Guerilla warfare sucks. This will not end until every Taliban is dead I'm afraid but dont' think that's the solution either.
We must help Afghans defend themselves and to take control of their own society so that they can root out warlords or extremists on their own, IF they are willing to do that.
Thank you OP for reminding us of the important things in life.
Aha...there's the conundrum of this situation.
Todays "taliban" was the 1980's "mujahhadin", but since in the 80's they were fighting the Soviet invaders. they were the good guys in Western eyes. And the former queslings under the Soviet invasion? They've been renamed the "northern alliance" by the western media, and are the sworn enemies of the mujahhadin/taliban for siding with the Russians a generation ago, But since the "northern alliance" is the enemy of the Taliban (whom we consider evil), they (northern alliance) must be the good guys this time around. To further complicate matters, most of the "taliban/mujahhadin" are ethnic Pashtuns, who are largely autonomous and don't really follow the borders or rule of Afghanistan and/or Pakistan, as they were/are seeking a greater degree of self-rule since they get treated like SHIT by the current governments of both countries....Pashtuns at one time were the largest ethnic group in Afghanistan (may have changed as I don't really follow the events too closely anymore), yet were denied proportional representation in Afghan government affairs by the minority Tajiks, who ironically held many government positions since the late 1970's.....or roughly since shortly after the Soviet invasion. Oh yeah, "northern alliance" happened to be predominantlt Tajik.
Strangely enough, many Afghanis don't see the "taliban" as the terrorist organization that must be destroyed to bring peace to the region thet way we westerners do....probably because they don't get western newspapers, TV, radio, etc. (Interesting sidenote...a few days ago I heard a report that all reporting by Canadian journalists embedded with our troops in Afghanistan is vetted through the PMO....think about that!!). And lots of Afghans don't see Osama Bin Laden as the terrorist mastermind that we know him as. Remember those "mujahhadin" who fought the Soviets throughout the 1980's? Well, OBL took up the fight at the time and joined the "mujahhadin" and gained a LEGENDARY reputation of battlefield command. He would be the Afghan equivalent of US WW2 hero Audie Murphy, except greater. So does the typical Afghan see what we see....harboring the terrorist behind 9/11 or welcoming a family member back home with open arms?
Confused yet? Wait, there's more! One of the USA's main "allies" in the region is Pakistan. Nuclear armed, regional superpower, bitter enemy of India (6 or 7 wars since partition, I believe) and heavily, HEAVILY Muslim. Pakistani Muslims make most other Muslims look like us compared to the Amish, in that it is more than a religion and is really the way of life for them. And Pakistan shares a "border" if you want to call it that with Afghanistan, except that no Pakistani government or military officials dare set foot in the region because it is controlled the the Pashtun (the guys would like their own nation). Pakistan needs help controlling this mess, so why not help out the USA and maybe get some reciprocity back? Pakistan has been on the USA's payroll since day one of the Afghan "invasion/liberation/rebuilding", and would you like to know the value of the military support & intelligence & logistics that Pakistan has provided to its ally and benefector, the USA? Care to guess?
I would guess the value of Pakistan's aid to the USA in their adventure in Afghanistan to be 0......probably less than 0......but it's been pretty helpful to Pakistan having the USA and Nato's unwitting help.
Throw some Canadian soldiers into the mix now...what chance do the poor guys have? Canada had an excellent reputation for training, toughness, skills, leadership, morale, you name it and the Canadian military has consistantly ranked tops or near tops by other countries' military. But we Canadians are NOT cut out for the skullduggery & duplicity & machiavellian machinations that this mess is & will continue to be. We are too decent a people......... (except for my neighbour - I know it was you Larry, I know it was you!)
Let the Afghanis sort out their internal situation.....they did a pretty good job as a nation for awhile without outside interference.
Wow, are my fingers ever tired from all this typing!
One last thing...if anyone reads this and get the idea that Pakistan bad, pashtun good, Tajik bad, etc, etc. that's not what I intended.
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