Foreign Affairs
Related: About this forumAfghanistan peace process: Comforting ‘the Warrior’
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It is an irony of history to see how utterly frivolous the decade of war has ultimately turned out to be. Not only are the Taliban the very savage force this war was fought against being coaxed into accepting an offer of share in power, but the very process of peace dialogue is being presented as a sign of success.
Yes, it is a success! The dirty war is certainly inching towards its end. But the end does not appear to be better than the war itself because the savage Talib is again on the rise.
However, the savage Talib is no longer a terrorist, he is an insurgent now. Amid cheers of peace, the common Afghan continues to suffer materially and non-materially as there is hardly anyone to listen to what he has to say about what he wants for his country. The so-called peace process excludes him and consequently reduces him into insignificance.
It is not to suggest that the war should not come to an end. But what do we do when the end itself starts becoming a matter of grave concern a new problem in itself to deal with? The so-called peace process, which Pakistani officials hailed as ground-breaking, is a recipe of political domination of Afghanistan in geo-political sense.
http://atimes.com/2015/07/afghanistan-peace-process-comforting-the-warrior/
unhappycamper
(60,364 posts)Except start a religious war between the Shia and Sunni sects.
Think of it - almost a generation of Americans have always been at war.
And the Veterans Administration is begging for more dollars to treat the veterans who were damaged in this folly.
bemildred
(90,061 posts)And predicted before it happened.
I remember posting a story from 2002 wherein Vo Nguyen Giap said we would lose just like in Vietnam. And I considered it was obvious then we were going to accomplish squat because we refuse to learn squat. Belligerence is not a strategy, and as a tactic it is very weak, it makes you predictable and exposes you to ambushes.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V%C3%B5_Nguy%C3%AAn_Gi%C3%A1p
Audacity is all very well but it doesn't win wars.