All these things being the same, we had basically one the war by 2002. The Taliban and Al Qaeda had been taken out as a power in the country, retreating into Pakistan.
SOCOM did with around 200 men what we can't seem to do with tens of thousands. On Fri, May 25, 2012 at 12:35 PM, Dana <[email protected]> wrote: > > um. Seems to me it was actually the East India Company and the British Army > was repeated defeated defending it. They may have been nominally in control > of the place but they soon wished they weren't. Did you ever read Kipling? > Here's a link on some of the early history behind the name: > > http://www.britishbattles.com/first-afghan-war/kabul-1842.htm > > On Fri, May 25, 2012 at 6:46 AM, Larry C. Lyons <[email protected] > >wrote: > > > > > The graveyard of empires is really a myth. Afghanistan through most of > > its history was a part of larger empires - the Persian, Mongol, > > British etc. It wasn't until the 1700's that it became effectively > > independent. The British actually controlled Afghanistan from the > > 1880's through 1930 or so. > > > > On Fri, May 25, 2012 at 1:50 AM, Eric Roberts > > <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > > There is a good reason Afghanistan is called the graveyard of Empires. > I > > > don't think the Bush administration was operating in any known > > reality...so > > > this "fantasy" was probably a part of it. The rest is greed and giving > > tax > > > dollars to his buddies based on no bid contracts for civilians to take > > over > > > many of the military functions...like cooks, mechanics, laundry, > > > construction, etc....also throw in the "protection" role of Blackwater > or > > > whatever they call themselves these days...Xe I think...or did they > > change > > > that too? You have a pretty sweet deal for defense contractors. > > Military > > > industrial complex is swimming in cash...at least until the treasury is > > > drained. He certainly didn't try to bolster the treasury with the tax > > cuts > > > to the rich. The ones to the middle class and lower class were a > > pittance > > > and in reality didn't do squat. Welcome to the fascist police state my > > > friends... > > > > > > -----Original Message----- > > > From: Judah McAuley [mailto:[email protected]] > > > Sent: Thursday, May 24, 2012 10:17 PM > > > To: cf-community > > > Subject: Re: Pics from the NATO Protest > > > > > > > > > Afghanistan also has significant deposits of minerals used in high tech > > > manufacturing. > > > > > > However, I really don't think that was the reason we invaded. It's > > possible > > > that some far right delusional folks thought we might take over > > Afghanistan > > > and suppress the Taliban and do a good job extracting resources and > > helping > > > guard against an alliance over oil between Russia and the Middle East. > > But, > > > given history, I think that most people in their right minds would have > > > regarded that as a rather extreme fantasy. We can bomb a country back > to > > > the dark ages, but when it's already in the dark ages? Really, what are > > your > > > odds of success? > > > > > > No, we've got the good old fashioned military industrial complex at > > work. I > > > know, seems trite, doesn't it? Eisenhower warned us against it, after > > all. > > > That makes it pretty long in the tooth. Obviously just hippy shit these > > days > > > that people tell each other as they fit aluminum foil hats. > > > > > > There is a huge amount of money to be made and a huge amount of power > to > > be > > > had by simply being at war. Doesn't matter so much with who. > > > There are advantages one way or another with different enemies. Sure, > if > > we > > > did manage to triumph in Afghanistan, it would have some nice benefits. > > Same > > > thing for Iraq. Or Iran. But that's all secondary. A nice bonus, if you > > > will. Keeping people afraid allows you to pass further draconian laws > > that > > > blow away privacy. Being at war allows you to funnel massive amounts of > > > money to a tiny number of big companies and agencies with secret > budgets > > and > > > no bids. Spending trillions on wars allows you to look at the > increasing > > > deficits and say, "oh no! We need to cut everywhere other than > defense!" > > and > > > put people further into poverty and even more into subjugation. > > > > > > The brilliant part of the "war on terror" is that it isn't a war with > > > anyone. It's a war with an idea. No one ever gets to easily claim > "we've > > > won" and be able to show it. There is no white flag from the enemy. > > Anyone > > > who ever says "we're done" will have a well trained group of media > attack > > > dogs jumping them and saying "you gave up and are a coward" and "you've > > > placed everyone's children at risk". Hell, that's happened to Obama > and > > he > > > doubled down in Afghanistan. > > > > > > Nope. The legacy of 9/11 is that we have a country where we funnel > almost > > > unlimited (and totally untracked) amounts of money into an endless war > > > against unknown and constantly changing enemies while sacrificing an > > untold > > > number of civil liberties for no appreciable end game. There are plenty > > of > > > other games within a game (like the millenarian folks that think that > > Israel > > > has to have some sort of weird war stuff to happen for the rapture to > > come) > > > but when you have hugely profitable companies making large amounts of > > money > > > and government power brokers gaining greater control over the populace, > > > they'll be pretty happy with a continued state of rolling unrest. > > > > > > Authoritarianism suits large industry and large government. And war is > > the > > > best way to ensure that authoritarianism keeps a strong grip on our > > country. > > > > > > Judah > > > > > > On Wed, May 23, 2012 at 12:18 PM, Larry C. Lyons < > [email protected]> > > > wrote: > > >> > > >> exactly the only greed factor I can see is with KBR, but during that > > >> time period they didn't have the same presence as they did in Iraq. I > > >> think Tim can enlighten us on that - he was there. > > >> > > >> But the only real money to be made in Afghanistan are with opium and > > weed. > > >> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Order the Adobe Coldfusion Anthology now! http://www.amazon.com/Adobe-Coldfusion-Anthology/dp/1430272155/?tag=houseoffusion Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/message.cfm/messageid:351414 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/unsubscribe.cfm
