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Old 03-26-2012, 00:28   #9
Old Dog New Trick
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Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Just above the flood plain in Southern Texas
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Who said anything about "isolationism", that would be the farthest from where we go from here (Afghanistan) and the ME in general.

There are many countries in the world that would benefit from a fraction of the money being spent (wasted) in Afghanistan/Pakistan right now. Remember Sumatra, that place that got washed into the ocean along with half the Indian Ocean in 2004? Yeah, they are Muslims (87%) and they could desperately use our help to rebuild their infrastructure. The list of countries that would actually benefit from our goodwill is long, and the long term affects of reaching out expecting nothing in return would do wonders to our own credibility. I don't even put Japan off the table, they are a huge trading partner and we are a big consumer of Japanese products. To let them go it alone after last years tsunami is a big mistake.

I'm not saying we can't or shouldn't provide assistance to Afghanistan, but it doesn't need to be an all or nothing solution. There are areas (provinces) that we may never establish control of or rid the Taliban of control of these areas and that should be part of the strategy that is overlooked by both the civilian and military leadership. There are parts of the United States that the government willfully neglects as a domestic policy so why is it that we have to convert all of Afghanistan to meet our objectives?

The idea is not to isolate ourselves, but to isolate our enemies so they do not have the ability or resources to cause harm. That should be easy enough!
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