The Battle for Marjah: US Must Win with Both Hands Tied Behind it's Back

somewhere along the line war changed...........

In the old days it meant we used OVERWHELMING FORCE, decimated the
place taking out all key roads bridges and utilities. Basically
destroyed the place making the residents homeless and helpless.

The we tried the new way vietnam, the clean humane war. Minimize at
all costs civilian casulaties, knock the power grid off line but do no
major long term damage, accept more troop losses for US, while trying
to be nice..And do it all WITHOUT overwhelming force....

Can this really be effective?

When we decimated the country we attacked the residents knew they lost
and needed us desperately to survive.

Plus we already had enough troops on site to provide pretty good
security

Now compare the old wars like WW1 & WW 2 with the transitional one
korea, cuba, vietnam, iraq and now afghanistan.

Its my sad belief the country being attacked must KNOW IT LOST, to
truly accept our help and reform its ways and become
respectable..........

Their hearts and minds must accept we lost theres no other way than
accept the US, and join them........

War is ugly, civilians die, and trying to have clean wars just drag
out the hostilties for all sides withno real conclusion.

Nce the US leaves iraq the problem will likely return..........

Plus the US cant be the worlds cop, theres too many bad guys and not
enough of us... Although this is a seperate issue

On Feb 21, 8:55*am, " wrote:
somewhere along the line war changed...........

In the old days it meant we used OVERWHELMING FORCE, decimated the
place taking out all key roads bridges and utilities. Basically
destroyed the place making the residents homeless and helpless.

The we tried the new way vietnam, the clean humane war. Minimize at
all costs civilian casulaties, knock the power grid off line but do no
major long term damage, accept more troop losses for US, while trying
to be nice..And do it all WITHOUT overwhelming force....

Can this really be effective?

When we decimated the country we attacked the residents knew they lost
and needed us desperately to survive.

Plus we already had enough troops on site to provide pretty good
security

Now compare the old wars like WW1 & WW 2 *with the transitional one
korea, cuba, *vietnam, iraq and now afghanistan.

Its my sad belief the country being attacked must KNOW IT LOST, to
truly accept our help and reform its ways and become
respectable..........

Their hearts and minds must accept we lost theres no other way than
accept the US, and join them........

War is ugly, civilians die, and trying to have clean wars just drag
out the hostilties for all sides withno real conclusion.

Nce the US leaves iraq the problem will likely return..........

Plus the US cant be the worlds cop, theres too many bad guys and not
enough of us... Although this is a seperate issue

But isn't a country, it's a variation on a fundamental image of a
religion. How do you "defeat" a religion?

On Feb 21, 12:30*pm, Pat Flannery wrote:
On 2/21/2010 6:04 AM, Jack Linthicum wrote:

But isn't a country, it's a variation on a fundamental image of a
religion. How do you "defeat" a religion?

Exile its leader from Tibet?
No, that didn't work...
I know...you convince them that sexual reproduction is a sin, and every
time they want to screw, they should make a piece of furniture instead:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shakers
In around 100 years they will be almost all gone, and the collector's
value of their furniture will go right through the roof, despite the
fact that each member of the religion made enough to furnish a large hotel.

Pat

Better than the voiced alternative. One billion dead would drive up
the cost of land, just for the burial.

On 2/21/2010 4:00 AM, Jack Linthicum wrote:


Another county heard from

http://www.phrases.org.uk/bulletin_b...sages/368.html

The TR quote ("To put into words what is in their hearts and minds but
not in their mouths.") only vaguely resembles the "got them by the
balls" one. In fact, it sounds like something out of Homer's Iliad, or
at least Fagles' translation of it. :-)
I could certainly picture Senator Mendel Rivers coming up with something
like that, as to me it has the stamp of the south on it.
Alexander Haig just passed away, and he said one of the wittiest things
I've ever heard. He was smoking a cigar at a party, and a reporter got a
look at the company ID ring around it, and realized it was a Cuban brand.
Reporter: "General! _You_ smoking a Cuban cigar?"
Haig: "I prefer to think of it as burning Castro's crops." :-D

Pat

wrote in message
...

When we decimated the country we attacked the residents knew they lost
and needed us desperately to survive.

It's Afghanistan, they expect to lose, expect to be decimated, and expect
their irregular tactics to triumph in the end, as they have done for the
past 2,000 years.

--
William Black


I've seen things you people wouldn't believe.
Barbeques on fire by the chalets past the castle headland
I watched the gift shops glitter in the darkness off the Newborough gate
All these moments will be lost in time, like icecream on the beach
Time for tea.

Jack Linthicum wrote:
{snip}


But isn't a country, it's a variation on a fundamental image of a
religion. How do you "defeat" a religion?

Ask the Spanish Inquisition they succeeded several times.
Both in Europe and South America, including parts of the USA that
used to be Mexico.

Andrew Swallow

"Andrew Swallow" wrote in message
news
Jack Linthicum wrote:
{snip}


But isn't a country, it's a variation on a fundamental image of a
religion. How do you "defeat" a religion?

Ask the Spanish Inquisition they succeeded several times.
Both in Europe and South America, including parts of the USA that
used to be Mexico.

Andrew Swallow

Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!

On 2/21/2010 6:04 AM, Jack Linthicum wrote:

But isn't a country, it's a variation on a fundamental image of a
religion. How do you "defeat" a religion?

Exile its leader from Tibet?
No, that didn't work...
I know...you convince them that sexual reproduction is a sin, and every
time they want to screw, they should make a piece of furniture instead:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shakers
In around 100 years they will be almost all gone, and the collector's
value of their furniture will go right through the roof, despite the
fact that each member of the religion made enough to furnish a large hotel.

Pat

On Feb 21, 12:02*pm, "Roger Conroy"
wrote:
"Andrew Swallow" wrote in message

news
Jack Linthicum wrote:
{snip}

But isn't a country, it's a variation on a fundamental image of a
religion. How do you "defeat" a religion?

Ask the Spanish Inquisition they succeeded several times.
Both in Europe and South America, including parts of the USA that
used to be Mexico.

Andrew Swallow

Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!

Anyone aware that the Conversos outlasted the Inquistion?

http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/.../Marranos.html

William Black wrote:

wrote in message
...

When we decimated the country we attacked the residents knew they lost
and needed us desperately to survive.

It's Afghanistan, they expect to lose, expect to be decimated, and
expect their irregular tactics to triumph in the end, as they have done
for the past 2,000 years.

There's nothing special about Aghanistan. Much, if not most, of the
world has pretty much done the same thing for thousands of years too.
The rule of thumb is, if you get attacked and you lose, and there are
many more of you than there are invaders, eventually you assimilate
them, or often enough the invaders leave for other reasons. But since
you retain your ethnic identity, you never actually really lost.

There's this kind of notion that Afghanistan is some kind of unique
place that has resisted invaders for several millennia. They are
certainly not unique in this.

The Afghanis could certainly be conquered in a much more fundamental way
if we were taking about more than transitory military occupations. They
are not immune to whole scale migrations any more than anyone else is.
Except who in their right mind would want to migrate to Afghanistan?

AHS