kEiThZ
Superstar
There are many days when I myself down if this war is correct. Days like today, where one of the dead is a subordinate of a very close friend of mine. Every time there are Canadian casualties (and not just the dead but all the injured who aren't talked about) I have a tough time having breakfast in the morning. I don't ever forget that there are families out there who have lost a father, brother, sister, wife, son, daughter, nephew, niece, grandchild. Or that some unit has lost a comrade, or somebody else has lost a friend or a neighbour. The only thing keeping me going is a belief that the Afghan people will be better off for this and the scourge of terrorism will be diminished for my fellow citizens and the generation that follows us. I sincerely believe (and am convinced having seen much of the 'chatter') that should we fail to stem the scourge of violent extremism emanating from that region that it will visit us in our cities and communities. I for one, will not accept on blind faith that since Canadians are such nice folks that terrorism will not come to Canada. Others, of course, are entitled to their own opinions.
There are a few on here who think they have the solution. So I am still challenging anyone out there to come up with an alternative to our current strategy in Afghanistan. The way I see it we (the West) has two options:
1) Stay. Help the Afghan government along, keep building the ANA, make the ANP more competent, stabilize the country. Leave when the government has the ability to exercise at least some limited authority throughout the country.
2) Leave. We can be sure that about 6 months to a year after the last western soldier has left Afghanistan, the Taliban will be back, knock over the Kabul government and bring back the Dark Ages with a vengeance. History will repeat itself. The international community will shun the Taliban as they did in the past. And the Taliban as they did in the past will rent out the country to jihadist groups so that they can bring in the revenue they need. And we'll see increasingly frequent and violent acts of terror in our countries as a result.
3) Sacrifice the Afghans. The only compromise path out that I see is for us to strike a grand bargain with the Taliban. 'We'll accept you taking over the government of Afghanistan with all your backwards policies as long as you agree not to shelter terrorists.' Essentially the compromise means sacrificing the rights of the Afghan people for our security.
If anybody has any other options lay em out. I would particularly like to hear an equivalently detailed idea from any of the anti-war crowd (Mot, Jade_lee, Moonmouth, etc.). So far Jade_lee has advocated for option 2. And Mot has refused to advocate for any option at all, stating he has the right to criticize the war effort without actually offering any concrete advice. So if there's another way, I'd love to hear it.
There are a few on here who think they have the solution. So I am still challenging anyone out there to come up with an alternative to our current strategy in Afghanistan. The way I see it we (the West) has two options:
1) Stay. Help the Afghan government along, keep building the ANA, make the ANP more competent, stabilize the country. Leave when the government has the ability to exercise at least some limited authority throughout the country.
2) Leave. We can be sure that about 6 months to a year after the last western soldier has left Afghanistan, the Taliban will be back, knock over the Kabul government and bring back the Dark Ages with a vengeance. History will repeat itself. The international community will shun the Taliban as they did in the past. And the Taliban as they did in the past will rent out the country to jihadist groups so that they can bring in the revenue they need. And we'll see increasingly frequent and violent acts of terror in our countries as a result.
3) Sacrifice the Afghans. The only compromise path out that I see is for us to strike a grand bargain with the Taliban. 'We'll accept you taking over the government of Afghanistan with all your backwards policies as long as you agree not to shelter terrorists.' Essentially the compromise means sacrificing the rights of the Afghan people for our security.
If anybody has any other options lay em out. I would particularly like to hear an equivalently detailed idea from any of the anti-war crowd (Mot, Jade_lee, Moonmouth, etc.). So far Jade_lee has advocated for option 2. And Mot has refused to advocate for any option at all, stating he has the right to criticize the war effort without actually offering any concrete advice. So if there's another way, I'd love to hear it.