Posted on 08/23/2017 1:45:59 PM PDT by Lorianne
In his address Monday night, Trump admitted that he went against his instincts on doubling-down on America’s military commitment in Afghanistan
But McMaster was apparently able to convince Trump with the help of one picture. The national security advisor was able to persuade about the promise of staying in Afghanistan with an image of Afghan women wearing short skirts in the 1970s. What are we going to do differently now that will convince the locals to be just like us?
The answer is that we are not going to do any differently, and we’re still sticking to the same delusions that buttressed the nation-building frenzy of the Bush years.
Trump may say that this he’s not engaged in nation-building, but he was convinced to stay in Afghanistan on the basis that we could make the country more western. That sounds awfully like our mission in the country is nation-building.
America has been there for 16 years and there are only few signs of progress. The Taliban is still around and nearly as strong as it was before we arrived. Western values and norms are mostly absent in a country where Islamic fundamentalism still dominates. It doesn’t appear that whatever government we set up will last long without the aid of American arms.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailycaller.com ...
There is no nation to build.
Warring tribes will war.
Maybe Scott Greer should’ve run for president.
Give Afghanistan to Pakistan and if they can’t keep it contained give it to India.
This article seems absurd.
We will leave Afghanistan. The only question is when? The place was a cat hole latrine when we entered. It will be a cat hole when we leave. The only outcome will be more Gold Star Mothers and widows. Many people voted for Trump for this reason and not for making Afghanistan great again.
Under the time of the Shah you could see numerous photos of hot Persian chicks lounging around and record stores in short skirts, they’ll look very sophisticated and Western.
does that mean then that we have to go to work overthrowing the government and Re- McDonald-izing them..?
No.
The reasoning seems simplistic or foolhardy to me, strange for a billionaire, especially one I love.
Yes, after all, Obama’s instincts to cut and run gave us ISIS.
Why not do the same thing? /s
At some point, the USA will simply need to BAN Muslims coming from most areas of South Asia, the mid-east and North Africa.
No one wants to stay in Af-Pak forever, or wage endless war in Syria, and we can’t play whack-a-mole with radical Islam forever either.
The only thing left to confront at that point then is our own political correctness and the massive forces of leftist destruction that reside within our own country.
And from Europe ... that's going to be the tricky one.
we had a ‘surge’ under obama
“America has been there for 16 years and there are only few signs of progress”
8 of those years under Obama was a total.
8 of those years under Obama was a total waste and we went backwards.
I’m more worried about getting miniskirts to return to America. I couldn’t give a flying fornication about the happiness of Afghanistan.
They will never be a civil society unless we eradicate Islam just as we de-nazified Germany. We know we will never do that.
Unless the mission has been changed the troops with serve in support and training roles with the Afghan military and allow those forces to benefit from the American training.
“No one wants to stay in Af-Pak forever, or wage endless war in Syria”
Actually, yes they do. The people the 12 billion a year gets funneled to them do. The Generals do because they get to have command combat duty and rub elbows in a joint operation with NATO. They also think Afghanistan lets them have a base to threaten central Asia and China (because we don’t have enough wars going on right now....)
And of course, the neocons do because they are going to rebuild the entire middle east and cannot stop fellating their Sunni money man masters.
Some of our generals have described it as a Generational war and casually note that we have been in Germany and Japan for 70 years.
They see Afghanistan as exactly the same.
They literally do want it to go on forever.
This isn’t just Obama. After Bush had it for 7 years Afghanistan was a backwards hell hole. As it has been for millennia...
Its a fools errand to think that place can be made peaceful and prosperous. At best you can create an ersatz “peace” bought with massive bribes and allowing an orgy of poppy cultivation.
Al Qaeda was gone.
Your bush hatred is not reliable guide in this case
Well said and exactly right.
In the case of Germany and Japan, we acknowledged the enemy: Soviet Communism. We even executed people who spied for the Soviets though we were not technically at war.
In the Middle East, we won’t even acknowledge that the enemy is traditional orthodox fundamental Islam. We invite tens of thousands of unvetted Islamics into our country and even support them and place them in the highest levels of our government. There is no Cold War precedent for such behavior.
There are those making the case that from that speech we are now in Afghanistan seeking to “conquer” it, because it is virgin territory as a source for lithium deposits. It is the globalists at Trump’s elbow and possibly surrounding him who are lusting after TAKING these deposits for their own purposes rather than making deals with individual tribes and actually paying the owners a fair return.
A further case is being made that this is a set up for further larger troop operations which are in danger of expanding unless Trump is somehow able to revert to his instincts. Without care, this has the danger of potentially spiraling out of control like Viet Nam and be a huge cannon fodder mill for our young men and women - more than it already is.
I honestly believe that Trump WANTS to get out and hopes he can control the direction of this approach by the generals. I continue to wholeheartedly give my support to this President and Champion. ... and praying the case described above is wrong.
As is often said, “Follow the money.”
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