I think that was implied in the “I wonder where on earth they picked that idea up.” bit.
Also, used by lots of rightwing assholes before even the DAP was founded, probably for the first time on 1918-11-12.
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There were a lot of Germans who wore out their ersatz shoe soles trying to get out of the way of the Russian advance and into US and UK occupied territory. I think that had a lot to do with it too.
If the USSR hadn’t become both financially and ethically bankrupt, its troops might still be there. But fortunately it did just that.
When the Soviets went in in the 80’s, I began researching Afghanistan’s long history. Basically, the Pashtun are re asserting ethnic/cultural/political/religious fundamentalist nationalism. When it was still a nominal “Kingdom”, that king was Pashtun.
The hybrid Taliban/Al-qaeda / Isis will NOT be contained within the border, and while
Iran and China will likely not be immediate targets, Pakistan is certainly next. The Taliban hear the call for a regional Jihad. They will deny this to the outside world to avoid drone strikes on it’s leadership, but then turn a blind eye (or provide “logistical” support ) to cross border incursions.
Is this now a job for the CIA? If Pakistan is absorbed into the Islamic state, that means
they become a nuclear state. Will India accept the results? Yes I know, the sound of falling dominos may just be projection on my part, but the Pashtun have crossed the
Hindu Kush to invade the subcontinent’s lowlands repeatedly in the past.
Sadly, I suspect we will be back.
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Surely the Taliban won’t turn on Pakistan until Pakistan turns on them.
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Anyone paying even a tiny amount of attention knew that the people who attacked the United States on 9/11 weren’t even Afghans, let alone a military unit carrying out an attack on behalf of the government of Afghanistan.
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Did the, um, good Mr. French have the intellectual courage to go into detail about exactly what ‘best tools and tactics’ would allow us to ‘truly win’ and ‘remake violent, tribal societies’; or did he just sort of imply that the liberals need to stop being so squeamish about good, old-fashioned, wars of extermination without having the guts to say it in so many words?
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There is a local group also called Taliban.
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The only way to win is to not play the game 
Sorry, should have posted a link to the essay:
He never provides his prescription for military success, just makes a lot dark allusions to “ losing the will to fight because we first lack the willingness to deploy the military effectively” and (clutch the pearls!) “…European interpretations of use-of-force restrictions gaining increasing currency within even the American military.”
But then it was 2015 and Trump hadn’t happened yet. It’s clear that French knew exactly what he wanted to say, he just lacked the will to come right out and say it. I’m sure it would be different if he wrote a similar article now.
Edit: Not really germane, but it’s funny how European roots are so important to certain conservatives, but European values are to be avoided at all costs.
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We could have treated like a crime, which is what it was. It was a choice to invade. There are ALWAYS other options. And not everyone believed it was a good choice at the time.
They are not one in the same. They never were, even when these groups were aligned.
No, they were mostly Arabs who were part of an organization that opposed US intervention in the Middle East… And generally speaking, oppose the modern nation-state system that they feel was imposed from without on the Middle East. They are much more interested in going back to a Muslim majority imperial system that is wide-reaching.
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Indeed. It’s kind of like discussing the United States and Soviet Union as a single entity because their goals briefly aligned during WWII.
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I liked that Archer episode where Archer was explaining that relationship to an old Japanese soldier who had been on an island unaware of the war’s end.
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And that’s unlikely, given the very long running relationships between various terrorist groups, and the states-within-a-state that are the Pakistan military and the ISI.
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Yeah, the war armistice wasn’t even signed, the Kaiser hadn’t abdicated, the generals were already spreading the lie that it wasn’t their incompetence but the lack of support from those damn Jews and Social Democrats that ruined the war effort.
I am sure there are earlier historical examples of losers blaming lack of support, but none come to mind at the moment. Post-imperial Germany was also kind of unique in how the Germans combined the Protestant Work Ethic* with a belief that authority was not to be questioned.
As far as Afghanistan is concerned, I think it will play on repeat, with liars claiming that Biden screwed up Trump’s perfect plan, That it was Obama that really ruined the war effort. Bullshit like that. And no one admitting that the officers in the military were painting best case scenarios to further their own careers.
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Anyone else remember how America and allies gave material support to the Mujahideen in the 1980s (back before Jihad was a scary word in the West) fighting a guerrilla war against the Soviets, who finally gave up and left in 1989? And how the Taliban emerged directly out of the conflict between Mujahideen factions afterwards?
I still have a news clipping somewhere of a “Moslem (sic) Guerrilla with Peanut Butter” from American aid shipments, holding it up for the camera with a happy grin. I couldn’t tell from the label if it was creamy or crunchy though.
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Certainly not the young men and women in the U.S. Military who are actually deployed in Afghanistan. The average age of a US Army recruit is 21 years old, so the vast majority of them aren’t even old enough to remember the 9/11 attacks or the ensuing invasion that led to them being stationed there.
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Own it and stand by it since about 80% of Americans wanted what Biden did. When someone says, “This guy lost Afghanistan” you say, “Hear that? If they were in power we’d still have troops in Afghanistan.”
One thing that no one in American politics ever seems to think is a good idea is doing a popular thing and standing by it as a good idea.
The situation in Afghanistan is terrible. I don’t see the politics of Biden’s decision being terrible at all.
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That’s what they tried 30 years ago in Ethiopia. It’s still divided up that way. Substitute “regions” with "countries, " and isn’t that what happened in Yugoslavia?
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