3 thoughts on “Obama’s Surrender Of Afghanistan”

  1. Has anyone ever won in Afghanistan? Both the British and Russians eventually gave up on it, the English in 1919 after the third Anglo-Afghan war and of course the Russians in 1988…

  2. I recall President Obama’s speech on the end of the Afghanistan surge saying that “We are negotiating from a position of strength.” The Taliban must not have heard him clearly. Their going-in position is that the Afghan government is illegitimate and will quickly collapse after the inevitable American withdrawal. The Taliban think they’re doing America a favor by letting us save face while they retake Afghanistan.

    The big question is what it will take before the Taliban is ready to make any real concessions. Bob Gates thought that pounding them for the 2012 fighting season would produce results, but they may be optimistic, considering the Pakistani safe haven the Taliban leadership enjoys. The Taliban will need to believe they’ve been beaten before they’ll negotiate in good faith. That may take years, and only if they see the Afghan army and government are durable institutions that can survived a sustained guerrilla campaign.

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