Login Name Posted March 7, 2011 Share Posted March 7, 2011 There is a lot of interesting discussion being brought up about how to fix Afghanistan so I thought I'd start it's own thread. So I ask you this...you're in charge either as POTUS, SECSTATE, ISAF/CC....basically somebody who can set the strategy for Afghanistan. What do you do to fix it? Do you keep the counter-insurgency strategy? Do you go for another military surge? Reconcile with the Taliban but finance them rather than having AQ finance them? Pull out? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
08Dawg Posted March 7, 2011 Share Posted March 7, 2011 Get rid of Kharzai. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 7, 2011 Share Posted March 7, 2011 Economics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClearedHot Posted March 7, 2011 Share Posted March 7, 2011 Teach Afghanistan the power of the Defensive Egg. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Day Man Posted March 8, 2011 Share Posted March 8, 2011 install charlie sheen as puppet figurehead: winning! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B*D*A Posted March 8, 2011 Share Posted March 8, 2011 Wind power and solar panels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GovernmentMan Posted March 8, 2011 Share Posted March 8, 2011 Magnets. How do they work, anyways? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Napoleon_Tanerite Posted March 8, 2011 Share Posted March 8, 2011 (edited) Seriously, there's no fixing Afghanistan. Over the centuries it's been the country where superpowers go to play war until they get bored, and then quit. Nobody wins or loses (though the Soviets had a good go at losing), they just get bored (or broke) and quit. I'm afraid we will eventually do the same. We've been there for almost ten years, with very little tangible gains over the past eight, and no meaningful gains on the horizon either. Edited March 8, 2011 by Napoleon_Tanerite Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gmwalk Posted March 8, 2011 Share Posted March 8, 2011 Nukes. No one could tell if did or not. It already looks like "Mad Max" over there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrainerModel Posted March 8, 2011 Share Posted March 8, 2011 (edited) Pull out. sts Edited March 8, 2011 by TrainerModel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eeyore Posted March 8, 2011 Share Posted March 8, 2011 1. Fix what?? We can not Never build a modern society from a clan culture in multiple generations. 2. Remove all of our forces and leave. 3. In leaving give the present that keeps on giving a nuclear half life along the AFGHAN/PAKISTAN BORDER. 4. Turn the remaining area into a vast prison for all countries to leave those deemed unfit for modern society. 5. Return in several centuries and see if anyone survived. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Login Name Posted March 8, 2011 Author Share Posted March 8, 2011 Seriously, there's no fixing Afghanistan. Over the centuries it's been the country where superpowers go to play war until they get bored, and then quit. Nobody wins or loses (though the Soviets had a good go at losing), they just get bored (or broke) and quit. I'm afraid we will eventually do the same. We've been there for almost ten years, with very little tangible gains over the past eight, and no meaningful gains on the horizon either. That's why I started this to see what all the arm chair generals would do after reading some posts from a different thread. Personally, I think it's fixable but not to the standards expect it to be and definitely not in a timeframe the American people are willing to accept. I'm an advocate for reconcilliation but that won't happen. There have been numerous writings arguing that while Afghanistan was in fact a state sponsor of terrorism, it was also a state sponsored by terrorism. We failed in Afghanistan when they defeated the Soviets by virtually stopping all support. We failed Pakistan in their eyes through the Pressler Amendment so why would they support us 100% in Afghanistan? We've set the precedent of "abandonment" in south asia over the last 20ish years that we need to change in my opinion before we can even get any sort of progression there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Butters Posted March 8, 2011 Share Posted March 8, 2011 (edited) Teach Afghanistan the power of the Defensive Egg. Edited March 8, 2011 by Butters 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StoleIt Posted March 8, 2011 Share Posted March 8, 2011 It can be fixed. But it will take time and commitment. Those are the two things we have always lacked. We are impatient and never follow through. We jump ship at the first chance possible to avoid responsibility or finish what we started. Add a shitty ROE that makes it even harder to accomplish much of anything in a short time period and you have a guaranteed lack of success. