US and Taliban sign deal to withdraw American troops from Afghanistan

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

And if war was a matter of one-on-one combat, that argument might actually mean something. The bigger problem is that the man has a whole shitton of people in line to take you on once the person behind you is taken out.

That's why God gave us belt-fed machine guns.

Ayup.  Technology is the great leveler. Britain built an empire on that principle.  16 pounders and Lewis guns are pretty good at negating the numerical advantage when you're fighting people armed with assegais and hide shields.  Not always, but often enough to make the investment worthwhile.

Boru

[Gawdzilla Sama]

The problem begin when the political monkeys don't have the will to win.

---

[Rev. Rye]

And if war was a matter of one-on-one combat, that argument might actually mean something. The bigger problem is that the man has a whole shitton of people in line to take you on once the person behind you is taken out.

I'm not sure if your criticizing me or OLB

If your criticizing me then my response is one or a thousand the solution the same it merely becomes a matter of scale

Frankly, I’m criticizing anyone who thinks a modern Western-style army has a serious chance at taking out a guerrilla force with massive popular support without committing genocide against that population who thinks the guerrillas are the lesser evil.

If that worked, You’d think that strategies Like the US has been doing in the Middle East would have actually been effective at some point.

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

I'm not sure if your criticizing me or OLB

If your criticizing me then my response is one or a thousand the solution the same it merely becomes a matter of scale

Frankly, I’m criticizing anyone who thinks a modern Western-style army has a serious chance at taking out a guerrilla force with massive popular support without committing genocide against that population who thinks the guerrillas are the lesser evil.

If that worked, You’d think that strategies Like the US has been doing in the Middle East would have actually been effective at some point.

I think (though I may be wrong) that’s kind of what GS was getting at. If a country is unwilling to commit sufficient lives and treasure, winning in any meaningful sense isn’t going to be an option. 

Boru

[Rev. Rye]

If he does, he seems to be either underestimating the level of carnage necessary to actually achieve victory or overestimating how willing the U.S. Military is to crossing the line into full-blown genocide at this point. I'm willing to bet it's more the former.

[The Architect Of Fate]

I'm not sure if your criticizing me or OLB

If your criticizing me then my response is one or a thousand the solution the same it merely becomes a matter of scale

Frankly, I’m criticizing anyone who thinks a modern Western-style army has a serious chance at taking out a guerrilla force with massive popular support without committing genocide against that population who thinks the guerrillas are the lesser evil.

If that worked, You’d think that strategies Like the US has been doing in the Middle East would have actually been effective at some point.

Good thing that's not what i'm arguing

[Brian37]

The U.S signed a peace deal with Taliban:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/f...nistan-war

US and Taliban sign deal to withdraw American troops from Afghanistan

• US troops could leave Afghanistan within 14 months
  
• Taliban agree to peace talks with other Afghans
  

So the American war against the Muslims of Afghanistan started since 2001, almost 20 years of constant fighting did not break the will of the people there; I have a question: if this war was just from the American side; then how did warriors with flip-flops and mere AKs stand still until a deal is signed from the American side to withdraw?

Isn't that a defeat on all scales?

I'll leave you dear user to think about it.

Damn it Atlass, stop assuming all Americans agree with each other. Malala doesn't agree with all Muslims.

There were no Christians, Jews, Mulsiims, Buddhists, Hindus or any fucking religion 200,000 years ago. There was no written religion back then either. The word "atheist" did not exist back then either.

Humans are tribal, and far too often we get into conflicts that miss this fact. But do not presume that because I live in America I love Trump, I FUCKING HATE THE FUCKER. Just like you don't like your religious rulers.

I don't trust what Trump is doing with Afghanistan anymore than you trust your Royal family to make peace. 

You and I are simply victims of those with money and power.

[Mr Greene]

That's why God gave us belt-fed machine guns.

Ayup.  Technology is the great leveler. Britain built an empire on that principle.  16 pounders and Lewis guns are pretty good at negating the numerical advantage when you're fighting people armed with assegais and hide shields.  Not always, but often enough to make the investment worthwhile.

Boru

Technology only gets you so far, that's why Adolf wound up sitting in a hole and blowing his brains out.
The real key to it is an invention almost as old as the wheel - money.
Control the economy and people will follow, that's how Britain built and kept an Empire with a fraction of the armed forces of any other European power.
Though it would be more true to say that the bankers actually controlled it.

[The Grand Nudger]

The US was always going to withdraw. It's not as if afghanistan was invaded for all that choice real estate.

It's the afghan people themselves who've suffered defeat. The taliban has always been a vicious drug cartel with control of the roads and airports. Not much different than our own organized crime at it's height. They rose to power by eliminating other cartels and warlords, capturing their business. All of the silly islamic shit is window dressing that the taliban itself will discard whenever it suits them. Cover for simple extortion and murder.

Worth remembering, if you're going to preen about guys with sandals and aks, Atlas.

[Mister Agenda]

Afghanistan is full of minerals that the U.S needs. That what kept it there, and made withdrawing a very tough choice to make.

I think you vastly overestimate the value of Afghanistan's mineral wealth compared to the costs of occupying that particular country in order to extract it. Afghanistan was never worth the two trillion dollars we poured into taking and holding it. We were never going to get all that money back. Afghanistan was never going to be a profitable enterprise for the USA.