tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32931256.post6512602048912699806..comments2024-03-22T05:20:44.167-07:00Comments on The Disaffected Lib: "Operation Realism" - New Roadmap for KandaharThe Mound of Soundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09023839743772372922noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32931256.post-20122154998046740322008-04-11T10:21:00.000-07:002008-04-11T10:21:00.000-07:00Bill, anyone who believes Afghanistan will ever am...Bill, anyone who believes Afghanistan will ever amount to more than a temporary lull between civil wars ignores that country's rich history of ethnic strife. The Tajiks, Hazara, Uzbeks and Pashtu clobber each other relentlessly until exhaustion, strike a deal that may last for one or two decades, and then it's back at it.<BR/><BR/>I know our soldiers are well-intentioned but with Pakistan unchecked on one border, Iran on the other, and a legacy of centuries of sectarian warfare, what in hell can our people expect to achieve in that place that could possibly hold and last?<BR/><BR/>The Afghan warlords are already gaming our departure, positioning themselves for the opportunities that will present - and they're our ALLIES! <BR/><BR/>We're not going to "alter the path" of Afghanistan. If the Afghans do emerge from their Dark Ages fundamentalist feudalism, it'll be their doing, not ours and it will be on their timetable, not ours. <BR/><BR/>If it takes 100 years it's worth it? What, we tie down the entire NATO alliance in Afghanistan for a century, are you serious?<BR/><BR/>There are much bigger fish to fry coming down the pike, Bill, and we'll need those NATO forces much more elsewhere before long.<BR/><BR/>We're going to have to give up our lease on Afghanistan's civil war, Bill, and let the warlords carry it on on their own. <BR/><BR/>Sorry, amigo, but even David Emerson is now preaching the gospel of "realism" for Afghanistan. It's over, all except the leaving.The Mound of Soundhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09023839743772372922noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32931256.post-19615267394183065112008-04-11T04:02:00.000-07:002008-04-11T04:02:00.000-07:00I would think it would be difficult to find any th...I would think it would be difficult to find any thinking person who thought that in 2011 Afghanastan would be able to stand on its own. 25 to 50 years maybe. The CBC did a great documentary on the lone woman athlete from Afghanastan who will be competing at the Bejing Olympics, how her training facility ironicly used to be the same stadium where 10 years ago the Taliban would fill the seats with men women and children and watch as hands, arms, fingers were cut off for punishment, and, where women were stoned for, well, being women. I live just outide of Pettawawa and I get a chance to hear their story's, to hear how our volunteer military men and women feel about what they do, and, to most of them, if it takes a 100 years its worth it. I know my opinion is just that, mine, but, we either work the the UN and NATO to alter the paths of coutry's such as Afghanastan, or, go back to embargo's, platitudes, warnings and rally's in the warm July sun in front of some embassy in Ottawa. Both are wrong, but, at least one of them makes a difference. billgAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com