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When you finally get off the floor and your chuckling rate reduces enough for your brain to process information, you might finally get around to asking yourself, why are we still in Afghanistan, still bleeding money and lives, and what are we trying to accomplish as an end goal?
Are you starting to get it yet, or do you need it explained in more detail?
The point is that Nato chased Al-Quida and the Taliban out of Afghanistan and into Pakistan in the first six months, way back in the spring of 2002. The Nato problem is keeping them out. And Nato will not win the subsequent peace until Nato can keep the Taliban and Al-Quida out of the entire region. And step one for Nato is to win the hearts and minds of the people of Afghanistan and the tribal regions of Pakistan. And what is really screwing Nato up in that area is a lack of funding to build any modern infrastructure, a total lack of troops, and then Nato really cuts their own throat by SUPPORTING a totally corrupt and
dysfunctional Afghan government, and now the Nato compounds that error by exporting
its violence to the tribal areas of Pakistan. And while the average American on the street may not lose any sleep when American made drones kill innocent civilians, women and children, it has especially made the people in the Tribal regions of Pakistan hopping mad angry at the USA and Nato. And when that civilian anger against US drones is married to the concrete action of joining the Taliban or Al-Quida, and then killing Nato soldiers to drive Nato and the drones out of their home country, maybe its time to wipe that silly grin off your face and start using your head for something other than a hat rack.
If nothing else we can say, we have been at it in Afghanistan for damn neat 10 years now, and we are further away from victory than when we started. And if do not believe me, you might note Gen McCrystal is making many of the same points.
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