Afghan Refugee Crisis and U.S. Military Goals

[Pentbomb]

Washington is in for a world of hurt if it doesn't do something about the Afghan refugee crisis. I strongly believe a pause in the bombing campaign against the Taliban sometime before Ramadan would be the best thing for us in the long run. Otherwise, expect media characterizations of the campaign to turn extremely negative and also expect UN coalition support to fracture. This would cause further U.S. military action to be politically and operationally difficult.

Pentbomb

 

[Michael]

Islamic nations have long waged war during Ramadan, so this is a hypocritical request from Islamic countries.

Terrorists supported and sheltered by the government of Afghanistan attacked the US and killed 6,000+ Americans. The bombing and attacks will end when the goal has been achieved. The countries that do not like the US will not like them just because the bombing stopped for a Muslim Holy Month.

The US can and is bringing aid into Pakistan and the Russians and the Americans are helping to feed the areas not under Taliban control. Instead of laying the "blame" on the US, how about the Taliban surrender and let their people be fed.

Michael

 

[Pentbomb]

Hmmm. . . I realize now my initial post was a bit vague.

We should pause the bombing campaign prior to Ramadan not because of the religious implications, but because of the harsh weather. The temperature will be in the negatives Fahrenheit, which could kill thousands of civilians. Roads will become impassable which would slow if not all together stop relief efforts - both by NGO's and possibly by the military.

Our immediate goal is to topple the Taliban regime. We need UN support to do this, which would be much less secure in the near future if we continue bombing.

Pentbomb

 

[Michael]

Please give me a summary of exactly what the UN has done since the attack?

This is a US action with full support of NATO.

It would be foolish to stop the attack now when the weather is better as it would hurt the chances of the attack being successful.

The Taliban can end the attack and help their people anytime they want to. They just have to surrender Bin Ladin and his crew.

Michael

 

[Pentbomb]

Thus far, UN involvement has mostly been with relief efforts, via UNHCR, UNICEF, and the U.N. World Food Program.

The UN has been criticized repeatedly for being impotent in protecting citizens during times of conflict . . . this has been discussed extensively in the past 18 months as evidenced by General Assembly resolutions. So, the UN needs to mend its image among its member states. Some of the most critical states of the UNs' failure to protect citizens are Bulgaria, Norway, and Ireland. And these states are slotted as non-permanent Security Council members in 2002. Also expect newcomer Syria to be anti-US, along with possibly China and France (permanent members).

So, this means that momentum could easily be built within the SC, polarizing member nations. The UN, in an attempt to fix its image, will likely attempt to intercede in the U.S. campaign, and will want to put a higher precedence on UN humanitarian missions then on U.S. military goals.

Pentbomb