Exterminate The Taliban

I wouldn't, but Read-Only is welcome to if he wants.
 
Then there's the other terrorist organizations that are also trouble so when you eliminate one another will take its place, it is a never ending story.
 
Buddha12 said:
Then there's the other terrorist organizations that are also trouble so when you eliminate one another will take its place, it is a never ending story.
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Only up to a point. If it's not profitable for them to operate or you make it too dangerous, they'll fade out.

And on the other hand, if you do nothing at all, well, I figure everyone here can see how well THAT will work out.
 
Excellent! Another hate-mongering thread. :(

"Hatred is never conquered by hatred. Only non-hatred can conquer hatred. This is an old rule." - The Buddha
 
Epictetus said:
Excellent! Another hate-mongering thread. :(

"Hatred is never conquered by hatred. Only non-hatred can conquer hatred. This is an old rule." - The Buddha
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Buddha could be wrong about some things, he was just some dude. I hate my enemies and want them to die.
 
The Long Road vs the Eternal Journey to Nowhere

Read-Only said:

Read this short article ....
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You mean the one that noted the Taliban denied involvement in the execution?

Look, there are a number of considerations here.

The Taliban is likely an implacable foe insofar as reconciliation with civilized society in the twenty-first century inherently includes a mountain of demands that the present generation probably cannot be convinced to accept. You know, like the equality of women in society, religious tolerance, and other such things we take for granted.

The question then becomes whether the world can exterminate the Taliban quickly enough to prevent the inspiration of more followers who, by the nature of warfare, would be very much locked in their ideology.

And the answer is likely no.

So what to do, then?

At some point, people are going to have to consider taking the merely long route, as opposed to the neverending route.

And that route doesn't have as much bloodlust satisfaction insofar as trying to drone-strike the Taliban or Al Qaeda into extinction isn't going to work. Indeed, one faces the very real possibility of raising the next generation of opponents.

Yes, some amount of mortal combat is required to contain the Taliban, but dialogue is also required. The advantage of the long route is that while progress is excruciatingly slow, there is a chance for progress in general. If the younger generations grow up weary of war, tired of poverty, wanting rock and roll and bad haircuts and all the glories of youth in freedom, yes, progress is possible.

But if they grow up seeing their friends and families and neighbors scattered to bloody pieces, all they're going to want to do is fight back.

Extermination is the eternal road, or else the genocidal one.

The long road will be generational, to be certain, but at least there is a possibility of finally arriving.
____________________

Notes:

McEvers, Kelly. "Yemen Airstrikes Punish Militants, And Civilians". All Things Considered. July 6, 2012. NPR.org. July 10, 2012. http://www.npr.org/2012/07/06/156367047/yemen-airstrikes-punish-militants-and-civilians
 
spidergoat said:
Buddha could be wrong about some things, he was just some dude. I hate my enemies and want them to die.
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Spidergoat could be wrong about some things. Endeavor not to have enemies. How does a normal person even have "enemies"? Are you Batman? Richard Nixon? I don't want to accuse you of anything, but if you indeed do have enemies, there is a 50% that you caused the initial enmity.
 
Read-Only said:
It's something that's WAY overdue. There's only one political method that they understand, the one they employ the most beyond sheer terrorism - death.
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How do you propose to find them?

Also, are you going to distinguish your average Afghan villager from Taliban leaders, and if so how?
 
We could colonize Afghanistan with actual settlers. That's what the Romans and Greeks did. Build a city, trade with the locals, and through trade change them to WANT to be like us. The earth is the earth, there's plenty of land there that could be purchased and settled peacefully. Even through marriage. Lots of out of work Americans and there's plenty to do over there.
 
James R said:
How do you propose to find them?
Also, are you going to distinguish your average Afghan villager from Taliban leaders, and if so how?
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They often resemble wedding parties, apparently, :p which brings us to Michael's remarks:
Michael said:
We could colonize Afghanistan with actual settlers. That's what the Romans and Greeks did. Build a city, trade with the locals, and through trade change them to WANT to be like us. The earth is the earth, there's plenty of land there that could be purchased and settled peacefully. Even through marriage. Lots of out of work Americans and there's plenty to do over there.
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Yes, and where are the Greek and Roman empires now? And yet Afghanistan thrives. Afghanistan has been called 'The Graveyard of Empires'. Everyone from Alexander the (possibly) Great to the Soviet Union has met its end there. Who's next? I think we should 'want to be like them', if anything.
 
