There is an article in the Washington Post regarding a report stating without the USA miltitary and USA money Afghanistan's 'nation building' is unsustainable. The reason the Middle East is going through these difficult times is because they don't want the military dictatorships that have ruled their lives for decades.
The current stategy according to the USA military will have to be maintained in Afghanistan for at least ten more years in order to accomplish its goals. The theory behind those statements is not really such a mystery. Americans always believe that once given 'a chance' to achieve 'democracy' and 'capitalism' as we know it the people of Afghanistan will reach for it and it will take hold. Supposedly the only 'element' preventing all that is the Taliban.
Perhaps. But, when one looks to the Middle East to find a reason to believe in ten years a benevolent government will 'control' Afghanistan 'without' further worries, that is a flat out lie. The nation building that occurred throughout the Middle East and sustained for decades is being removed today. Will benevolent democraies replace them? The honest answer is no one knows, except, the sincerely god fearing people of Egypt want peace. Their answer currently is they don't appreciate Israel and Israel is in the way of peace. That view is giving validity to the extremists that have caused the violence throughout the Middle East for the same amount of time there existed national building dominated by civilization rather than wars.
The topic in the Washington Post is about Afghanistan and withdrawing troops and sustainability of nation building. But, in all sincerity the topic is much bigger than that and actually includes the triangulation of Pakistan with China. The countries that accepted USA money seeking to 'create' a nation that is civilized and able to trade and exist in peace with global powers learn quickly if they are 'big and bad' like the USA, Russia and China they can have arsenals of weapons, carry clout in the world and build nukes.
So, if the USA is entering a country in defense of its own people when the extremists of the Middle East cause tragedy, they have to ask why. That why should never include nation building and providing the venue that Iraq has today in its ability to become a power in an unstable region of the world where the next elections can turn over incredibly destructive power to extremist.
What is occurring across the Middle East today is a religious rebellion and the Shi'ites are at the center of it.
One of the pictures in The Washington Post article is a boy climbing a tree. That seems great in that children can actually have a childhood in Afghaistan. But, that isn't the truth about that picture. The boy is climbing a tree in Afghanistan in the middle of a grave yard. It is the only place where he can find a tree that is safe enough to climb. In a sanctuary of dead people a tree grows nad a child finds a playground. That is demented beyond any definition of nation buliding I am willing to participate in.
...The report describes (click title to article - thank you) the use of aid money to stabilize areas the military has cleared of Taliban fighters — a key component of the administration’s counterinsurgency strategy — as a short-term fix that provides politically pleasing results. But it says that the enormous cash flows can overwhelm and distort local culture and economies, and that there is little evidence the positive results are sustainable....
If the Sunnis and the Shi'ites want to destroy each other that is their call, but, Israel has a right to its sovereignty and it is NOT the problem of the unrest and hatred. The problem in the Middle East is about tolerance of each other and seeking peace as a method to that tolerance. Until that is realized among all the nations of the region there is dearly little reason to continue a war started a decade ago to root out and find international terrorists. We are finished in Afghanistan, they can get their nukes from Pakistan and Iran. The USA can protect India and seek stabilization through them.
Pakistan reduces US military trainers (click here)
A senior Pakistan military official said late Tuesday that 90 of an estimated 135 US trainers have left the country, the latest setback in the deeply troubled relationship between the United States and Pakistan’s military following the May 2 US raid that killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin laden.
The 90 Americans had been training the Frontier Corps, a paramilitary force made up mostly of tribesmen from the frontier areas, according to the military official, who asked not to be named in accordance with military practice.
The Frontier Corps is Pakistan’s front line force against militants in the tribal regions. The US military personnel were teaching members of the force to become trainers.
The US has confirmed it is reducing the number of its military personnel in Pakistan but has not given an exact figure....
8 June 2011 Last updated at 07:28 ET
Get this one. The editorial actually believes it is possible to change the stripes on a zebra.
Stabilize Afghanistan to prop up Pakistan (click here)
President Obama has pledged to start withdrawing U.S. troops from Afghanistan next month, with a goal of pulling all combat troops out by the end of 2014.
He hasn’t yet decided how many troops to pull this year. But since the killing of Osama bin Laden, domestic pressures have grown for him to front-load the drawdown.
If the point was to squash al-Qaida, people ask, why are we keeping thousands of troops in Afghanistan? After all, bin Laden was found in Pakistan. So was top al-Qaida military leader Ilyas Kashmiri, reportedly killed by a drone strike on Friday.
Having just returned from two weeks in Afghanistan and Pakistan, where I talked to U.S., Afghan and Pakistani leaders, I’ve come to a different conclusion: The drawdown should proceed slowly, at least for this year....
That's right just long enough to put a facsimile George Bush back in office.
The truth is the current state of affairs of Afghanistan and Pakistan is that they are corrupt. The Pakistani ISI is one of the most corrupt intelligence services in the world. What makes anyone believe without rolling into Pakistan and taking over the country while killing millions of people that this will change? Look at Iraq. The reason there appears to be a similarity between Iraq and The West is because hundreds of thousands of people have died. Why is the mean age of the men in the Middle East so young? I said it before and I'll say it again, the REAL war after September 11, 2001 was with Afghanistan and AFTER we marched through Pakistan. Bush and Rumsfeld blew it and they knew they did, so they went to Iraq after WMD to save face and but Cheney's indebtness to Halliburton at rest.
Now, between Afghanistan and Iraq we have put over 5000 USA military soldiers to rest.
