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2012-01-18 -Election 2012

Romney says US should not negotiate with Taliban

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Posted by Fred 2012-01-18 00:00|| || Front Page|| [2 views ] Top

#1 of course Romney is know to say whatever he thinks you want to hear and we have no idea at all where his moral core may lie, and that is the rub whenever Romney gets one right. Is he really right on this one, or just following the latest polling on the issue.

Posted by abu do you love 2012-01-18 00:29|| 2012-01-18 00:29|| Front Page Top

#2 Romney says US should not negotiate with Taliban

There's a difference between 'should' and 'will' as any contracting agent will tell you.

Posted by Procopius2k 2012-01-18 07:31|| 2012-01-18 07:31|| Front Page Top

#3 Romney's been pretty consistent on international matters. Not surprising - I've been told that Mormons serve in the military, intel services (esp. covert on the ground agents) and law enforcement (FBI, state BIs) way more than their % of the overall population.

Brigham Young Univ. has an archives program called Saints at War that documents Mormon military service. There's a story in Mormon literature about the Striplings, the theme of which is that elders in one tribe kept their sacred vow not ever to fight the other tribe, which broke their similar vow and launched a war. A small cohort of the younger generation (the Striplings), not having made that vow, took on the much larger agressor army and beat the pants off of them, suffering not a single casualty. The moral being, if you're squared away in your morality national defense is an honorable and even righteous activity. Mormons tend not to preach passive resistance or "better Red than Dead" - they can be quite vigorous in the other direction.

Huntsman was an anomaly in that his father's business interests made him much more interested in doing deals with China than in national security. Romney's much more representative of the Mormon community in that way.

Huntsman tried to buy/lobby his way into managing the Salt Lake City Olympics. Utah leadership chose Romney instead, based on his experience and skills, and he did a very good job of it. The Huntsmans have never forgiven him for that and in general are far more transnational in their personal goals and fortune. Which is why Huntsman made a run for the candidacy - it was to draw away potential Romney supporters, not because he was really all that serious. If he had been, his multibillionaire dad would have funded the campaign all-out.

Posted by lotp 2012-01-18 10:31|| 2012-01-18 10:31|| Front Page Top

#4 I found this interview interesting:

Brian Lamb: : By the way, why did your father not give you any of his inheritance?

Governor Mitt Romney: Well, he didnt have as much as I think some people anticipated. And I did get a check from my dad when he passed away. I shouldnt say a check, but I did inherit some funds from my dad. But I turned and gave that away to charity. In this case I gave it to a school which Brigham Young University established in his honor, the George W. Romney School of Public Management. And as an institute of public management, it helps young people learn about government and about serving in public service. And thats where his inheritance ended up.

Posted by JohnQC 2012-01-18 17:53|| 2012-01-18 17:53|| Front Page Top

#5 A point about negotiating with Taliban.

Start from the point of view of negotiating their *surrender*.

This points out that the Taliban are not a nation, nor even really an organization, just a muddled group of primitives who banded together to rule over the chaos that was Afghanistan after the Russians left.

They could not surrender, because they have no real leader, nor will the vast majority follow any leader in any direction. Barbarians in a league of convenience.

It also means that they cannot negotiate a peace, or even a cease fire.

Add to that what passes for government in Afghanistan right now is little better than the Taliban, organizationally. The US could have given them a far better form of government, one that could have improved over time into a real government, like Iraq, for better or worse, but we chose not to.

Years ago, Pakistan under Perv even offered to construct a "soft wall" between Pakistan and Afghanistan, and Karzai rejected it outright, likely because he is dependent on the support of the Pushtun whose tribes cross over the border frequently.

This means that all we can do is kill some of the Taliban that cross over the border, and drone zap some of their what passes for leaders, in Pakistan. Which achieves bupkus.

Our best hope is that Perv returns to rule over another military coup, and uses the military to smite the Taliban for good, or at least enough so that their survivors are effectively neutered.

Posted by Anonymoose 2012-01-18 18:23|| 2012-01-18 18:23|| Front Page Top

#6 FYI TOPIX > NATO: TALIBAN CHIEF [Mullah Omar] HAS LOST [all] CONTROL OF INSURGENTS, as based on MO's seeming lack of criticism agz Taliban on latest attacks which targeted andor killed local Civilians as well as Security troops instead of the US-NATO as demanded or ordered by MO.

IMO, iff NATO is correct, IMO unless a truly major or decisive victory is won by the US-NATO agz the Taliban the US-NATO may have to delay their scheduled Afghan pullout. OMAR LOSING CONTROL OF THE TALIBAN FACTIONS + ALIGNED IS ACTUALLY BAD NEWS FOR THE US-NATO + KABUL + ISLAMABAD.

versus

* SAME > MULLAH OMAR: US PUSH FOR TALKS HERALDS TALIBAN VICTORY/SIGNALS [US-NATO] DEFEAT.

* SAME > TALIBAN DECLARE VICTORY, AS FIGHTING GOES ON.

Posted by JosephMendiola 2012-01-18 23:46|| 2012-01-18 23:46|| Front Page Top

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