Isn't the concentration in Taliban "cells & networks" and other technical matters missing the point, disregarding the problem itself. US and its coalition are in real terms on the territory of rather old, may-be primitive, tribal people who have their pride – traditions. They have opposed for about 2500 years all comers asking them to change their customs. It insults their pride and self-respect. Today the war has been going on so long and at such a price, mostly for the locals, that the original issue has been lost. Yet there is something profoundly indecent in the situation where the UAVs are flying high above those villages and sending their rockets at suspected targets. That set-up is simply like some sick science-fiction. If I was a tribesman there, I would give but by getting killed myself.

Although my expectations for this president were low, he has managed to fall below even my modest bar.

If a president has nothing else, he should have a sense of history; in his ill-begotten idea of working with "moderate" elements of the Taliban, he has reached a new low of naivete and cluelessness. He really does need to understand what drives the Taliban.

THERE ARE NO MODERATE ELEMENTS OF THE TALIBAN. The Taliban are, by definition, the Wahhabist, Salafist arm of Sunni Islam. Their intense belief is that they must restore the 7th Century Caliphate that immediately succeeded the death of Mohammad–the "Golden Age" of Islam. The cost of this restoration is not an issue; making common cause with non-believers cannot be tolerated. Wahhabi doctrine looks upon infidels as "dhimmi", inferior beings who are to suffer one of three fates: immediate conversion to Islam, immediate death, or subjugation as an economic and cultural suzerain of Islam. There are no other choices. The president of the US is simply another dhimmi to their way of thinking.

For this president to think he can negotiate with the Taliban is tantamount to discussing the philosophy of violence with a salt-water crocodile. The outcome is certain and not pretty.

WE WILL NEVER WIN!!! NO WAY! NO HOW! Why can't we just pull our troops out and strengthen our homeland security with some of the money we'd save.

Using technologically advanced weapons and unmanned aerial vehicles doesn't wash the blood off America's hands any more than the IED's wash the blood off our opponents hands. Will the world ever learn? Tyrants, dictators and imperialist will never realize peace through the use of bombs and bullets.
Dialogue not destruction.
America should worry more about the economy and bringing back the manufacturing and industrial base Wall Street sent overseas than the opium trade in Afganistan. The Afgans aren't responsible for our collapsing economy. America's leaders are destroying America from within. All our enemies have to do is sit back and watch, America is on the road to implosion. Wall Street and Congresses lust, greed, graft and pork has turned a promising national economy into lost jobs, foreclosed homes and a government that sanctions the exploitation of all in the name of "national interest". and personal wealth.

Know your enemy

[...] One, move forward with peace deals with Islamic fundamentalists, and ultimately, groups like the Taliban. The Obama Administration is considering a similar approach, no matter how misguided. The Taliban achieved a victory in Swat, because their ultimate goal is to enact a strict version of Sharia law.  In Swat over the past year, we have seen hundreds of girls schools burned; foreigners kidnapped and killed; and no true government establishment of the law.  At the same time, the Pakistani military claims victories against the Taliban in some adjacent territories, such as Bajaur.  The question is, is it a pyrrhic victory?  Did they really defeat the enemy, or has the enemy just shifted to the Swat Valley and in to the mountains, to fight another day?  Don’t underestimate the Taliban; they have survived not only the Russian invasion of the 1980s, but also the U.S. invasion of this decade, and they have learned to adapt to survive. [...]

[...] [Source link] [...]

