What Will It Take to Win in Afghanistan

[...] Excerpt from: What Will It Take to Win in Afghanistan : NO QUARTER [...]

Nobama will never think anything through. It is always about him. He will always put the cart before the horse and spend alot of money for little or no gain.

Keep this guy in his chair keeping the seat warm and do not let him touch any important issue, such as Healthcare!

(formerly obamastolemyboyfriend-because I have a new boyfriend now and am glad Obama stole the old one!)

One thing I’d humbly suggest is a reassessment of US attitude toward Afghanistan’s only cash crop – opium poppies. Presently, US and NATO efforts have been aimed at interdicting the opium trade and eradicating the poppy fields. I’d offer the reverse solution – the US should buy the crops directly from the Afghan farmers. This would do two things. First, we would be able to process medicinal opium at a cost significantly lower than what we presently pay our present supplier, Turkey (who’s not been especially forthcoming lately.) Second, by buying up the poppies, we would be depriving the Taliban of a major source of funding – the incredibly lucrative drug trade. This seems like a win-win to me.

I do not believe we have heard a clear and coherent goal by Obama with this Afghanistan/Pakistan mission.
What I have heard is that he is going to “finish the job” regarding Osama bin Laden. Great campaign catch-phrase but how does that translate into military and intelligence strategy?
Obama should grow up and pay attention to how Patraeus assesses the situation and what he recommends and drop any pretense of play-acting as Commander-In-Chief.
Speaking of which, now that Obama is going to redistribute the wealth in part by forcing wounded and disabled soldiers to use private health insurance instead of the U.S. government paying the bills, I wonder if his next reception in front of a military unit will be catcalls rather than just a cool reception.

If there must be trouble, let it be in my day that my child may have peace.

I am tired of war. I am worn out from it. It is beyond exhausting that this has gone on and on with no end in sight. It was the answer to our tragedy and because of the time that this has dragged on, there is no positive outcome. We have been, even with all of our technology, out-smarted.

Q:What will it take to win in AF?
A:Somebody smarter than Obama.

Susan, isn’t it strange how we come across quotes like this?
They take on greater importance and meaning when they start our creative juices flowing.
As to Afghanistan, I was fearful, from the beginning, about getting the same outcome as the Russian Army.
Once we diverted so many troops into Iraq, we conceded most of the progress we had made in Afghanistan.
It truly saddens me to see our valiant troops sacrificed in a losing effort, but it seems fated!

Imagine a war that cost tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of lives with no end in sight for many years. If this is weary, imagine how you would have responded back then.
Humans are not perfect and war is a terrible consequence of that.
What is different today from the 1940′s was “sacrifice.” During the 1940′s and today we have always desired a better life, peace and security, as well as prosperity. Back then people dreamed of it, strived for it, and sacrificed for it.
Today people expect it, demand it, and feel it is an entitlement that requires no sacrifice.
Radical Islamists understand that fact about us and never expected the response we gave them immediately following 9/11. But that has faded and we are back being the paper tiger without the will to sacrifice. All our enemies have to do is just wait us out.

What will it take? First, the will to prevail, which our CIC does not exhibit. Second, the actual desire to prevail which again our CIC does not exhibit. This could be drawn into a long painful lesson to everybody who ever voted for Bush. Our CIC could transform this into an enormous and ongoing “black hole” and blame it on Bush into perpetuity. Never let a good “crisis” go to waste. He likely has plans to run against Bush well into his third term, but to do so… he will need a “Bush” to run against… enter Afghanistan. The perpetual effigy of Bush kept on life support… never strong enough to recover from, yet always painful enough to remind us of “Bush”.

Osama bin Laden? He’s dead, Jim.

Yes, but he being dead yet speaketh. The media, as a tool of corporate interests, suppressed info re his death so as to wring out the last drops of propaganda-value. The name still resonates in many places.

Susan, watch this video. The consensus is slowly turning into “throwing up their hands” and throw money where there may be an inkling it might work (like “I’ll give you money if you don’t kill me today” kind of deals). I don’t expect any breakthroughs in the next three years.

http://worldfocus.org/blog/2009/03/13/week-in-review-pakistani-protests-and-irish-violence/4413/

YES!! The New Yorker had an excellent article on this last year. It’ll be tough though, because the tribal war lords make BUNDLES off the drug sales, and all the farmers are under their orders and must plant what the war lords want them to plant.

Yet another reason we should legalize drugs a la Switzerland (not perfect, mind you, but better). The prices will go way down. We’d be able to spend all that hopeless “drug war” money on rehab facilities and getting people off the streets and training them to make a living wage. And it would employ large numbers of educated people and the counselors needed could become a growth industry. Such facilities also need janitors, repairmen, delivery people, cooks, office staff, security guards, more police (but to help people get off the streets and into rehab, not into jail — jail should be for thieves, rapists, etc.) and on and on. (I’M ALWAYS LOOKING AT any opportunity where we can create jobs … and this would be a great job-creation policy.)

The war lords wouldn’t be such fat cats anymore if they can’t make big bucks selling illegal drugs, and then we could actually get the farmers to grow crops suited to that tough climate.

“A foreign occupying force will never be able overtake a determined local populace.”

What else must we sacrifice to bring an end to the wars? You tell me what it is and I will gladly do it.

You are wrong about people not sacrificing and not willing to sacrifice. We do a different kind of sacrificing. It didn’t take 2 incomes back in the 40′s to make ends meet for a family. They didn’t have to commute as far back then to get to work. And, they didn’t work as long of hours. Time is the ‘luxury’ that we give up or ‘sacrifice’ on behalf of those we love and for the love of our country.

War is not a consequence of anything. It is a political tool.

War is definately an extension of politics but it takes people to commit to war.

“What else must we sacrifice to bring an end to the wars? You tell me what it is and I will gladly do it.”

Question for the ages. Whomever can answer that should be made permanent U.N. Secretary General.

Your second statement is indicative of what I was talking about. There were not two incomes in the 1940′s because either men were at war or women were supposed to be home raising families (remember?).

We have it very, very easy compared to those times. We have conveniences and government safety net programs they did not have. Then of course there was enormous discrimination based on race and gender, which we don’t have now. Sorry, we are just plain spoiled.

I believe Obama may be Osama’s son. Compare photos sometime.

But I am a little weird anyway.