Eugene Holman wrote:
> Peteris Cedrins wrote:
> > Eugene Holman wrote:
> > [snip]
> > > The two protracted wars that the United
> > > States has been waging in Afghanistan and Iraq have produced nothing
> > > tangible
> > No?
> > 1. The Afghan Army is growing in size, experience, and leader****p
> > capabilities.
> Yes, it can now ensure that the government controls Kabul and some of
its
> suburbs, at least by day.
> > 2. A recent study found that 90% of the Afghan population trusted
> > the countries military force.
> I'm not sure what such a survey or such statistics mean in a country
like
> Afghanistan.
> > 3. More than 4,000 km of roads have been built where only 50 km
> > existed in 2001.
> Modenr armies don't travel on camelback, so the infrastructure building
is
> not altruism but self interest.
> > 4. The rehabilitation of the North-East power system has advanced
> > and access of the rural households to electricity has been
> > significantly increased.
> Being that Afghanistan was living essentially in the Middle Ages, one
> percent would be a "significant increase".
> > 5. In 2007 alone, ISAF nations completed 1,080 civil-military
> > cooperation (CIMIC) projects.
> The conventions of diplomacy require the "civil" to come before the
> "military", but in actual life it is often the reverse.
> > 6. 2,000 schools were built or repaired in the last five years and
> > around 6.4 million children (including 1.5 million girls) are now in
> > schools.
> This is an undeniable accomplishment, although one would expect the
number
> of girls to be approximately 3.2 million. Much obviously remains to be
> done.
> > 7. Since 2001, both infant and under-five mortality has declined by
> > 26% and 22% respectively.
> The stats are still dreadful, though. According to the CIA World
Factbook
>
(https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder...),
> Afghanistan, with the world's third worst infant mortality rate, takes
the
> bronze medal in this sorry league.
> > 8. In 2001, 8% of Afghans had access to some form of healthcare.
> > Now more than 80% of the population has access to medical care.
> Perhaps the American Republican Party can learn something from this.
> > 9. The non-opium economy has grown at an average of 12% over the
> > past four years; the number of poppy-free provinces has grown from six
> > in 2006 to 13 in 2007.
> That would probably have happened without the war.
> > 10. Afghan public sup****t for international involvement in
> > Afghanistan remains high with around 70% of Afghans sup****ting the
> > presence of international forces.
> I would suggest being critical about such statistics. People from the
> Baltic countries in particular know that it is not a wise idea to
complain
> in public about their country being occupied when asked by
representatives
> of the occupiers.
> > 11. The majority of Afghans believe their country is going in the
> > right direction and 84% sup****t their current government (as opposed
> > to 4% who would sup****t the Taliban).
> I am certainly no fan of the Taliban, but I am highly sceptical of these
> figures.
> > 12. They also maintain a positive view of reconstruction efforts
> > with 63% saying that reconstruction efforts in their area have been
> > effective since 2002.
> This I can understand.
> >
http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/04/the_afghanistan_success_story_...
> For a less optimistic *****sment, see
> http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,534467,00.html
And here an obvious clue to americanthinker(s):
http://tinyurl.com/6cvdkm
Der Spiegel is also being doctored though. But luckily enough we've
got Peter Scholl-Latour, aka westwide best expert on Islam,
Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq & Co who's busy selling relevant & uncensored
books (check out Amazon, et al).
> I still stand by my position that the wars have been a colossal waste of
> manpower and resources. The one thing that these conflits teach us is
that
> modern technological warfare is not an effective strategy for dealing
with
> these types of problems. The Americans should have learned that lesson
in
> Vietnam. The Soviets learned it in Afghanistan. The Russians have
> prevailed in Chechnya only because the area was developed enough for
21st
> century warfare applied in the most brutal possible manner, accompanied
by
> massive propaganda to an educated populace as well as by influential
> locals willing to collaborate, to make the freedom fighters/insurgents
> understand that they really had something to lose.
>
> Violence is not the strategy for dealing with problems seemingly
emanating
> from the poorest and least developed areas of the world.
>
> The returns for more than five years of protracted warfare in
Afghanistan
> and Iraq, with Iran evidently next on the hit-list, have been
surprisingly
> modest. Ubama bin-Ladin still survives. The Taliban is arguably not only
> bigger, stronger, and more respected, but also controls a larger area
and
> influences more people than at any time in its history. Compare that
with
> the fate of the Nazis five years after they overstepped the line.
>
> Regards,
> Eugene Holman
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