tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5737853305204847838.post5870352762010021919..comments2023-11-20T05:27:02.037+00:00Comments on GrogNews: A Damning Account of "Progress" on the Ground in AfghanistanBranthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07482746543829626805noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5737853305204847838.post-22186767445134452272012-02-07T11:55:36.189+00:002012-02-07T11:55:36.189+00:00When I was in Afghanistan in 2002 and 2003, we use...When I was in Afghanistan in 2002 and 2003, we used to call it Operation ENDURING BOREDOM. All the attention (and critical resources like airlift, ISR, and SOF) had shifted to Iraq. Too often, it felt like we were marking time against the Taliban, just waiting for them to get tired and give up. Many of us had a vague, rarely articulated, sense that they were playing a long game, just like they did against the Brits and the Soviets, knowing that eventually *we* (the US and NATO governments, not individual troops) would get tired and give up.<br /><br />I'm usually quick to offer opinions and I certainly know what I would have had advocated if President George W. Bush had asked my opinion in the first days after 9/11, but I find it hard to imagine a good way out of the present mess in Afghanistan. Cold national interest and politics says to pull up our stakes, leave some SOF, ISR, strike, and support assets in a nearby 'stan to make sure al-Qaeda doesn't re-constitute in Afghanistan and make sure that the Taliban don't cause trouble outside Afghanistan and the Pakistani FATAs. Alas, this leaves the Afghan people to the tender mercies of the Taliban, who really are awful people, and increases the risk of the Taliban taking over Pakistan and making nuclear terrorism a reality.<br /><br />(You know the trailer for "Rise of the Planet of Apes" where the chimp grabs an AK and starts shooting up an African rebel camp? The Taliban have about the same mindset, so them having a few 150KT warheads would be all bad).<br /><br />It's been too long since I've been close to the Afghan campaign for me though, but where is the Afghan counterpart to the "Sunni Awakening"? If the Afghan people are going to have a decent life after we've left, it's going to be up to them. They can't rely on Karzai and his cronies. They can't rely on the warlords. They can't rely on the ANSF. It's going to depend on the men of each village picking up AKs, RPKs, and RPGs (there are plenty about), organizing themselves, and standing up to the Taliban, village-by-village.<br /><br />Any other thoughts (preferably from someone with a recent, relevant perspective)?Guardianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07542545242493905390noreply@blogger.com