@Bellerophon

I think you are disregarding the fact that the unequivocal destruction of the Taliban is something we have been trying to achieve for the past eight years, but look where we are today. All the gains that were made in the early stages of the war (which were not fully capitalized on by the Bush administration) have been largely reversed. The south and west are more or less under the control of the Taliban or their allies, and Kabul itself is under threat of attack.
While I certainly agree with you that the extreme wings of the Taliban have no interest in negotiation and wish only to restore the 7th century Caliphate, it is foolhardy and self-defeating to assume that no one in the Talibani coalition can be reasoned with at all – they are people, not salt-water crocodiles. If nothing else, talks with "moderate" Taliban (a relative term, of course) could do what they did for us in Iraq and have a "divide and conquer" effect.
The fact is that most people prefer to live in peace and have normal lives, and to work off the assumption that they don't is just shooting ourselves in the foot. While true extremists can never be reasoned with and should be annihilated, they make up only a small section of the population and do not have a complete monopoly on the Taliban. We should be using the desire for stability to draw groups and individuals away from the Taliban. We can't expect them to love us, but the fact that they aren't fighting with the Taliban is a victory for everyone.

The fight is about getting access to the oil and natural gas-rich and relatively unexploited Central Asia region (Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, etc.), which if America and NATO don't get their hands on now, it would fall to Russia and thus the foreseeable Russia-China bloc. If America / the West / the NATO block doesn't act now to secure Central Asia and Africa (where the Chinese are making considerable gain), then you might see a future where the Russia-China block are more powerful than the America-NATO block. The only way for America to get the resources out of Central Asia are south through Afghanistan and then south either through Pakistan or Iran to the ocean (the two other ways are to go East through China which is unacceptable of course, or to go west through the Caspian Sea, Georgia, and Turkey to the Mediterranean Sea, but that route falls to close to Russia to be reliable). That's why, if it baffles you, we're still at 'war'. They need to make a pipeline from Central Asia through Afghanistan which continues through either Pakistan or Iran, and it seems they're leaning towards Pakistan. They needed to bring the military in because the Taliban were being too hard to work with in regards to the pipeline (pre-9/11). In addition, bringing the military in there has now given access to the resource-rich (and central to the balance of power) Central Asia as well as access to the main threats of power, Russia and China. The goal will be to keep the military in the Afghanistan region indefinitely as has been done in Japan, but to do so, they need to get rid of violence from locals, which raises casualties and thus makes the public back home demand for withdrawal, and the violence also delays the pipeline. This also answers the question of where illiterate men like the Taliban are getting these 'IED's and the money to pay their men.

from all indications, the older men and women are all gone nut, and so the youger onse are to handle this situation that is if they are given the opportunity to, the youth are to stand up to protect the youger generation.

austin from nigeria.

^ That is the main issue but americans [if they post here] are too proud and ignorant to actually admit that.

My opinion regarding the taleban is that dont consider them as hardliners or some one with the belief of Jehad. no doubt its an important factor now but the fact is that this nation (afghan) have never let anyone rule them for thousands of years. just look at the history of afghanistan for last 3000 years . from alexander to russians . all tried but failed. and in my opinion americans have also fallen in this trap. i would like to advise the president of usa. that do not try to win afghanistan by force. have a dialogue with them and assure them that u r not here to rule them .

They are people who believe in there cause and they will survive anything. You just have to leave them alone in there homes and not attack there brothers in Palestine, Lebanon, Iraq etc. End of story.

Fighting the so called "War on terrror", we make our homland Pakistan almost hell. The more we intensify the fight on our borders, the more Taliban got ground. Its not only our responsibility to fight that war, American should do the same. Its our responsiblity to seel our border but its your responsibility to do the same on the other side of the border. The reality is that US farces are not dare enought to fight that war on ground. They don't have the courage to fight on ground nor any intention to do. I found them coward to face the enemy on ground. They primarily focus on air raids which most of the time results in civilian casualties and quite on and off to press Pakistan to DO MORE. American should understand that they are not in Afghanistan on PICNIC. Its very serios job. They should be ready to sacrifise their lives if they feel that its noble cause. Time is ticking, Taliban is gaining ground every day, if americans would not take it seriously, they will loose the war and we will be in hell permanantly.

Kashif Mansoor – Hell does not exist.

And as for why the Americans would not fight on the ground? – why waste lives when you don;t have to take the risk. Going in via the air is the smart move...if you value life.

