No

by Marc Phillippe Babineau

Created on: September 26, 2009

Just how long does it take to realize that you can not win a war when the opposing, or occupied forces are willing to die, to the last man, to free their home of the occupying forces. The problem becomes an unwillingness to cleanse the entire population from the face of the earth, which is the only way to win a war like this. The Russian army tried, but withdrew in the face of international mockery. Who's mocking who now? The ideology of the jihadists is to eradicate the American way of life, and holding the States into a protracted war will surely accomplish just that, with prolonged financial restraints and possibly bankrupting the government. And, they even told them they were going to do it.

Yes, the United States can only win by losing. Unfortunately, a win would quantifiably go hand-in-hand with the total annihilation of the Afghani populace. The old "kill them all and let God sort them out later" mentality. With a sudden withdrawal of all combat troops, and with them the entire American, Canadian, British and all of the other nation's military contributions, some face could be saved. Saddam hid in a hole, but finding Osama will be harder in the mountainous, lawless regions that he is supposedly hiding in. Remember, that is why America is in Afghanistan, a fact that has been lost over the years; the hunt for bearded October.

An abrupt and uncalled for removal of all personnel would show the American people that their government is not as dumb as they seem to be, that they've realised that it is a war that can not be won. Provide the Afghanistan National Army with enough weapons and bullets, and wave bye-bye. We must learn from past mistakes, and nobody seems willing to make the obvious comparisons to Vietnam.

Everyone would have to be pulled out of Afghanistan, as they would no longer have protection from the Taliban and other insurgents. With no more military involvement in Afghanistan, the military can concentrate on fulfilling the mission in Iraq, as the border country with Iran needs an American presence more so than Afghanistan does. Stopping the nuclear ambitions of Iran should be the top military ambition for Western countries, Saudi Arabia, and all European, Asian and African nations. Nuclear fallout does not discriminate.

The war in Afghanistan was supposed to be a hunt for terrorists, and the war in Iraq was to free the people from a tyrant of a President. With more people flowing into Afghanistan to join forces with their Muslim brethren to chase an occupying force from their lands, the American military is leading their military partners in a dance with the devil. There is no winning when winning is only accomplished with the death of the last man standing.

Much as in the war in Vietnam, the Afghani fighters are a proud bunch, and will fight tooth and nail for every inch, and they can sit back and out-wait the Americans, who are paying their fighters, support staff and covering the operating costs of feeding, bedding, treating and mobilizing a gigantic military involvement. The Russians tried fighting the Afghanistan people, and withdrew in full international disgrace.

The Americans must learn that there is no winning as an occupying force in a country like Afghanistan, as the Russians finally did. The difference is that the Russians learned their lesson a lot quicker, or just weren't willing to kill them all. Are the Americans willing? We will soon find out, they are slowly getting there.

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