Back around July 10th, I came across an article that indicated the Taliban would be willing to talk to the U.S., according to Pakistan’s intelligence agency, the ISI. The ISI still has communication channels to various warlords and leadership figures in the Taliban, including Mullah Omar himself. These communication channels have apparently existed since the 1980s when the ISI (with help from the U.S.) was supporting the mujahideen in their struggle against the Soviets.
I find it interesting that our supposed “ally” in the war on terror, Pakistan, has had these communication channels at their disposal all along since we first became embroiled in the war on terror in 2001, and only NOW have they revealed that these communication channels exist. We’ve been looking for Mullah Omar since day one. If Pakistan had been so interested in helping out the U.S. (which clearly they have not been), then they should have helped us to exploit those channels in such a way that we could have tracked them and led us straight to the head of the snake. Rather than do that, they’ve kept this trump card in their back pockets and sucked the U.S. for every dollar of money they could get. We’ve pumped an inordinate amount of money into Pakistan’s government and economy, all in the interest of gaining their favor to help our efforts in the war on terror. And what do we have to show for it? Okay, so they’ve let the U.S. military’s supply lines pass through their territories. They’ve done that much. They’ve allowed us to pass through their airspace. I hardly call that a great deal of “support”.
Instead, they’ve connived and conspired to suck us dry, while allowing the Taliban to run rampant in their ungovernable territories. When the Taliban got too cocky and started suicide bombing Pakistani civilian targets (as well as government targets), the government negotiated peace talks with the Taliban. That resulted in granting the Taliban the right to impose sharia law in “their” turf in and around the Swat Valley. The Taliban was given an inch, so they took a mile. They took a LOT of miles, actually – to the point where they were within 60 miles of the Pakistani capital of Islamabad. That woke up the Paks, and they decided to push the Taliban back out. That battle is still raging on, although from what I’ve read it’s somewhat stalemated at the moment.
Regardless, the point I’m trying to make is this: Pakistan foolishly decided to engage in “peace talks” with the Taliban. They actually believed that the Taliban was willing to embrace a peaceful solution to the conflict. The problem is that the Taliban always attempts to use the “peace talks” tactic when they’re on the ropes and they need time to retreat and regroup. If any overtures are being made by Mullah Omar to engage in “peace talks” with the U.S., you can rest assured that such overtures are NOT legitimate. They are simply a stalling tactic to allow the Taliban insurgents time to regroup and re-strategize. I’m unsure why the ISI is even floating the idea of such talks when they themselves fell victim to the folly of “negotiating” with the Taliban. They attempted it, and they got burned.
Folks, the Taliban does not negotiate. They do not honor agreements. They don’t MAKE legitimate agreements. They lie, cheat, and connive in order to further their sadistic cause. Obama has already indicated that he’s willing to talk to anyone that will engage him. If he’s truly that trusting with the Taliban and Mullah Omar, then he’s going to get burned. And when I say “he”, I mean “us”. Our troops will be the ones to pay for such a foolish endeavor. I can already envision some sort of “cease fire” being negotiated, immediately followed by a blatant disregard for it by the Taliban. Either innocent civilians will pay the price, or our troops on the front lines will. Or both. No matter how you shake it, attempting to negotiate peace with people who know nothing of peace is a waste of time. I just hope our blissfully ignorant president realizes that.
Another interesting article I read on Time.com covered the new strategy that our military is taking in Afghanistan. Apparently, since the Afghans have become so enraged about civilian casualties suffered from U.S. airstrikes on buildings containing Taliban insurgents, it has been decided by our president that a new tack must be taken in order to win back the hearts and minds of the Afghan people. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has asked for the resignation of General David McKiernan, who was the commander in charge of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan. Historically, our forces under General McKiernan have generally used the strategy of calling in airstrikes on target buildings known to contain Taliban insurgents. This is safer for our troops, as they do not have to storm booby-trapped compounds bristling with bad guys in every corner. Using such airstrikes, the bad guys die, and our boys get to go back to base. It’s a win-win for our troops this way. Sadly, Taliban insurgents often hole up with civilians, using them as human shields and putting them in harm’s way. This plays into their hands, because they can use the innocent deaths as propaganda when slamming the West in the media. Our military has always done a good job of trying to avoid collateral damage and loss of innocent life, but the way the Taliban chooses to “fight” (and I use that term loosely – they fight like cowards, not like men), it often puts us in a bad position.
