The Afghans Want To Solve Their Problems The Old Fashioned Way

[longknife]

Basically – get the US and NATO out of there and let Afghanis determine their own fate!

How much good sense is that?

It would work

It would reduce the amount of future fighting and dying to near zero

It costs the United States nothing

It would allow us to bring all our deployed units home

It would not benefit Iran or Pakistan

The article was an interview with former Afghan warlord Ismail Khan and he states an obvious truth; even centuries of foreign presence cannot fix Afghanistan.

“The Americans should leave,” Khan said. “There can only be peace and security in Afghanistan if there is a just government in place that is backed by the majority of the people and is chosen through elections or a loya jirga (national council). It cannot be reliant on a foreign military.”

My question is: why are we so damned set on some kind of victory?

The full commentary on this @ The Afghans Want To Solve Their Problems The Old Fashioned Way – Free Range International

 

[longknife]

What Is The U.S. Strategy In Afghanistan? @ War News Updates: What Is The U.S. Strategy In Afghanistan?

Is it really any different from what we had under Bush or Obama? In any case, it’s not very clearly defined.

WNU Editor: The White House and the Pentagon have not publicly articulated what they will be exactly doing in Afghanistan, but if I was to guess on what is the Afghan strategy, it will be something like what was done in Iraq during the Obama administration and refined by the Trump administration under the guidance of US Defense Secretary of Defense Mattis. First things first .... stabilize the situation, and this has been somewhat successful. Taliban and ISIS gains have been limited in the past few months, and this was been done by changing the rules of engagement, and conducting far more airstrikes. Second .... build up the Afghan security forces, and like in Iraq .... put together a division of elite soldiers that will storm enemy strongholds. This rebuilding took approximately 2 years in Iraq to accomplish, and I expect the same in Afghaistan. Three .... when these Afghan forces are ready, launch military offensives with U.S. special forces embedded to order in air and artillery strikes. Four .... make sure the Afghan Army does the fighting .... this is their country, and they are the ones who will have to fight for it.

If this is the strategy .... will it work? I honestly do not know. Afghanistan is not Iraq, and the conditions on the ground are different in both countries. But I do know that the Afghan conflict is a war of attrition, and it will not surprise me if it will take decades for some semblance of peace to return to this country. The hope is that the Afghan government will be able to sustain this conflict by itself .... and the sooner they can achieve that, the better that it will be for all of us.

 

[Sunni Man]

Warfare is the national sport of Afghanistan.

They have been fighting invaders since Alexander the Great was driven from their land.

Afghanistan for good reason has been called the graveyard of nations; as both the British and later the Russians found out.

The U.S. hasn't fared much better, wasting almost a trillion dollars and over a thousand soldier's lives, with very little to show for the effort. ......