forget that Pashtuns provided the rearbase for the 9-11 terrorists. Why Bush promoted Karzai - a Pashtun - is bewildering.
Posted by Craith Dingle8487 2009-04-15 16:17||   2009-04-15 16:17|| Front Page Top

#5 Another thing we should have done was tried to get every Afghan living in the west some incentive to move back to share their knowledge and experience of how rule of law works.
Posted by rjschwarz 2009-04-15 18:54||   2009-04-15 18:54|| Front Page Top

#6 TOPIX/RUSSIA TODAY > RUSSIA: AFGHANISTAN-BASED TERRORISM IS A DIRECT THREAT TO ITS SECURITY + MINIMAL DETERRENCE [destruction]: THE NEW GLOBAL ALTERNATIVE NUCLEAR DOCTRINE [versus former Cold War "MUTUAL DESTRUCTION"]???
Posted by JosephMendiola 2009-04-15 22:16||   2009-04-15 22:16|| Front Page Top

23:52 JohnQC
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23:41 GirlThursday
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