Afghan war Part 2?

[Scott P]

Thoughts?

https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-vow...025336264.html

[Iceaxe]

From where we are at today I see no other choice but to finish it. Where things stand today we really only have two choices, fight them here or fight them over there.

We just need to take the handcuffs off of our military and get shit done.

[twotimer]

War (at least large scale battles) will be obsolete when we have the technology to kill any individual on the planet at any time to matter where they are. Just take out the leaders, one right after another.

We may already have the ability to do that...and if not, I think it's probably within 20 years.

The Soviets considered this decades ago. Check out "Second Hand".

In regards to the war against terrorism, I agree that we can't just turn tail and run again like we did in Iraq. Lowlifes like ISIS will move right in. It's really too bad we can't get more help from other nations to lock that place down, especially since they are the ones taking the biggest hits.

I like that Trump is chumming up with India and putting Pakistan on notice. I think Pakistan is key to this whole damn thing. "Nowhere to hide", Trump said. We might start going after the Taliban leaders on the other side of the border. I also think that Trump and his military leaders mean serious business once they lay down the law, and those on the other side of the table get it quick.

Not much news out of Syria these days, eh? China put a leash of their little lap dog, too.

[BruteForce]

We just need to take the handcuffs off of our military and get shit done.

Concur 100%. Once we unleash the war dogs, we'll end this far quicker than we did prior with that idiotic ROE.

[Scott P]

We just need to take the handcuffs off of our military and get shit done.

Concur 100%. Once we unleash the war dogs, we'll end this far quicker than we did prior with that idiotic ROE.

I would have to agree. Wars can't be won with the current ROE.

As far as Iraq goes, they never attacked us so we really didn't have justification for a scorched earth war, but Afghanistan was harboring Osama bin Laden, so we were justified. We should have never went into Iraq, but we should have had a full war with Afghanistan, collateral damage and all.

Further, we should have never armed and supported those terrorists in the first place.

I think Pakistan is key to this whole damn thing. "Nowhere to hide", Trump said. We might start going after the Taliban leaders on the other side of the border. I also think that Trump and his military leaders mean serious business once they lay down the law, and those on the other side of the table get it quick.

We shouldn't have continued to arm and support Pakistan either. Those two countries were Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. While US policy should have been negative towards those countries, we decided to protect them and give/sell them weapons (including missiles, F-16s, etc.

[Iceaxe]

As far as Iraq goes, they never attacked us so we really didn't have justification for a scorched earth war,

We shouldn't have continued to arm and support Pakistan either. Those two countries were Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. While US policy should have been negative towards those countries, we decided to protect them and give/sell them weapons (including missiles, F-16s, etc.

Scott, you keep talking about what we "should or shouldn't have done". That is no longer the issue as it's all water under the bridge, I doubt you will find many that will argue we should have done things a lot different.

The BIG question is where do we go from today forward to meet our objectives.

[Scott P]

Scott, you keep talking about what we "should or shouldn't have done". That is no longer the issue as it's all water under the bridge,

It is still a issue since we still haven't learned our lesson (i.e. arming the Syrian rebels). Trump is still a question mark on this, so no, I'm not blaming him at this time.

[Iceaxe]

It is still a issue since we still haven't learned our lesson (i.e. arming the Syrian rebels). Trump is still a question mark on this, so no, I'm not blaming him at this time.

But you still didn't answer the question, what is it you think we should do from this day forward.

[Scott P]

But you still didn't answer the question, what is it you think we should do from this day forward.

Easier said than done, but get rid of ISIS and get out. This is applicable to Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria.

No regime changes (unless that regime attacks us) or forced democracies; just eliminate the terrorists groups. When they pop up again, eliminate those too. Change the ROA so the military can do its job.

Stop protecting regimes and groups who don't share our values. No more weapons or support to anyone who supports terrorism or who is guilty of gross human rights violations.

Other than that, let Russia handle Syria. They want influence in that area. Let them have it. If they want to support Assad, let them do it. Assad has done nothing to the US. The groups fighting Assad have. Without US interference Assad and Russia will end the war quicker. It's better Russia's problem than ours.