Taliban attacks cast doubts on US' Afghan strategy

[rangerrebew]

Taliban attacks cast doubts on US' Afghan strategy

It seems as if there is no end in sight to the spate of deadly attacks occurring relentlessly in Afghanistan, killing scores and throwing lives in disarray. Is the new US strategy responsible for this spike in terror?

A string of brutal attacks over the past several weeks, killing and injuring hundreds of innocent Afghans, have shown the world the fragile and worsening state of security in Afghanistan and made it once again a staple of international headlines.

The incidents have plunged war-weary Afghan citizens into a state of despair and highlighted the limitations faced by the government in Kabul in ensuring public security.

Both the Taliban and the so-called "Islamic State" (IS) have claimed responsibility for the violence.

A bloody start

 https://www.dw.com/en/taliban-attacks-cast-doubts-on-us-afghan-strategy/a-42356810

[catfish1957]

Almost exactly 20 years later, and we are pretty much repeating the same headlines.

We are and hopefully will remain energy independent.  There is no reason for us to remain in the ME.  If there is reason left to intervene, let it be the EU's concern. 

[skeeter]

Anyone in the Pentagon that believes we can prevent Afghans from fighting each other needs their head examined. The objective is to extricate ourselves from that sh*thole, not to continue to act as human shields for Afghans.

[sneakypete]

Gimme dat ole time religion....

Gimme dat ole time religion....

Sing it,Abdul!

[sneakypete]

Anyone in the Pentagon that believes we can prevent Afghans from fighting each other needs their head examined.

@skeeter

Why do you say that?

Just because nobody has been successful at keeping those inbred cretins from murdering each other for the last 1,000 + years doesn't mean it won't happen THIS year!

Sumbodie gimme sum defense industry stock!

[skeeter]

@skeeter

Why do you say that?

Just because nobody has been successful at keeping those inbred cretins from murdering each other for the last 1,000 + years doesn't mean it won't happen THIS year!

Sumbodie gimme sum defense industry stock!

'Cause they haven't stopped fighting each other and anyone else they could get a bead on since Kipling's soldier OF the queen rolled to his rifle & blew out his brains. Those defense companies need to focus on making ammo for us citizens anyway.

[sneakypete]

'Cause they haven't stopped fighting each other and anyone else they could get a bead on since Kipling's soldier OF the queen rolled to his rifle & blew out his brains. Those defense companies need to focus on making ammo for us citizens anyway.

@skeeter

Kipling was the greatest word genius to have ever lived. I never understood poetry until I read Kipling. My instate reaction was "So THAT'S what they have been trying to do!"

"Tommy" is probably my favorite.

Tommy

I went into a public-'ouse to get a pint o' beer,
The publican 'e up an' sez, "We serve no red-coats here."
The girls be'ind the bar they laughed an' giggled fit to die,
I outs into the street again an' to myself sez I:
    O it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, go away";
    But it's "Thank you, Mister Atkins", when the band begins to play,
    The band begins to play, my boys, the band begins to play,
    O it's "Thank you, Mister Atkins", when the band begins to play.
 
I went into a theatre as sober as could be,
They gave a drunk civilian room, but 'adn't none for me;
They sent me to the gallery or round the music-'alls,
But when it comes to fightin', Lord! they'll shove me in the stalls!
    For it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, wait outside";
    But it's "Special train for Atkins" when the trooper's on the tide,
    The troopship's on the tide, my boys, the troopship's on the tide,
    O it's "Special train for Atkins" when the trooper's on the tide.
 
Yes, makin' mock o' uniforms that guard you while you sleep
Is cheaper than them uniforms, an' they're starvation cheap;
An' hustlin' drunken soldiers when they're goin' large a bit
Is five times better business than paradin' in full kit.
    Then it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, 'ow's yer soul?"
    But it's "Thin red line of 'eroes" when the drums begin to roll,
    The drums begin to roll, my boys, the drums begin to roll,
    O it's "Thin red line of 'eroes" when the drums begin to roll.
 
We aren't no thin red 'eroes, nor we aren't no blackguards too,
But single men in barricks, most remarkable like you;
An' if sometimes our conduck isn't all your fancy paints,
Why, single men in barricks don't grow into plaster saints;
    While it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, fall be'ind",
    But it's "Please to walk in front, sir", when there's trouble in the wind,
    There's trouble in the wind, my boys, there's trouble in the wind,
    O it's "Please to walk in front, sir", when there's trouble in the wind.
 
