New Afghanistan

Forever War! Well, the Thirty Year War maybe.

See, Great Satan has been fiddling about with a semi nation state that is nigh inaccessible for America.

"...Washington has allied itself with radical m'Hammedists, fought against radical m'Hammedists or tried to negotiate with radical m'Hammedists. What Great Satan has never tried to do is impose a political solution through the direct application of American force.

"...This is a new and radically different phase of America’s Afghan obsession.

It's true bay bee! As P4 kinda sorted hinted - storming Taliban stronghold sanctuaries and reduxing Rules of Engagement could be interpreted as getting mean and scary and aside from kicking the cap up on the level of violence - what will future Afghanistan look like?

A shattered, scattered collection of mainly Pashtun tribal kleptocracies loosely confederated at times opposed and aided by key players like Great Satan, China, India, Iran and Pakistan?

"...Many Americans are now skeptical that even a stable and acceptable outcome in Afghanistan is possible. They believe that Afghanistan has never been administered effectively and is simply ungovernable.

"...Much of today's public opposition to the war centers on the widespread fear that whatever the military outcome, there is no Afghan political end state that is both acceptable and achievable at a reasonable cost.

"...In fact, there is a range of acceptable and achievable outcomes for Afghanistan. None is perfect, and all would require sacrifice. But it is a mistake to assume that Afghanistan is somehow ungovernable or that any sacrifice would be wasted in the pursuit of an unachievable goal. Afghanistan's own history offers ample evidence of the kind of stable, decentralized governance that could meet today's demands without abandoning the country's current constitution.

"...Success in Afghanistan will thus mean arriving at an intermediate end state, somewhere between ideal and intolerable.

Pic "Imposing Force"