tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32850048.post3195325753225225955..comments2024-03-18T02:14:50.959-07:00Comments on ADORED BY HORDES: MarcLordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17036432624426967890noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32850048.post-54964263939471654712008-08-17T10:19:00.000-07:002008-08-17T10:19:00.000-07:00a little token of my appreciation of your blog<A HREF="http://iranfacts.blogspot.com/2008/08/woohoooo-i-get-award.html" REL="nofollow"> a little token of my appreciation of your blog</A>Najhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17728668942925956610noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32850048.post-69587828612965297892008-08-16T00:56:00.000-07:002008-08-16T00:56:00.000-07:00Phil: I forgot the biggest point:The US forcibly e...Phil: I forgot the biggest point:<BR/><BR/>The US forcibly exterminated the more competent AQ project in Afghanistan after 9/11, and leaving the TB in place. So to the Pakis, the Taliban's ascendance is our fault, and they have no alternative but to use the second team.MarcLordhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17036432624426967890noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32850048.post-18662935662011748912008-08-15T23:25:00.000-07:002008-08-15T23:25:00.000-07:00Phil,In short, no, but thanks for taking exception...Phil,<BR/><BR/>In short, no, but thanks for taking exception. The Taliban suck to the Pakis, yet they're also very useful, like mercury once was as a cure for syphilis. Dumb but effective proxies for al-Qaeda against all comers. Convoluted? Yep. <BR/><BR/>In Afghanistan no short-term hopes for more equitable systems are entertained. It's Injun Country, an ungovernable wild card not Arab, not Persian, not Aryan. The best which can be realistically achieved is to balance and contain sustained low-level conflicts. Probably part of the reason Afghanistan has been in that kind of war for more than 30 years, and the T fit right in.<BR/><BR/>To the Pakis, Afghanistan is a buffer region and low-level threat; to them, the Taliban are acceptable so long as they are pointed West. They wink at the primitives because they see Iran as an emerging, potentially existential threat. Plus the Taliban is a volatile, tribal, devolved form of Al-Qaeda which controls significant portions of Pakistan, they're an internal threat which can't be dislodged and has many sympathizers outside tribal border provinces like Waziristan. <BR/><BR/>The thinking is, it's better to appease the Taliban than to allow a big vacuum the Northern Alliance or Iran might fill. The Pakis don't want superior opponents on both East and West, so treaties was signed with Taliban tribal provinces on both sides of the border. <BR/><BR/>The obvious question is, what if the Taliban succeed? Ceding some territories to them would be unsavory in the short term, but probably wise in the long. The Taliban would soon enough generate their own serious internal dissent which could be aided and armed. Until then, no one can govern the Taliban.MarcLordhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17036432624426967890noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32850048.post-22252296435620184122008-08-15T20:25:00.000-07:002008-08-15T20:25:00.000-07:00I claim no expertise in these convoluted matters, ...I claim no expertise in these convoluted matters, but I find it a difficult piece of mental gymnastics to conflate support of the return of the Taliban to Afghanistan with a longing for "more equitable" systems. I may be a victim of US propaganda, but isn't just about anything better than having them back?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com