Quote:
Originally Posted by UnderseaLcpl
However, I do not agree with the idea that the war is unwinnable - it's just being fought incorrectly.
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But the problem is firstly understanding what is winning. To do that you need to understand what the goal is and TBH I can't see any evidence that anyone has clearly articulated what the goal now is.
I think you can train and translate all you want but without tearing the place even further apart I don't see an easy way of backing out now. And if history is anything to go by, I'm sure the British and Russians in the century before last as well as the Russians in the 1980's thought they could win too.
In terms of the relationship between the western soldiers on the ground and the local populace, put youself in their shoes. How would you like a bunch of uniformed Afghan soldiers interfering in your way of life, stopping you from freely travelling from one place to another without going though checkpoints as if you were a criminal and having absolutely nothing in common with them other than your humanity?
I know I'd bloody well hate having it happen here and can imagine that it's much the same for the local population over there. All they want is for our mob to bugger off and let them get on with their lives in their own way,
The problem being, now that we are over there, we have a real hard time getting back out without being all embarrassed.
Well stuff that, I say we swallow our pride, pack up and go home and leave them to it. otherwise we had better get ready to stay there for a long time and watch many more body bags sent home because there is no winning without knowing what winning is.