Re: [OpenHeroQuest] We have got the Maxim gun...

From: Andrew Solovay <asolovay_at_49Q8XQgLmwrPwXof2ss20kkF_EiyzW-S93stWXLHW7pcBBo_D3V0TBetjV0RSbOHcdq>
Date: Wed, 10 Dec 2003 11:39:02 -0800

Julian Lord <jlord_at_l9CEP87_FIJJ3xBI5qToEIfaIBY_4GlHabcrKGeZX5nF1XCNvZbDobhaIUGs-YIysT15.yahoo.invalid> wrote:
> Andrew :
>
>> We were able to actually conquer [Afghanistan], on account of we're
>> Americans and we pass stones bigger than a European's balls. But we
>> still can't turn it into a country, and we're not really trying.
>> Once we've got Iraq settled, we'll quietly move our folks out of
>> "Afghanistan" and let it slump back down to its primordial anarchy.
>
> i.e. you haven't conquered the place, just joined the ranks of the
> local warlords.
>
> Sounds suspiciously similar to Soviet history in the place ...

Ah, but our little secret is--we weren't ever really intending to rule the place, unlike the Soviets. We wanted to end its usefulness to al-Qaeda (check), kill and capture a whole lot of the al-Qaeda members (check), bring down the Taliban government (check), and make the world aware that fucking with the US is a dangerous proposition (check, check, check). We did not intend to, and will not, make Afghanistan into a central-asian Iowa. But we'll accomplish what we need to.

As it happens, Afghanistan is a better place to live now than it was three years ago. There are worse things than living in a country run by warlords. I wouldn't like it myself, but I'd hate it a lot less than living under the Taliban...