[Lang]

You're absolutely right. To have any chance of preventing Afghanistan, and many other countries from reverting to fundamentalist Islamic Theocracies, we have to accomplish three things: destroy Al Qaeda and the Taliban, not allow any more Moslem youth to be radicalized, and to send the one's who have been radicalized to Paradise at either our hands or theirs. My best guess is this will take at the bare minimum 2-3 generations. Do we have the will to achieve this? Absolutely not! But at least in the meantime by keeping the terrorists busy over there, they're not busy over here. Derek.[/QUOTE]

Derek,

The aim is Ok but the execution impossible with the current approach.

The Taliban is only a local problem and just a matter of a bad government that we have decided to replace. Their governing methods are unacceptable to many in the west (I think we should mind our own business and look at the many more pressing problems in the world). They are no threat to the west other than by association because they make available their country to Al Qaeda who are the real threat. As mentioned above Al Qaeda can just pack up their camels and move to another country.

Al Qaeda is not a formed body in the accepted sense but more of an association of like minded people (a club if you will) with a strong "committee", club training and club outings. They are spread throughout the world and almost impossible to pierce through the heart. At the moment we are just chopping off fingers and toes with a couple of arms in bigger kills but they grow back before the dust clears.

With this kind if enemy the only major defeat they will suffer is through smart intelligence not by force of arms. We are chasing smoke in Afghanistan while being used as targets by the Taliban (and let's face it, by local warlords who have absolutely no interest in Islamic progress, only their own power). We are being bloodied by the opposition cheer leaders while hardly laying a glove on the real opposing team.

We have to find out what is the motivation - not just to take out the west- but the real motivation of WHY they want to take out the west, why they want to radicalize their youth.

We have to convince the Islamic leaders that moderation is the best for everyone. We have to convince our people that that others have a right to conduct their own affairs, even with "civil rights" as our politically correct society sees them, reduced. We need to reduce the confrontations on both sides. We need to pull Israel into line and stop their provocative behaviour towards the Palestinians with the lack of "rights" we crow about, illegal settlements etc. Both sides have got to stop acting in the name of God (Yes, he is the same guy on both sides). We have to get rid of the missionary zeal to gather numbers to our particular religions and laws based on religion - we have as many laws arising from the church as the Moslems do and it is only in recent years that the Christian Church stopped slaughtering people in their millions in the name of God. Islam is a moderate religion, Christianity is a moderate religion but both churches (who have little to do with religion) are radical.

Unfortunately all this is a fairy story. Self interest, power and wealth will continue to drive men and nations into the forseeable future and young men will continue to die on the field of battle as they have for the past 50,000 years since the first humans to leave the Rift Valley killed the second humans to leave the Rift Valley because they wanted to use their waterhole.

I think we should tail this discussion off to the thread's real focus to record the efforts of the boys working and dying in Afghanistan, and elsewhere, at the behest of their governments as soldiers must. No matter what falsehoods, incompetence or greed caused their presence on the battlefield soldiering is an honourable profession.

Lang