For the record, the Taliban took great religious exception to drug manufacture. They are wacko's for sure, but eliminating poppies will only turn the country back into a terrorist state. (See the referenced articles, written for PBS, no less, and http://opioids.com/afghanistan/index.html written by the UN.) Suggesting the use of 245T (Agent Orange) is just about the height of liberal hypocrisy, though all too typical in character.
Afghanistan is known historically as the "Destroyer of Kingdoms" from the time of Alexander the Great. It is a backward collection of sand and Islam that needs to be isolated. However, leave the internal working to themselves. They were occupied with War Lord feuds when the Russian's invaded, and had returned to that when the US did the same.
The well researched and written book,"The HAj", by Leon Uris details the centuries instilled mindset of these people: "..I learned at a very early age that it was me against my brothers, the brothers against our father, our family against the tribe; and all of us against the Infidels".
We should invent and practice immigration-style border-patrol with LOS armed drones around the circumference of Afghanistan. No country is safe when it's borders are as porous as ours. The first order of security is denial of access. There is a lot to be learned from such a venture, and our dollars will be doing double duty during the development/learning process.
This war is a very complicated mess that have we've remained in for too long. We have now lost 1000 more American lives during the Obama siege on America, more lives than during the Bush43 years, with no end in sight.
And, yes, I blame the liberals. Had they stuck by their political guns and opposed this war, we would be in a much better position today. Being "against it, before I was for it.." is paving the road to Hell. Where are the cries of the liberals now, the nightly body counts on the lame stream news? Where are the votes in congress to cut off funding, now that the liberals are pocketing the war profits?
Try as you might, wars can not be political animals, they are blood and guts and the worst of human nature. It is the ultimate responsibility of our politicians to avoid war, not promote it. When wars absolutely must be fought, it should be done with absolute force, immediately brought to bear. Done with the full intent to bring about a rapid victory and an abrupt end to the hostilities.
We are not the "world's policeman". Human conflict is as certain as the Sun rise. Human suffering will never be over, no matter how much blood and treasure we throw at it to assuage ourselves of liberal false-guilt.
On 9/12 we had a clear target, and what should have been an even more clear goal - to eliminate any further threat from these types. We failed, for lack of political will and meddling, for pure beltway greed. The same greed that Johnson got us into Viet Nam over. Every day since we have had the opportunity to correct that failure, and don't.
This may be a good movie, but the true lessons from it will never be learned by those that desperately need it. And, I will never send one cent of my money to Hollyweird to see it.
IMHO,
Kip
