Telegraph
Study: Afghan pullout could collapse after NATO pullout
“The Afghan army and police are overwhelmed and underprepared for the transition,” said Rondeaux. “Another botched election and resultant unrest would push them to breaking point.”
The Western-backed government of President Hamid Karzai and the parliament have failed to take any serious steps towards preparing for a clean vote, she said.
“Karzai seems more interested in perpetuating his own power by any means rather than ensuring credibility of the political system and long-term stability in the country.”
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That should be “Afghanistan will collapse after U.S. pullout.”
spiritof61 on October 8, 2012 at 4:49 PM
Must resist urge to make a “pullout” joke.
lorien1973 on October 8, 2012 at 4:51 PM
More like NATO will collapse after Afghan pullout.
While the “Afghanistan is the graveyard of empires” line is mostly nonsense, Afghanistan may become the graveyard of NATO.
In all of the finger-pointing about how GWB dropped the ball in Afghanistan what is forgotten is that after the Taliban was toppled Afghanistan was supposed to be a NATO project. After the Taliban regrouped, reorganized, and began to return in strength from the tribal areas in Pakistan in 2005-2006 NATO commanders began begging for more troops from European NATO countries. They did not get them.
France and Germany never contributed much more than token forces whose rules of engagement were heavily restricted — they were not allowed to engage in any offensive operations. They were only there to train Afghans.
Many of our biggest NATO allies let us down in Afghanistan. And now we are supposed to continue committing our forces and resources to their defense in Europe?
farsighted on October 8, 2012 at 5:03 PM
Title needs fixin’.
farsighted on October 8, 2012 at 5:08 PM
There is a lot of potential here.
WeekendAtBernankes on October 8, 2012 at 5:18 PM
Who gives a flying f—ing rat’s patootie.
Just do what you’ve always done, men.
POAP!
Pull Out And Pray
Now!
…
FlatFoot on October 8, 2012 at 5:22 PM
I think the first time an Afghani uniformed soldier turned his rifle on our troops it was time to bring them home.
p0s3r on October 8, 2012 at 5:34 PM
Bang up job there, neocons.
nottakingsides on October 8, 2012 at 6:23 PM
If the Afghans couldn’t learn to defend themselves after six months of training they’re hopeless and useless. (Basic training in the usual military is under two months.)
The time to withdraw was back then. In 2003 or so.
Wasting time, money and, worst of all, lives on this fantasy of “spreading democracy to Muslims” deserves a Congressional Inquiry to find out what gang of delusion idiots promoted and prolonged this entire disaster and embarrassment and folly.
profitsbeard on October 8, 2012 at 6:32 PM
Too bad, so sad.
VorDaj on October 8, 2012 at 7:02 PM
Our concern as a people of a nation should be for the well-being of our War Fighters – FIRST! If Afghans, Iraqis, Iranians, Syrians, Libyans, Tunisians, Algerians, et al want to lessen their plight, they have the exact same opportunity as our Fore Fathers did; fight for it! We owe them nothing and certainly not our trust or the blood of our finest! The problem is, they don’t see their condition as a scourge or a plight; they see it as the spiritually enlightened condition of men who have given themselves to the doctrines of a man who claimed to have conversed with a ‘god’. Any man in this country who thinks we have anything to offer people who have given so much of themselves to so vile a religious construct as Islam is simply arrogant – and ignorant! Asking better men to sacrifice themselves for this arrogance is the height, width and depth of moral depravity! Demanding they continue in light of such absolute proof of the total and abysmal failure of such an arrogantly conceived battle plan, is simply criminal!
If this is going to change, men currently serving in the Halls of our great governmental institutions are going to have to enlist the help of men dedicated to this discussion who actually understand the topic. Our Representatives and Senators are going to have to decide to act in a way that may not be politically feasible and say things that may cost them an election. But one thing is certain, unless these men who claim to have a heart for the troops and say they understand that the current direction is wrong, act furiously to change it, our forces will continue to suffer the same life-altering injury and pay with their lives as have those before them. And the price they will pay, in the end, will be in vain because Afghans are not going to change what they fervently believe to be the state of being required by their ‘god’ and his spokesman.
