> On Wed, Apr 22, 2009 at 12:17 PM, Larry Lyons <[email protected]> > wrote: > > Actually because of the shrubbery's f*ckup the Taliban does rule a > lot of Afghanistan again. Most of the border provinces are under the > effective command of the Taliban or their allies. Kandahar, Helmund > and Paktia to name a few are more or less ruled by the Talib by night > and not controlled by ANA and coalition forces in the day. Moreover > they are expanding their zone of control into areas that have been > relatively peaceful since the invasion. > > > > This really is a big part of Bush's legacy, a completely f*cked up > war which we are losing because of his stupid decision to invade Iraq. > > > To be fair, I don't know that you can say those regions wouldn't be > ruled by the Taliban today if Bush had not gotten us into Iraq. I > think Afghanistan would certainly be better off if we had not > diverted > our attention but that region is notoriously difficult to rule and > hold. A central government-oriented, pro-West Democracy in > Afghanistan > was by no means a gimme regardless of the decisions made in the US. >
I don't think so, after the invasion the Taliban was all but defeated in detail. The 2002 - 2003 pause and reduction in forces gave them the breathing space and time to reorganize, recruit and start striking back. Combined with the safe havens in Waziristan and the other frontier provinces of Pakistan, it was a guarantee that they would be striking back and winning. Besides I'm not talking about democracy here, just stability and rule by something less bloodthirsty than the Talib. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Adobe® ColdFusion® 8 software 8 is the most important and dramatic release to date Get the Free Trial http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;207172674;29440083;f Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/message.cfm/messageid:295707 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5
