tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32931256.post7690261477439783626..comments2024-03-22T05:20:44.167-07:00Comments on The Disaffected Lib: The Abject Futility of Our War in AfghanistanThe Mound of Soundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09023839743772372922noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32931256.post-8357989452821611942009-07-25T19:46:45.502-07:002009-07-25T19:46:45.502-07:00Thanks for that. I'll try to track down a cop...Thanks for that. I'll try to track down a copy. It sounds like a companion piece to Kevin Phillips excellent "American Theocracy."The Mound of Soundhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09023839743772372922noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32931256.post-49866746692827913502009-07-25T19:41:57.382-07:002009-07-25T19:41:57.382-07:00Red Tory has an excellent recommendation on a book...Red Tory has an excellent recommendation on a book to review "After the Empire: The Breakdown of the American Order". Originally written in 2002 (Emmanuel Todd - with a European & French perspective) in 2002 and then with an American edition in 2003 (with a new and astoundingly precient Preface in this 2003 edition), it is definitiely worth a read - even for Canadian cons!UU4077https://www.blogger.com/profile/10350775839411436865noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32931256.post-77377452702723386792009-07-24T12:25:00.470-07:002009-07-24T12:25:00.470-07:00How can anyone tell what they truly 'expect...How can anyone tell what they truly 'expect' any more? If you were to try to discern their objectives by their actions, it would appear that they're aiming to tread water and hope something simply breaks their way. It's more than a long shot.<br /><br />I think they're waging theatrical war, essentially going through the motions to keep up appearances. <br /><br />The insurgency is but one element that will determine the outcome in Afghanistan. Add to that the hopelessly corrupt and ineffectual central government, the Northern Alliance warlords, the large-scale criminal element and the drug lords and you have a powerful criminal enterprise, very tightly interwoven. Somehow we're supposed to stabilize Afghanistan by holding the insurgents at bay?<br /><br />It could be argued that Afghanistan is a civil war in the midst of an intermission. Unless we dismantle the entire warlord power structure there'll never be any domestic peace but that objective isn't even on our agenda and it never will be either.<br /><br />Meanwhile Pakistan is going sideways faster than anyone will admit with the Taliban extending their influence into what had been a relatively low-level insurgency in the resource-rich, southern territory of Balochistan. This region is Pakistan's sole access to the sea and also the pipeline route into Iran. With Pakistan's military drawn down defending its border with India and putting on a show against the Taliban in the northwest frontier region, it's virtually powerless to confront a Baloch uprising in the south. I doubt Pakistan will be too keen to exhaust itself struggling with the Taliban in the Pashtun regions if it means losing control of Balochistan.<br /><br />Wheels spinning within wheels spinning within wheels.The Mound of Soundhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09023839743772372922noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32931256.post-47049608612498787882009-07-24T12:00:33.672-07:002009-07-24T12:00:33.672-07:00There are (generally) 3 stages to warfare - stage ...There are (generally) 3 stages to warfare - stage 1: bomb the hell out of everyone (the current US "MO"); stage 2: clean-up, get rid of any "stragglers" and befriend the locals (Canada & NATO) and stage 3: rebuild. For some stupid reason all 3 stages are currently being played-out in Afghanistan at the same time. And they expect progress?UU4077https://www.blogger.com/profile/10350775839411436865noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32931256.post-32868466826717183752009-07-23T16:49:37.691-07:002009-07-23T16:49:37.691-07:00In every colonial war since the 1940s the occupyin...In every colonial war since the 1940s the occupying European power has labeled the native resistance as "terrorists". Remember the Mau Mau (Kenya) or the FLN (Algeria), or dozens of others? Watch the American movie "Red Dawn" sometime to see how Americans would behave under foreign occupation. Want to end terrorism? Ending foreign occupation is much more likely to succeed than turning the occupied country into a killing field.Doznoreply@blogger.com