One need only look at history and see that occupations have always failed the resistance that Taliban forces show is evidence that they are using the style of combat against a vastly overpowered opponent, guerrilla warfare. Use the civilian population against them; grab the enemy by the belt, remain in the dark. They know that we don’t have the guts to bomb or execute civilians to take out a terrorist operative or cell the irony is they do and they do it so well as a weapon of PR against the American military and rallying the people to hate them. This is simply a war that if we couldn’t have learned from history to fight we certainly cannot fight it in the Middle East. Every person walking those streets could be a potential bomber or intelligence operative, all these cells operate independently, they are bloody brilliant to learn from history... We have not and that why it is costing us the war.


All men can see these tactics whereby I conquer, but what none can see is the strategy out of which victory is evolved.
Sun Tzu

All war is based on deception.
Sun Tzu

Be extremely subtle, even to the point of formlessness. Be extremely mysterious, even to the point of soundlessness. Thereby you can be the director of the opponent's fate.
Sun Tzu

Confront them with annihilation, and they will then survive; plunge them into a deadly situation, and they will then live. When people fall into danger, they are then able to strive for victory.
Sun Tzu

For them to perceive the advantage of defeating the enemy, they must also have their rewards.
Sun Tzu

For to win one hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the acme of skill. To subdue the enemy without fighting is the acme of skill.
Sun Tzu

He who is prudent and lies in wait for an enemy who is not, will be victorious.
Sun Tzu

He who knows when he can fight and when he cannot, will be victorious.
Sun Tzu

Hence that general is skilful in attack whose opponent does not know what to defend; and he is skilful in defense whose opponent does not know what to attack.
Sun Tzu

If ignorant both of your enemy and yourself, you are certain to be in peril.
Sun Tzu

If our soldiers are not overburdened with money, it is not because they have a distaste for riches; if their lives are not unduly long, it is not because they are disinclined to longevity.
Sun Tzu

If you are far from the enemy, make him believe you are near.
Sun Tzu

If you know the enemy and know yourself you need not fear the results of a hundred battles.
Sun Tzu

In the practical art of war, the best thing of all is to take the enemy's country whole and intact; to shatter and destroy it is not so good.
Sun Tzu

Invincibility lies in the defense; the possibility of victory in the attack.
Sun Tzu

It is essential to seek out enemy agents who have come to conduct espionage against you and to bribe them to serve you. Give them instructions and care for them. Thus doubled agents are recruited and used.
Sun Tzu

It is only the enlightened ruler and the wise general who will use the highest intelligence of the army for the purposes of spying, and thereby they achieve great results.
Sun Tzu
 
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Epictetus said:
They often resemble wedding parties, apparently, :p which brings us to Michael's remarks:

Yes, and where are the Greek and Roman empires now? And yet Afghanistan thrives. Afghanistan has been called 'The Graveyard of Empires'. Everyone from Alexander the (possibly) Great to the Soviet Union has met its end there. Who's next? I think we should 'want to be like them', if anything.
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Empires like the Roman, Egyptian, Greek, Persian and Arab were never to last. The Empire of Japan ended up just becoming Japan. AND the same for China. In the time of Roma it was "Rome" as in the city of Rome that ruled an empire. Even Italy was through the Italian league and then outwards via the Latin and onward to other areas.

There never was an "Afghanistan" per say, it's a collection of tribes that was, really, just another part of "Persia".

The Romans were the most effective and relatively fair. Pax Roma is what America does right now. Pax Americana. We have our military bases over the world. Our currency is used by default by all nations. Our culture blankets the world. If we 'Fall' it will be from our own making and it won't be a 'Fall' - the people, roads, etc... these things don't go away.

That said, I think peaceful colonization might work in this case. Or, we could just leave Afghanistan to itself.

I wonder what would happen if we left and the Chinese moved in? The Western part of China is now majority Han Chinese. See? They're applying the colonization method and it seems to be working .... at least over the long run.
 
Epictetus said:
Spidergoat could be wrong about some things. Endeavor not to have enemies. How does a normal person even have "enemies"? Are you Batman? Richard Nixon? I don't want to accuse you of anything, but if you indeed do have enemies, there is a 50% that you caused the initial enmity.
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As much as we would like that to be the case, that the world is fair, it's not.
 
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