Afghanistan

[Fixiwee]

In other words, time to leave. Bin Laden was chased into caves and his network severely compromised. To me, that was the mission in Afghanistan - the rest is imperial, and doomed to the usual graveyard of imperial ambition in that benighted country.

First of all I want to say I'm by no means an expert on this matter. My view on this topic is pretty much of what I gather from the media.
Having said that, the situation in Afghanistan seems to me like quagmire. There is no definition about what "winning" is and the US has absolutley no clue in which direction they want to be heading. In a sense of the military I guess pulling out is an option, but let's face it, that would be admitting that the Afghanistan conflict is lost.
And I'm not too sure that Obama wants to be the guy to do it. Can't blame him though.

[Marshal Murat]

I think Afghanistan is a coin-flip. We could either keep in place the "Westmoreland-esque" general of conventional conflicts or we could replace him with a man who knows what he's doing. Gates is giving the new General (who sounds so American, it's like one parent owns McDonalds, the other a Car company) the resources, more troops, and more support to finally stamp out the Taliban, ensure good accounting, and stabilizing the entire region, hopefully by ensuring something approximating a sustainable economy.

[rant]It's this post Vietnam funk that we're in, afraid of a "quagmire" when we've pulled through in the Philippines, Haiti, Dominican Republic, and Nicaragua. [rant]

[CountArach]

If we leave now then it doesn't matter who is in charge. Just a suggestion.

[Fragony]

If we leave now then it doesn't matter who is in charge. Just a suggestion.

Do you live in some sort of parellel pink universe with bulletproof rainbows where the Taliban isn't a threat?

[CountArach]

Do you live in some sort of parellel pink universe with bulletproof rainbows where the Taliban isn't a threat?

Yes, but really it's more of an isolated island than a parallel universe.

[Fixiwee]

Do you live in some sort of parellel pink universe with bulletproof rainbows where the Taliban isn't a threat?

Uhm? Was the Taliban ever a threat? This war was against the al-Qaida in the first place and not against the Taliban. From what I can say, the Taliban was there before the US went into the country, and the Taliban will be there after they left.

[rory_20_uk]

An analagy to a hornet's nest is probably a good one. Through "affermative action" a group of deranged fundimentalists happly ruling one country have had their horizons lifted thanks to the attentions of America's size 22s. The swarm now threatens surrounding areas and now looks to have more nests than before!

What is the cost of containment verses engagement? Either way I don't think this hydra is going to be killed.