Quote Originally Posted by omarali50 View Post
Somehow I doubt that they consider the US army as being too nice or too constrained. They ARE less afraid of you than they are of the taliban...
'Too nice' is shorthand for not as brutal (or as dedicated) as the opposition, no more.
...because in the last year or two they have begun to think that the talibs are likely to win.
Or that we are more likely to leave sooner rather than later which is the same thing said a different way...
Its true that they dont like infidels and outsiders in general. But, they are people and they see which side their bread is buttered.
They are pragmatic, no question. They are also xenophobic so they are conflicted -- that makes them prone to go with the flow -- and the meanest, most likely to affect them long term.
If the infidels had set up a better regime AND appeared determined to win, they would go along with that.
Agreed. Problem is that said infidels want to to do western things that aren't always in tune with what's needed and are influenced by those who have personal ideas, not necessarily 'good of Afghans' ideas.
Also, lets not generalize TOO much.
The population of primary concern is covered by those generalizations -- the others are more easily assuaged as you point out.
Having said all that, I think if the US actually decides to stick around, the nutcases who are increasingly dominant on the Pakistani side of the border (the arabs and uzbeks and punjabi taliban) will prove to be their own worst enemies. They will kill mercilessly and almost randomly, provide no real service, butt into everyone's private life and generally make Karzai look slightly better by comparison....but only slightly better.
Agreed -- and that's the problem; the sticking around bit. To be determined, as they say...