They’re Ba-a-a-ack!
U.S. Army Gen. Austin Scott Miller assumed command of the 41-nation NATO mission in Afghanistan in a handover ceremony on Sunday.
This comes during a period in which both the Taliban and a bumped-up Islamic State affiliate have extensively increased their activity levels recently in Afghanistan.
https://www.militarytimes.com/flashpoints/2018/09/02/us-general-assumes-nato-command-in-afghanistan/
Nicholson called on the Taliban to accept the government’s offer of a cease-fire and renewed peace negotiations, saying “you don’t need to keep killing your fellow Afghans.”
Unfortunately, while we have been expending time, equipment, money and personnel on trying to “help” Pakistan and Afghanistan rid themselves of these two forms of pestilence, the Bad Guys are a lot like cockroaches and little black ants. You may kill off those you see in daylight, but at night they come out of the walls when they think you aren’t looking. Pesticides won’t kill them. A degreaser like Formula 409 does the job with ants and roaches much more efficiently and quickly, and it’s even better if you can find the nests and douse them with that stuff.
My advice to the good general and also to the Afghan and Paki governments is to find a really good “degreasing agent” of some sort that will smite them and kill the nests, too. Otherwise, Afghanistan and Pakistan are stuck with them.
Also, if we’re going to engage in siege warfare, learn to do it the right way. Cut off their supplies of all kinds, including medicine and water. Devastate the surrounding areas. It worked quite well at Sennacherib and Carthage. Gee, it even worked at Mosul a year or so ago.
Category: Afghanistan
“degreasing agent” – PD680 Cleaning Solvent
Form of expedited shipping to in-country users – MOAB
As Marvin the Martian said: “Hmmm…If I knew the Earthlings were going to destroy it themselves I never would have bought the Illudium Q-36 Space Modulator. Where’s the KABOOM? There was supposed to be an Earth-shattering KABOOM!!”
Sorry Marvin, no Earth shattering boom; just a great big sucking sound of American Treasury, a steady gushing of American Blood, and a feeling of disgust that other countries’ boys & girls are having to do what Afgani boys & girls should be doing. How many thousands of years has this been going on? Was it the Persians 1st and then Alexander?
Oh, it goes back WAAAAYYY further than the Parthians and/or Alexander.
Here’s a short list:
Pre-1700 BCE: the Ancient Middle East.
1700–1450 BCE: the Egyptian, Babylonian, and Hittite Empires.
600 BCE: the Median, Chaldean and Lydian Empires.
500 BCE: the Persian Empire.
323 BCE: Alexander’s Hellenistic Empire.
117 CE: the Roman and Parthian Empires
The earliest civilizations in history were established in the region now known as the Middle East around 3500 BC by the Sumerians, in Mesopotamia (Iraq), widely regarded as the cradle of civilization. The Sumerians and the Akkadians (later known as Babylonians and Assyrians) all flourished in this region.
And they all squabbled with each other.
In approximately 701 BCE, Sennacherib, king of Assyria, attacked the fortified cities of Judah, laying siege on Jerusalem, but failed to capture it. It is the only city mentioned as being besieged on Sennacherib’s Stele, but capture is not mentioned. And because the Hebrews occupying the site cut the flow of water from the city’s springs to outside the walls, Sennacherib’s troops suffered from thirst and then from plague, which is now thought to have been brought by mice carrying fleas loaded with cholera.
It is nothing new. The conflict is just a wash-rinse-repeat and I doubt that any of them even know what it’s about any more, but they do come up with excuses for it.
Yes’am, threw the Persian thing in to cover that whole 2 to 5,0000 year BCE, KJV Old Testament time frame. I figure it goes back to Abel’s people still being mad at Cain’s people, who were pissed at the sheep herders that wanted some of the goats, that were eating the poppy plants, that came in the Ming vases, watered by the frankensense and muir, carried on the Silk Road. Agree,too, with MSG Eric; as with the Vietnamese People, the average citizen don’t care, they just want to be left alone and not taxed to death by the opposing sides. You know, kinda like we are with the democans and the republicrats. 17 years is way yonder long enough for us to be bogged down in this crap.
You know, I don’t think they know how to do anything else.
In fact, in a war between humans and space aliens, I think they should ALL be at the front line, don’t you?
You dang Skippy! That’s all they know. And on the front lines, they would be fighting the aliens in the day, and killing their “allies” at night. (Where have we seen that?) For some stupid reason(s), world leaders don’t study history, much less learn any lessons from it. Get us out, no way or really any reason we can win.
C C R; The KABOOM is located on the bottom shelf in the Oriole Plaza Publix super market in West Delray Beach Florida. Most likely on a different shelf in another store. LOL.
Clown
Are all the Publix organized the same?
The Boynton Publix has the Kaboom in the same place!
I buy my Kaboom at Walmart Supercenter.
They are open 24/7 and sell ammo as well.
So if I need to buy more ammo and detergent at 0400, it’s all there in one place
Even if all “western” countries were wiped off the map and the entire world became “Islamic” they’d still be fighting with each other and coming up with excuses as to why “the other Islamists” are evil and need to be extinguished.
A solid majority of Afghans don’t give a rip roarin’ fuck who’s in charge in Kabul because it doesn’t really effect them. They just want to live their lives and be left alone.
The problem is, too often when they could make one simple phone call, they just decide to look the other way or not pay attention.
I remember having this conversation with a wise old man in the Green Zone of Dushanbe, Tajikistan. He said, “we must kill every last member of Al Queda and some factions of the Taliban. But, like it or not whatever government is formed in Kabul they will have to negotiate with some faction of the Taliban”. I believed him then and even more so now.
A recent report by the Overseas Development Institute in London describes Afghan life under the Taliban shadow government and corroborates the wise old man’s observation:
“The reach of Taliban governance demonstrates that they do not have to formally occupy territory to control what happens within it. Governance does not come after the capture of territory, but precedes it. The Taliban’s influence on services and everyday life extends far beyond areas they can be said to control or contest.”
Afghanistan has been referred to as “The Graveyard of Empires” and for good reason.
I am certainly curious about what those “negotiations” will cover.
Taliban; “God commands us to rule in his name”.
US; “How about we give you 40 acres and a
Toyota pickup truck?
Taliban; “God is not mocked! He demands control!”.
US; “How about we throw in some tea boys?
That seems work for the gov’t. guys?”
Taliban; “Depraved sinners! They will burn in
Hell! God orders us to cleanse the
land of such abomination!”
US; “Uh, how about all of the above, except
the tea boys, a 10K signing bonus for
all hands, and some gov’t. jobs; say
Minister of Parks & Recreation and
Council of Economic Advisors? With your
own staffs, of course?”.
Taliban; (sneeringly) ” Fine. We will compromise.
We will take all of the above and
Minister of Finance, head of National
Police, and Minister of Education.
current Minister of Internal Security
and Minister of Defence are
already ours so they may stay.
US; “Deal!!”
US Sec. of State at press conference; “Peace In Our Time! Mission Accomplished!”.
Follow the late Sen. Aiken’s alleged advice; “Declare victory and get the hell out!”.
Should be easy to do, we have been declaring victory for 17 years now.