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Originally Posted by NDD
What happens in A-stan if we runaway from Iraq?
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The same thing that has been happening up till now, only instead of just having problems primarily in the southern sectors it will expand to encompass the entire country. Instead of having two different arenas for foreign fighters to pick from, they will gravitate to the one area we still maintain a major presence in.
I cannot speak for Iraq as I have not had to take that trip yet, but as for good old IROA, I can say fairly confidently that a withdrawl in Iraq will serve only to intensify the conflict there.
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Originally Posted by x-factor
Pulling out of Iraq would allow us to focus more resources on Afghanistan and potentially, to win decisively.
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No Sir, I do not see that as a possibility. The only way to win decisively in Afghanistan is if the United States were to take complete control of everything there. The reason for this: AFGHANISTAN IS JUST A BATTLEFIELD.
I know thats a bold statement to make... but it didn't come from me. During my stay at lovely BAF, I had the opportunity to work with some of Afghanistan's finest... as well as Yemen, Iraq, Pakistan, and a host of others. From their point of view, Afghanistan has always been, and will always be just a battlefield. Its just the "hotspot" for everyone to go to fight there battles. Of course, the presence of the United States in the area intensifies the draw to foreigners looking to please allah, but none the less it would be the same without us.
Perhaps in 20+ years after a continuous CA/PSY OPS presence the hostilities of the locals will have broken down and as the children and women have been educated by the schools we've built and treated by the hospitals we've established, but even then that won't "decisively win" anything.
9 out of 10 Afghans I saw had ZERO education (and they're all "only farmers" too, LOL). In order to affect change in Afghanistan (and other muslim countries) their religious beliefs must be "watered down" through secularism until they don't grow up believing that Americans are infidels and the only way they can be assured heaven is by dying in a jihad. That will happen over time with a continued presence on the ground until the current generations children's children are old enough and intelligent enough not to take verbatum what the mullah puts out.
How long did it take for people to get used to the idea of desegregation in this country? Even today we still have people in the deep south that hold on to that history of violent, extremist racism and it will never totally disappear. In the same way, you will never totally eradicate fundamentalist islamist bent on destruction of the west. But over time, and with the necessary support, the popular opinion of muslims can change just as American's opinions did after the civil rights movements.
Just my opinion.