Afghanistan is a cesspool of humanity; a mass grave for honorable men compelled to serve in her sewage by the arrogant, delusional and cowardly politicians of the day. Nothing good has come of our efforts; nothing good will come out of the next two years.
RasThavas on October 8, 2012 at 7:05 PM
Human sacrifice 21st Century American style.
It would seem the Aztec High Priests of the 15th century have been reincarnated and are now in full reign at the building some still call the Pentagon.
America’s Generals are now very much like the Aztec High Priests of many centuries ago. The main difference, and it’s a relatively small one, is that instead of continually sacrificing what they regarded as their excess and disposable human property to the Sun God to try to gain benevolence and avoid wrath, America’s Generals keep trying to sacrifice America’s Constitution, and do sacrifice more and more of the lives and limbs of America’s troops, whom they regard as their excess and disposable human property, as well as hundreds of billions of dollars of America’s rapidly shrinking treasure, which although itself is of much lesser importance is still no small matter, to the gods they reverently call “The Prophet Mohammad”, “The Holy Qur’an” and “The Noble People Of Afghanistan and their Noble Muslim Culture” to try to gain benevolence and avoid wrath, and maybe even get an extra star and another few assorted colorful baubles for which to adorn themselves.
Is our military fighting for anything most Americans would regard as at all decent in Afghanistan? Certainly not our Army, nor our Marines. America’s Generals have repeatedly ordered them to respect the gods they call “The Prophet Mohammad”, “The Holy Qur’an” and “The Noble People Of Afghanistan and their Noble Muslim Culture” and if American troops get shot to death by what their Generals call their Partners in Peace, then the Generals conclude that America’s derelict and sacrilegious troops must not have respected the gods they call “The Prophet Mohammad”, “The Holy Qur’an” and “The Noble People Of Afghanistan and their Noble Muslim Culture” nearly enough and order them to take still more religious and cultural “sensitivity” training so they can better respect the Noble Muslim Culture of the Noble People of Afghanistan, maybe even enough where they can start joining in the practicing of that Noble Muslim Culture themselves, which would no doubt delight the Generals to no end.
There of course is never any “sensitivity” training ever even recommended for what America’s Generals call “The Noble People Of Afghanistan” so they might better understand and appreciate Western and American culture. But then as America’s Generals clearly must regard the Noble Muslim Culture of the Noble People of Afghanistan as being far superior to Western and American culture, they would surely regard any such thing as, well, absolutely unthinkable, and blasphemous, and upon hearing any such suggestion would no doubt order even more “sensitivity” training.
* Mainstream Noble People of Afghanistan Muslim Culture includes child rape of both young girls and young boys, torturing dogs including puppies, total enslavement of women, stoning women to death for being raped, and death to apostates, which itself covers a whole lot, just to very briefly mention a few of the highlights.
VorDaj on October 8, 2012 at 7:09 PM
Ayyy-men! PREACH it, brother!!!
There’s a phrase that a conservative used to apply to liberal policies that most definitely applies here: “it doesn’t work, it gets people killed, and it costs a freaking mint.”
The. Bush. Wars. Have. Failed. And. We. Are. Broke.
Face reality, conservatives. A lot of you on HA have and I thank you for it. But I wonder WHO the hell will have the courage to end this debacle?
MelonCollie on October 8, 2012 at 7:13 PM
rogerb on October 8, 2012 at 7:15 PM
Here’s a real hint: Obama is blindly continuing his policies because he either agrees with the Neocon agenda, is too stupid to come up wth something better, and is too chickensh!t to end them.
MelonCollie on October 8, 2012 at 7:18 PM
Here’s a hint: Learn the basics of quoting on here, idiot.
“Bush isn’t there anymore”
That is a good thing, but too bad his failed Neocon strategy is still failing.
nottakingsides on October 8, 2012 at 7:59 PM