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2009-07-13 Afghanistan

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Posted by GolfBravoUSMC 2009-07-13 12:33|| || Front Page|| [13 views ] Top
File under: Taliban

#1 It saddens me but I tend to agree. Not sure what alternative there is to fighting there though. Giving AQ a safe haven cannot be an answer.

Posted by Glenmore 2009-07-13 13:15|| 2009-07-13 13:15|| Front Page Top

#2 One has two wonder if the writer understands the terms "security" and "justice" when he says in one sentence Its previous administration provided basic road security and justice ...... and two sentences later says Millions of Afghans disliked its brutality, incompetence and primitive attitudes.

Beyond that I agree with him. Until Pakistan and Iran are dedicated to a stable Afganistan there won't be one. I don't think either are.

Posted by DoDo 2009-07-13 14:40|| 2009-07-13 14:40|| Front Page Top

#3 A stable Afghanistan is a significant threat to both Iran and Pakistan. This is just of of several reasons that it's in our interests to promote it.

Posted by Richard of Oregon 2009-07-13 15:10|| 2009-07-13 15:10|| Front Page Top

#4 I don't know much about about Afghanistan other than what I read here and on M. Yon's site. But M. Yon isn't very optimistic about us succeeding there.

Posted by Injun Grinesing9686 2009-07-13 15:46|| 2009-07-13 15:46|| Front Page Top

#5 I think I'd be willing to define our goal as denying the country to Al Qaeda and Pakistan and significantly reducing opium poppy cultivation, thus reducing that source of terror funding. We are already getting there. A stretch goal of Afghan stability based on some indigenous economic development, local-level rule of law supported by a competent and professional army and police -- and a working system of roads -- and at least 60% of children reaching adulthood able to read and write is, I think, realistic within a generation, so long as we stick it out. I do not believe we can turn Afghanistan into Britain, with equal rights for all, an industrial revolution, a computer in every pot, 70% graduation rates from high school and a significant proportion of high school graduates receiving tertiary education. I'd venture to guess Afghanistan is at least a century from that, even if all goes well.

/this opinion worth exactly what you just paid for it.

Posted by trailing wife">trailing wife 2009-07-13 16:03|| 2009-07-13 16:03|| Front Page Top

#6 TW's last comment sounds like the Republic we supposedly have here..

Posted by tipover 2009-07-13 18:44|| 2009-07-13 18:44|| Front Page Top

#7 tipover, when I was a reading tutor, back in the 1980s, the statistic we were told was that ~~205~~ 20% of American adults were functionally illiterate, ie reading at or below a sixth grade level. I imagine, with the number of non-English speaking illegal immigrants in the country today, the percentage is higher. But in my opinion, that sixth grade level is necessary for reading newspapers and filling in health insurance forms; for everyday function, I'd think a third grade level would suffice -- enough to sound out new words and look them up in the dictionary, and grow in reading ability just by reading things. Of course, I'm not a teaching professional, so I could be wrong.

Posted by trailing wife">trailing wife 2009-07-13 22:19|| 2009-07-13 22:19|| Front Page Top

#8 A few days ago, I described Afghanistan as being Lebanon without the shopping.

What I meant by that was it will be in perpetual civil war or at best heavily armed truce for generations to come.

Maybe in 100 years time you could turn Pashtuns, Tadjiks and Uzbecks in happy Afghanis, but I doubt it. I see little progress toward that end in Lebanon - a far more developed country.

The solution is to formalize a system of ethnic de facto or de jure states and pay people to move to the 'right' state.

The reason this isn't done is the howls of outrage from the UN where many multi-ethnic states with governments of dubious legitimacy would see the same future for them. As well as the liberal fantasy of a post-ethnic world.

You would then hold the Pushtun government responsible for fixing the AQ problem, which I assure you they would with some fairly cheap carrots and sticks. Especially when they see the Uzbecks and Tadjiks getting economic development and modern weapons denied to then.

BTW, the solution to the UN problem is to say screwem, but I see no prospect of that. So Afghanistan will fester on, draining blood and treasure for years to come.

Posted by phil_b 2009-07-13 23:44|| 2009-07-13 23:44|| Front Page Top

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