How to defeat the Taliban.
Discussion
Right, the Afghan war has been going on for as long as the First and Second World Wars combined!
Long enough.
It's time to get serious.
If the gloves came off and we got nasty with old johnny Taliban, how quickly would it be over?
I am thinking of Boer War style concentration camps (albeit with modern humanitarian considerations and no starvings), scorched earth policy, razed fields, full-on napalm use, etc, etc.
If we stopped dicking around and really went for it, how quickly would it be sorted?
Long enough.
It's time to get serious.
If the gloves came off and we got nasty with old johnny Taliban, how quickly would it be over?
I am thinking of Boer War style concentration camps (albeit with modern humanitarian considerations and no starvings), scorched earth policy, razed fields, full-on napalm use, etc, etc.
If we stopped dicking around and really went for it, how quickly would it be sorted?
Has a modern democracy ever occupied another country?
I thing the best west way to "defeat" the Taliban is by influencing them from the inside. ie build up talks and agree compromises.
From what I have seen and read the majority of the hostile locals are purely hostile because they have foreign troops in their country. I guess most people would be. Build up relations with them and the militant fighters flooding in from the region would have no friends on either side.
imo
I thing the best west way to "defeat" the Taliban is by influencing them from the inside. ie build up talks and agree compromises.
From what I have seen and read the majority of the hostile locals are purely hostile because they have foreign troops in their country. I guess most people would be. Build up relations with them and the militant fighters flooding in from the region would have no friends on either side.
imo
What percentage of innocents killed would be allowable as collateral damage?
In the World Wars the Allied Forces were defending for the lives of themselves and their families and they probably would have gone to any length to achieve that.
In the Afghan War, the forces are defending the indigenous innocents from the Taliban enemy who happen to look exactly the same as those they're defending.
It's a tricky one.
In the World Wars the Allied Forces were defending for the lives of themselves and their families and they probably would have gone to any length to achieve that.
In the Afghan War, the forces are defending the indigenous innocents from the Taliban enemy who happen to look exactly the same as those they're defending.
It's a tricky one.
It could be over in a matter of hours, with one simple action. Tell them to stand down, or we tactically nuke Kabul, then move on to Kandahar, then Jalalabad until they give up. Honestly, how many taliban fighters would stand by and let three of their cities get nuked?? I would suggest not that many
The chances of this happening? None, but it would end the war and fast
The chances of this happening? None, but it would end the war and fast
toasty said:
In the World Wars the Allied Forces were defending for the lives of themselves and their families and they probably would have gone to any length to achieve that.
Isn't the argument for our being in Afghan not the exact same thing? We are there to defend ourselves (from terrorist attacks) not for the good of the locals. If that were the case we would also be in Somalia, Zimbabwe, etc.Ayahuasca said:
Right, the Afghan war has been going on for as long as the First and Second World Wars combined!
Long enough.
It's time to get serious.
If the gloves came off and we got nasty with old johnny Taliban, how quickly would it be over?
I am thinking of Boer War style concentration camps (albeit with modern humanitarian considerations and no starvings), scorched earth policy, razed fields, full-on napalm use, etc, etc.
If we stopped dicking around and really went for it, how quickly would it be sorted?
You've watched this going on for 10 years already and you haven't come the conclusion that the war is truely unwinable? You want to continue to try 'other tactics'? Even the Yanks eventually realised that Vietnam was unwinable.Long enough.
It's time to get serious.
If the gloves came off and we got nasty with old johnny Taliban, how quickly would it be over?
I am thinking of Boer War style concentration camps (albeit with modern humanitarian considerations and no starvings), scorched earth policy, razed fields, full-on napalm use, etc, etc.
If we stopped dicking around and really went for it, how quickly would it be sorted?
We spend millions a day on this war, the opponent is successful spending as little as a few hundred dollars on the right ingredients of an IED.
You cant defeat an ideology. You can only defeat a state.
snowy slopes said:
It could be over in a matter of hours, with one simple action. Tell them to stand down, or we tactically nuke Kabul, then move on to Kandahar, then Jalalabad until they give up. Honestly, how many taliban fighters would stand by and let three of their cities get nuked?? I would suggest not that many
The chances of this happening? None, but it would end the war and fast
Assuming you're serious.....The chances of this happening? None, but it would end the war and fast
Firstly, I think all the Taliban fighters would let this happen.
Secondly, this would seriously upset Pakistan, Russia, China , Iran etc....it would be the end of us all.
Sheets Tabuer said:
We should leave them to it, it's not our job to pull them out of the middle ages, they need to realise this for themselves.
