McChrystal: Jobs could curb Taliban fighting

[laststeamtrain]

Source: USA TODAY

McChrystal: Jobs could curb Taliban fighting

By Tom Vanden Brook, USA TODAY
The top U.S. military commander in Afghanistan says many Taliban insurgents, particularly in the violence-plagued south, could be persuaded to stop fighting if they could find jobs in a stabilized country.

In an interview with USA TODAY, Gen. Stanley McChrystal said his No. 1 unmet need is to have functioning local governments in Afghanistan and officials who can provide basic services.

Many of the Taliban fight because they are paid to do so, McChrystal said, and they are the ones who might be persuaded to stop.

"What we see are indications that mid- and low-level commanders and fighters have a tremendous interest in trying to reintegrate into Afghan society, working with the government of Afghanistan so that they can go back to normal lives," McChrystal said in a phone interview from Kabul.

Read more: http://www.usatoday.com/news/military/2009-08-09-mcchrystal-afghanistan_N.htm

[Lasher]

1. Well duh.

That's just what we did in Iraq, pay them off. And just like in Iraq, we could buy the whole country for less than what we've been spending there.

[bertman]

2. This is precisely the message that Sarah Chayes, former NPR reporter, and now an

advocate for farming and economic coops in Afghanistan has been saying. But, according to her, the biggest problem is the corruption of the warlords who control local police and militia.

This is Vietnam all over again. Get out NOW!!

[Vidar]

3. The only thing our continued presence accomplishes is a very

successful recruitment drive for the Taliban.

[Octafish]

4. That's why President Kennedy started the Peace Corps.

JFK figured we could make friends by building stuff, like hospitals and schools.

Contrast that with the conservative's approach of getting people to do what they want through fear.

[sofa king]

5. Wow. Think of all the money we could have spent on that.

You know, over the past eight years when we were blowing a hundred billion a year on killing Afghanis instead of fixing their government and creating a stable economy.