Comments on: Can We Buy Our Way Out Of The Afghanistan Conflict? http://donklephant.com/2009/10/11/can-we-buy-our-way-out-of-the-afghanistan-conflict/ Big Teeth. Huge Ass. Surprisingly Reasonable. Tue, 14 Feb 2012 14:03:13 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Nick Benjamin http://donklephant.com/2009/10/11/can-we-buy-our-way-out-of-the-afghanistan-conflict/comment-page-1/#comment-563468 Nick Benjamin Thu, 15 Oct 2009 03:04:57 +0000 http://donklephant.com/?p=17066#comment-563468 Bribing the Taliban to form pro-US militias wouldn't solve the Karzai problem, but it would certainly create a force we could rely on. Karzai will require a different solution. Perhaps a runoff administered directly by the UN? Bribing the Taliban to form pro-US militias wouldn’t solve the Karzai problem, but it would certainly create a force we could rely on.

Karzai will require a different solution. Perhaps a runoff administered directly by the UN?

]]> By: blackoutyears http://donklephant.com/2009/10/11/can-we-buy-our-way-out-of-the-afghanistan-conflict/comment-page-1/#comment-562551 blackoutyears Mon, 12 Oct 2009 20:46:12 +0000 http://donklephant.com/?p=17066#comment-562551 I don't see the part of this discussion which concerns the lack of any legitimate gov't or reliable indigenous peacekeeping force. Money isn't going to solve those problems. Karzai is a punchline. I don’t see the part of this discussion which concerns the lack of any legitimate gov’t or reliable indigenous peacekeeping force. Money isn’t going to solve those problems. Karzai is a punchline.

]]> By: Agnostick http://donklephant.com/2009/10/11/can-we-buy-our-way-out-of-the-afghanistan-conflict/comment-page-1/#comment-562533 Agnostick Mon, 12 Oct 2009 14:00:03 +0000 http://donklephant.com/?p=17066#comment-562533 We offered a better price than AQ <i>while we were there</i>. What is happening, as we begin evacuating certain areas? <a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=113724492" rel="nofollow">NPR just happens to have a story on this.</a> If I understand it correctly, the natives are loyal to us when we pay them; when we leave, they go to work for the next-highest bidder, which in the case of Iraq is turning out to be the tribal leaders. Is "tribal leader" just another way of saying "warlord?" Could we end up with something that resembles Somalia, when it's all over? What happens if/when a tribal leader buys into AQ? Agnostick agnostick@excite.com We offered a better price than AQ while we were there. What is happening, as we begin evacuating certain areas? NPR just happens to have a story on this.

If I understand it correctly, the natives are loyal to us when we pay them; when we leave, they go to work for the next-highest bidder, which in the case of Iraq is turning out to be the tribal leaders. Is “tribal leader” just another way of saying “warlord?” Could we end up with something that resembles Somalia, when it’s all over? What happens if/when a tribal leader buys into AQ?

Agnostick
agnostick@excite.com

]]> By: Chris http://donklephant.com/2009/10/11/can-we-buy-our-way-out-of-the-afghanistan-conflict/comment-page-1/#comment-562530 Chris Mon, 12 Oct 2009 12:15:34 +0000 http://donklephant.com/?p=17066#comment-562530 I said that from the very beginning, just drop a trillion dollars on Iraq and we never would've needed to send troops in. (you get the idea) But then the industrial-military complex never would've been able to make billions of dollars off of killing people. I said that from the very beginning, just drop a trillion dollars on Iraq and we never would’ve needed to send troops in. (you get the idea)

But then the industrial-military complex never would’ve been able to make billions of dollars off of killing people.

]]> By: Nick Benjamin http://donklephant.com/2009/10/11/can-we-buy-our-way-out-of-the-afghanistan-conflict/comment-page-1/#comment-562421 Nick Benjamin Mon, 12 Oct 2009 00:42:09 +0000 http://donklephant.com/?p=17066#comment-562421 "Buy our way out of it"? That's a huge oversimplification of what happened in Iraq. There AQ would murder bunch of Shi'as, some Shi'a militiamen would take revenge on random Sunnis. And the only criminals the government was serious about going after were AQ because the government was dependent on support from the parties that created the Shi'a militias. The money helped, by showing we were serious about protecting innocent Sunis, but it was by no means the only part of the strategy. But I'm actually surprised McChrystal isn't already doing this. Heck I'm pretty surprised the warlords aren't doing it. One of our major advantages is money. Compared to the Taliban the Pentagon budget is unlimited. It seems pretty foolish for us to not take advantage of that. “Buy our way out of it”?

