$10,000 Taliban destroy $200 million dollars worth of Jets

[Techniec]

Trust Fall - By Felisa "Farzana" Dyrud and Davood Moradian | Foreign Policy

Eleven years into the U.S. war in Afghanistan, both Americans and Afghans seem to be left with more questions than answers. In just the past few weeks, the joint war effort has seen a steady drumbeat of setbacks: A disastrous insurgent attack on the heavily fortified Camp Bastion in Helmand cost the lives of two Marines and over $180 million in damage. Eight civilian Afghan women were killed in an airstrike on an insurgent position in Logar province. Twelve people, mostly foreign aid workers, were killed on Sept. 18 by a female suicide bomber in Kabul. And the last fortnight saw four more "green-on-blue" attacks, including the Sept. 30 clash in which both Americans and Afghans were killed, bringing the total to 53 coalition lives lost this year at the hands of their supposed allies.

 

[zerozero]

political solution required. problem is taliban won't agree to a normal style solution and want too much control, right?

 

[88m3]

I don't feel like we're seeing the real or full picture.


fp has really good articles reading now ~

 

[Shogun]

Large part of the problem is our soldiers are dropped in a combat zone then handcuffed by unreasonable codes of conduct.

Another part of the problem is there is no mission. We just sit around waiting to get attacked.

Need to get the fukk out, there is no winning over there

 

[daze23]

whoever has the contracts to replace those jets is "winning"

 

[Shogun]

whoever has the contracts to replace those jets is "winning"

Very true

 

[BlvdBrawler]

Those shyts are expensive as hell. That's like 1 and a half jets, max.

 

[Shogun]

Those shyts are expensive as hell. That's like 1 and a half jets, max.

Also true, presenting it in terms of monetary value is intentionally misleading

 

[Good Guy Guevara]

whoever has the contracts to replace those jets is "winning"

There not getting replaced. Last one came off the assembly line in 03.

 

[daze23]

There not getting replaced. Last one came off the assembly line in 03.

that was just one example. but they will have to be replaced one way or the other if we're to maintain the number we think we need for whatever

 

[88m3]

that was just one example. but they will have to be replaced one way or the other if we're to maintain the number we think we need for whatever

Cryptic

 

[daze23]

yall ever peep this airplane junkyard on google earth?

https://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&so...826216&spn=0.032263,0.083685&t=h&z=14&iwloc=A

 

[88m3]

yall ever peep this airplane junkyard on google earth?

https://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&so...826216&spn=0.032263,0.083685&t=h&z=14&iwloc=A

Damn Military Industrial Complex...

I think we use them for parts

It's crazy to think about how much money is sitting there.

You can zoom in a lot more than you could a few years ago.

 

[daze23]

Damn Military Industrial Complex...

I think we use them for parts

It's crazy to think about how much money is sitting there.

You can zoom in a lot more than you could a few years ago.

yeah it zooms in to that other view that looks like it was taken from a plane (as opposed to a satilite)

I hope they do use that for parts. in fact you can see one section is just random parts. but eventually they're gonna all be parts for outdated shyt, and they'll have to do something with all that crap

 

[Techniec]

political solution required. problem is taliban won't agree to a normal style solution and want too much control, right?

The Taliban is split. Its political wing understands that the circumstances are not what they were in 1994, that other political actors (Karzai, Northern Alliance) need to be collaborated with and that Al Qaeda needs to be cut loose. They also favour a gradual withdrawl of US forces and continued Intl commitment

The military wing feels the US is on its way out, that the entire country can be retaken, and that they will never reconcile with Karzai.

Which ever one gains strength depends on who the US decides to empower.

Continued war= empowers the military wing
Genuine negotiations= empowers the political wing

The Taliban are not stupid, even the most hardcore Talib has animosity towards the Pakistanis etc, but theyre caught between a rock and a hard place

If they reconcile with the Afghan govt without adequate measures, they risk a backlash from their hardline elements, Al Qaeda and their Pakistani hosts

Karzai and Northern Alliance types who want to maintain their position and gains of the last decade keep this in mind to fukk with the Taliban

its a dirty game