It may take several years and an hard border between Pakistan erected, but it is possible.
I hear so many people say that the Russians couldn’t do it with over 100,000 troops. Well the Russians had to face an American backed force when they came to Afghanistan. The battle took place at the height of the cold war and may in fact been a big part of how the Americans sucked the resources out of the Soviet Union, which helped them win the cold war.
This time, the strong American economy, the strong Canadian economy and the strong British economy are behind the stabilization. The Russians may or may not be involved on the other side of the fence, but I really don’t think it matters. The need to treat Afghanistan like a meat grinder is starting to show. If the west puts in small amounts of troops, they will just be ground to bits slowly but surely by the populous militants flowing back and forth across the Afghanistan/Pakistan border. But if you stuff the meat grinder with so much meat that it can’t turn, the grinder comes to a halt.
The Canadians are on the brink of shaming the French and Germans into sending more troops to help in the south. The Americans are calling for more troops. Even Bill and Hillary Clinton support this idea. Poland just announced another 1000 troops. The Canadians are mobilizing the Van Doos early. Tanks will be rolling in to choke the meatgrinder. This is what Afghanistan needs.
It’s the right move to free the Afghan people from the tyranny of living under the Taliban.
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Trying to defeat Afghanistan is like trying to nail jello to a tree using finishing nails and no hammer. Trying to WIN in Afghanistan is something else altogether. Is it possible? Hell, yeah… but we need to provide a viable alternative to the citizens and help them to take back their country from the extremists. There are many lessons to be learned before that happens. Oh yeah… we have to tell Smiling Jack to shut up.
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i have to take issue with one statement here…”The Canadians are on the brink of shaming the French”
this is impossible. the french have no shame.
http://hallsofmacadamia.blogspot.com
/2006/07/for-sale-french-military-supplies.html
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I agree, with the more men and resources strategy. I agree this thing is winnable.
Not to keen on the meatgrinder analogy though.
Part of the problem here is what is known as ‘Just War Theory’ which underpin’s a lot of this. Remember how Israel got poo pooed for a ‘disproportionate’ response, thats one of the reasons we don’t just finish’em off. According to this theory we’re supposed to do this with as many hands tied behind our backs as it takes to make this a ‘fair’ fight.
Nuts to that I say, if we’re in this thing then lets be in this thing to win. Lord knows the enemy is.
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neo, Jed Babbin said that “going to war without France is like going deer hunting without an accordion.”
nuff said!!
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Added note for Moneybags. The meatgrinder analogy was one my 20th century history teacher used to describe Viet Nam. I had some education stateside and he was an Advisor in Viet Nam and fought in Korea. Some of the best history lessons I got were listening to him tell stories.
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I recall Bush stating that no distinction would be made between terrorists and the countries that harbour them. Now, with Pakistan signing a ceasefire with the Taleban, doesn’t that also put them squarely in the crosshairs? Just wondering.
If an unchecked supply of men and material keeps flowing from the Pakistani border, this will be a long, bloody campaign indeed…
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Shere, this is why i said a hard line border would need to be set. If pakistan wants to let the Taleban operate in their territory, there isn’t much that can be done. But if a hard border line is drawn and monitored, I think the troops on the Afghan side can be handled with the right surveillance and firepower.
I’m no general though. I just know that youa re right on what would happen if excursions in and out were continuous. It would never end. Pakistan has a huge population.
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the tribal lands in pakistan are isolated & consist of virtually impassable terrain… and are, in addition populated by tribespeople who think osama is the greatest thing since sliced infidel.
musharaff is trapped… if he tries to squeeze the tribes too hard, his own people will take him out. they’ll kill him. they’ve tried and failed numerous times already.
because the pakistanis have a nuclear capability, bush has to tiptoe through the talibs… pun intended. this isn’t a case of dropping the 82nd airborne on top of osama and gutting it out… there’s a supply problem, there’s an “every guy who drools between two lips is the enemy” problem and there’s nuclear weapons being guarded by people who aren’t real happy with the great satan.
it’s a pisser.
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Yeah, the US is taking a shit kicking in the mountains, more from attrition than enemy action.Pakistan is a tough nut to crack. They are also still bitching with India over Kashmir, so Musharaff may as well be cutting his own throat.
Better for him to say to Duhbya at the UN this week to just pound the hell outta the mountains (on the sly like), and then in public pitch a hissy fit – if he has no onions. If he does, well then, he might as well just find a nice place in Virginia, cause there is no going home for him…
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I know Musharaff is stuck in no mans land. I have commented on it before here. I wonder what a huge daisy cutter and bunker buster campaign from the border inwards would do. Could they flush the enemy down out of the mountains on the Afghan side while monitoring the border with drones? I have a feeling there are some clear under ground tunnels for miles and miles up there similar to the HoChiMinh trail. Blow up a small portion and the mesh finds an alternate tunnel through.
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it’s a lead pipe cinch that, despite the huge tactical challenges in waziristan, spec ops has had many recon teams combing the badlands for bin-laden these past five years. it’s just such a big bad place, there are ten thousand ratholes they have to cover. bush would love to bag him right now in front of the upcoming elections, but he ain’t counting on it. i imagine some day in the future, there’ll be a few books written about it.