03-26-2012, 08:17 PM
Hearts and minds is just a cover phrase that isn't even understood by most of the Command and Staff clowns who utter it. It especially is a joke in Afghanistan, where you have a tribal-based culture that is dictated by the geography. The concept of ever unifying "Afghans" under one political entity is one of the most far-fetched and ridiculous ideas I have ever heard. We'd be more likely to unify Israel with the Palestinians.
The tribes that are tucked into every draw and valley in the Hindu-Kush enjoy shooting at each other, and have centuries-old disputes to settle, which they continue to do during foreign invasion, to include the Anglo-Afghan Wars, the Soviet occupation, and now this ISAF cluster football bat monkey-hump. The tribes within the major tribal regions fight each other like Cartwrights and McCoys. Even if they were miraculously unified by some sweep of the utopian overlord wand, try getting them to see eye-to-eye with the Northern Takijs, or the Hazara, Uzbeks, Turkmens, Balochs, and Ughirs.
Ain't gonna happen no matter how many clinics, dams, schools, roads, hydro-electric stations, and infrastructure we build for them. The best thing to do would bring in 500,000 Indian males to secure the place, as we mine the area for the newly-found mineral resources there, while providing a perfect strategic squeeze maneuver for India on Pakistan, with the Taliban and other Islamic stooges caught in the middle.
As that happens, India could take over SouthEastern Pakistan, with a route to the Ocean. Game over for Pakistan, and Afghanistan could now enjoy access to global trade via shipping for all the metals we can extract from the place, giving the opium industry a run for its money. That would be a win-win-win situation in my book, and would be the only remote possibility of building enough infrastructure to pull Afghanistan out of the stone age.
The tribes that are tucked into every draw and valley in the Hindu-Kush enjoy shooting at each other, and have centuries-old disputes to settle, which they continue to do during foreign invasion, to include the Anglo-Afghan Wars, the Soviet occupation, and now this ISAF cluster football bat monkey-hump. The tribes within the major tribal regions fight each other like Cartwrights and McCoys. Even if they were miraculously unified by some sweep of the utopian overlord wand, try getting them to see eye-to-eye with the Northern Takijs, or the Hazara, Uzbeks, Turkmens, Balochs, and Ughirs.
Ain't gonna happen no matter how many clinics, dams, schools, roads, hydro-electric stations, and infrastructure we build for them. The best thing to do would bring in 500,000 Indian males to secure the place, as we mine the area for the newly-found mineral resources there, while providing a perfect strategic squeeze maneuver for India on Pakistan, with the Taliban and other Islamic stooges caught in the middle.
As that happens, India could take over SouthEastern Pakistan, with a route to the Ocean. Game over for Pakistan, and Afghanistan could now enjoy access to global trade via shipping for all the metals we can extract from the place, giving the opium industry a run for its money. That would be a win-win-win situation in my book, and would be the only remote possibility of building enough infrastructure to pull Afghanistan out of the stone age.