NationStates Jolt Archive

Well, here is something: Can the US/NATO/ISAF win the war in Afghanistan?

Canada urges NATO allies to share burden in Afghanistan
1 hour ago

OTTAWA (AFP) — Canada's Defense Minister Peter MacKay urged fellow NATO countries Thursday to step up their roles in Afghanistan, saying there was a "pressing need" for more allies to share the burden.

"There has to be burden-sharing and there has to be countries willing to step up and play a larger role with Canada, with the United States, the Brits, the Dutch (and) others," McKay told Canadian television.

"There is a need, a pressing need, I would suggest, from other NATO partners to step forward and share in that burden," he told CBC after a meeting in Washington with US Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

McKay said a few NATO allies are "working in a role that is disproportionate to the burden that is being carried by other countries," a message he said he has been carrying to various other member states this week.

"I had discussions yesterday as you know with my counterparts in England, Norway and the Netherlands and these discussions were very similar -- that we are going to be reaching out and touching our friends in NATO and working with the secretary general to encourage greater cooperation," he said.

Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan have waged a bloody insurgency which has claimed thousands of lives since their ouster from power in late 2001 by a US-led invasion following the September 11 terror attacks.

"We know that Afghanistan was an incubator and an exporter of terror, and there is no country that can appreciate that more than the territory where we're standing right now," McKay said in Washington.

"So North America's not immune. Continental Europe is not immune. Nobody is immune," he said.

The Afghan government relies on nearly 50,000 international soldiers to fight the rebels, and 166 foreign troops have been killed so far this year, most in hostile action, according to an AFP count.

Canada, which has a contingent of some 2,500 soldiers in Afghanistan, is in the middle of a roiling public debate about whether to reduce its military presence in Afghanistan, where 70 soldiers have died since 2002.

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5iUpR0wYbhXoG-T6c4xLmvJgzZXTw

Please, keep it about Afghanistan, here. So, can the War in Afghanistan be won. I want to.

Yes I do believe it can be won. There's been a lot more success there than Iraq, the history is totally different and the political will is very different. However, that isn't to say that our policy is 100% correct. There should be a vast many changes in it and not a sort of malaise that accepts what happens and goes, "eh it can't by won why try." That defeatist attitude won't get anyone anywhere.

Yes I do believe it can be won. There's been a lot more success there than Iraq, the history is totally different and the political will is very different. However, that isn't to say that our policy is 100% correct. There should be a vast many changes in it and not a sort of malaise that accepts what happens and goes, "eh it can't by won why try." That defeatist attitude won't get anyone anywhere.

I want it to be won. There were a bunch of mistakes that were made. I think we need more troops (at least from the non US/UK NATO side). The leader of the Taliban in charge of the South Korean hostages was just killed in an airstrike recently.

I want it to be won. There were a bunch of mistakes that were made. I think we need more troops (at least from the non US/UK NATO side). The leader of the Taliban in charge of the South Korean hostages was just killed in an airstrike recently.

The biggest problem with the war there is a deep lack of knowledge about Afghani history. Let's face it, the Afghans aren't the most trustworthy bunch of people around [just look at the Soviet War and you'll see]. That isn't to say they're scum. By all respects, they are some amazing people as a whole there but very group-oriented (i.e. no real Afghan thing per say, just ethnic divides and lots of them). So when we started the war there, relying on the tribals to get Bin Laden and Al Qaeda was just the dumbest idea ever, which is why they're still alive and we're taking insurgencies from Helmand and Warizistan.

That defeatist attitude won't get anyone anywhere.reality.

sometimes it bites.

Certainly. Afghanistan is not Iraq...it is not plagued by the serious regional strife Iraq has had to deal with. It'll be difficult, but there's no reason it couldn't be as far as I can see.

reality.

sometimes it bites.

There's no war the US cannot win if that is what it endeavors from the start and uses its advantages to the key. Instead of rushing to a city to take it, leaving pockets of resistance on the rear flank or not engaging an enemy in this sector because it'll upset someone, do it right and do it for the win.

Certainly. Afghanistan is not Iraq...it is not plagued by the serious regional strife Iraq has had to deal with. It'll be difficult, but there's no reason it couldn't be as far as I can see.

The two conflicts are so vastly different it isn't funny. The only thing linking them is a lack of political win to do the job the right way and get it done and stop lolligagging around.

reality.

sometimes it bites.

Wow, that was a constructive responce.

The biggest problem with the war there is a deep lack of knowledge about Afghani history. Let's face it, the Afghans aren't the most trustworthy bunch of people around [just look at the Soviet War and you'll see]. That isn't to say they're scum. By all respects, they are some amazing people as a whole there but very group-oriented (i.e. no real Afghan thing per say, just ethnic divides and lots of them). So when we started the war there, relying on the tribals to get Bin Laden and Al Qaeda was just the dumbest idea ever, which is why they're still alive and we're taking insurgencies from Helmand and Warizistan.

Well, when you get into a war, the first thing is that you generally need to know about who you are fighting.

I want it to be won. I want to.use your magic shoes Dorothy.

use your magic shoes Dorothy.

But all i have are sandals

There's no war the US cannot win...reality

sometimes it bites US

reality

sometimes it bites US

What side are you on?