You only have to look at them stoning each other every 5 minutes in areas where there isn't a taliban presence to realise we're not gonna help them.
This.You only have to look at them stoning each other every 5 minutes in areas where there isn't a taliban presence to realise we're not gonna help them.
No aid of any type, no telecommunications, no flights in or out, blow up all the roads in & out & then barricade the ruins. If they want to live in the dark ages, let them get on with it.
The war cant be won because we are too humane.
IF we go all out video game style blow em all up...WE WILL WIN.
but that would piss every single person associated sympathetically in some way with the afghans. So more headaches for later.
We cant win. just pull our boys back and defend our island better within our borders.
IF we go all out video game style blow em all up...WE WILL WIN.
but that would piss every single person associated sympathetically in some way with the afghans. So more headaches for later.
We cant win. just pull our boys back and defend our island better within our borders.
Give everybody there a Facebook account (with internet access), open mobile phone stores on every street corner and start a new Ant and Dec show to discover the most talented Afghani - broadcast daily. Within a month the place will be as useless as the west.
I doubt any level of military action would 'defeat' the Taliban - they're a reaction to a society living with bare minimal resources, fractured social structure and being fed by a disaffected neighbour. Previous interventions by the west have made things far, far worse. Improving the quality of life there would make a huge difference, but we've got a very bad track record when it comes to 'civilising the savages'.
I doubt any level of military action would 'defeat' the Taliban - they're a reaction to a society living with bare minimal resources, fractured social structure and being fed by a disaffected neighbour. Previous interventions by the west have made things far, far worse. Improving the quality of life there would make a huge difference, but we've got a very bad track record when it comes to 'civilising the savages'.
CaptainSlow said:
Has a modern democracy ever occupied another country?
I thing the best west way to "defeat" the Taliban is by influencing them from the inside. ie build up talks and agree compromises.
From what I have seen and read the majority of the hostile locals are purely hostile because they have foreign troops in their country. I guess most people would be. Build up relations with them and the militant fighters flooding in from the region would have no friends on either side.
imo
If my Knowledge serves me correctly although not technically a democracy but I believe Maharaja Ranjit Singh of the Punjab is the only sovreignty to have conquered the afghans can anyone else concur or disapprove?I thing the best west way to "defeat" the Taliban is by influencing them from the inside. ie build up talks and agree compromises.
From what I have seen and read the majority of the hostile locals are purely hostile because they have foreign troops in their country. I guess most people would be. Build up relations with them and the militant fighters flooding in from the region would have no friends on either side.
imo
Ayahuasca said:
toasty said:
In the World Wars the Allied Forces were defending for the lives of themselves and their families and they probably would have gone to any length to achieve that.
Isn't the argument for our being in Afghan not the exact same thing? We are there to defend ourselves (from terrorist attacks) not for the good of the locals. If that were the case we would also be in Somalia, Zimbabwe, etc.Yes, there's been some terrorist attacks around the world and we wanted some retribution but IMHO we're now cutting our nose off to spite our face i.e. spending far too much money we don't have fighting an enemy that bears little threat to us here.
The Afghans are a tough bunch
No-one has ever really won a guerilla war of this kind. Even this wouldnt end it I dont think
Think of it the other way, someone with very different views and values to you invades England
You arent happy with this
They want to fundementally change your way of life
Do you sit back and take it? Unlikely
Do you run at their superior military might with your swiss army knife and hope for the best? No
So you do all you can, use the most underhanded and dirty tactics possible to damage their efforts and stay out of the firing line.
You wont give up because you believe your freedom / way of life is at stake
No-one has ever really won a guerilla war of this kind. Even this wouldnt end it I dont think
Think of it the other way, someone with very different views and values to you invades England
You arent happy with this
They want to fundementally change your way of life
Do you sit back and take it? Unlikely
Do you run at their superior military might with your swiss army knife and hope for the best? No
So you do all you can, use the most underhanded and dirty tactics possible to damage their efforts and stay out of the firing line.
You wont give up because you believe your freedom / way of life is at stake
- NOTE - I do not support the Taliban, just thinking that this kind of war never goes well and unleashing all hell on them wont help
Soovy said:
Once people don't care about dying, you can never beat them.
We should pull all the troops out, secure our borders, and give them all the guns and bombs they want and let them fight each other.
Not until we've killed enough of them that they have to enjoy the imposed fruits of democracy. Then killing each other during rigged elections. And so on...We should pull all the troops out, secure our borders, and give them all the guns and bombs they want and let them fight each other.
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