Enough of this charade. Bring the troops home.
The current stategy according to the USA military will have to be maintained in Afghanistan for at least ten more years in order to accomplish its goals. The theory behind those statements is not really such a mystery. Americans always believe that once given 'a chance' to achieve 'democracy' and 'capitalism' as we know it the people of Afghanistan will reach for it and it will take hold. Supposedly the only 'element' preventing all that is the Taliban.
Perhaps. But, when one looks to the Middle East to find a reason to believe in ten years a benevolent government will 'control' Afghanistan 'without' further worries, that is a flat out lie. The nation building that occurred throughout the Middle East and sustained for decades is being removed today. Will benevolent democraies replace them? The honest answer is no one knows, except, the sincerely god fearing people of Egypt want peace. Their answer currently is they don't appreciate Israel and Israel is in the way of peace. That view is giving validity to the extremists that have caused the violence throughout the Middle East for the same amount of time there existed national building dominated by civilization rather than wars.
The topic in the Washington Post is about Afghanistan and withdrawing troops and sustainability of nation building. But, in all sincerity the topic is much bigger than that and actually includes the triangulation of Pakistan with China. The countries that accepted USA money seeking to 'create' a nation that is civilized and able to trade and exist in peace with global powers learn quickly if they are 'big and bad' like the USA, Russia and China they can have arsenals of weapons, carry clout in the world and build nukes.
So, if the USA is entering a country in defense of its own people when the extremists of the Middle East cause tragedy, they have to ask why. That why should never include nation building and providing the venue that Iraq has today in its ability to become a power in an unstable region of the world where the next elections can turn over incredibly destructive power to extremist.
What is occurring across the Middle East today is a religious rebellion and the Shi'ites are at the center of it.
One of the pictures in The Washington Post article is a boy climbing a tree. That seems great in that children can actually have a childhood in Afghaistan. But, that isn't the truth about that picture. The boy is climbing a tree in Afghanistan in the middle of a grave yard. It is the only place where he can find a tree that is safe enough to climb. In a sanctuary of dead people a tree grows nad a child finds a playground. That is demented beyond any definition of nation buliding I am willing to participate in.
...The report describes (click title to article - thank you) the use of aid money to stabilize areas the military has cleared of Taliban fighters — a key component of the administration’s counterinsurgency strategy — as a short-term fix that provides politically pleasing results. But it says that the enormous cash flows can overwhelm and distort local culture and economies, and that there is little evidence the positive results are sustainable....
If the Sunnis and the Shi'ites want to destroy each other that is their call, but, Israel has a right to its sovereignty and it is NOT the problem of the unrest and hatred. The problem in the Middle East is about tolerance of each other and seeking peace as a method to that tolerance. Until that is realized among all the nations of the region there is dearly little reason to continue a war started a decade ago to root out and find international terrorists. We are finished in Afghanistan, they can get their nukes from Pakistan and Iran. The USA can protect India and seek stabilization through them.
Pakistan reduces US military trainers (click here)
A senior Pakistan military official said late Tuesday that 90 of an estimated 135 US trainers have left the country, the latest setback in the deeply troubled relationship between the United States and Pakistan’s military following the May 2 US raid that killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin laden.
The 90 Americans had been training the Frontier Corps, a paramilitary force made up mostly of tribesmen from the frontier areas, according to the military official, who asked not to be named in accordance with military practice.
The Frontier Corps is Pakistan’s front line force against militants in the tribal regions. The US military personnel were teaching members of the force to become trainers.
The US has confirmed it is reducing the number of its military personnel in Pakistan but has not given an exact figure....
8 June 2011 Last updated at 07:28 ET
Pakistan: US drone strike 'kills 15' people (click here)
...Officials say the drone fired five missiles, destroying a fortress-like militant compound in Zoi village....Get this one. The editorial actually believes it is possible to change the stripes on a zebra.
Stabilize Afghanistan to prop up Pakistan (click here)
President Obama has pledged to start withdrawing U.S. troops from Afghanistan next month, with a goal of pulling all combat troops out by the end of 2014.
He hasn’t yet decided how many troops to pull this year. But since the killing of Osama bin Laden, domestic pressures have grown for him to front-load the drawdown.
If the point was to squash al-Qaida, people ask, why are we keeping thousands of troops in Afghanistan? After all, bin Laden was found in Pakistan. So was top al-Qaida military leader Ilyas Kashmiri, reportedly killed by a drone strike on Friday.
Having just returned from two weeks in Afghanistan and Pakistan, where I talked to U.S., Afghan and Pakistani leaders, I’ve come to a different conclusion: The drawdown should proceed slowly, at least for this year....
That's right just long enough to put a facsimile George Bush back in office.
The truth is the current state of affairs of Afghanistan and Pakistan is that they are corrupt. The Pakistani ISI is one of the most corrupt intelligence services in the world. What makes anyone believe without rolling into Pakistan and taking over the country while killing millions of people that this will change? Look at Iraq. The reason there appears to be a similarity between Iraq and The West is because hundreds of thousands of people have died. Why is the mean age of the men in the Middle East so young? I said it before and I'll say it again, the REAL war after September 11, 2001 was with Afghanistan and AFTER we marched through Pakistan. Bush and Rumsfeld blew it and they knew they did, so they went to Iraq after WMD to save face and but Cheney's indebtness to Halliburton at rest.
Now, between Afghanistan and Iraq we have put over 5000 USA military soldiers to rest.
Enough of this charade. Bring the troops home.
