Afghanistan: The Easy Way Out

It will take a few more years at current NATO levels, but only a couple of years IF the NATO partners would allow their forces to conduct combat operations. So, why don't those countries want to get this over with? Are they all that afraid of their Leftist populations? Or are they afraid of their Muslim populations? Or is it a combination of the two? Is there another reason that I am missing?

Afghanistan: The Easy Way Out: "The Pakistanis also don't care if the Taliban continue to send volunteers across the border to aid their beleaguered fellow Taliban in Afghanistan. This, obviously, is a major source of dispute between the Afghan and Pakistani governments, as well as between the U.S. and NATO, and the Pakistani government. Meanwhile, U.S. armed UAVs, and CIA agents Special Forces troops, are going after terrorist leaders in Pakistan, and the Pakistani government is generally ignoring this effort. The CIA and Special Forces operators have established an informant network in the Pakistani tribal areas. That region contains lots of people willing to be informants, either because of hatred of the Taliban, and/or because of the big payday for working as an American spy. When terrorists are located, a UAV rolls in and fires a missile or two. There have been five of these attacks so far this year, leaving dozens of Taliban and al Qaeda members dead.



NATO and the Americans continue to put lots of diplomatic and economic pressure on Pakistan to go after their Taliban. So far, this effort is deadlocked. So is the war against the Taliban, mainly because so many are seeking an easy way out. Some NATO commanders believe that, after five or ten years of the current kind of operations, the Taliban will be wiped out, and the Afghans can get back to their traditional pursuits (tribal feuds and massive corruption among government officials at the provincial and national level.)"