First Read - First Thoughts: Declaring success So the Pres. will go on TV, claim success and announce the reduction of the 30k surge troops. What a freaking joke. Can we say election around the corner.
The afgan tribal system is more like the mafia than government as we understand it. Each clan has it's own godfather and it's own rules. The drug trade dominates the entire system. We can not and will not establish a western democracy that will survive after we are gone. My stance is to leave several batallions of rangers and the like there to hit any terrorist camps that spring up along with air support and pull everyone else out.
Leave roughly about 30,000 troops there to take care of training the afgan army and police along with hitting terrorist camps. After ten years if the afgans can't or won't get their act together they never will. Bush had it right from the start. This should be a special ops/CIA opperation. We can't leave all together because the terrorist will return. Let the special ops handle that. The CIA can do their part to work with the warloards.
Germany and japan are rich and democratic republics. They have a high standard of living. Even Vietnam has made progress in their standard of living. South Korea is prosperous and another democracy. What's the chance of Iraq or afganistan becoming a sucessful democracy? They have been given a chance for freedom. Will they make the most of it or are they so far gone that there is no help for them. I would think those of you that have been there would have a better understanding of this. Will they succeed? I doubt that the people have a chance because of the corruption of their leaders.
And they were rich an prosperous before WWII. Zero. There isn't a single democracy in the Arab World and there has never been one in Afghanistan. When we leave, a ruthless strongman will take charge in Iraq and Afghanistan will go back to 11th century tribal warfare which is their tradition. It was a foolish notion that we could go into a country and turn it into a Jeffersonian democracy. Afghanistan is largely illiterate, roadless, and dirt poor. They are better off with tribal governments.
I'm with Dennis Miller on this one. Pull 'em all out now. If the Taliban moves back in and al qaeda reenergizes under Taliban rule (though the Taliban and al qaeda are not best friends) and a threat to America is perceived, vaporize the whole lot of them.
:thumb: Yep, We just have to make sure they never get a nuke.... It has always been my thought that we didnt need troops anyway. I am 100% certain special force teams could have been dedicated to taking HIGH value targets out rather than sending marines in to do police work......... It is good they are coming home...Though I also know that the special forces will stay and pick people off.... At least that is my hunch...
On this we can agree. Leave Afghanistan to the Afghans. If they let Al Qaeda come back and start making trouble, then the B-2 bombers return, the Sentinel and Predator drones return, the CIA death squads return, and the SOF steps in where needed. We need to forget nation-building and just hit our enemies. In Afghanistan we need to leave it to the spooks, the drones, and the commandos. The main reason we need to pull the heavy forces is that we have to be able to give up the supply lines through Pakistan. The enemy is in Pakistan and 75% of the population thinks we are the enemy instead of Al Qaeda. It's just a matter of time before we get in a major military confrontation with Pakistan and we have to be ready.
