en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/702778 Comments by tyates http://buchanan.org/blog/the-american-way-of-abandonment-2816#IDComment41647127 As always, I am simply blown away by the quality of Pat's writing and analysis. Excellent article. One other point that hasn't been caught by the clueless media - the forces in Afghanistan are split, with 50% down South, hunting terrorists in the border mountains, and the other 50% protecting Kabul and Karzai. That means there are two missions - the first a special forces type operation, or cast that way, and the second is good old nation building. The special forces operation doesn't rely on troops - it relies on good intelligence and a competent partner on the ground. Having bases is actually counterproductive as it gives the terrorists a target. The nation building operation is a lost cause, unless the Pentagon has just developed a way of pacifying and providing security for 32m Afghanis with 50,000 US troops. And Karzai seems to be hiding behind the US shield to make unpopular decisions, making our job harder. It seems to be an application of the "security guarantee" principle that Pat writes about often. Tue, 3 Nov 2009 17:54:07 +0000 http://buchanan.org/blog/the-american-way-of-abandonment-2816#IDComment41647127