09-11-2006, 10:04 PM
G.Irish Wrote:Eh, you can't improve the quality of life when you've got people blowing stuff up and killing people daily.
Viscious circle. Hopefully it'll be broken...someday
G.Irish Wrote:The truth of the matter is that we made some military mistakes at the beginning of this endeavor that gave the insurgency enough room to build momentum.
Yep. If Rumsfeld had gotten his head atleast partially out of his ass he would've listened to Powell's recommendation (you know...the guy that led this thing the first time around) and sent more troops to Afghanistan, this would've possibly been over. Now no one in the administration can admit they were wrong for fear of looking weak. It really says something when military leader after military leader steps down in the wake of all this. And as smart and talented as Condi is, she's Bush's lapdog.
G.Irish Wrote:We've actually spent a ton of money on rebuilding their infrastructure. When you talk about providing better quality of life that's not something that we can necessarily give them, you can merely give them a start that will allow them to build it for themselves.
This is true...unfortunately the whole society of the region is so psychologically backwards that it may take a looooong time before they start making changes for themselves. They've had to go through as much change in fifty years as the rest of the world has in 800.
G.Irish Wrote:This is key. It is a massively complex and multi-faceted problem that will take several different approaches to solve. To put it simply, its not the kind of problem we can solve with just a hammer, nor can we solve it with an olive branch or a handout. Its going to take many different tools to address many different issues.
Sigh....this is the worst part. Its when people realise this that they say "screw it, let them nuke eachother" and I sort of sympathize with that. Trust me after living there its very frustrating being around this 24/7