US reaches deal with Taliban--Big F#$king deal.

[AndyS]

That's like saying the US made a deal with the Hell's Angels that says the Banditos won't attend Sturgis.

When is it going to be clear that THERE IS NO GOVERNMENT IN AFGHANISTAN AND NEVER WAS OR WILL BE.

Afghanistan consists of a bunch of tribal warlords bound together by terrain and hostile neighboring countries. Left to their own they have constantly fought little territorial skirmishes with each other. When a foreign power invades they bind together under the concept of the enemy of our enemy is our friend. Once they defeat the invader--and they always do--they go back to infighting and back biting.

The difference now is that we leave behind an air force, heavy artillery and state of the art crew served weaponry for them to fight over.

If we are lucky they'll be so involved with which warlord gets all those goodies and oppresses the citizenry they won't have time to fuck up the rest of the region.

[maxsolomon]

1. Another binary opinion about a complex situation.

"THERE IS NO GOVERNMENT IN AFGHANISTAN AND NEVER WAS OR WILL BE".

There have been governments all along; they just don't measure up to your standards.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

2. I suspect AndyS meant a central government. They've never had anything like that. n/t

[AndyS]

3. I beg to disagree. Put lipstick on a pig and call it Marie

it's still a pig. I stand by my assessment; the region is not a country. It is a collection of warlords and tribes that do not and will never be responsive to a central government. It always has been and always will be.

That is why it is the place Empires go to Die. Most recently ask Russia. The US joins a not very exclusive club made up of those who refuse to learn from history.