That’s a huge oversimplification of what happened in Iraq. There AQ would murder bunch of Shi’as, some Shi’a militiamen would take revenge on random Sunnis. And the only criminals the government was serious about going after were AQ because the government was dependent on support from the parties that created the Shi’a militias.

The money helped, by showing we were serious about protecting innocent Sunis, but it was by no means the only part of the strategy.

But I’m actually surprised McChrystal isn’t already doing this. Heck I’m pretty surprised the warlords aren’t doing it.

One of our major advantages is money. Compared to the Taliban the Pentagon budget is unlimited. It seems pretty foolish for us to not take advantage of that.

]]> By: michael reynolds http://donklephant.com/2009/10/11/can-we-buy-our-way-out-of-the-afghanistan-conflict/comment-page-1/#comment-562414 michael reynolds Sun, 11 Oct 2009 23:46:54 +0000 http://donklephant.com/?p=17066#comment-562414 <i>Give a man a fish…</i> Or as they say in Afghanistan: Give a man opium and he's high for a day; teach a man to grow opium and he makes a living. Give a man a fish…

Or as they say in Afghanistan: Give a man opium and he’s high for a day; teach a man to grow opium and he makes a living.

]]> By: Tweets that mention Donklephant » Blog Archive » Can We Buy Our Way Out Of The Afghanistan Conflict? -- Topsy.com http://donklephant.com/2009/10/11/can-we-buy-our-way-out-of-the-afghanistan-conflict/comment-page-1/#comment-562413 Tweets that mention Donklephant » Blog Archive » Can We Buy Our Way Out Of The Afghanistan Conflict? -- Topsy.com Sun, 11 Oct 2009 23:46:34 +0000 http://donklephant.com/?p=17066#comment-562413 [...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Mr. Meta. Mr. Meta said: DONKLEPHANT: Can We Buy Our Way Out Of The Afghanistan Conflict? http://ow.ly/15Uhrj [...] [...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Mr. Meta. Mr. Meta said: DONKLEPHANT: Can We Buy Our Way Out Of The Afghanistan Conflict? http://ow.ly/15Uhrj [...]

]]> By: kranky kritter http://donklephant.com/2009/10/11/can-we-buy-our-way-out-of-the-afghanistan-conflict/comment-page-1/#comment-562407 kranky kritter Sun, 11 Oct 2009 23:02:11 +0000 http://donklephant.com/?p=17066#comment-562407 It's about lots of things. IMO, it's not NOT about religion. But as you imply, people act along the lines of Mazlow's hierarchy of needs. It's about food, clothing, and shelter for most people before it's about philosophy or spirituality. Thus really shouldn't surprise anyone. It feels sort of inflammatory to me to describe providing resources to Afghans as "buying our way out of it." Providing resources obviously must be part of the equation, and it'snot especially useful to put money into a separate category from other resources like food, infrastructure, and so on. I've stated my skepticism on the possibility of success in Afghanistan before. But if we are to succeed there, we must inject resources along with fostering a stable and sustainable environment that can endure after we leave and after we stop supporting Afghanis and their economy and government. Give a man a fish... . Even if you undertake to teach a man to fish, he must eat while he is learning, no? So no, we can't JUST buy our way out of it. But yes, we must expend substantial resources of various types, including cash, if we want to succeed. It’s about lots of things. IMO, it’s not NOT about religion. But as you imply, people act along the lines of Mazlow’s hierarchy of needs. It’s about food, clothing, and shelter for most people before it’s about philosophy or spirituality. Thus really shouldn’t surprise anyone.

It feels sort of inflammatory to me to describe providing resources to Afghans as “buying our way out of it.”

Providing resources obviously must be part of the equation, and it’snot especially useful to put money into a separate category from other resources like food, infrastructure, and so on.

I’ve stated my skepticism on the possibility of success in Afghanistan before. But if we are to succeed there, we must inject resources along with fostering a stable and sustainable environment that can endure after we leave and after we stop supporting Afghanis and their economy and government. Give a man a fish… . Even if you undertake to teach a man to fish, he must eat while he is learning, no?

So no, we can’t JUST buy our way out of it. But yes, we must expend substantial resources of various types, including cash, if we want to succeed.

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