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Thread: Will there be another Afghan surge?

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    Will there be another Afghan surge?

    Mattis is going to talk to his NATO counterparts to consider another Afghan surge.

    I am not sure any number of foreign troops are going to make the Afghan tribes get along.

    Any plans to send additional American and NATO troops to Afghanistan won't take shape before Defense Secretary Jim Mattis meets with his European counterparts and the war's top commander, the Pentagon said Friday.


    Those talks are scheduled to begin on Wednesday and Thursday in Brussels, a week after Army Gen. John Nicholson told Senate lawmakers that the 15-year conflict had reached a "stalemate." Thousands of additional military personnel would be needed, Nicholson said, if the coalition hopes to regain momentum. The general spoke also of plans to establish an "enduring counter-terrorism platform" there.
    Brussels is a good place to visit. So there is that for Mattis. Great food.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Peter1469 View Post
    Mattis is going to talk to his NATO counterparts to consider another Afghan surge.

    I am not sure any number of foreign troops are going to make the Afghan tribes get along.



    Brussels is a good place to visit. So there is that for Mattis. Great food.
    To establish an "enduring counter-terrorism platform" rather than an attempt to help Afghan Tribes to get along would be the primary goal.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Ransom View Post
    To establish an "enduring counter-terrorism platform" rather than an attempt to help Afghan Tribes to get along would be the primary goal.
    That is easy enough to do.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Peter1469 View Post
    Mattis is going to talk to his NATO counterparts to consider another Afghan surge.

    I am not sure any number of foreign troops are going to make the Afghan tribes get along.



    Brussels is a good place to visit. So there is that for Mattis. Great food.
    How much evidence that such interventions do not work do these people need? Or better yet, since their goals are likely more personal than national, how much evidence are we going to allow them to keep ignoring?

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    Quote Originally Posted by donttread View Post
    How much evidence that such interventions do not work do these people need? Or better yet, since their goals are likely more personal than national, how much evidence are we going to allow them to keep ignoring?
    Americans tend to think in terms of a powerful central government. That is how we screwed up Iraq too.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Peter1469 View Post
    Americans tend to think in terms of a powerful central government. That is how we screwed up Iraq too.

    True, sad and ironic, but true nonetheless

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    Quote Originally Posted by Peter1469 View Post
    Americans tend to think in terms of a powerful central government. That is how we screwed up Iraq too.
    In 1991, yes.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Ransom View Post
    In 1991, yes.

    Incorrect.

    After the 2003 invasion things were going pretty well. The Army and the Marines let the local sheiks run their tribes. Then Bremer came in and screwed it up. He insisted that only a central government could exert authority. That pissed off the Sunni tribes enough to embrace al Qaeda in Iraq.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Peter1469 View Post
    Incorrect.

    After the 2003 invasion things were going pretty well. The Army and the Marines let the local sheiks run their tribes. Then Bremer came in and screwed it up. He insisted that only a central government could exert authority. That pissed off the Sunni tribes enough to embrace al Qaeda in Iraq.
    Had the Iraqis not been utterly and completely ruled from a central government authority for decades? Elections were held, a central government wasn't insisted upon by Bremer, it was duly elected. You'll remember local sheiks and tribes weren't the only interest, Shia militias, many backed by Iran. You also had a Kurdish state that many nations in the region didn't want autonomy afforded.

    Don't rewrite history in some donttread manner of debate style, Peter, that won't even take off much less fly. A working Republic was elected in Iraq, their turnout besting ours.....when many voters there were under duress for voting. Who do you think you're exchanging with here, one of our resident liberals. Tighten up, 1469.

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    Yea, let's send off some more Americans to die for nothing.
    Power always thinks it has a great soul, and vast views, beyond the comprehension of the weak. And that it is doing God service when it is violating all His laws.
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