Posted on 05/31/2004 1:43:51 PM PDT by GreatOne
Edited on 05/31/2004 1:48:29 PM PDT by Admin Moderator. [history]
The handful of valiant American warriors fighting the ''other'' war in Afghanistan is not a happy band of brothers. They are undermanned and feel neglected, lack confidence in their generals and are disgusted by Afghan political leadership. Most important, they are appalled by the immense but fruitless effort to find Osama bin Laden for purposes of U.S. politics.
This bleak picture goes unreported because journalists are rarely seen there. It was painted to me by hard U.S. fighters who are committed to the war against terrorism but have a heavy heart. They talked to me not to undermine policy but to reveal problems that should and can be corrected.
Afghanistan constitutes George W. Bush's clearest victory since the terrorist attacks of 9/11. The Taliban regime has been overthrown, eliminating al-Qaida's most important base. But the overlooked war continues with no end in sight. Narcotics trafficking is at an all-time high. If U.S. forces were to leave, the Taliban -- or something like it -- would regain power. The United States is lost in Afghanistan, bound to this wild country and unable to leave.
The situation in Afghanistan, as laid out to me, looks nothing like a country alleged to be progressing toward representative democracy under American tutelage. Hamid Karzai, the U.S.-sponsored Afghan president, is regarded by the U.S. troops as hopelessly corrupt and kept in power by U.S. force of arms.
Those arms are not what they seem. The basic U.S. strength in Afghanistan is 17,000 troops of ''straight-legged'' infantry -- conventional forces ill-prepared to handle irregulars. The new unit assigned to Afghanistan is the 25th Infantry Division, which has been stationed at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, and has not seen combat since the Vietnam War...."
Afghanistan is a old style outhouse - always has been always will be. We Americans almost always try to define success in the way we live and work. The rest of the world, for the most part, does not define success as we do. That is our biggest blind spot.
The Towel-a-ban is still a concern as some SF guys got it over the weekend courtesy of the towel heads. They must be exterminated. The next set of facists in Afghanistan may be more tolerable.
When the Union 76 pipeline is complete payments will be beter than poppy growing and will require no work for the citizens, then the drug trade will slow down.
FWIW the SF guys I know are having a blast in Afghanistan, as noted earlier the motor pool mechanics are not having as much fun.
Today is the day to reflect upon the sacrifices our troops have made, not to use them as an excuse for pathetic personal political agendas.
It's inherent to the region or nation of Afghanistan. They have always been a group of clans vying for power and trying to scratch out a living. We did a good thing ousting the Taliban, but you can't impose democracy onto this type of historical mess without the will of the people--same in Iraq.
vaudine
"The situation in Afghanistan, as laid out to me, looks nothing like a country alleged to be progressing toward representative democracy under American tutelage."
sad when even 'conservative' columnists do the work of agit-prop commies in their columns.
In september, afghanistan will have a vote. .. first time, since ... well, first time EVER. This backwards post-taliban country is not going to look like USA 2001 right away, if ever.
I only have a two word response, the second word of which is "you."
God bless America, and pray for victory.
Then I look at pieces of work like cajun jerk there and ask myself, God, why do we get them?
People seem to think he's a Republican cheerleader (in the sense that Begala and Carville are Democratic cheerleaders), he's not. He's a conservative, with practically unmatched D.C. contacts and a penchant for telling it like it is, even if it ruffles GOP feathers.
Those of us who wore the uniform thank you.
The LP and CP candidates claim they're conservative.
Mostly he's become just an arabist.
You haven't baited anyone , but you did get caught in your own trap.
Well, I'm sure the Bush administration may very well be all for political gain. You parrot the democrat talking points very nicely.
I think people SHOULD see his posting history in all its Bush-bashing, anti-war glory, so I'll make it easy by providing a search link.
Wow, this is news. Neither one of my sons in Afghanistan talk like this. They have a lot more than leg units over there too.
well said, and it is clear we are winning in Afghanistan. I am sure RaginCajun, calling Bush a 'regime' etc ... is a liar. Look at his previous postings, he has posted notorious lies of a former Sgt Massey, who made some incredible claims that totally contradicted his real experience and locations during his tour of duty. This has been debunked elsewhere. The left has eaten up that reporting though. Now he shows up on this thread to sow more defeatism (sigh).
Thanks for the link. I looked over his/her/it's posting history and it's been shilling the same tired crap over-and-over again.
Any names who these unhappy handful are? Would a handful be two malcontents? Would it be four malcontents? Did these malcontents even tell you their names or were they just anonymous voices on a long distance phone call from Afghanistan? How did this handful come in contact with you? Did somebody at CNN make the arrangement? What about the other 17,000 in Afghanistan who didn't contact you? I wonder how they feel.
It seems to me that these "band of brothers" have Kerry quality to it.
Next think you know it, you're going report that President Bush doesn't want Tom Coburn to be the next senator from Oklahoma based on "whispers".
Who is John Galt?
(he he he ... I know the answer, I just never had the chance to ask it as a straight question.)
DU has a golf course? You had to come over to FreeRepublic for the balls though, didn't ya?
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