Lara Logan (CBS) on al Qaeda and Afghanistan

[mick e]

If you know anything about mick e, you will know that he is no supporter of the current president, but you can't just come in here and assign blame upon Obama for a clusterfunk that was handed to him on a poo platter.

Because of the actions of the Bush administration and Paul Bremer most significantly, (disbanding the Iraqi Military was one of the most startlingly wrongheaded approaches to nationbuilding ever observed) Iraq was an UNWINNABLE situation. They systematically turned the nation against the US in almost every way conceivable. The only way out is to GTFO. That is what Obama finally realized.

Regarding Afghanistan - this is another UNWINNABLE territory - as virtually EVERY conquering nation since the dawn of civilization will tell you. The terrain is too rugged, the residents too tribal, the environment too harsh to impose ANY sort of control. In fact - the Taliban really only ruled portions of Afghanistan since they took over after the Soviets were defeated.

[August West]

If I had been in charge, I'd have tried to co-opt the poppy crop; pay more than the local chieftains, sell opiates for medicine and science, and use the proceeds to build alliances and displace the Taliban in the mountains, building roads, schools, and bringing electricity to the villages

In the face of domestic politics, your suggestion is laughable. What kind of support do you expect would be offered to an administration that bolsters drug trafficking?

The aims were correct and laudable. The execution was often faulty...

Yet the current administration is "feckless."

[mick e]

Imagine a NY Jets game where at halftime they are down by a score of 48-3. Mr Lynn thinks that by replacing Sanchez (GW Bush) with Tebow (Obama) some sort of fricking miracle should happen.

[cbelt3]

I'll stick to my basic thesis. The obsession with "Nation Building" that has diffused into the State Department's DNA for decades guarantees ultimate failure in 'Afghanistan'.

There.
Is.
No.
Country.
Called.
Afghanistan.

It's a damn geographic area on a map.

Why were the Taliban and Al Quaeda successful ? Because the Russians destroyed SO much of the tribal areas that a majority of the population went to live in "Pakistan'. In what is called the "NWFPA". Which is now also Afghanistan.

And when nothing but scar tissue is left, the strongmen move in.

The world really doesn't know much of what goes on in the area. Fisking reporters yammer about what happens in Kabul. 99% of the people living in that geographic area don't give a goat's behind about Kabul.

[Pam]

More talking points. Conservatives have been trying to rewrite history by saying Bush never set a timeline for withdrawal from Iraq. They are also ignoring what the majority in this country want as well. Not to mention how Afghanistan was all but back burnered to fight a made up war in Iraq to begin with.

[decay]

drugs:

the unwinnable US 'war' on them.

people's want/need for them.

the land in Afghanistan where they grow.

opium and hash and heroin.

http://www.indexmundi.com/afghanistan/il...drugs.html

Illicit drugs: world's largest producer of opium; while poppy cultivation was relatively stable at 119,000 hectares in 2010, a poppy blight affecting the high cultivation areas in 2010 reduced potential opium production to 3,200 metric tons, down over 40 percent from 2009; the Taliban and other antigovernment groups participate in and profit from the opiate trade, which is a key source of revenue for the Taliban inside Afghanistan; widespread corruption and instability impede counterdrug efforts; most of the heroin consumed in Europe and Eurasia is derived from Afghan opium; vulnerable to drug money laundering through informal financial networks; regional source of hashish (2008)

[$tevie]

I gotta admit that if drugs were legal and someone like Pfizer could have been buying all that poppy, it would make for quite a different landscape over there.

[mrlynn]

$tevie wrote:
I gotta admit that if drugs were legal and someone like Pfizer could have been buying all that poppy, it would make for quite a different landscape over there.

There are plenty of legal uses for opiates in the world.

/Mr Lynn

[mick e]

Judging from your previous posts on this thread - you should know.

[August West]

There are plenty of legal uses for opiates in the world.

Of course, however I doubt that of the money that would end up in the opiate producers hands, none of it would further fuel crime, terrorism and the oppression of women.