Sorry to burst your little bubble here folks, but Frist's "clarification" of his statements are not that different from what the AP has reported on his statements.
Yes, the AP article was much more harsh, but the difference is semantics. Frist clearly says we cannot win the war in Afghanistan militarily, and that instead we should "win hearts and minds" (a liberal approach to the War On Terror if there ever was one).
Since we cannot win the war militarily (according to Frist) and since the Taliban and Afghan Muslims will never accept us as an authority we cannot win "hearts and minds" either.
Frist is basically saying we should try a different approach with the Taliban. Why? Because many Afghans think the way they do and many Afghans support them.
Let us be very clear on one thing. The Taliban harbored, protected, supplied and directly supported Al-Qaeda, the same terrorist organization responsible for almost 3,000 american citizens dead and many thousands all over the world. If we even think about allowing the Taliban to join any kind of future government of Afghanistan then we can call the WoT off right now. At the same time, I'd like to see this administration face the families of the fallen soldiers who have fought on behalf of America in this War On Terror.
The question that remains is simple. Do we seek to democratize Islamic nations or not? Obviously there are two ways to handle this problem. One is cleaner, but impossible in my opinion. The other is messier, but doable if one takes into account the moral sacrifices which will have to be made. Will we force fascist regimes to democratize themselves? Will we seek to empower Muslim "moderates"? (if there is even such of a thing, I'm doubtful). Or, will we eradicate Muslim fundamentalism by striking massive blows to the heart of the Islamic world until they will eventually surrender or be annihilated? Whatever we must do, let this administration choose a serious course of action and stick with it. Make no mistake, if current trend continues we will lose this war and our dead body count will be unimaginable.
Consider this:
Allow the Taliban to rule in Afghaninstan.
Allow Hezbollah to have a stronghold in Lebanon.
Allow Syria to be a rampant terrorist aiding regime.
Allow Iran to acquire nukes and thus encouraging other Muslim nations to acquire nukes as well.
Allow Muslim fascists to take control of Somalia, which in turn will expand Muslim fundamentalism further in Africa.
Allow Pakistan and Saudi Arabia to play us for fools while clearly supporting terrorist organizations financially and otherwise.
Allow the Muslim world to extort us using the almighty "black gold".
And all of this without even mentioning North Korea, China, dictatorships such as Venezuela and Cuba, and even Russia who is not to be trusted under any scenario.
If we don't get serious about this monumental endeavor right now, our children and grandchildren will have to.
I'm sorry to say Frist has screwed the pooch. You may stick a fork in him, he is done.
Your points are valid in consideration. I have absolutely NO doubts that those in leadership positions in Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, alongside the citizenry, share your concerns. And are quite clear about what the terms of engagement are.
"Since we cannot win the war militarily (according to Frist) and since the Taliban and Afghan Muslims will never accept us as an authority we cannot win "hearts and minds" either."
I see 2 errors in the statement above. First, Frist did not say we could not win the war militarily, he said we can not win it militarily alone. Add to that, he said that based on what the commanders in the field said to him.
Second, the winning hearts and minds is not so the Taliban and Afghan Muslims (all Taliban are Afghan muslims, but not all Afghan mulsims are Taliban) will accept us, it is so they will accept the duly elected government in their country. The hearts and minds issue is for the government of Afghanistan, not for the US.
One more thing I might add. You, and others, make it sound like we are no longer fighting the war at all. In the last couple of months we have killed at least 500 Taliban/Al Quaeda. That is not PC, that is war and we are fighting.