You talk o' better food for us, an' schools, an' fires, an' all:
We'll wait for extry rations if you treat us rational.
Don't mess about the cook-room slops, but prove it to our face
The Widow's Uniform is not the soldier-man's disgrace.
    For it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Chuck him out, the brute!"
    But it's "Saviour of 'is country" when the guns begin to shoot;
    An' it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' anything you please;
    An' Tommy ain't a bloomin' fool -- you bet that Tommy sees!

[skeeter]

@skeeter

Kipling was the greatest word genius to have ever lived. I never understood poetry until I read Kipling. My instate reaction was "So THAT'S what they have been trying to do!"

"Tommy" is probably my favorite.

Talented man, tragic life. And very out of favor these days.

[sneakypete]

Talented man, tragic life. And very out of favor these days.

@skeeter

He was non-PC before PC was even conceived.

[mountaineer]

Anyone in the Pentagon that believes we can prevent Afghans from fighting each other needs their head examined. The objective is to extricate ourselves from that sh*thole, not to continue to act as human shields for Afghans.

Just because nobody has been successful at keeping those inbred cretins from murdering each other for the last 1,000 + years doesn't mean it won't happen THIS year!

  to both comments, @skeeter and @sneakypete

[Fishrrman]

"Strategy" in Afghanistan will make no difference.
So long as there are muslims there, they will attack Americans.

The only way to end the attacks would be to kill all the....
...No need to finish.
We're not going to do that.
The best "strategy" is one of... a fast but orderly exit.

[christian]

The radical vicious murderous jihadist want President Trump to look just as bad a China, and Russia and the democrat party do.  Birds of a feather, globally, are flocking together.  The democrats are pulling out all stops to defeat Trump, and world jihad is one of their allies trying to make Trump look bad.  Global politics, after all democrats invited them here......9-11 etc.

[jafo2010]

Bush, the better half of the Dumb and Dumber Presidents, made a huge mistake with Afghanistan.  Unlike World War II, and the actions taken by the Allies, Bush attacks a country because of 9/11 with zero objective in mind.  Second, once there and realizing they are in the what next stage, they were utterly clueless.

That is when Bush & Co. come up with nation building a muslim nation that has NOT been subdued or defeated like Germany and Japan were in WWII.  Far from it.  And the USA began pouring trillions of dollars of its treasury into this godless nation.

What Bush should have done is destroy every city above a certain population.  All of them.  Using nuclear tactical weapons if necessary, but destroy 80% of the population, in a single day, and turned to the world and say, attack America, and you die.  Had we done that, stinking France, Germany and Russia would never have uttered a word.  And we would not have lost one American in that godforsaken land.  And leave them to rot, with not one penny for rebuilding.

Unfortunately, because Bush was totally incompetent, America was set on a path of lost treasury and lost American lives, and for what?

The Taliban, ISIS and al Qaeda are just as strong as they ever were in Afghanistan.  I say it is not too late to kill them all, with the exception of two cities.  Yes, I will say it.  Leave the two cities that have a population loyal to the government, and destroy the rest.  Problem over.

[sneakypete]

Bush, the better half of the Dumb and Dumber Presidents, made a huge mistake with Afghanistan.  Unlike World War II, and the actions taken by the Allies, Bush attacks a country because of 9/11 with zero objective in mind. Second, once there and realizing they are in the what next stage, they were utterly clueless.

@jafo2010

Not true. There was an election coming up,and showing the peeples that you are tough enough to go to war gets votes.

That is when Bush & Co. come up with nation building a muslim nation that has NOT been subdued or defeated like Germany and Japan were in WWII.  Far from it.  And the USA began pouring trillions of dollars of its treasury into this godless nation.

AND.....,certain insiders got defense contracts to supply material and help rebuilding.

 

[Absalom]

@skeeter
Kipling was the greatest word genius to have ever lived. I never understood poetry until I read Kipling. My instate reaction was "So THAT'S what they have been trying to do!" Tommy" is probably my favorite.

-------------------------------
Consider the time of Kipling's life span. 
From childhood to middle age he witnessed:
* the full emergence of the British Empire, which controlled more than 50% of the Globe by 1900.
* the Regency of Victoria, arguably Britain's greatest Monarch.
After those years, the sky began to darken for Britain, culminating in the monumental catastrophe of the Great War; effectively destroying the British Empire and during which Kipling lost his only son.
Kipling captured all of this in his words while becoming a renowned Nobel Laureate in the process.
As for Afghanistan, we have no strategy as we produce flunkies at the Pentagon, not strategists.
The genius and wisdom of Alexander allowed Greece to crush the Persian Empire and
conquer the eternally warring tribes of Afghanistan. Had Alexander not perished from a premature death, perhaps the history of that cauldron would have emerged far differently
and for the betterment of that entire region.