Afghan militants in US uniforms storm 2 NATO bases

Page 2 - Seeking answers? Join the AnandTech community: where nearly half-a-million members share solutions and discuss the latest tech.

PeshakJang

Platinum Member
Mar 17, 2010
2,276
0
0
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The problem with perspective is that what is semi true in Khost is absolutely false where the bulk of the Afghan people live, namely rural areas.

The bulk of Khost is rural. Focus.

But what you say is partly true, the old line mujaheddin the CIA trained and armed have joined in with the Taliban so what the Taliban was is not exactly what they are now. But grow up kiddo, quit thinking in terms of good guys and bad guys and start thinking of winning and losing strategies. Sadly, Nato has a losing strategy IMHO. As an American I am hoping Nato can win, but I am enough of a realists to realize Nato can't win with its present strategy.

...

But your problem Pershak is that you think because you touched the ear of the Afghan Elephant in Khost, that the entire Afghan elephant is exactly the same.

God, you're lost. You really have no perspective beyond what you've read on the internet. I don't even know how to argue with this kind of ignorance.
 

PeshakJang

Platinum Member
Mar 17, 2010
2,276
0
0
Good post :thumbsup:

I disagree though with *the country stuck in the past part*. Afghanistan in a lot of ways was more civilized then the US in the '50's (civil rights) and just as modern. War has really beat that country down. http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2010/05/27/once_upon_a_time_in_afghanistan

That's true... but it depends on which part of the country you are in. Outside of the major cities, things haven't changed much in a long long time. Kabul is a lot more modern than the majority of the country, both in terms of infrastructure and society. Khost city has seen a lot of modernization in the last 10 years, but the majority of the population there lives out on farms, in the mountains, etc., and their villages haven't changed much for over a century.

The country has the West Virginia complex... sure it's part of the US, but there are crazy mountain people that have never seen a TV.

It must be disheartening for you when you read posts like Nicks.

It's worse listening to people like Lemon Law and Craig... you could tell them staring at the sun is bad for your eyes and they'll grab a pair of binoculars while explaining how it's our fault that it's so bright.
 

Orignal Earl

Diamond Member
Oct 27, 2005
8,059
55
86
It's worse listening to people like Lemon Law and Craig... you could tell them staring at the sun is bad for your eyes and they'll grab a pair of binoculars while explaining how it's our fault that it's so bright.

I don't see how?
LL and Craig try to argue from a point of trying to understand the mistakes that happened and fix them/ work on them.
Nick just wants to bail because he don't think those people are worth it. And in that, is saying everything you've done is worthless and pointless.
 

PeshakJang

Platinum Member
Mar 17, 2010
2,276
0
0
I don't see how?
LL and Craig try to argue from a point of trying to understand the mistakes that happened and fix them/ work on them.

Except it usually winds up being, "Everything that is wrong there is our fault, and we are only making it worse. This is true because Salon.com says so. We need to bail out."
 
Oct 30, 2004
11,442
32
91
As if the stain of killing MORE innocents would somehow wash away your shame of not 'winning' as much as you want. "We killed the whole country and won, big improvement."

On the bright side, if Afghanistan became depopulated for some reason, we could relocate the Palestinians to it.
 
Oct 30, 2004
11,442
32
91
I've worked with, spoken with, drank tea with, literally hundreds of local elders, farmers, teachers, etc. People have mixed opinions about how we are going about the mission, but almost everyone says that they are happy we are there.

It's nice to hear from someone who was actually there, on the ground. I'd love to hear more about your experiences and your honest assessments of the situation.

Did you ever feel scared meeting all of those people in their homes and in unprotected areas?

What do most of the American soldiers think? Do most believe that it is a complete waste of their time and lives?
 

PeshakJang

Platinum Member
Mar 17, 2010
2,276
0
0
It's nice to hear from someone who was actually there, on the ground. I'd love to hear more about your experiences and your honest assessments of the situation.

Did you ever feel scared meeting all of those people in their homes and in unprotected areas?

It's a little strange at first... but like I said we worked almost exclusively with the police, so there was a bit of a buffer most of the time. Once you learn a bit about the culture and language, it makes it a lot easier to interact with people. The only times I was ever overly fearful for our safety were during a few trips waaaay out in the remote areas where they seldom ever saw their own police or army, much less Americans (we were some of the first to return to the area where Pat Tillman was killed, very remote area). Even then, the locals there for the most part were very receptive, and their biggest complaint was that the road was not being extended to their villages.

What do most of the American soldiers think? Do most believe that it is a complete waste of their time and lives?

Most people get pretty fed up with the corruption in the Afghan government, and the bureaucratic hoops we need to jump through to get anything done in terms of that, or in terms of allocating reconstruction assets. Most of those problems stem from the fact that every time a new unit cycles in, the hand-over is rushed and lot of work needs to be repeated. Either that, or the new unit's leadership is too arrogant to continue the progress of the last unit, and feel that they need to, "make it their own", which usually results in a few months of getting an ass-kicking before they figure out what is going on.
 

Lemon law

Lifer
Nov 6, 2005
20,984
3
0
Gotta love the Persak quote of, "Most people get pretty fed up with the corruption in the Afghan government, and the bureaucratic hoops we need to jump through to get anything done in terms of that, or in terms of allocating reconstruction assets."

Who pray tell is we and who is them. The Afghan people are long past frustrated and when they live in the middle of a shooting gallery, frustration is a pretty mild word for life threatening. The fact is and remains most of the Afghan people want Nato to win, but when Nato can't protect the people that help Nato, helping Nato can be a death sentence.

Nato just does not have the resources it takes to win because the American people have this illusion we can win on the cheap. And it ends up being a lose lose lose for everyone because our leaders don't have the honesty to confront the facts of life.
 

Lemon law

Lifer
Nov 6, 2005
20,984
3
0
Surrender the fight started by 9/11 so they can regroup and attack us again-don't mince words.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thump553, you are self delusional to say that and its a piece of shit dangerous delusion.

Its was Al-Quida and not the Taliban who attacked us on 911, so how come we are taking our revenge out on the Taliban? As we sail 8000 miles to to land in Afghanistan and start shooting the former government of Afghanistan on sight. And then bitch in righteous indignation when they treat us the same damn way by shooting us on sight.

But question, are we winning yet after nine years in Afghanistan?

Then there is that other bullshit ditty, we sleep safe in our beds because neocon war criminals commit murder on our behalf?

As for me, I feel more endangered, because this whole so called GWB war on terror has created more terrorists than we had before. And while the old terrorists may have been willing to kill me on sight, now I have more new terrorists that didn't hate me before.