I am sorry Holbrooke died but his time of my way or the highway does not work in Afghanistan. He was commended for his great job with China Korea, and Vietnam where he got his start but hell those were all failures to me. I will have to say we will get more success now that he is gone. The administration wanted to let him go because he butted heads with others. New direction for US in Afghanistan following Richard Holbrooke death
Obama to review post-Holbrooke Afghan policy
US Afghan policy 'hits al-Qaeda' Much of the momentum achieved by the Taliban has been arrested, the review says and that is true for many reasons! Obama does not get the credit he deserves with Afghanistan! Of late some 100 Taliban and Al Qaeda fighters and commanders has been killed in Pakistan and Afghanistan due to drone attacks and forays into Taliban strongholds.
We have had success of late but we will have more now I suspect. I was listening to ex Taliban fighters and their Commanders who fought NATO and the US for 6 years and figures the Government now cares about them so they have now stopped, They point out besides they are sick of fighting and we are leaving anyway. Great! That Is what I was hoping for from the beginning. At least long enough to let us leave then they can kill each other again.
Now that Holbrooke is gone I can see some of the good ideas now having some weight:
Obama: Significant Progress In Fighting al-Qaida, Taliban
When all is said and done I remember when it came out that Karzai was corrupt and he won the election. The people’s attitude was oh well, one corrupt Government is as good as the next .At least the Government is not killing and maiming the people in the name of Sharia law. The government might be corrupt but it is better than the alternative.
This is big and keeps getting better and better! I am pretty pleased that Gulbuddin Hekmatyar Representatives of his major insurgent faction have presented a formal 15-point peace plan to the Afghan government of Hamid Karzai. This is the first concrete proposal to end hostilities and get us the heck out of there. Obama can do this, he is doing it.
This would not even be a thought under Bush. As we said in Iraq the Afghan's too must come together so we can leave. They can then turn on each other as I fully expect to be the case in Iraq and also in Afghanistan. Anyway representatives of Hezb-e-Islami met with representatives of the Government. This is huge as Hezb-e-Islami, or Islamic operates under a separate command from the Taliban, it has links to the Taliban leadership and Al Qaeda and has fought on a common front against foreign forces in Afghanistan.
They only want what I want and that is a withdrawal date for all foreign forces on Afghani soil. That is doable under Obama. We can really do this! They want us to start in July and have it completed in 6 months. The 6 month time frame would have to be flexible and they would have to police the still militant Taliban and keep the peace amongst themselves even if only until we leave as I expect. Insurgent Faction Presents Afghan Peace Plan
Seems what the militants want holds more sway than most think and that is a good thing. NATO beginning to pull out of Afghanistan handing the reins over to the Afghan Government corrupt or not will free Obama up to do the same. They want to start handing over control in July like the Taliban wanted which is perfect. The Afghan government, which has been hampered by a Taliban insurgency, political corruption, a dysfunctional economy and a dependence on foreign assistance, is starting to take more responsibility for running the country's affairs. Great!
This is working and freeing Obama to start disengaging next year. Some compromise can be worked out here. Now if only the Taliban will cool it and cooperate. Their insurgency will only force us to stay. I hope they are smart enough to quell it until we start to disengage. I really think we can succeed in Afghanistan if success is "leave us alone so we can claim success and get out as schedule by "2014"
James Joiner
Gardner, Massachusetts
http://anaverageamericanpatriot.blogspot.com
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