WASHINGTON — Increasingly frustrated by his dealings with President Hamid Karzai, President Obama is giving serious consideration to speeding up the withdrawal of United States forces from Afghanistan and to a “zero option” that would leave no American troops there after next year, according to American and European officials.
But his relationship with Mr. Karzai has been slowly unraveling, and reached a new low after an effort last month by the United States to begin peace talks with the Taliban in Qatar.
Mr. Karzai promptly repudiated the talks and ended negotiations with the United States over the long-term security deal that is needed to keep American forces in Afghanistan after 2014.
We invade Afghanistan to topple The Taliban. We help establish an anti-taliban government and use significant resources to destroy them. Obama then comes along and says "OK, enough of this, The Taliban needs to be a part of the system again, so let's start playing nice". Karzai says "Fuck you, the Taliban is the enemy of an Afghanistan that so many Coalition heroes died to erradicate! All that death means nothing if you hand them back power!"
There were serious questions about a counter-insurgency strategy working in the long-term to begin with in Iraq (which we shouldn't have been in to begin with) but there was considerably more doubt using the same tactics in Afghanistan given the questionable ties of Karazi, the length of time we already had forces within the country, the borderless war spilling over into Pakistan, and the different cultural mindset and infrastructure that's well behind many other middle eastern countries.
The truth is that this is a mess and we don't have any real goal as far as what we are doing other than, "OK guys, let's pack it up."
The entire change in strategic effort has been an extremely expensive waste of resources, time, patience, and lives.
Enough with this... we really do need to completely revamp our foreign policy.
You guys are missing the big picture. Just look at all the money to be made by the war contractors when we have to go back in again. Buy stock in their company and join in the profits!
I also think we are doing this to gather our resources for an eventual war with Syria/Iran. Lots of money to be made fellas.
You guys are missing the big picture. Just look at all the money to be made by the war contractors when we have to go back in again. Buy stock in their company and join in the profits!
I also think we are doing this to gather our resources for an eventual war with Syria/Iran. Lots of money to be made fellas.
Yep, the military-industrial complex has drained the money to be made in Afghanistan, it needs a new country to destroy and "rebuild".
There were serious questions about a counter-insurgency strategy working in the long-term to begin with in Iraq (which we shouldn't have been in to begin with) but there was considerably more doubt using the same tactics in Afghanistan given the questionable ties of Karazi, the length of time we already had forces within the country, the borderless war spilling over into Pakistan, and the different cultural mindset and infrastructure that's well behind many other middle eastern countries.
The truth is that this is a mess and we don't have any real goal as far as what we are doing other than, "OK guys, let's pack it up."
The entire change in strategic effort has been an extremely expensive waste of resources, time, patience, and lives.
Enough with this... we really do need to completely revamp our foreign policy.
Obama was told that adopting Bush's Iraq strategy for Afghanistan would not work
unclephilly - The only way to win in Afghanistan is to do it the way Ghengis Khan did it.
Go in and kill everyone you see.
Kill the women. Kill the men. Kill the Elderly. Kill the children.
Kill them all. Plant a flag and declare victory.
I'm a fan of military history but you summed it up. So Yeah, Alexander did it as well. He killed all the Pashtun livining in ancient Bactria (modern day Nuristani province), then replenished the area with native born Macedonians so he knew he wouldn't have to deal with any fuckery.
Genghis did the same thing, except in addition to bringing Mongolians to Afghanistan after he killed the shit out of the Pashtun - then he fucked the shit out of the Pashtun women ostensibly creating the Hazaras (the only Afghans that can actually fight).
I would laugh my ass off if we have to invade Afghanitsan again in 2023 because the Taliban took over and caused another 9/11.
I will root for The Taliban at that point over the United States.
The taliban didn't cause 9/11. They just harbored al qaeda.
At this point fuck Karzai and fuck Afghanistan. If the Taliban wants that shithole then let them have it.
They didn't just harbor Al Qaeda, they became a vital necessity in their operations. That's why it used to be important to drive The Taliban out of power. If they regain power, Al Qaeda regains power.
Oh I see. So he doesn't want the United States negotiating with the Taliban when he is the leader and should be making the decisions for his country which would clearly be "Taliban not welcomed" considering they want him dead.
Why would the Taliban accept any leader that is not their own?
I would laugh my ass off if we have to invade Afghanitsan again in 2023 because the Taliban took over and caused another 9/11.
I will root for The Taliban at that point over the United States.
The taliban didn't cause 9/11. They just harbored al qaeda.
At this point fuck Karzai and fuck Afghanistan. If the Taliban wants that shithole then let them have it.
They didn't just harbor Al Qaeda, they became a vital necessity in their operations. That's why it used to be important to drive The Taliban out of power. If they regain power, Al Qaeda regains power.
Some Taliban leaders have stated that they are willing to agree to cease letting AQ operate out of Afghanistan. The Taliban is splintered though, so getting a full agreement on that would be difficult.
And do you think those few Taliban leaders would keep their agreement once the US is out of Afghanistan? Even if they wanted to keep their word, it wouldn't be in their best interest to uphold the cease fire.
I would laugh my ass off if we have to invade Afghanitsan again in 2023 because the Taliban took over and caused another 9/11.
I will root for The Taliban at that point over the United States.
The taliban didn't cause 9/11. They just harbored al qaeda.
At this point fuck Karzai and fuck Afghanistan. If the Taliban wants that shithole then let them have it.
They didn't just harbor Al Qaeda, they became a vital necessity in their operations. That's why it used to be important to drive The Taliban out of power. If they regain power, Al Qaeda regains power.
Some Taliban leaders have stated that they are willing to agree to cease letting AQ operate out of Afghanistan. The Taliban is splintered though, so getting a full agreement on that would be difficult.
And do you think those few Taliban leaders would keep their agreement once the US is out of Afghanistan? Even if they wanted to keep their word, it wouldn't be in their best interest to uphold the cease fire.
I would laugh my ass off if we have to invade Afghanitsan again in 2023 because the Taliban took over and caused another 9/11.
I will root for The Taliban at that point over the United States.
The taliban didn't cause 9/11. They just harbored al qaeda.
At this point fuck Karzai and fuck Afghanistan. If the Taliban wants that shithole then let them have it.
They didn't just harbor Al Qaeda, they became a vital necessity in their operations. That's why it used to be important to drive The Taliban out of power. If they regain power, Al Qaeda regains power.
incorrect.
The Taliban are a bunch of Pashtun hillbillies that want to run shit a certain way on their little backward desolate plots of land.
AQ is a sophisticated, global, arab Sunni terrorist grp. they were simply allies of convenience.
The taliban have gotten the point. harboring arabs the US wants to kill is not a good idea.
