Comments on: Study: The Taliban Now Controls Most Of Afghanistan http://www.amptoons.com/blog/archives/2007/12/07/study-the-taliban-now-controls-most-of-afghanistan/ Feminist, anti-racist, pro-fat, plus whatever else we feel like talking about. Wed, 03 Dec 2008 08:17:10 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.2 By: Kevin Moore http://www.amptoons.com/blog/archives/2007/12/07/study-the-taliban-now-controls-most-of-afghanistan/#comment-312168 Kevin Moore Fri, 07 Dec 2007 20:25:36 +0000 http://www.amptoons.com/blog/archives/2007/12/07/study-the-taliban-now-controls-most-of-afghanistan/#comment-312168 Oh, don't be so smug, Mr. America-Hater. You want the terrorists to win! Oh, don’t be so smug, Mr. America-Hater. You want the terrorists to win!

]]> By: RonF http://www.amptoons.com/blog/archives/2007/12/07/study-the-taliban-now-controls-most-of-afghanistan/#comment-312130 RonF Fri, 07 Dec 2007 17:03:06 +0000 http://www.amptoons.com/blog/archives/2007/12/07/study-the-taliban-now-controls-most-of-afghanistan/#comment-312130 <i>the fact that the Taliban is controlling much of Afghanistan cannot, alas, reasonably be disputed at this point.</i> True, apparently. The milblogs have been predicting the resurgence of the Taliban due to it's control of the drug trade for at least a year. It doesn't mean that Afghanistan is a lost cause, but what it does mean is that the lessons learned in Iraq need to be applied there. The Taliban are resurgent in great part because they get huge profits from the drug trade. If economic development at a micro level as well as at a macro level to give people a viable economic alternative to growing poppies, it would hit the Taliban in their finances. Afghanis don't appear to embrace the Taliban, but they live with them because right now it's their most viable choice. Defeating the Taliban will come when Afghanis have better choices. That will take the military to support security, but it will be grounded in economic assistance and development. the fact that the Taliban is controlling much of Afghanistan cannot, alas, reasonably be disputed at this point.

True, apparently. The milblogs have been predicting the resurgence of the Taliban due to it’s control of the drug trade for at least a year. It doesn’t mean that Afghanistan is a lost cause, but what it does mean is that the lessons learned in Iraq need to be applied there. The Taliban are resurgent in great part because they get huge profits from the drug trade. If economic development at a micro level as well as at a macro level to give people a viable economic alternative to growing poppies, it would hit the Taliban in their finances. Afghanis don’t appear to embrace the Taliban, but they live with them because right now it’s their most viable choice. Defeating the Taliban will come when Afghanis have better choices. That will take the military to support security, but it will be grounded in economic assistance and development.

]]> By: Silenced is Foo http://www.amptoons.com/blog/archives/2007/12/07/study-the-taliban-now-controls-most-of-afghanistan/#comment-312092 Silenced is Foo Fri, 07 Dec 2007 14:37:30 +0000 http://www.amptoons.com/blog/archives/2007/12/07/study-the-taliban-now-controls-most-of-afghanistan/#comment-312092 Is that 50% by population or by area? Because I'd always understood that Afghanistan was pretty much "Nato Kabul and anarchy everywhere else". Is that 50% by population or by area? Because I’d always understood that Afghanistan was pretty much “Nato Kabul and anarchy everywhere else”.

]]> By: Mold http://www.amptoons.com/blog/archives/2007/12/07/study-the-taliban-now-controls-most-of-afghanistan/#comment-312083 Mold Fri, 07 Dec 2007 13:05:26 +0000 http://www.amptoons.com/blog/archives/2007/12/07/study-the-taliban-now-controls-most-of-afghanistan/#comment-312083 Hi, Ted Rall wrote about the return of the Taliban quite some time ago. How is it that a cartooning engineer can be so correct and the Bush/Cheney administration can't? Hi,

Ted Rall wrote about the return of the Taliban quite some time ago. How is it that a cartooning engineer can be so correct and the Bush/Cheney administration can’t?

]]> By: drydock http://www.amptoons.com/blog/archives/2007/12/07/study-the-taliban-now-controls-most-of-afghanistan/#comment-312068 drydock Fri, 07 Dec 2007 11:02:43 +0000 http://www.amptoons.com/blog/archives/2007/12/07/study-the-taliban-now-controls-most-of-afghanistan/#comment-312068 A recent BBC poll of Afghans and how they think things are going: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7124450.stm A recent BBC poll of Afghans and how they think things are going:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7124450.stm

]]>