Posted by
Brian Peters on Sunday, February 14, 2010 8:59:40 PM
While watching the Olympics, I had to break out the laptop and see what's going on here n' there. I was reading an Army document on Armored warfare meeting the challenge of the 21st Century. You may find it interesting as well: http://asc.army.mil/docs/pubs/alt/2010/1_JanFebMar/articles/28_Armor_Warfighting%E2%80%94Meeting_the_Full-Spectrum_Challenge_201001.pdf
Here within this article is the truth, this short documentation spells it out succinctly as to why we, the USA, NATO, the UN, are not going to 'win this war' in the fashion we hold in our minds.
A culture of poverty breeds corruption,
and Afghanistan is no exception. Cone
explained that there is no history of
effective policing in Afghanistan;
it has always been tribal and religious
law. The warlord is the governor, and
all his henchmen become the police
officers. It is a society based on honor
and pride, because that’s all they have,
Cone said. He also explained that
Afghans put family first and will do
anything to support their families, even
if it means selling or trading opium or
other illegal substances.
Afghanistan is 80 percent rural, and in
the end, a mixture of central institutions
(army and police) will be able to “stitch
this country together,” Cone said.
“After 7 years, [Afghanistan] President
[Hamid] Karzai does not appear
capable of imposing a strong central
government.” Another problem is the
pervasive narcotics trade, as Afghanistan
is the source of 93 percent of the world’s
opium. “If we go after the drug trade
too strongly, it will unite with forces of
the insurgency,” Cone explained. “We
understand that there could be as much
as $300 billion a year passing between
the drug trade and the insurgency.”
Cone is LTG Robert W. Cone, U.S.Army, and I myself, take his word for gospel as to what is going on in Afghanistan. With the current operation going on with the Marines, NATO, and Afghan Army confronting and removing the Taliban from the Helmand Provence, one of the biggest concerns of the 'locals' is security after the 'battle'. Which goes back to the very crux of the make up of Afghanistan...tribal. Afghanistan is a Nation that exist upon maps, recognized by the map makers of the United Nations, but for everyone else in the region, it is...what it is...a tribal region with a central city of Kabul. It is going to take one hundred years of continuing education to the people of 'Afghanistan' for them to become a fully self sufficient 'nation'.
Time and the desires of Nation's surrounding 'Afghanistan' is not going to allow this to happen, this is reality. Best bet outcome is to build a strong 'centralized' government in Kabul that will extend outward at it's own pace, with continuing U.N. support. Because of the history and the location, Afghanistan must not be allowed to fall back into 'radical' hands. So upon completion of this latest battle, our politicians had better have a detailed plan of action.
Okay, get off the floor from laughing....you know and I know this is not going to happen, because our politicians, nor any politician within NATO, EU, or UN have done this.
Today, on the Sunday's TV talk show circuits, our political leadership have all done what they do so well.
http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKN1416125820100214
You can read the article from that link dear reader, I won't plagiarize it, but will say that nothing has changed in the way our politicians act. They point fingers at each other and forget about the Nation and The People, and always put our troops in harm's way with little foresight or afterthought. Which is why we must begin withdrawing from Afghanistan this summer, not just Iraq. There's a bigger war coming and we need to get our Armed Forces ready for it.
Read another article where our 'leaderships' plans are to leave huge amounts of our warfighting capabilities in 'stockpiles' in various other Nations and with 'security forces' of Iraq. Nothing like arming the Crips n' Bloods and MS13, same difference.