July 6, 2010
By Spencer Ackermann
The looming security operations (click here) — er, “ rising tide” — in southern Afghanistan are getting all the attention. But the American-led coalition may be in serious trouble in eastern Afghanistan as well. According to a just-departed U.S. commander in charge of a big chunk of the area, locals in four critical provinces believe that the Taliban have greater religious legitimacy and a stronger commitment to justice than Hamid Karzai’s government. Coalition forces who aid that government are seen as “naive at best,” and “‘co-conspirators’ at worst.”...
...Afghanistan’s most violent and vexing areas: Nangarhar, Nuristan, Kunar, and Laghman provinces, a mountainous part of the country home to about 3.7 million people, 33 tribes and sub-tribes, and over 300 kilometers’ worth of porous border with tribal Pakistan...
The USA will never control these lands. The USA military would have to kill everyone. That is not an option. The choices of the tribes are political issues, not military resolve.
...George titled of those slides “How Locals Ranked The Enemies To Progress.” Through the locals’ eyes, the slide reported four big challenges. Al-Qaeda and the Taliban rank dead last. A “Corrupt and Ineffective Government” is number one....
The USA military has worked with this reality over and over and over. There is no military solution. There is no reason for the USA to stay in Afghanistan unless it is greed and rare Earth elements. That is not for the USA to covet. Those resources belong to the the Afghan people.
NY Times blogs "Idea of the Day" (click here)
July 6, 2010, 6:36 am
Afghanistan, the Regional Proxy War (click here)
Today’s idea: Afghanistan — a war against Islamic terrorism? No, it has become a proxy war between the regional powers Pakistan and India, a columnist says, with NATO only a marginal participant. But could a grand bargain between the two rivals solve things?...
Nothing has changed and nothing will change because there is no role for the USA military. This is a political issue and there are new leaders to Afghanistan. It is up to them to bring benefits to the people in eastern Afghanistan to induce a benevolent democracy with LAWS adhered to by court hearings. Until the tribes consent to a different form of law and justice there is no changing this. Leave them alone.
Do I have to continue to bring the history of the country to this blog? People don't read? They don't care? War is not option, now what is the USA going to do? Diplomatic relations? Sounds like a plan.
List of Afghanistan mountains and peaks. (click here) Includes 14665 peaks in
Afghanistan. Click the peaks to see mountain photos, maps, routes, and
summit logs for every mountain in Afghanistan. Also browse Afghanistan
mountains in a big map view or photo view.
As a military mission, it is called "Operation Completely Impossible."
Noshaq is the highest mountain in Afghanistan and the second highest peak of the Hindu Kush after Tirich Mir (25,230 ft). Noshaq is located in the northeastern corner of the country along the Durand line which marks the border with Pakistan. It is the westernmost 7,000 m peak in the world. The north and west sides of the mountain are in Afghanistan whereas the south and eastern sides are in Pakistan. The normal route is by the West ridge.
If military and on this road, they are sitting ducks.
Kabul-Jalalabad Highway (click here) is a section of A01 national highway, with a
length of 153km, linking Kabul and Jalalabad, Afghanistan. This road
follows the Kabul River Gorge for 64 kilometres (40 mi), in Taliban
territory. The two-lane Kabul Gorge highway runs along 600 metre-high
cliffs. Fatal traffic accidents often occur in this area, mainly due to
reckless driving.
The road is of utmost strategic importance, facilitating trade, humanitarian aid, reconstruction efforts and the return of Afghan refugees. However, the highway, which was a good standard asphalt road when it was completed in 1969, has deteriorated into a gravel road, making the journey long and tortuous. Reconstruction of the road is now under way, with funding from the European Commission (EC) for its construction and from the Swedish International Development Cooperation Authority (Sida) for its design.
The USA is out of there!
By Spencer Ackermann
The looming security operations (click here) — er, “ rising tide” — in southern Afghanistan are getting all the attention. But the American-led coalition may be in serious trouble in eastern Afghanistan as well. According to a just-departed U.S. commander in charge of a big chunk of the area, locals in four critical provinces believe that the Taliban have greater religious legitimacy and a stronger commitment to justice than Hamid Karzai’s government. Coalition forces who aid that government are seen as “naive at best,” and “‘co-conspirators’ at worst.”...
...Afghanistan’s most violent and vexing areas: Nangarhar, Nuristan, Kunar, and Laghman provinces, a mountainous part of the country home to about 3.7 million people, 33 tribes and sub-tribes, and over 300 kilometers’ worth of porous border with tribal Pakistan...
The USA will never control these lands. The USA military would have to kill everyone. That is not an option. The choices of the tribes are political issues, not military resolve.
...George titled of those slides “How Locals Ranked The Enemies To Progress.” Through the locals’ eyes, the slide reported four big challenges. Al-Qaeda and the Taliban rank dead last. A “Corrupt and Ineffective Government” is number one....
The USA military has worked with this reality over and over and over. There is no military solution. There is no reason for the USA to stay in Afghanistan unless it is greed and rare Earth elements. That is not for the USA to covet. Those resources belong to the the Afghan people.
NY Times blogs "Idea of the Day" (click here)
July 6, 2010, 6:36 am
Afghanistan, the Regional Proxy War (click here)
Today’s idea: Afghanistan — a war against Islamic terrorism? No, it has become a proxy war between the regional powers Pakistan and India, a columnist says, with NATO only a marginal participant. But could a grand bargain between the two rivals solve things?...
Nothing has changed and nothing will change because there is no role for the USA military. This is a political issue and there are new leaders to Afghanistan. It is up to them to bring benefits to the people in eastern Afghanistan to induce a benevolent democracy with LAWS adhered to by court hearings. Until the tribes consent to a different form of law and justice there is no changing this. Leave them alone.
Do I have to continue to bring the history of the country to this blog? People don't read? They don't care? War is not option, now what is the USA going to do? Diplomatic relations? Sounds like a plan.
As a military mission, it is called "Operation Completely Impossible."
Noshaq is the highest mountain in Afghanistan and the second highest peak of the Hindu Kush after Tirich Mir (25,230 ft). Noshaq is located in the northeastern corner of the country along the Durand line which marks the border with Pakistan. It is the westernmost 7,000 m peak in the world. The north and west sides of the mountain are in Afghanistan whereas the south and eastern sides are in Pakistan. The normal route is by the West ridge.
If military and on this road, they are sitting ducks.
The road is of utmost strategic importance, facilitating trade, humanitarian aid, reconstruction efforts and the return of Afghan refugees. However, the highway, which was a good standard asphalt road when it was completed in 1969, has deteriorated into a gravel road, making the journey long and tortuous. Reconstruction of the road is now under way, with funding from the European Commission (EC) for its construction and from the Swedish International Development Cooperation Authority (Sida) for its design.
The USA is out of there!
