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Today in Afghanistan

By Joe Klein | @JoeKleinTIME | May 19, 2010 | +

Things are getting a bit hairy. After yesterday’s grisly attack on a U.S. convoy in Kabul, the Taliban attacked Bagram Airbase this morning. There was a certain futility to this attack, which may reflect the insurgents’ frustration with the efficacy of recent U.S. successes in wiping out the Taliban’s mid-level leadership…or it may just reflect the reality that the Taliban just ain’t going away. It is safe to say, though, that six months after President Obama’s West Point speech–and halfway toward the President’s next Af/Pak strategy review in December–not much has changed.

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  • grape_crush

    …it may just reflect the reality that the Taliban just ain’t going away.

    Maybe they aren’t going away because they live there, Joe…where would they go?

    Maybe you mean, “the Taliban haven’t had a change of heart about the US-led presence in their country”?

    And seeing how the Taliban is the de facto ‘government’ in Afghanistan, failing to ‘win their hearts and minds’ (not that I think that is possible) means that there’ always gonna be another attack.

  • allthingsinaname

    Nothing has changed, Joe. Nothing in the Press, nothing in politics, It is all the same as it ever was.
    .
    Instant gratification. Positive things take time and cost money, Joe, so we like the things to remain the same.
    .
    Depressing isn’t it?

  • nflfoghorn

    See also Reform, Health Care.

  • http://melissasouza.wordpress.com melissasouza

    Yes, they DO live there. That’s why the keys to the exit door for Afghanistan are in a political solution which incorporates the Taliban into the governing structure of the country. This is what the U.S. will be pushing for in the coming months. And maybe these attacks that Joe is pointing out is why the President looked so worried at his press conference this morning? Yesterday was a good night for Democrats, and the President had on one of the most dour expressions I’ve seen on him in a long time…..

  • Joe Klein

    “Maybe they aren’t going away because they live there, Joe…where would they go?”

    C’mon Grape, you don’t think I know that? Aren’t we allowed a bit of literary license here? If I were always literal, you’d be bored to tears.

    The problem here is that the answer is obvious, but difficult to achieve: reconciliation. The U.S. military is arguing, privately, that it needs to whack the Taliban some more, put them on the defensive, so that they’ll be more amenable to a deal. Karzai wants to move more rapidly, engage them right now. I think Karzai know a bit more about how to deal with Mullah Omar–he’s never more than a phone call away from the guy–than any American does. But that’s just me.

  • grape_crush

    That’s why the keys to the exit door for Afghanistan are…
    .
    We’re making our exit from Afghanistan contingent on whether or not the Taliban decide to participate in Karzai’s government?
    .
    …in a political solution which incorporates the Taliban into the governing structure of the country.
    .
    For all intensive purposes, the Taliban are the (crude and barbaric) ‘governing structure of the country’. I’m not quite sure the Taliban want to be incorporated in and subordinated to any government where they are not the ones in charge.

  • grape_crush

    Thanks for the responses.
    .
    Aren’t we allowed a bit of literary license here?
    .
    We all are, yes…wasn’t meaning to irk anyone, only to stress a point that everyone already should know.
    .
    The problem here is that the answer is obvious, but difficult to achieve: reconciliation.
    .
    So is there another viable answer? Like, maybe, leaving? Would it be possible to gather intel and focus on containinment and elimination of security threats without having to maintain a large military force? I don’t like to pin our hopes for (some sort of ill-defined) success in Afghanistan on whether or not the Taliban decides to join the team.
    .
    The U.S. military is arguing, privately, that it needs to whack the Taliban some more, put them on the defensive, so that they’ll be more amenable to a deal.
    .
    Why not? It’s worked so well for almost a decade, hasn’t it?
    .
    Karzai wants to move more rapidly, engage them right now.
    .
    Karzai’s on borrowed time, and he knows it. Either he makes nicey-nicey with the Taliban now or he’ll have everyone coming after him once the US leaves….No Taliban support, and Karzai’s Afghan government is limited to control of a city or two…and that only lasts until someone in the ANA decides they want to be in charge.
    .
    With Taliban support, he lasts maybe a little longer.
    .
    But that’s just me.

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