But there’s a new marshal in town where the ISAF is concerned: General Stanley McChrystal has been installed as the new commander of ISAF. And he’s taking his commander-in-chief’s lead in changing the way our forces conduct business on the ground in Afghanistan. Airstrikes are to be nearly eliminated as a means of disposing of Taliban hold-outs. The reason, obviously, is to reduce or eliminate the potential for innocent civilian casualties. This is a noble endeavor to be sure, but here’s the “gotcha” that I see in this strategy. This is going to force ISAF troops to eliminate hidden insurgents the old-fashioned and dangerous way: face-to-face, gun-to-gun, hand-to-hand. If you think you’ve seen a lot of good soldiers die from IEDs, you haven’t seen anything yet when the time comes for our troops to clear buildings and compounds room by room. Sure, these guys train for this stuff, and can do the job effectively. But it’s considerably more dangerous than dropping a few smart bombs on a known Taliban target.
Some may say that calling in airstrikes is no more honorable a way to conduct warfare than when the Taliban hides out among civilians. But my retort for that notion is that we wouldn’t HAVE to airstrike targets in the first place if the Taliban insurgents would come out and fight like men. Our soldiers would love nothing more than an open gunbattle with identifiable combatants that fight like soldiers. We could completely wipe the floor with any group of Taliban fighters if they would actually FIGHT. But they snipe and ambush and plant IEDs, conducting themselves in something even less than guerilla-style. Their methods are just plain pathetic. They strike and then run away like pansies, hiding out amongst women and children. The Taliban are cowards of the lowest sort. They talk a big game, but when push comes to shove, they run and hide rather than stand and fight. This leaves us no choice but to choose an equally low method of elimination: airstrikes.
Frankly, I’m all in favor of bombing the living bejesus out of them whenever possible. If they nestle in like ticks, then roast ‘em. Sure, we’ll probably take out some “innocent” civilians along the way, but when it comes down to it, those “innocent” civilians are often poppy farmers, cultivating their cash crop to make a quick buck. Their money often ends up in the hands of the Taliban, and their product ends up on our streets, in the bloodstreams of countless drug-abusing ASSHOLES here in America. Incidentally, allow me to take this opportunity to openly insult drug users here in the States: every time one of you assholes uses a narcotic, you’re potentially supporting the Taliban and Al Qaeda. Nicely done, you fucking losers. Do us all a favor and overdose sooner rather than later, okay? But I digress…
I don’t like the U.S. to be part and parcel to the deaths of innocent women and children – please don’t misunderstand me. Every time we inadvertently kill innocent people, we create new enemies in those that survive. I fully understand this. My take on the matter is that most of these people are our enemies anyway, and I don’t really believe that we are ever going to succeed in winning over their hearts and minds. Our government, to its credit, is attempting to do more to provide money and opportunities to the average, uneducated Afghan, which in theory should help turn them away from violence and help them become more civilized. But you mustn’t forget one important fact here: they’re all Muslims.
Islam is fundamentally incompatible with the West. I’ve written on this topic many times. If moderate Islam is the dominant force in the world, then why aren’t the moderates doing more to isolate and eliminate their extremist brethren? Where is their sacred notion of “jihad”, or “struggle”, for their faith? Why won’t they claim their “tolerant” faith back from the extremists? Rather than castigate fundamental extremists and eliminate them, the moderates often side with them, even if they aren’t willing to strap on a suicide vest or to plant the next IED. In principle, moderates will always side with a fellow Muslim long before siding with an infidel who tries to win them over with money and job opportunities.
I truly wish it were so simple to win over the hearts and minds of Afghans by building them schools and roads and hospitals. But I’m willing to bet that in that war-torn pile of rubble we call Afghanistan, those projects don’t stand a chance of succeeding. Who’s going to teach in Afghanistan? Who’s going to work in an Afghani hospital? Who’s going to drive on the nice new roads? Most folks over there don’t have their own vehicles. Most folks over there aren’t going to be schooled to become doctors. Most folks over there are certainly not going to worry about teaching a version of Islam to their children that can tolerate Western points of view in any new school we build.
Islam is a lost cause. All the talking in the world isn’t going to change that fact, and all the painstaking care our troops take to spare innocent civilian lives isn’t going to change the Afghans’ opinions of Americans. The only outcome of our being more careful regarding Afghani civilians is that we’re going to fill a lot more body bags with American soldiers. In the end, Afghans will still hate the West because Afghans are Muslims. That being the case, why not bomb them?
I don’t recall seeing much Afghan sorrow for the loss of 3000 innocent American lives on 9/11. Rest assured, they’re feeling some sorrow now. Let them hurt. Pain is all they understand. Kindness sure as hell is not something they understand or embrace.
