"Taliban Say They Will Continue To Wage War Against..." Topic

… The Afghan Government Even After A U.S. Withdrawal.

"As U.S. and Taliban negotiators push to wrap up talks aimed at securing the withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan, disagreement remains about whether a pact will mean an end to the insurgents' fight with the U.S.-backed Afghan government.

U.S. and Taliban officials have been negotiating in Qatar since last year on an agreement centered on the withdrawal of U.S. forces, and an end to their longest-ever war, in exchange for a Taliban guarantee that international militant groups will not plot from Afghan soil…"
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Amicalement
Armand

The world needs to go into Pakistan and clean house.

They are the "pirates" of the 21st Century, and should be hunted down, and treated as such, just like was done in the 18th Century, very effectively I might add, in short order.

(smile)

Amicalement
Armand

Thresher, you want to go into what used to be called the Northwest Frontier on a punitive expedition?

Do yourself a favor, and research how often the British ended up sending a Punitive Expedition into the NWF from say, 1839-1947.

We're not the British, though many of us are of British ancestry, I suspect.

We don't need to go in and stay, but certainly should go in and "clean house".

Even our last leader "promised" to do that, since it was clearly the sensible thing to do, but then did nothing, as usual (that was more than 10 years ago, so invoking the 10-Year TMP rule here).

Enemies you are fighting can't be permitted to have safe havens to use as a base of operations, and to retreat to.

That lesson should have been learned back in the 1950s, during/after the Korean War, when Chinese and North Korean jets were allowed to flee back to bases over the Yalu river.

They should have been pursued with a vengeance, as should the Talis now, no matter where they hide.

All out, global pursuit of the pirates in the 18th Century eliminated that scourge a couple hundred years ago. Punitive raids into Mexico also worked quite well, back in the day.

Today, the enemy and weaponry used are different, but the strategic, operational, and tactical military principles are exactly the same – don't provide ANY safe havens for terrorists, and lawless bandits. Take the fight TO them, or they will do so to you.

We don't need to go in and stay, but certainly should go in and "clean house".

By what right would we do so?

And you realize they have nukes, right?

The terrorists in Pakistan don't have nukes yet, though I suspect some of their sympathizers in the Pakistani government have access to them.

Same as is/was done for all the other terrorists we've been chasing all over the globe for the last 20 years, or so in the Middle East, Asia, Africa, and the good old USA home front.

They're attacking our government ally in Afghanistan and our soldiers there, so we could use either one of those as a pretext, if desired. You can also use the terrorist, 9/11 link as well, since they've worked with many of them too.

Did Woodes Rogers fret about niceties like that back in the 18th Century?

I suspect not.

Just because they run over a line on a map doesn't give them safe harbor from attack on their active fighters, and/or base of support in Pakistan.

But… it's suposed that Pakistan Army patrol their borders… what an encounter with them?….

Amicalement
Armand

We don't need to go in and stay, but certainly should go in and "clean house".

And then we'd need to do that again the next year.

The Victorian-era British didn't have the very restrictive Rules of Engagement that the US does, and they still had to go back to the same places year after year on punitive expeditions.

The only way you could stop the violence in Astan (and tribal Pakistan) would be to kill everyone there. Roman level destruction. Kill all the men and male children, enslave the women and girls. Salt the fields, leave no stone standing upon another.

"But… it's suposed that Pakistan Army patrol their borders… what an encounter with them?…".

Inform them they can "choose" sides, but recommend they do so "wisely".

"And then we'd need to do that again the next year".

Probably.

18th Century pirates eventually got the message, so I suspect modern day enemies might do that too, if the forces arrayed against them are too overwhelming.

You probably need to get the EU, China, and Russia on board with this, to be really effective, and I suspect that won't happen anytime soon.

Ceding Afghanistan to the radicals is a "no-win" situation as well. If that happens, we'll be returning again in a few short years.

There's no easy solution short of turning much of both countries into a radioactive parking lot, which obviously has its own issues.

We cannot think as we were in the 18° or 19° Century… with mass destrucction weapons….

Amicalement
Armand