MOAB Dropped in Afghanistan

[heydaralon]

The taliban kept the dope off their streets and were no friends of wahabi Saudi dick suckers. They were completely uninvolved with 9/11.

We are still there.

They were kind of friends with the Wahabbists though. Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states use their governments and private charities to promote their version of Islam around Asia. They look at promising areas to set up a religious school, or fund a project, find the guys whose beliefs line up the closest to theirs and give them money. The Taliban practice at form of Islam called Deobandism. Its not identical to Wahabbism in the terms of what it believes and what is expects from its adherents, but it is pretty close. As a result, money has poured in from the Gulf States to the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan. They were getting money for years.

[TheReal_ND]

Hmm. Maybe so.

[Smitty-48]

The Taliban are Wahhab, but as they are fighting ISIS, who are also Wahhab, clearly, Wahhab is not a monolith, other factors come into play, on the Wahhab threat spectrum, the Taliban are localized to Afpak, unlike AQ and ISIS, the Taliban have never taken the fight to the West.

Even as they've been at war with the West in Afghanistan, that still hasn't incited them to launch terrorist attacks outside of the theatre, it's not like the Taliban are going to come to Paris and blow themselves up. They've only ever attacked those who have intruded in their territory, while they were in their territory.

[TheReal_ND]

Well it's a whole long spiel anyway. James Bomd movies where we save AQ or Rambo III where he fights side by side with Bin Laden. The whole thing is weird and unnecessary. I was ok with the taliban personally.

[heydaralon]

The Taliban are Wahhab, but as they are fighting ISIS, who are also Wahhab, clearly, Wahhab is not a monolith, other factors come into play, on the Wahhab threat spectrum, the Taliban are localized to Afpak, unlike AQ and ISIS, the Taliban haven't never taken it to the west. Even as they've been at war with the west in Afghanistan, that still hasn't incited them to launch terrorist attacks outside of the theatre, it's not like the Taliban are going to come to Paris and blow themselves up.

Its weird how all this fundamentalist shit gets subsidized by the Gulf, yet these fundamentalist groups are fighting each other as viciously as they are fighting infidels. At the risk of making another poor Vietnam comparison, It almost reminds me how Vietnam and Cambodia were both influenced by Marxist thought, but immediately started to grab each other by the throat once America left the area.

I forget what Afghan ISIS is called. Khorasan or something... Anyway, I remember reading an article awhile back where the journalist awkwardly brought up the fact that our biggest enemy (IS) was getting stopped by our second biggest enemy (Taliban). Maybe if we stay their long enough, IS will take the Taliban's spot and will be viewed as the lesser of two evils when whoever comes along is even more fucked up...

[heydaralon]

Hmm. Maybe so.

I'm not arguing with your point about the Taliban not being behind 9/11. Sadly, that is a distinction that most Americans failed to make.

[TheReal_ND]

Moot point. We actively help rebels so there is no telling what we end up with.

[Smitty-48]

Its not a "poor" Vietnam comparison, because the folly in Vietnam was the Domino Theory and viewing the "Communists" as a monolith.

Originally, the whole reason that the US got involved in Vietnam, was the Chinese Communists coming to the Vietnamese border, and America is like "Uh-oh, here we go, they're going to take over all of Indochina and run it from Beijing", when in fact, the Vietnamese and the Chinese are sworn enemies going back a thousand years, and the only reason they were working together in Vietnam, was because the US was in Vietnam, as soon as the US withdrew, China and Vietnam went back to being sworn enemies and it has been the VIetnamese who were the Bulwark who kept the Chinese Communists from taking over Indochina.

So you're exactly right, it's the same situation with the Islamists, the whole Islamist threat has become the new Domino Theory, where they are treated as a monolith who are all on the same side, when in fact, they're not. ISIS actually despises the Taliban, they are out to exterminate them, the Taliban are basically switiching to trying to defend their territory from the West, to tryng to defend it from ISIS.

[heydaralon]

The Taliban are Wahhab, but as they are fighting ISIS, who are also Wahhab, clearly, Wahhab is not a monolith, other factors come into play, on the Wahhab threat spectrum, the Taliban are localized to Afpak, unlike AQ and ISIS, the Taliban have never taken the fight to the West.

Even as they've been at war with the West in Afghanistan, that still hasn't incited them to launch terrorist attacks outside of the theatre, it's not like the Taliban are going to come to Paris and blow themselves up. They've only ever attacked those who have intruded in their territory, while they were in their territory.

At one point we tried negotiating with the Taliban in Lisbon (I think). Pakistan promptly cracked down on the Taliban. The trouble is, they only went after the ones who attempted peace with the Americans. Since there are a bunch of different Taliban groups, and the ISI does not really make an effort to stop the ones who manufacture IEDs in Pakistan and seek sanctuary in the FATA after killing Americans, it is safe to say that Pakistan is pretty much fine with Afghanistan being a failed state. In their minds, it is better to have a weak broken Afghanistan, than a unified one that is allied to India. Pakistan is as much a hindrance to peace in this theater as the Taliban are. Pakistan and Saudi Arabia tie for first place as America's worst allies. Why is it that in every middle eastern conflict we always end up in a spot where our friends and enemies are virtually indistinguishable?

[TheReal_ND]

Taliban was fairly strong in Afghanistan prior to 9/11. The only real fallout they had was when we said they were harboring Osama. Since th n it's not been the same. In fact there is hardly a regime that doesn't stipulate "we can win if the USAF doesn't get involved.

Gas.

Lmao