Is Karzai right?

[Purplehood]

The President of Afghanistan has stated that NATO forces are not fighting the right enemy, and I think he is correct.

He states that we should not be fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan; that we should be fighting all the bad guys in the safe-havens of NW Pakistan.

The instant I read that statement I was reminded of the Vietnam War and our official stance on not violating the sovereignty of Laos, Cambodia or sending ground troops into North Vietnam.

In effect, the North Vietnamese had safe-havens of their own in which to stage, supply and reinforce their own forces with relative immunity.

Just like today, we regularly violated those rules with airstrikes (drones today) and Special Forces operations. But we never projected any effective military power into those regions.

Since that won't happen, we will not "Win" in Afghanistan. Rather we will leave just like we did in Vietnam and like the Soviets did in Afghanistan 20 years ago.

[Charles L. Cotton]

The President of Afghanistan has stated that NATO forces are not fighting the right enemy, and I think he is correct.

He states that we should not be fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan; that we should be fighting all the bad guys in the safe-havens of NW Pakistan.

The instant I read that statement I was reminded of the Vietnam War and our official stance on not violating the sovereignty of Laos, Cambodia or sending ground troops into North Vietnam.

In effect, the North Vietnamese had safe-havens of their own in which to stage, supply and reinforce their own forces with relative immunity.

Just like today, we regularly violated those rules with airstrikes (drones today) and Special Forces operations. But we never projected any effective military power into those regions.

Since that won't happen, we will not "Win" in Afghanistan. Rather we will leave just like we did in Vietnam and like the Soviets did in Afghanistan 20 years ago.

except that I would kill Taliban wherever they may be found.

Chas.