Like the Russians, are the Taleban just too good for us to overcome?

Question

"A defense select committee paints a sorry picture,- "The language of the report is careful, measured. But there is no mistaking the central message - things are going badly, alarmingly wrong in Afghanistan."

- muddled strategy, shirking allies, a lack of helicopters and, stuck in the middle, the servicemen and women who have to make the whole thing work."

Answer 1

We'd be doing just fine if Bush hadn't sent 120,000+ of our troops and 500 billion dollars to Iraq instead of the REAL training ground for terrorists that was actually there BEFORE we invaded.

Answer 2

History lesson:

The Taliban could only have removed the Russians from Afghanistan after U.S. support, not prior. We are also not fighting the Taliban so much as we are fighting Al-Qaeda. Most of Al-Qaeda is in Iraq now, and not Afghanistan. We are also not trying to take over Afghanistan like the Russians were.

Answer 3

The problem is we are concentrating too much on Iraq and not enough on the Taliban and Al Qaeda in Afghanistan/Pakistan. Musharif is also not allowing US forces free access to his country and thus gives sanctuary to the Taliban and Al Qaeda. We need to get Pakistan to cooperate more. They have been helpful, granted, but it is not enough. Once Pakistan cooperates I believe we will have all the Al Qaeda and Taliban top brass and those two organizations will begin to tumble quickly.

Answer 4

No, they are not "too good for us". They could not possibly stand toe-to-toe with the U.S. Army in open battle. So they fight a different war, one which we are not as proficient at fighting, and where they have distinct advantages as a part of the indigenous population.

And it doesn't help that they have no requirement to fight by the same rules under which our military labors, nor are they constantly badgered by a hostile press, or forced to fight with both hands tied behind their backs while standing on one foot in order to try to satisfy all the know-nothing politicians who are micro-managing their efforts.

Answer 5

Interesting, that somehow you count yourself among the "us" in your question. Since you don't live in the US, you hate Jews, you hate Christians, you hate Republicans, you have no military or diplomatic expertise, it appears that it is your *WISH* that the soldiers in Afghanistan be defeated, just so that you somehow feel vindicated in your hate.

Another historical tidbit for you, the Taliban rose to power in the '90s, not in the '80s.

Answer 6

If you listen to people who have a political incentive to say those things.

It's a guerrilla war, and there has been no time in military history where an insurgency has actually won a war, they just make the other side tired enough to stop by messing with the political process. If you would stop thinking how our enemies want you to think, maybe we could actually win something.

Answer 7

Seems that we overcame the Russians with the fall of Communism!

Answer 8

It's very hard to defeat something you not only created but supported until it attacked us.

Answer 9

THE RUSSIANS AS YOU CALL THEM-------I THINK YOU MEANT TO SAY SOVIET UNION.WELL ANYWAY THE SOVIET UNION TORE DOWN THE WALL AND DISPERSED.
THAT MEANS THEY GAVE BACK THE COUNTRIES THAT DID NOT BELONG TO THEM.I THINK WE WON THAT ONE AND WITHOUT A SHOT BEING FIRED.NOT BAD.

Answer 10

there is no "good" in propagation of intolerance - whether against one's religious preferences, personal fulfillment preferences, skin color, sexual orientation, or any other God-given traits