Trump's "Afghanistan" speech

[bee]

2 minutes ago, Golden Duck said:

Isn't Afghanistan part of the OBOR plan? I wonder China plans to protect it's investment?

gawd knows - i just think there's probably a lot more to all this than meets the eye - 

 

[The Caspian Hare]

Don't think any of theBelt-Road routes actually go to Afghanistan, skirt it by going north through Kazakhstan and south through Pakistan/Iran

If China want to turn AFghanistan in to a highway or mining colony, well they will have to fight for it. They have all the ruthlessness of old USSR and economy as big as USA, maybe they can suceed where everyone else fail? Regardless it will suck to live in Afghanistan ... but when has it not.

[Space Commander Travis]

 Holy mother of Moses, 

Quote

 Mann said. "This needs to be a 50- to 100-year campaign. It requires persistence and presence. Colombia should be a model, not Iraq," he added, referring to the Colombian government's five-decade-long conflict with leftist insurgents.

And this is from an article headlined Optimism for Trump's Afghanistan War plan from legendary US commando !  That's optimism! What would the pessimistic assessment be? A thousand years?! 

[Space Commander Travis]

And holy crap, Colombia should be the model? Think of a country that's a model of peace and the success of the rule of law, and that's the very first one that'd come to mind isn't it.  

[lightly]

Well, we invaded and occupied Afghanistan, because Osama was ,probably, hiding there , most likely in a cave....

as it turned out, he was housed by Pakistan.

it might have been easier to occupy Ireland, because he might have been there, instead of England.

See? It all makes perfect sence. 

 

[aztek]

no it does not.  but this does. however it is not taliban who is funded by poppy. 

Estimated opium production in Afghanistan, an important source of funding for the Taliban, has increased 35-fold since the U.S.-led invasion, from 185 tons in 2001 to 6,400 last year, data maintained by the United Nations shows.

http://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2015/02/10/afghan-opium-production-increases-35-fold-since-u-s-invasion/

Edited August 24, 2017 by aztek

[CeresExpo2000]

On 8/23/2017 at 2:55 AM, RoofGardener said:

Well, for me, the bombshell in the speech was not Afghanistan (which - I agree - sounds rather vague and whooly), but the harsh critique and veiled threats against Pakistan !

Problem Identification : Pakistan

We need a better way to get supplies in there for our troops.

[lightly]

Yep, Pakistan is probably next on the hit parade.

sad.

[+OverSword]

8 hours ago, aztek said:

no it does not.  but this does. however it is not taliban who is funded by poppy. 

Estimated opium production in Afghanistan, an important source of funding for the Taliban, has increased 35-fold since the U.S.-led invasion, from 185 tons in 2001 to 6,400 last year, data maintained by the United Nations shows.

http://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2015/02/10/afghan-opium-production-increases-35-fold-since-u-s-invasion/

Well that's pretty much bull.  The Taliban had poppy farming effectively eradicated.  Poppy farming restarted after the US invaded  the country and reintroduced poppy farming, thus all of the photos of the US military guarding the poppy fields.  No big surprise since the CIA's main source of black funding is from heroine.

Edited August 24, 2017 by OverSword

[RoofGardener]

The taliban initially came down hard on Heroin production, as drugs are - I believe - frowned upon in Islamic Scripture. (or at least, in some interpretations of it).

When the US invaded, they Taliban started to look around for ways of striking back. They started to promote heroin production on the hope that the bulk of the drug would be used by Khuffar in general, and Americans in particular. (and possibly even US troops). In effect, they weaponised it. (much like the British did to the Chinese with opium).

Once the Taliban are back in control and the US troops have gone, it will be interesting to see wether they continue to produce it, or wether they go back to disaproving of it.

[Space Commander Travis]

This is quite an interesting article. https://theintercept.com/2017/08/22/afghanistan-donald-trump-taliban-surrender-here-we-are/

 

I like the remark at the end: 

Quote

Gopal’s book is the definitive account of how the war went off the rails. It reads like a novel, but is an all-too-real portrait of three Afghans as they lived through the war — a pro-U.S. warlord, a Taliban commander, and a housewife. I’d suggest Trump read it — the book provides a dire warning against the sort of war effort the president is about to double down on — but it’s longer than a page, which his advisers say is the max he’ll digest.