The Taliban collection (2006 onwards)

[Dayuhan]

Dayuhan, on this I agree on all but one point: Why do you include the Taliban on your target list?

I suspect if we would have been even a little bit more savvy on the nature of Afghan culture and Pashtunwali, that we could have worked a deal with Mullah Omar regarding his AQ guests that would have resolved much of this before it ever really began. That is equally true of what President Clinton did/failed to do prior to 9/11 and what President Bush did/failed to do after.

I include the Taliban because the rule should have been (IMO of course) that those who attack us or those who shelter those attackers will face awful and inevitable consequences. Of course the Taliban should have been - and were - given a chance to turn over bin Laden and his group voluntarily. I see no reason why savviness of Afghan culture or Pashtunwali needed to be an issue there. It is always good to understand others, but there are also times for making ourselves understood. This was one of them. I think if we'd cast our mission purely and explicitly as revenge, a concept well understood in that part of the world, and made it clear that we'd be out of there as soon as our business was finished, we'd have had an easier time.

Of course nobody knows where the path not taken would have led, and I could be wrong.

[carl]

I see no reason why savviness of Afghan culture or Pashtunwali needed to be an issue there. It is always good to understand others, but there are also times for making ourselves understood. This was one of them.

Good point. Sort of like what Napier told the people who were complaining that the suppression of suttee was not respectful of a different culture. I believe he said more or less you go ahead and follow your cultural practice, and if you do we will follow ours which will be to kill you. We sort of did that but didn't go far enough.

But as you say, we will never know. And it is a pretty big distortion of the concept of sanctuary to say they couldn't give up AQ.