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I think in that Kabul America should build the world's tallest, fastest roller coaster. With free rides for all Taliban for the next five years. That should keep them all amused for a long time.
I think in that Kabul America should build the world's tallest, fastest roller coaster. With free rides for all Taliban for the next five years. That should keep them all amused for a long time.
That would be an improvement over any strategy we have used in the last 8 years and are likely to see in the next 8. Probably a lot fewer dead Americans as well.
If the Taliban were decimated tomorrow, our mission in Afghanistan would not be finished. Our goal is to eradicate Al Qaeda, which has found a safe haven through the Taliban. Our goal is to push through the Taliban to get to the real enemy of the U.S.
The Taliban is controlled by Al Qaeda and has been since the late 90s.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mrhman92
Al Qaeda screwed the Taliban over and brought misery to the Afghans. That's why Al-Qaeda is really weak today because no one supports them as for the Taliban they're almost impossible to defeat.
Other way around. The Taliban was a thorn in Al Qaeda's side, as they banned Opium poppy production in Afghanistan after consolidating power around 1996. That is why Clinton propped up the Taliban, in order to stabilize Afghanistan and keep Al Qeada from gaining significant influence in the country (Clinton's policies were part of the motivation behind the 1998 embassy bombings). However, the aforementioned drug laws prompted Bin Laden to launch a coup of sorts against the Taliban government, and install officials to important offices that would be friendly to his cause. Most agree that Al Qaeda had control of the Taliban around 1999. However, the people of Afghanistan still favored the Taliban; despite their brutality the Afghans had no desire to expel the first stable government hey had since the 70s.
This is why after 9/11 the Taliban refused to extradite Bin Laden, as Al Qaeda had control of the Taliban and would never surrender one of their own. Al Qaeda is still an international organization, with the Taliban being but one faction within their empire. And while the specifics of the Al Qaeda power structure is largely unknown, the Taliban has quickly evolved from being a rouge government to becoming the brunt of Al Qaeda's insurgent operations in Afghanistan.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mrhman92
Al-Qaeda and Taliban are two different groups, you people have to understand that.
A decade ago perhaps, but here and now they are largely the same.
The Taliban is controlled by Al Qaeda and has been since the late 90s.
Other way around. The Taliban was a thorn in Al Qaeda's side, as they banned Opium poppy production in Afghanistan after consolidating power around 1996. That is why Clinton propped up the Taliban, in order to stabilize Afghanistan and keep Al Qeada from gaining significant influence in the country (Clinton's policies were part of the motivation behind the 1998 embassy bombings). However, the aforementioned drug laws prompted Bin Laden to launch a coup of sorts against the Taliban government, and install officials to important offices that would be friendly to his cause. Most agree that Al Qaeda had control of the Taliban around 1999. However, the people of Afghanistan still favored the Taliban; despite their brutality the Afghans had no desire to expel the first stable government hey had since the 70s.
This is why after 9/11 the Taliban refused to extradite Bin Laden, as Al Qaeda had control of the Taliban and would never surrender one of their own. Al Qaeda is still an international organization, with the Taliban being but one faction within their empire. And while the specifics of the Al Qaeda power structure is largely unknown, the Taliban has quickly evolved from being a rouge government to becoming the brunt of Al Qaeda's insurgent operations in Afghanistan.
A decade ago perhaps, but here and now they are largely the same.
Other way around. The Taliban was a thorn in Al Qaeda's side, as they banned Opium poppy production in Afghanistan after consolidating power around 1996. That is why Clinton propped up the Taliban, in order to stabilize Afghanistan and keep Al Qeada from gaining significant influence in the country (Clinton's policies were part of the motivation behind the 1998 embassy bombings). However, the aforementioned drug laws prompted Bin Laden to launch a coup of sorts against the Taliban government, and install officials to important offices that would be friendly to his cause. Most agree that Al Qaeda had control of the Taliban around 1999. However, the people of Afghanistan still favored the Taliban; despite their brutality the Afghans had no desire to expel the first stable government hey had since the 70s.
This is why after 9/11 the Taliban refused to extradite Bin Laden, as Al Qaeda had control of the Taliban and would never surrender one of their own. Al Qaeda is still an international organization, with the Taliban being but one faction within their empire. And while the specifics of the Al Qaeda power structure is largely unknown, the Taliban has quickly evolved from being a rouge government to becoming the brunt of Al Qaeda's insurgent operations in Afghanistan.
A decade ago perhaps, but here and now they are largely the same.
Al-Qaeda is different from the Taliban, Al-Qaeda today are protected by the Pakistani Taliban and they number less than 100, they already plan their attacks from other countries, they have safe havens in other countries, Afghanistan is not the solution.
These two groups will never be the same no matter what happens, Al-Qaeda is a worldwide organization that is spread among diffrent countries, they dont really regroup in the same place anymore because they could get weakend easily, anyone from the world can join Al-Qaeda if they met the right people, thats why Al-Qaeda is a huge threat to the west and to the arabic countries as well. As for the Taliban, they have always been a local nationalist movement, that was and will always be supported by the Pashtuns.
clearly, going around the world to fight is not the answer. as obama said, there will always be wars. my question to him is why do we have to interject ourselves in the middle of them? another question, does anyone really think that you can put a "timetable" on war? do we pull out then if we are winning or losing? it should be noted here that the dictator of afghanistan, propped up by a trillion US dollars, announced that he wants us to continue doing this until at least 2024.
here was a paragraph today from AP:
AP
They're illiterate, fail drug tests, eat candy set aside for kids and have been caught stealing — so how are U.S. Marines supposed to train Afghan farmers-turned-police recruits?
how indeed?
i agree that al-qaeda is a worldwide organization and would pose a bigger threat to the US than the taliban. i also wonder why our borders aren't sealed if the threat of terrorism is so great?
america was told that the threat of communism was so great that we had to interject ourselves in vietnam, yet when vietnam fell communism did not take over the world. (although it certainly was bad for the people who chose to back the US before we pulled out, perhaps another lesson to be learned.)
Last edited by floridasandy; 12-11-2009 at 04:53 AM..
If the Taliban announced they'd leave Afghanistan in 2011, wouldn't we regard that as victory for our side?
What the ? You do know that the Talibam is not made up of people from other countries, don't you, they are from Afgnaistan. Yes i get the point, but the point you are missing is that the date is not carved in stone, everything depends on where the mission stands. It is just a goal to shoot for, every mission needs a goal unlike what the previous administration was practicing, war without end. I would add that before all is said and done the taliban will be feeling anything but victorious, getting hunted and killed does not give one a warm fuzzy feeling.
Casper
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