Maybe you don't...

very un-islamic using cell-phones, and western technology. Not mentioned anywhere in the Koran. They should only fight with sticks and rocks and be good muslims. The Taleban are hypocrites.

i just want to make correction on the statement of Mr.Masood Khan that no one has ruled afghanistan for 3000 year. Not to go further about 200 years back it was the great ruler maharaja ranjit singh whose sikh army general sardar hari singh nalwa captured afghanistan and ruled over it for considerable period of time. the history which is not spoken of and not known to many , infact some one will ask who are sikhs?

'Our man in the field'- you're missing the point.
By using air strikes, americans might save the 1 or 2 soldiers they'd otherwise lose, but they dont actually kill enough real taliban to justify the 2-3 pakistani children these indirect methods kill.

Air strikes only save american soldiers lives, while killing many many more civilians. soldiers are meant to die, its basically their purpose, they're supposed to lay down their lives to protect civilians, and yet they do not.

'Mark Jensen' – Arabs have been on the forefront of technology for 2000 years. it's only since british colonialism have they fallen behind.
Everyone talks down the arabs, talking about womens rights etc, and how barbaric they think they are, but we've only been treating women right for 50 years max. Men used to be able to rape their wives in the 50's, and the cops wouldnt do anything about it. suddenly turning around with a high and mighty attitude is ridiculous. The Arabs had stable civilisations since before the dark ages. we've only just recently ceased being the barbarians, and given the way we treat muslims, we probably still are.

Matty P, You said :soldiers are meant to die, its basically their purpose, they’re supposed to lay down their lives to protect civilians, and yet they do not.

That is incorrect.

The role of Soldiers is to obey orders. The role of higher ranking soldiers is to win wars and in more recent times, minimise "friendly" casualties, which is what they do.

However as a disclaimer, this only applies to countries and organisations that value life.

It applies to people who look upon suicide bombers not as celebrated martyrs but for what they are; merciless killers with no regard for their or anyone elses life and who for some reason, think that their belief entitles them to take lives.

Resulting not in their going to paradise but in a pointless and tragic loss of life.

Matty, Matty, Matty... Just how imaginative ARE you? And how OLD? Get out a history book, talk to a grandmother or great grandma, watch the history channel, or consult Encyclopedia Brittanica.
For years, U.S. women STRUGGLED to slowly gain voting rights, equal employment, credibility in society and the workforce, plus just plain "respect"... (-And more substantial respect is yet to be gained!)
But somehow, 'we' must have gained liberty from permissive rape in the 1950's, without knowing it existed!

(Just ask Fonzie or Richie.)

Can you imagine what Gloria Steinem (sp?) would have said about unequal raping rights? WHOA....
Sometime, somehow, I beg you, locate some NON-fantasmic history of our women. It's REALLY interesting...
Neither Dolly Madison, Martha Washington, Betsy Ross, Vivien Leigh nor Kathryn Hepburn, (or any of their RELATIVES), walked around naked from the waist down, just to save time.

'Abuses' have always existed, on all continents... most unfortunately and painfully. –But POLICE PROTECTING RAPISTS OF AMERICAN WOMEN, AS RECENTLY AS 50 YEARS AGO?? HOLY Moley, Matty...

At 51 years old, now... I never found my mother, aunts or grandmas having cowered around men who chased them down public streets 24/7, with wicked, horny eyes. (YUCK, Matty..!)

-BELIEVE me, they would have mentioned it.

Go take some sky-diving lessons, parachute down out of that ozone, and inhale some OXYGEN.

Exhaling is optional.

Cindy K.

@ Parminder Singh, maharaja ranjit singh never captured Afghanistan! he only managed to take territory till Peshawer, but even then the Sikhs were never left in peace, as a result of which Sardar Hari Singh Nalua was mortally wounded and killed,which in turn halted the Sikh expansion,leaving their dream of invading Afghanistan a dream...

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