Article

2009-09-16 Afghanistan

A third of Karzai votes may be fraudulent, EU official says

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Posted by GolfBravoUSMC 2009-09-16 15:00|| || Front Page|| [8 views ] Top

#1 1.1 MILLION???

(Blinks hard)

Yes, this is an endeavor we should continue. And even ramp up. This is worth it, people ...

Posted by Mizzou Mafia 2009-09-16 18:03|| 2009-09-16 18:03|| Front Page Top

#2 No, I'll just say it. This is Rantburg.

I don't see how supporting the Karz. govt. is in the best interests of the United States.

I'm sure I'd love Afghans if I met many of them, but I don't see how losing one damn American life is worth this stack of tribal corruption and feuds.

We have the technology. To paraphrase "Aliens", we can 'nuke the site from orbit, just to be sure'.

Losing boots on the ground is just sick in this situation.

It's a waste of American lives for nothing, in which good intelligence and drones can accomplish the necessary mission.

Posted by Mizzou Mafia 2009-09-16 18:10|| 2009-09-16 18:10|| Front Page Top

#3 I disagree. Our soldiers have done immense good.

1) they removed al-Qaeda's ability to make war on us from Afghanistan.

2) they removed the Taliban from power.

3) they have made large sections of the north and west safe for the usual sorts of Afghans and tom-foolery, none of which threatens us.

That's not bad.

I'm not sure we need 40 or 70 or 100 thousand troops in Afghanistan. It might be better just to let Dostum take care of business and keep some Special Forces guys around to call in bombs were required. A smaller footprint would be easier to maintain.

Our goal isn't and shouldn't be nation-building. If the Afghans want a nation, let them fight for it. Our goal is to ensure the Taliban and al-Qaeda can't use that unhappy land to stage new attacks on us.

Posted by Steve White 2009-09-16 18:37|| 2009-09-16 18:37|| Front Page Top

#4 It might be better just to let Dostum take care of business and keep some Special Forces guys around to call in bombs were required.

And he damn well can, even if it means dismounting, grabbing a few AK mags and leading a charge into Taliban trenches. Read Doug Stanton's book Horse Soldiers.

Posted by Besoeker 2009-09-16 18:49|| 2009-09-16 18:49|| Front Page Top

#5 Who elected the EU official?

Posted by Matt 2009-09-16 19:32|| 2009-09-16 19:32|| Front Page Top

#6 A couple observations from talking with people knowledgeable about the situation there:

a) we know Karzai's corrupt and weak

b) a big problem is that currently the regional governors are appointed, not elected. So people have no way to hold their officials accountable.

c) for reasons that are being explored, about 30% of the Afghan army leaves at the end of an enlistment period. This destroys continuity and unit effectiveness.

d) what we DON'T want is a strongman with a regional base again. What we do want is to fix this so that there is the possibility of Afghan identity that transcends local tribalism, because the alternative is that the Taliban provides a shared identity in the form of fanatical Islamicism / the Ummah.

Posted by lotp 2009-09-16 20:04|| 2009-09-16 20:04|| Front Page Top

#7 What we do want is to fix this so that there is the possibility of Afghan identity that transcends local tribalism

And I want free medical care and icecream for every meal and the same waistline I had at 18 and Rita Hayworth in Gilda and...

What we need is to get real about what is possible in a portion of the world that is several centuries behind us in every aspect of development. We need to study what went right in Afghanistan between 1919 and 1979 and replicate as much of it as reasonable so that we can return to ignoring a useless, worthless corner of the world that deserves to be left alone.

Posted by Nimble Spemble 2009-09-16 20:46|| 2009-09-16 20:46|| Front Page Top

#8 You're assuming that we can do so without cost.

I don't really think we can succeed in more than some limited ways, within a budget we can afford. But I also think we're kidding ourselves if we don't realize the danger in a linkage of Iran, a Taliban-led Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Posted by lotp 2009-09-16 21:28|| 2009-09-16 21:28|| Front Page Top

#9 We need to study what went right in Afghanistan between 1919 and 1979

Most Uzbecks and Tadjiks were under Soviet rule and the Pashtun had a free hand to run Afghanistan.

The likes of Dostum will never allow that to happen again.

The West percieves it needs Karzai to bring the Pushtun onboard and will let this obviously fraudulent election slide.

Posted by phil_b 2009-09-16 22:06|| 2009-09-16 22:06|| Front Page Top

23:59 Sherry
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