Friday, March 27, 2009

UK Surge in Afghanistan - 2,000 Troops



The Times: Has an exclusive report, Army Chiefs are ready to send another two thousand troops to Afghanistan. The UK would then have ten thousand troops in country. Our brave soldiers always do their best, but this is not the time for a heavy footprint, this is a massive mistake. Obama is following the path of another President, LBJ, as with Vietnam Obama is allowing himself to be tied to the success of the War in Afghanistan. The Obama plan has leaked, cant Washington D.C keep any secrets, is two fold, the USA will build up the military, police and civilian structure of Afghanistan, thus they can take over the fighting. This is rubbish, the West, USA, UK will be in country for god knows how long, we cant walk away with the terrorist threat, no President or PM will walk away with a cloud of a terrorists attack on the horizon. The second part of the plan as stated many times in this blog is also rubbish, it is based on the notion that Pakistan can take control of the badlands on his border with Afghanistan. As stated many times, to the end degree, even the British at the time of the Empire had very lose control of these areas. The Government of Pakistan is weak, it can be rolled as was shown by recent demonstrations. Thus what is the answer you might ask, a lot of critical comment but so far no answers on this blog.


The answer is for a light footprint, the use of special forces, bribe the Tribal leaders in Pakistan and Afghanistan to fight the terrorists, buy the drugs so the farmers know they have a buyer. Thus would have two benefits, the farmers of Afghanistan would know they have reliable buyer for their crop, also they might start to grow food for the people of Afghanistan. The Terrorists would lose out the drug money, thus they could not buy new guns, food and equipment that makes them a threat to the West. It is important to get the tribal leaders in Afghanistan to run the country, flatter, bribe put the fear of God in to them, but as Kennedy said about Vietnam it their country and they have to win this war. One day the west will get tired, 9/11 will become a tragic memory, its already starting, the election of Obama shows that the USA wants to move forward and not look back but also get out from under the cloud of terrorism. Thus talk to the moderate Taliban, if a deal can be made great, a few brown envelopes with some dollars is great way to end a war. The idea that the USA can even get a structure in place in Afghanistan is a mistake, Afghanistan has been bombed and invaded back to the stone age. What the West needs is for the Tribal leaders to run Afghanistan, keep the terrorists at bay and keep a lid on the place. This is harsh but the truth folks, if the Tribal leaders go to war with each other for ever just to get some money from the West that is fine with me as long as they keep the terrorists at bay and keep the USA and UK from losing any more troops.

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