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2019-12-11 Afghanistan

Confidential Documents on Afghanistan Released

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Posted by trailing wife 2019-12-11 00:11|| || Front Page|| [11129 views ] Top

#1
The US is in the unenviable habit of seeking tigers to try to ride. I've been suspicious of the tallies and the 'heavy defeats' to the taliban, the 'devastating air attacks' and the 'scores killed !'

This data shows more civs and friendlies dead than tangos. It means utter loss. For once, I agree with Herb's take on the whole thing. Why the hell are you still there ? Is it to ensure some narrative that will surely lean against you if you leave ? The narrative at home will indict you if you don't leave !

There's just no shame or loss in admitting 'This fucking thing is too muslim for us, we're out.'

Posted by Dron66046 2019-12-11 00:30|| 2019-12-11 00:30|| Front Page Top

#2 Because this nation's elites (post-Nixon/Lissinger) don't do punitive expeditions and don't understand divide et impera.

Posted by Lex 2019-12-11 01:42|| 2019-12-11 01:42|| Front Page Top

#3 *Nixon/Kissinger

Posted by Lex 2019-12-11 01:42|| 2019-12-11 01:42|| Front Page Top

#4 These people have no idea what they're fucking doing and they're running US policy. The thing that they're good at is spending money. $3 million dollars a day? US Congress can't spend that kind of money and yet that's what a commander in Afghanistan was required to spend.

What's it going to take to get people to understand that the war in Afghanistan is about making money for the deep state/unelected government/military-industrial complex? They're not even bothering to try to win the war. They've been lavishly funded and if they were going to win the war, they would have done it by now. We've spent more in Afghanistan than we did in Germany on the Marshall Plan. And got fuck-all to show for it except wealthy bureaucrats.

Posted by Herb McCoy 2019-12-11 01:52|| 2019-12-11 01:52|| Front Page Top

#5 If it were not for the heroin, I'd say it was a cultural ego thing, especially in the military-bureaucratic mindset. But as people have called out here, there's a great dearth of civilizational confidence anyway. Maybe the State Dept types are just the ones high on ego. Maybe their accounts are 'high' on something else ?

Posted by Dron66046 2019-12-11 04:33|| 2019-12-11 04:33|| Front Page Top

#6 Heroin, shmeroin. The international new class: from the lowest DMW clerk to highest bureaucrat/politician simply cannot admit to being wrong. Because if they'll admit to being wrong once ...

Posted by g(r)omgoru 2019-12-11 04:46|| 2019-12-11 04:46|| Front Page Top

#7 ^ Does a DMW clerk only serve you if you drive an overpriced German car ? 😉

Posted by Dron66046 2019-12-11 05:23|| 2019-12-11 05:23|| Front Page Top

#8 Word to the wise....embrace the power of "and".

All of the reasons mentioned are part of the debacle. In varying amounts depending on the day.

Posted by AlanC 2019-12-11 07:06|| 2019-12-11 07:06|| Front Page Top

#9 "Why did we make the Taliban the enemy when we were attacked by al-Qaeda? Why did we want to defeat the Taliban?"

"We will make no distinction between the terrorists who committed these acts and those who harbor them. "
George W. Bush, September 11th 2001

The original idea was to symmetrize an asymmetrical conflict by not acknowledging state sponsors' deniability whether plausible or not.

This idea was apparently scrapped no later than in October of 2001.

The lesson the world has learned from 9/11 is that facilitating and organizing a mass fatality attack on the US is NOT a suicidal mistake.

"Not only me and the Afghan people, but the American people as well are not satisfied with what has been achieved in view of war expenditures," said Fida Mohammad Ulfat, a politician in Afghan parliament.

Strategic retaliation after a massive attack wouldn't have been supposed to satisfy the enemy people. It would have been supposed to strengthen deterrence and dissuade further attacks.

Apparently the payment of danegeld and displays of political masochism aren't satisfactory either.

The engagement in Afghanistan is eroding deterrence and emboldening enemies.

Right now the least bad solution is precipitous withdrawal without any negotiations.

Posted by Elmerert Hupens2660 2019-12-11 11:11|| 2019-12-11 11:11|| Front Page Top

#10 ^.... yes, provided it be accompanied by the occasional massive, devastating, punitive JDAM-caliber strike.

Posted by Lex 2019-12-11 11:16|| 2019-12-11 11:16|| Front Page Top

#11 The need is not to admit it didn’t work and walk away, the need is to win this existential war. We’ve at least got as far as admitting that current methods don’t work. Fine. Follow the negotiators home and carpet bomb them, wherever they live, even if it is in Quetta. Clone their cell phones and devices, figure out where their friends are calling from, and bomb there. Any civilians caught in the crossfire to be considered an example to the rest to stay far away from jihadis. Destroy the madrassas that are sending their graduates to join the fight.

They want asymmetric war? Let’s show them what asymmetric really means.

The alternative is to wait until Philadelphia looks exactly like Jalalabad.

Posted by trailing wife 2019-12-11 15:40|| 2019-12-11 15:40|| Front Page Top

#12 Punish. Divide. Devastate.

Posted by Lex 2019-12-11 15:45|| 2019-12-11 15:45|| Front Page Top

#13 Clone their cell phones and devices, figure out where their friends are calling from, and bomb there

Punish. Divide. Devastate.

If that ever becomes the intention, the US will find 75% of their work done for them. We're waiting for the Trump Presidency to stand firmly on it's feet. Most islamic countries that Imran has whined to know this. If India and the US simultaneously went after our respective enemies in the 'Stain, China would not come to its aid. Also, the Pak nukes would not help them if the conflict was kept LICO. Small bites by India, IDF-like ASM hits by the US on India supplied addresses. It would render the Islamic Republic helpless to fend off secessionist movements by Baloch and Khalistan rebels. Disintegration would follow into four provinces, leaving the Pakistani military leadership to either escape to England or retire to Karachi. China would have to renegotiate their OBOR thingy and deal with India, plus new provincial administrations. The hardest hits on Pak's security apparatus shall come from within in any event.

Here's hoping the Trump can lock a second term and reign in the domestic front, because that is of the utmost importance right now. A very strong hand is needed to keep your anti-nationals from just fubaring everything. Nothing short of a police fist will do. But that's just my opinion.

Posted by Dron66046 2019-12-11 16:17|| 2019-12-11 16:17|| Front Page Top

#14 We're waiting for the Trump Presidency to stand firmly on it's feet.

It is such a relief to hear that, Dron66046.

Posted by trailing wife 2019-12-11 17:48|| 2019-12-11 17:48|| Front Page Top

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