oreo
Gold Member
Asking you to define what would constitute victory in Afghanistan is a strawman?
It is unless you actually don't know what victory means and are using it to deflect this thread away from Obama's lack of policy. But, just in case you really don't know.. victory in Afghanistan would leave a nation that was safe enough for development. It would be a nation that doesn't serve as a haven for the Taliban and drug lords. It would be a nation where a woman wouldn't have to worry that her leg would be amputated because an errant wind lifted her burka and showed her ankle.
It's not a weakness to base your tactics off of the facts on the ground. As for your definition of victory, that's fine if you want to define things that way, but it gets to the heart of the issue. What you spelled out is a goal that can never be accomplished with force. The military is there to flatten enemy forces. It can't construct civil society. It can't ensure that the individual Afghan tribes will rally around a central government.
I agree with you. We aren't going to have one terrorist wave a white flag that will end the war on terror--BUT--you never show these maniacs your backside without expecting severe reprocussions from it.
It would be very easy for us to install "permanent" bases in Iraq & Afganistan to keep radicals at bay. We have bases all over the world--& many are no longer necessary--like Japan & Germany. Move them into Afganistan & Iraq--on a smaller scale--& keep them weaponized--secure--& at ready status to fight radicals within the country.