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I was there for the last elections and now, as was then, the vast majority of insurgent activity is along the border with Pakistan. There is no doubt in anybody's mind that the bad guys cross the border with impunity. I'm no expert, but it seems to me that the best way to fight them on Afghan soil is to whack 'em as they cross. Unfortunately, this is problematic. It's difficult at best to monitor all the BCPs. It's difficult to differentiate between the good guys and the bad guys. In some areas, the exact location of the border isn't even clear.
It would be ideal if Pakistan would clean house and deport, arrest or kill any and all extremists involved in cross-border excursions, and those that support them. While they're at it, they need to go in with bulldozers and level all of the bad guy's safe havens. Unfortunately, this won't work either, as Musharrif would face a rebellion, and all of Pakistan would slide back into the 7th century, but with nukes.
Perhaps it's been awhile since Karzai faced an assasination attempt, or widespread insurgent bombings, and he's feeling a little more confident than he should? Perhaps the ANA has come up to speed, and he feels that Afghan forces are ready for more responsibility? In any case, it's my opinion that he is sadly mistaken if he thinks that his Country and his military are ready to stand on their own two feet. Should the U.N. take over security ops, or should the U.S. pull out, he'll last all of about two weeks.
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“War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself." John Stuart Mill
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