Posted on 12/05/2016 3:52:12 PM PST by jcon40
Many hotspots and geopolitical adversaries are constantly in the news and likely at the forefront of the foreign policy issues President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team is focused on. Yet the issue that is most likely to be the first real foreign policy crisis of the Trump administration is the one that received no discussion at all during the presidential debates – Afghanistan.
Remember Afghanistan? The longest war in U.S. history? Where the United States, its allies in NATO, and several partner nations still have in excess of 13,000 troops on the ground? Where the United States last year spent approximately $3.6 billion on security force assistance alone? Where the United States has been dropping ever-larger numbers of bombs since President Obama gave U.S. forces more expansive authorities to achieve so-called “strategic effects?”
As was the case when Barack Obama took office in 2009, Afghanistan is again the “forgotten war,” taking the backseat to a war in Iraq. And just as President Obama inherited a war trending in the wrong direction, so too will President Trump. Today, Afghanistan’s economy is in decline, with its gross domestic product (GDP) having decreased each of the past three years. The country’s government is in a state of routine chaos, with the parliament having just dismissed seven government ministers and the first vice president having just publically beaten and kidnapped a political rival.
(Excerpt) Read more at warontherocks.com ...
Afghanistan is a major planetary sh*thole, which is why terrorists have made it a training and assembly area.
What to do about it is anyone’s guess. Don’t ask me.
Trump is probably telling the generals to grease up the B52’s and get them ready to fly.
First, burn all the poppie fields and keep them burnt as long as we are there.
What’s with the caps?
Interesting.
But we’re done there. Leave it to China to pacify.
Sell the helicopters though. The money goes to US manufacturers anyway. Maybe Afghanistan will survive long enough to buy parts too.
The B.S. here is staggering.
I seem to remember that in 2008-2009 Afghanistan was considered by Obama and the Democrats t be the “Good War” that was heading in the right direction and Iraq was the “Bad War” and a Bush quagmire.
In fact , in 2007- 2008, Bush had decisively won in Iraq, and the center of gravity of the War on Terror was shifting to focus on doing the same in Afghanistan.
In reality, Obams'sdisaterous policies and insane Rules of Engagement destroyed all the gains made in both countries since 9/11 and left both Iraq in Afghanistan in a bloody , brutal chaos.
What to do?
We should pay the Russians to go in there as mercenaries and clean it up. It’s on their borders and in their interests to make sure it is not a haven for. Jihadists.
No cameras, and no questions. Clean it up. Give them 12 months and 100 billion dollars to get it done.
There will be a sudden outcry by the MSM after Trump gets into the White House about the number of wounded and dead US military. We’ll see a toll counter every night about the unjust war in Afghanistan.
Afghanistan is a perpetual disaster since the 1970’s and it doesn’t get better.
Afghans have proven again and again that they are tribal/sectarian and unwilling to fight for an unified state.
It would not be the worst option to partition it by having Uzbekistan (authoritarian US ally) get the safer North areas (settle the Uzbek origin Afghans there), Iran gets back Herat and all of the Afghan Shias, the Pashtun mainland goes to Pakistan and would be economically colonized by China.
If the Trump Admin puts in rational military Rules of Engagement and encourages our troops to put serious hurt on any unlawful combatants and those that support them, it will be a lot better outcome.
Also, Afghanistan needs to be partitioned in to at least 6 countries that are based on the major tribal territories.
yep
If I was Iran I would not want to acquire any Afghan territories, Shia or not! Talk about a raw deal. It would serve them right though. LOL.
After Trump takes office on Jan. 20th everything bad that
happens in the world will be another Trump Administration crisis.
Regardless of whether the United States or the
Trump Administration is involved or not. It will always be a "crisis" for Trump and his Administration with Trump
ultimately getting the blame for not solving the problem.
Make Heavy Bombers Great Again!
What’s w the Caps?
I had copied and pasted.
TH an KS !
“Afghanistan is a perpetual disaster since the 1970’s”- Yeah, the 1970s... B.C.!
But you make good points.
Dunno. Herat until the mid-19th century was part of Iran until they lost it to the Brits. Getting back Herat was on the Iranian’s mind as recently as 2002. Territorial gains in that direction could also be a good bargaining chip for the nuclear issue and provide an outlet of Iranian activity that would be free of confrontation with the Arabs and Israel.
The region has raw ressources that could be developed.
Also if it is exlusively Shia it would be relatively free of sectarian conflict. It would also be a good area to resettle the over 2 Million mostly Shia Afghan refugees and their offspring who are in Iran (many in Teheran and Mashad slums) and causing some social friction.
In any case that would be their matter and we won’t have to worry about a perpetually unstable Afghanistan.
“I seem to remember that in 2008-2009 Afghanistan was considered by Obama and the Democrats t be the “Good War” that was heading in the right direction and Iraq was the “Bad War” and a Bush quagmire.”
Excellent point to remember when Trump starts getting attacked on this.
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