Comments on: Devil Dogs Away; Full of Coincidence http://www.battlefieldtourist.com/content/2010/02/11/devil-dogs-away-full-of-coincidence/ Afghanistan 2004, Iraq 2007 Mon, 16 Jan 2012 17:01:08 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: David Tate http://www.battlefieldtourist.com/content/2010/02/11/devil-dogs-away-full-of-coincidence/comment-page-1/#comment-11653 David Tate Thu, 18 Feb 2010 19:47:00 +0000 http://www.battlefieldtourist.com/content/?p=2057#comment-11653 I think that people need to look at this kind of like the progress of America from the Civil War forward. No matter how you slice this, Afghanistan will need long term partnership. Will this strategy work? It can work, but the variables are many. The biggest variable being the government. Until the government can provide the services the people need, they'll just turn to those that can. Even worse is the fact that if you don't do something quickly, you will lose that window of opportunity that you have to prove to the Afghan people of Marjah, for example, that the government means business. I think the most frustrating thing I encounter is the inability for people to fully understand the enormous difficulties on the ground and that western time means NOTHING in Afghanistan. We are in the EARLY stages of a nation-building project that should see a US involvement for decades to come if we are going to do this right. It's going to be expensive, but the payoff is immense: 1. Stopping Al Qaida from using Afghanistan as a base to train and launch tens-of-thousands of operatives from its soil ever again. 2. Turning the world's nearly exclusive opium producing region into a breadbasket for the whole of the Afghan country. 3. A defensive partnership keeps our troops in one of the most strategic areas on earth bordering China, Iran and Pakistan. 4. The people. While we cannot save the world, certainly the people of Afghanistan will benefit greatly from a long term partnership. Marjah will be an interesting story to watch. However if we, as an international community, don't see it through properly, it will be just a matter of time before we have to come back. So I say, look the bull in the eyes and take it on properly because if you turn your back you're going to end up with a horn in your rear end. PS - Thanks for staying with me. Had a rough year and I'm hoping to be back more regular in future months. I think that people need to look at this kind of like the progress of America from the Civil War forward. No matter how you slice this, Afghanistan will need long term partnership. Will this strategy work? It can work, but the variables are many. The biggest variable being the government. Until the government can provide the services the people need, they’ll just turn to those that can. Even worse is the fact that if you don’t do something quickly, you will lose that window of opportunity that you have to prove to the Afghan people of Marjah, for example, that the government means business.

I think the most frustrating thing I encounter is the inability for people to fully understand the enormous difficulties on the ground and that western time means NOTHING in Afghanistan. We are in the EARLY stages of a nation-building project that should see a US involvement for decades to come if we are going to do this right.

It’s going to be expensive, but the payoff is immense:

1. Stopping Al Qaida from using Afghanistan as a base to train and launch tens-of-thousands of operatives from its soil ever again.
2. Turning the world’s nearly exclusive opium producing region into a breadbasket for the whole of the Afghan country.
3. A defensive partnership keeps our troops in one of the most strategic areas on earth bordering China, Iran and Pakistan.
4. The people. While we cannot save the world, certainly the people of Afghanistan will benefit greatly from a long term partnership.

Marjah will be an interesting story to watch. However if we, as an international community, don’t see it through properly, it will be just a matter of time before we have to come back. So I say, look the bull in the eyes and take it on properly because if you turn your back you’re going to end up with a horn in your rear end.

PS – Thanks for staying with me. Had a rough year and I’m hoping to be back more regular in future months.

]]> By: Ben Paz http://www.battlefieldtourist.com/content/2010/02/11/devil-dogs-away-full-of-coincidence/comment-page-1/#comment-11608 Ben Paz Wed, 17 Feb 2010 04:59:26 +0000 http://www.battlefieldtourist.com/content/?p=2057#comment-11608 Hello David, I've been checking every few days looking for your posts and am glad you're at it again. The government-in-a-box concept, where an area gets military saturation briefly, superiority is maintained and a semblance of government (from Kabul) is installed seems like it could work. Does it seem to you like it could possibly work, say, for a year or two? Hello David, I’ve been checking every few days looking for your posts and am glad you’re at it again. The government-in-a-box concept, where an area gets military saturation briefly, superiority is maintained and a semblance of government (from Kabul) is installed seems like it could work. Does it seem to you like it could possibly work, say, for a year or two?

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