Michael Yon

His ideas seem sensible. The 'Ghan has always been a mountainous, virtually impassable land of small capricious tribes. The harsh geography really shapes politics and people's mindsets. If it was a fertile land with good rainfall, covered by lightly wooded terrain of small rolling foothills, you could apply a baseline nation-building approach. The 'Ghan is a baking desert with some of the steepest terrain in the world -- and no paved roads.

For anyone who is unaware of the schismatic nature of Afghanistan I would suggest Stephen Tanner's Afghanistan: A Military History from Alexander the Great to the Taliban.

It's very readable and will give a sense of the history of independence in Afghanistan and why the only way a Central Government can work there is when it is imposed by the bloody methods of Genghis Khan and the Taliban. Not a method that the western powers is likely to emulate.

the battle is with the default setting of leaving them alone versus spreading freedom and civilization.
it always has been.
multiculturalism (spelled:marxism) dictates to liberals that we should never touch an afghani, ever, lest we blaspheme the great karl whilst every other dictator or tyrant be allowed free reign over havana, moscow,beijing, pyongyang,saigon etc.
this battle has been going on since may 45 when it was us against the reds without the chermns to fight over.
we either have an expeditionary force deployed throughout the world in constant police mode or we will be killed off one by one. there is no hiding from them and our allies really (other than a few who zero is backstabbing) cant be bothered. the only reason the usleft hasnt abandoned this war is because they want rightdem votes for their destruction of the usa. just like in vn. we either increase our presence at the polls or we will be permanently serfs. God help the Afghans that want to be free and any other people yearning for what the liberals spit on.

GOD Bless our troops and their families and I pray they have a peace Blessed Thanksgiving. I pray they can achieve the goal and come home soon.I pray for the people there and that GOD will touch their hearts and minds and let them taste freedom as we do here.Many many thanks to all and GOD BLESS ONE AND ALL.

Wasn't this the setup Abdullah Abdullah was going for? A decentralized state. It worked for 30-40 years in the 20th century - the central government only came in when there was actually a rebellion.

Is there no other way for the USA to protect itself against terrorist attack than to battle in those chaotic areas of the world where there is no effective government? especially Afghanistan, but also Somalia, maybe the Congo, Yemen. Would it not be more effective and, ultimately, less costly in lives to suspend parts of the Bill of Rights to allow for more vigorous surveillance and pursuit of suspected malefactors in our own country? horrors, I have suggested sacrilege But isn't the likelihood of ongoing war also sacrilege? I think we may have to recognize that our wonderful, freewheeling, freeform society is deeply threatened. Fighting all over the world may in fact be slow economic suicide. We may degenerate to the point where our military prowess is all we are good at.

Isn't MP Holloway known for his pro-Palestinian and pro-AQ stances? I could be thinking of another MP...

Are you still on the biogas beat? Or are you headed back to the suck?

E.T. - Adam Holloway is a conservative MP, and former Army officer - http://www.adamholloway.co.uk/about.htm . The Centre for Policy Studies is a right-leaning think tank. There are no British MPs with a pro-AQ stance - think about what you're saying. You're probably thinking of George Galloway, who does support Palestinian causes (as do many on the left here), but is more notorious for meeting with Saddam Hussein several times. He ran a charity that was supposed to help poor Iraqis during sanctions in the 90s, but the details are a bit murky. He was kicked out of the Labour party, and joined a fringe party called Respect.

Try reading Michael Yon's reports from Afghanistan. He directed me to this site. Yon made me aware of the great fight that British Forces are taking to the Taliban. Bravo!!! Greetings from across the Atlantic from your American Brothers.