Helmand Province Could Fall To The Taliban

Afghanistan's Helmand province could fall to the Taliban after months of heavy fighting, with 90 members of the security forces killed over the past two days, the deputy governor of the volatile southern province warned on Sunday.
Mohammad Jan Rasulyar said unless President Ashraf Ghani took urgent action, the province, a center of opium production and a Taliban heartland that British and American troops struggled to control for years, would be lost.
"Your Excellency, Helmand is standing on the brink and there is a serious need for you to come," he wrote on Facebook.

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The highly unusual public plea from a serving official painted a picture strikingly similar to the situation that led up to the fall of the northern city of Kunduz in late September, when Taliban fighters seized and held on to for several days before government troops regained control.
If Helmand were to fall, it would deliver a blow to government claims that Afghan security forces, fighting largely alone since international troops ended combat operations last year, are controlling the insurgency, in spite of setbacks such as the fall of Kunduz.

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Read more @: Helmand Province Could Fall To The Taliban

The war against the Taliban in Afghanistan has always been an un-winable war.

TheDemSocialist said:

Read more @: Helmand Province Could Fall To The Taliban

The war against the Taliban in Afghanistan has always been an un-winable war.

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It's winnable if dealt with correctly.

Since Obama's been in office, he's done everything but that. Just like Iraq, he cut our military presence prematurely, and that's why the Taliban is resurging and ISIS is gaining foothold there. But instead, what does President Airhead consider the bigger concern? Global Warming. The man is a f-ing joke.

Roadvirus said:

It's winnable if dealt with correctly.

Since Obama's been in office, he's done everything but that. Just like Iraq, he cut our military presence prematurely, and that's why the Taliban is resurging and ISIS is gaining foothold there. But instead, what does President Airhead consider the bigger concern? Global Warming. The man is a f-ing joke.

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What would you do different than Obama? And are their any historical examples that we can draw from in conquering Afghanistan?

TheDemSocialist said:

What would you do different than Obama? And are their any historical examples that we can draw from in conquering Afghanistan?

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Look at the Mughal empire

The only way is to invade, have the local rules claim loyalty then leave Afghanistan to be directly ruled by the leaders from their. Then occasional punitive strikes when they get out of line

Lord Tammerlain said:

Look at the Mughal empire

The only way is to invade, have the local rules claim loyalty then leave Afghanistan to be directly ruled by the leaders from their. Then occasional punitive strikes when they get out of line

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Isnt that kinda what we are donig but very slowly?

TheDemSocialist said:

Read more @: Helmand Province Could Fall To The Taliban

The war against the Taliban in Afghanistan has always been an un-winable war.

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That's not really true. There were tons of things that could have been done to prevent this. The most obvious thing off the top of my head is simply not give unlimited money to Saudi Arabia and then use a ton of US resources to support Saudi Arabia and Afganistan's mujahideen terrorist army to fight Russia in the 1980's. We could have put diplomatic relations on Saudi Arabia that would have put pressure on them to stop financially supporting Wuhhabism/Salafism and the massive amount of effort that Saudi Arabia put into radicalizing Afganistan. George Bush could have given Afganistan the evidence that Osama bin Laden was the terrorist and tried to work diplomatically with the Afgani government, instead of bombing and invading Afganistan lightyears before diplomatic solutions were exhausted. After all, it's not like the invasion actually led to the capture of Osama bin Laden.

(But hey, I also think that we don't have any right to get involved in other countries unless citizens from those countries are fighting for democracy and it's not backed by the US, but the whole UN.)

TheDemSocialist said:

What would you do different than Obama? And are their any historical examples that we can draw from in conquering Afghanistan?

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The first mistake here is that we did not "conquer" Afghanistan. You are talking from a political belief here, and not the reality.

Fighting against any insurgency is a long term situation. Not one that is resolved by the waving of a hand and wishing things to go your way. Removing the Talibn was not all that hard at all, it was accomplished in a matter of weeks. What has taken longer was to help create a stable and self-sufficient nation that is able to protect itself. Myself, something I wish we had done decades ago when the Soviet Union left.

Of course, once the SOviets left, nobody seemed to give a damn about Afghanistan anymore. Not the USSR, not the US, not even the UN. They let it fester for almost 2 decades, then suddenly became concerned only when they started to destroy old statues. And even then, most of the world did not really give a damn.

Roadvirus said:

It's winnable if dealt with correctly.

Since Obama's been in office, he's done everything but that. Just like Iraq, he cut our military presence prematurely, and that's why the Taliban is resurging and ISIS is gaining foothold there. But instead, what does President Airhead consider the bigger concern? Global Warming. The man is a f-ing joke.

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The problem with our departure in Iraq is simply being repeated in Afghanistan.

The way we left Iraq is almost exactly like what happened when the USSR left Afghanistan. An unstable central government, poorly trained and equiped military, which were of little help when the country fell apart into anarchy and civil war. It happened 2 times now, and it is on the way to happening again for the third time. And yet people seem to be cheering on this very thing, not even giving a damn about the civilian casualties. All they care about is trying to prove that they are right politically.

This is why I have such a huge disgust for the political animals. They put their politics above everything else, and applauding when things go the way they predict because nothing was done in the first place. And to be blunt, not giving a **** when civilians die in the process. To them, being "politically correct" is much more important then things like lives.

This is retarded. What are we trying to do there at this point?
Remove the Taliban? Not going to happen.
Turn a country that likes 1015 AD more than 2015 AD into a hip and progressive country? Not gonna happen.
Make more money for the war machine while we fart around with human lives? Bingo we have a winner!

Obama is sure earning that Nobel Peace Prize!

2 of my friends died in Helmand and another lost his leg. A lot of British blood spilled in that region and pretty much all for nothing.

Lord Tammerlain said:

Look at the Mughal empire

The only way is to invade, have the local rules claim loyalty then leave Afghanistan to be directly ruled by the leaders from their. Then occasional punitive strikes when they get out of line

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Gosh, if only we knew that back in Indochina. So simple when brilliant military minds are at work, eh?