The days slowly fade into weeks while our fearless leader Comrade Socialist Obama tries to come up with some kind of comprehensible strategy for dealing with Afghanistan.

What is your solution to the mess we (U.S. and allies) find ourselves in with this protracted war? What do you see as our ultimate goal for this country?

How do we disengage now, or a year from now, or five years from now, without our exit bringing down the country's fumbling, fledgling democratic government and a return of the Taliban/Al Queda?

After the quick rout and expulsion of Al Queda leaders and the Taliban government in the first weeks of the war, allied military efforts in the country have been almost a complete bust since.

As soon as troops passify one area and establish a rapport with the locals, the Taliban return, intimidate and harrass the people and re-establish their control. Attempts to wipe out local Taliban commanders and troops with drone attacks also kill civilians and engender an ever-deepening hatred for the US.

Our attempts to promote democratic government/institutions in the country have been for the most part been epic failures, as the Karzai government is corrupt, autocratic and in bed with some of the nastiest warlords in the country.

Neither have we been able to provide any meaningful security for the people of Afghanistan. Even in Kabul security is shaky at best and is deteriorating rapidly.

The people of Afghanistan do NOT see our forces as liberators or protectors; as one suspended Afghan assembly woman said on CNN this morning, these troops are considered an "occupation force."

There was clear hatred in her voice for the US and it was clear that if we somehow did manage to wipe out the Taliban, the people of Afghanistan would not embrace us for our sacrifice and service on their behalf, but would turn on us and give up life itself to push us out of their country.

My view is, whether these people like us or not, returning the country to Taliban rule and letting it again become a terrorist safe-haven is not an option.

After almost a decade of trying to work with national leaders in the country to wipe out the Taliban insurgency, I think it's time to chuck the futile attempt at cooperation and treat them as either neutral or as combatants.

So if it were me, I'd say let's pull all the ground troops out; no more providing easy targets for IED's, mortar rounds, kidnappings, etc. And with the troop pull-out, no more financial aid, no more reconstruction, food hand-outs, drinking water, etc., etc.

From now on everything must be done from the air. Sadly the attempts at surgical strikes were noble, but ineffective, so its time to stop worrying about civilian casualties and bomb the dogshit out of any hovel or building where two or more Taliban or Al Queda have joined together, mosques included. Let me amend that ~ especially mosques since they're a favorite place to meet and store weapons.

And when the insurgents can be found in significant numbers in the border mountains with Pakistan or inside Pakistan in South or North Waziristan, tactical nuclear weapons should be used to wipe them out along with their weapons, family, infrastructure, everything.

It's my belief that after 30 or 40 square miles of the border area between Afghanistan and Pakistan have been reduced to radioactive rubble, there will be less motivation to join, aid or abet the terrorists and much more motivation to join us in wiping them out through Afghani and Pakistani military units and local tribal militias.

If this sounds insane, blood-thirsty or heartless, I understand and maybe you're right.

But given the circumstances as they are right now, what would you do if you were the president to solve this dilemma? More troops? Less troops? More aerial bombing? Less?

What say you Mr. President or Mrs. President?

zero troops. immed.

 

Originally Posted by Lord Supremo

I'm sure the vast majority of posters on OT are qualified to answer this question

Me too. I only had doubts about the qualifications of you and a couple other peeps. But it looks like you're saavy enough to just sit on the sidelines and read what others think like a good boy should. Well done!

Obv go play a round of 18.

Get as many troops on the ground as we can. Have many many patrols outside the wire and hope the taliban engage them. That's about the only way to find out who we are up against and the only way to rid the country side of those fuckers.

i didn't read this. but my answer is a-bomb.

 

Originally Posted by dolphin13

me, id say a surge that lasted less than a year. kills as many fucking terrorists as we can and gtfo.

sounds like Bush's Iraq surge strategy....just sayin

LOL.

I have to admit, I'm torn.

On one hand, you ask some very important and insightful questions. Afghanistan is a seemingly impossible situation and figuring out our best course of action is going to be very tough.

Then on the other hand, your proposed solution is using nuclear weapons.

So... really not sure what to do. Talk to the crazy person who happens to have asked a good question?

Glad OP isn't the President. Your plan would be to just drop nuclear bombs on the region?

wow, that's what I get for not reading through the entire OP. Seriously? Must be a level.

without reading the OP...I would nuke them and all the other problematic countries in that region super-heating all that sand into glass so we can see straight to the oil we are going to steal.

All our troops are home and safe...we have no more worries about terroristic threats...and we have the cheapest gas prices since WWII

Problem solved.

Next issue...marijuana

willy, let me ask you this. If we did not invade Iraq, wouldn't most of the world be fully with us in the war in afghanistan?

bomb the shit out of them and not give two fucks about it

 

Originally Posted by TheFirm53

Glad OP isn't the President. Your plan would be to just drop nuclear bombs on the region?

Had you read my post you'd know I had narrowed the potential target area to those places which contain Taliban or Al Queda.

I don't believe tactical nuclear weapons have the widespread or "regional" destructive footprint you are envisioning.

 

Originally Posted by wantagolf

Slick, that still wont work. The population centers in that country dont contain enough taliban for it to work. If a village has 40,000 peoiple, which is a huge village, only 100 might be taliban. So it makes no sense killing ll those innocent people for that gain.

\

True. Good point.

Okay, I fess up. My nuclear "solution" was more intended to spark spirited debate rather than as a real, honest-to-god serious method to clean out these isolated pockets of bad guys once and for all.

What the REAL answer is, I just don't know. I do know that we either have to give our military leadership over there the manpower they request RIGHT NOW so we have some kind of chance at gaining the upper hand, or we GTFO RIGHT NOW.