The taliban have no Air force - why cant we fly in where they are and blast them out of existence ?

Question

Thank you for your input .I guess some of you are military personal and you should know War is serious business that can not be won with one hand tied behind your back. If you are not prepared to do what has to be done you are better off to stay at home.
During ww2 the aim was military targets as well as breaking the resolve of the population.
We all know what came out of it.

Answer 1

We do at every opportunity.
Give us the coordinates and we're all over it.

Answer 2

Because, like guerilla fighters since war began, they don't sit out in the open well away from innocent civvies. Not even the Yanks make a habit of knocking off too many civilians... it's terrible PR.

They also have a habit of hiding in seriously mountainous areas, and all those nice little hiding places make it highly dangerous for helicopter because all it's going to take to kill the copter is one little man with a Stinger or something similar. And that little man could be hiding ANYWHERE. That's what really beat the Russians there. The CIA supplied the Mujahadein with Stinger, because the Soviets were using helicopters for troop movement.

Answer 3

Well because they tend not to stand still in the big bullseye in groups of a 1000.........

Not every problem is solved by a mk.82..... Green Berets on the ground, shaking hands & making friend with locals is FAR MORE EFFECTIVE. We send teams to patrol & meet the locals. Gain there friendship & use the engineers & seabees to help build them a well or school. They then see are the good guys & rat out the taliban hides out to us & arms cashes. They are not in massed formations or camps. So your "blasting out of existance" stuff does not work. Not to mention the region in mostly Mountains, has lousy weather for flying & hard to Navigate. Caves act as natual bomb shelters. Air power alone did not win ww2, Korea, or Vietnam. Gulf War 1 even requried boots & tanks to finish things.....

Answer 4

In the history of bombing from the air, we have generally tried to target and hit the enemy, and not just anyone who's down on the ground. It just makes more sense to hit those with weapons or weapons building capabilities, rather than waste the bombs on civilians, even if some of these civilians are somewhat on the side of the enemy.
Even Sherman in the War of Northern Agression focused more on those things that helped the South resist, rather than indiscriminately burning everything. (though he wasn't too picky).
Even when we dropped the atomic bombs on Japan, which killed thousands of civilians, we did target cities that had a greater military significance.
When we bombed Germany, we tried to hit military targets, and did lots of studies and reconnaissance missions first before deciding where to drop the bombs. There's a good case of the decision to drop or not to drop bombs near a concentration camp housing thousands of Jews and others who certainly weren't on the side of the enemy. And the decision to not drop there was and still is controversial.
So......it's just not that easy to drop bombs indiscriminately.

Answer 5

Afghanistan is a big place. If you are going to bomb someone you have to know where they are. The Russians invaded Afghanistan in the 1980's and threw the full weight of their military against the Taliban and lost. This is not going to be an easy victory and military force is the wrong weapon to use in the first place.

Answer 6

And your point is what? They are the murdering enemy and the more powerful always wins. It's no different in this case. It's not our fault they don't have the education to buy and fly. All they know is kill and murder and sell opium none of which is acceptable in today world.

Next time, try asking a question instead of making a statement that is totally wrong.

Answer 7

Look at the region. Mountains. Bombs do not work unless they are in the open or in less fortified areas.

Answer 8

Where exactly is "In there"?

You have precise co-ordinates of their current location??

No!!.

I thought as much just posting a dumb question for the sake of it without thinking it through

Answer 9

Exactly!

Why haven't we carpet bombed the $hit right out of them?

*Maybe because it's a PC war* perhaps. ( sarcasm intended from *-* )

Answer 10

It is exactly this mentality that risks "we" from being blasted away-the fight against fundamentalism (that was encouraged by the American in the first place) can be worm by moderation and not more violence. The Americans never seem to understand that violence breeds violence.