The Afghanistan and Pakistan Thread

I’m curious how most board members feel about enhanced interrogation/torture. Does it produce viable intelligence or just makes us feel better they are suffering?
Frankly, our Western morals are what has fucked us during conflicts in the past 30 years or so. Which is what has emboldened our enemies. If "enhanced interrogation" makes us squeamish, even if it's not effective on the individual; the fear placed into our enemies is invaluable. All of our enemies come from cultures that embrace the use of fear. So let's make them fear us. It's time to take a lesson from previous generations of Canadian's and the reason for the book of Geneva Suggestions. Let the animals loose.
 
Hanns Scharff - Wikipedia

I think history has proven that physical violence, or the threat of physical violence works on some people, but you're better off without "enhancing" your questions. Some folks will never talk no matter what you do or don't do to them.

Besides, if you're beating on someone you're looking for them to confirm what you "think" is going on in the world. Is an attack coming? No. (Whack) Where's the attack?

You won't trust anything that comes out of their mouth. Are they lying to cover it up, is there no attack, or do they just not know? You hit them again and NOW you believe their answer?

KSM doesn't talk? Cool. Give him a ticket on Pinochet Airlines and move on.
 
Gosh, didn’t see this coming. 🙄

Taliban begins enforcing new draconian laws, and Afghan women despair

As the Taliban begins enforcing new draconian laws, Afghan women say that whatever hopes they once harbored for an easing of the severe restrictions on them have largely vanished.

The new religious code issued late last month bans women from raising their voices, reciting the Quran in public, and looking at men other than their husbands or relatives. It requires women to cover the lower half of their faces in addition to donning a head covering they were already expected to wear, among other rules.
 
Gosh, didn’t see this coming. 🙄

Taliban begins enforcing new draconian laws, and Afghan women despair

As the Taliban begins enforcing new draconian laws, Afghan women say that whatever hopes they once harbored for an easing of the severe restrictions on them have largely vanished.

The new religious code issued late last month bans women from raising their voices, reciting the Quran in public, and looking at men other than their husbands or relatives. It requires women to cover the lower half of their faces in addition to donning a head covering they were already expected to wear, among other rules.
Tough shit.
They had 20 years of help and flushed it away.
 
what a bummer - the left should speak up aganst this
Nah fam, they embrace this sheet. Sharia law coming to a neighborhood near you. Tolerance of the left is actually intollerant of some things and very tolerant of shit like this as seen by how much the Hamasistani "protestors" are protected.
 
My dad was a proponent of the Lost Cause Myth about the Confederacy and our Civil War. I was raised to believe in that nonsense, but whatever.

Anyway, one day I made some "if" statement to my dad about our little rebellion in the 1860's and despite his loyalty or whateverthehell to the South, he made a comment that always stuck with me.

"They shoulda' fought harder."

To the people of Afghanistan, as a guy with a bit of time in your lovely country, I guess the best thing I can say is?

Fuck off to the sun. All the way off. And if you miss the sun? Keep fucking off until I'm tired of you fucking off.
 
I would say the Northern Alliance was fighting the good fight, then we helped out and owned everyone.

It was us, who changed their way of life and forced a weak government and weak Afghan National Army to be in power, only with our support. Because everyone is ready for democracy...right?

I still wonder where they would be, if we just stayed in our lane, did what we needed to do, and supported the warlords to run their areas......and country.
 
So I forget the guy's name, but it was someone not named Karzai who got a team of green berets. But this dude was given a sat phone and rode into Afghanistan on a motorcycle and wound up dead a few days later. Then we changed our tune and provided a load of protection to Karzai. Google fu is failing me right now. Plenty of Afghans fought and fought hard, but we're complete idiots to think we could just implant a liberal democracy onto the grave yard of Armies. After the Soviets helped take out their last king, it's basically been Sharia strongmen type shit. But I mean we made Afghanistan the Soviet's Vietnam, but now that seems to be have been an error.
 
I would say the Northern Alliance was fighting the good fight, then we helped out and owned everyone.

It was us, who changed their way of life and forced a weak government and weak Afghan National Army to be in power, only with our support. Because everyone is ready for democracy...right?

I still wonder where they would be, if we just stayed in our lane, did what we needed to do, and supported the warlords to run their areas......and country.
Over-subscription to Democratic Peace Theory
Assuming a central Asian tribal-based autocracy would ever be ready for Western-style democracy
No draft, no war tax, no way for the war to seem "real" to Americans
Starting a second front in Iraq
Having our erstwhile ally, Pakistan, actively working against us
Mission creep: we went from "defeat AQ and make sure AFG can't be used as a base to attack us again" to... women's rights? lol ok

^ a few of the many things America got wrong in Afgahnistan.
 
Over-subscription to Democratic Peace Theory
Assuming a central Asian tribal-based autocracy would ever be ready for Western-style democracy
No draft, no war tax, no way for the war to seem "real" to Americans
Starting a second front in Iraq
Having our erstwhile ally, Pakistan, actively working against us
Mission creep: we went from "defeat AQ and make sure AFG can't be used as a base to attack us again" to... women's rights? lol ok

^ a few of the many things America got wrong in Afgahnistan.
I think so much policy was based off recent NATO interventions. Trying to recreate the Balkan "success" in Afghanistan was idiotic.
 
Over-subscription to Democratic Peace Theory
Assuming a central Asian tribal-based autocracy would ever be ready for Western-style democracy
No draft, no war tax, no way for the war to seem "real" to Americans
Starting a second front in Iraq
Having our erstwhile ally, Pakistan, actively working against us
Mission creep: we went from "defeat AQ and make sure AFG can't be used as a base to attack us again" to... women's rights? lol ok

^ a few of the many things America got wrong in Afgahnistan.

Every swinging dick had a hand in that mission pie. I watched OEF with great interest as killing UBL blossomed into this medusa of missions and goals, not unlike what I saw in SE Asia years ago. Hey, while we're at this nation-building stuff, lets add ineffective drug interdiction, ineffective civic action, dirty politics, let's fuck with their laws, flood the country with greenbacks so their black market can flourish, get the farmers who grow the poppies to grow fucking beets or something and take away their source of revenue...

America just can't seem to make war on the cheap. It's got to be industrial strength and it's got to have all this fucking insipid morality and feel-good bullshit to justify the violence...when economically focused pure violence is the real solution. You make whatever dark alliances you need to find the motherfucker and kill him, you kill everybody who supports him and you get the fuck out.

And look at it now. It's like we were never there, like it never happened, it was all a dream.

Except now the turds have 7-billion dollars worth of US military equipment.
 
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Every swinging dick had a hand in that mission pie. I watched OEF with great interest as killing UBL blossomed into this medusa of missions and goals, not unlike what I saw in SE Asia years ago.

America just can't seem to make war on the cheap. It's got to be industrial strength and it's got to have all this fucking insipid morality and feel-good bullshit to justify the violence...when economically focused pure violence is the real solution. You find the motherfucker and kill him, you kill everybody who supports him and you get the fuck out.

And look at it now. It's like we were never there, like it never happened, it was all a dream.

Except now the turds have 7-billion dollars worth of US military equipment.
Exactly right.
 
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