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Napoleon_Tanerite Posted March 8, 2011 Share Posted March 8, 2011 It can be fixed. But it will take time and commitment. Those are the two things we have always lacked. We are impatient and never follow through. We jump ship at the first chance possible to avoid responsibility or finish what we started. Add a shitty ROE that makes it even harder to accomplish much of anything in a short time period and you have a guaranteed lack of success. I wouldn't call 8 years of wheel spinning (not to mention billions of dollars, and hundreds of lives) as some symptom of our quest for instant gratification. The difference between Iraq and Afghanistan is that Iraq has a solid past and a good prospect for the future, and all it took was the intestinal fortitude to make it happen- which we did, by and large. Afghanistan has NEVER been a whole nation, they've NEVER been stable, and they don't have the resources or national identity to cause the different factions to come together to form a nation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Butters Posted March 8, 2011 Share Posted March 8, 2011 There is a lot of interesting discussion being brought up about how to fix Afghanistan so I thought I'd start it's own thread. So I ask you this...you're in charge either as POTUS, SECSTATE, ISAF/CC....basically somebody who can set the strategy for Afghanistan. What do you do to fix it? Do you keep the counter-insurgency strategy? Do you go for another military surge? Reconcile with the Taliban but finance them rather than having AQ finance them? Pull out? Yes, a surge would work, but it needs to be a real surge. We are talking millions of troops. We need to form a conscription force of millions of draftees right out of high school. They will form a new Army that would overwhelm the enemy in Afghanistan. This new Army would be call the Combat Liberation Integration Team or CLIT. Now imagine trying to do anything against the Govt of Afghanistan if you could not walk 10 feet without seeing CLIT. Think about it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperWSO Posted March 8, 2011 Share Posted March 8, 2011 Its the only possible answer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Napoleon_Tanerite Posted March 8, 2011 Share Posted March 8, 2011 Yes, a surge would work, but it needs to be a real surge. We are talking millions of troops. We need to form a conscription force of millions of draftees right out of high school. They will form a new Army that would overwhelm the enemy in Afghanistan. This new Army would be call the Combat Liberation Integration Team or CLIT. Now imagine trying to do anything against the Govt of Afghanistan if you could not walk 10 feet without seeing CLIT. Think about it. They would need proper leadership though 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karl Hungus Posted March 8, 2011 Share Posted March 8, 2011 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Herk Driver Posted March 8, 2011 Share Posted March 8, 2011 The difference between Iraq and Afghanistan is that Iraq has a solid past and a good prospect for the future LMAO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lloyd christmas Posted March 8, 2011 Share Posted March 8, 2011 I'll lend my opinion in a week or so when I go back to good ole Trashcanistan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Majestik Møøse Posted March 8, 2011 Share Posted March 8, 2011 (edited) Here's a harsh observation my crew came up with after a long day of watching the CAOC waste all of our gas. Those 19 guys with box cutters could not have imagined a better outcome. Not only did they succeed in bringing down the World Trade Center and part of the Pentagon, they sparked two wars that have cost the US a half-trillion dollars and thousands of lives. And no, I don't have any answers, except that we need to stay in AFG and stop wasting so much damned money. Also, I like the lasers idea. I can't ever remember people complaining that there were too many lasers around. My jet doesn't have any lasers on it, not a damned one, so maybe a change would do some good. Edited March 8, 2011 by Majestik Møøse Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Crew Report Posted March 8, 2011 Share Posted March 8, 2011 I wouldn't call 8 years of wheel spinning (not to mention billions of dollars, and hundreds of lives) as some symptom of our quest for instant gratification. The difference between Iraq and Afghanistan is that Iraq has a solid past and a good prospect for the future, and all it took was the intestinal fortitude to make it happen- which we did, by and large. Afghanistan has NEVER been a whole nation, they've NEVER been stable, and they don't have the resources or national identity to cause the different factions to come together to form a nation. Have you ever set foot in Iraq? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
contraildash Posted March 8, 2011 Share Posted March 8, 2011 I still firmly believe in the point one of my college professors kept driving home: "the only way to solve problems in the Arab world is for one side to win completely. There is no such thing as compromise within the tribal mentality" He grew up in Lebanon and fought in their civil war back in the late 70's / early 80's. I think the huge lack of education and the tribal mentality are the biggest hurdles to building any sort of national identity. Everyone is out for their own, not the greater good of a nation. Until that changes, we are just wasting time, money, and blood. I'm going in the near future. I'm sure I'll come back even more pessimistic about the whole place than I am now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vertigo Posted March 8, 2011 Share Posted March 8, 2011 Magnets. How do they work, anyways? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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