- 09 Feb 2013 18:10
#14168713
That certainly pitches well, but when has ignoring problems ever solved a problem?
The simple fact of the matter is that in an increasingly global and interconnected world, ignoring a problem just does not work. Let's take a look at Pakistan. Its debatable about whether or not Pakistan has the ability to smash the Taliban in the NWFP. Certainly, given that the Taliban routinely places bombs across Pakistan, their venture into Swat, their targeting of polio vaccinators, there is certainly a case to be made of the difficulty faced by Pakistan. Perhaps even worse though is the corruption that spreads as the Taliban bribe or otherwise intimidate local officials into turning a blind eye to their drug smuggling and other criminality. It's literally the equivalent of having the mophia take over the American Mid-West while running drugs, weapons, and protection rackets in the rest of the country - not too mention bombing anyone in the rest of the country that begins to organize against them.
Do nothing, eh?
Well, let's add to the complexity a bit by remembering that Pakistan just happens to have nuclear weapons and blood feud with India. Already the daggers are drawn over Kashmere, and the thought of the Taliban getting control of nuclear weapons just might be enough to get India rather fervently involved, which in turn causes Pakistan to reach out to China to balance the region and suddenly we have three nuclear armed rivals ready to use force over the situation.
No worries, do nothing as the problem will solve itself?
Or, perhaps we can acknowledge that drones are merely one part of a larger solution set. The worst of the bunch are indeed targeted and killed by drones. They know that there is a consequence to their actions. In the mean time, we look at issues like cutting the criminal financing, extending local governance and police forces into these regions (a painstakingly slow process), establishing justice and rule of law in the regions, etc.
It's easy to quit, but we should bear in mind that quitting has consequences. A reminder made all the more paramount in this case based on our 'quitting' the same region after the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan. That certainly seemed to turn out well for us, eh?
quetzalcoatl wrote:I agree with Ron Paul on very few things, but he's absolutely right about disengaging from foreign military actions, covert or open. Once we are finished with trying to run their countries, they will concentrate on killing each other, which is as it should be.
As a nice bonus we will save a shitload of money.
That certainly pitches well, but when has ignoring problems ever solved a problem?
The simple fact of the matter is that in an increasingly global and interconnected world, ignoring a problem just does not work. Let's take a look at Pakistan. Its debatable about whether or not Pakistan has the ability to smash the Taliban in the NWFP. Certainly, given that the Taliban routinely places bombs across Pakistan, their venture into Swat, their targeting of polio vaccinators, there is certainly a case to be made of the difficulty faced by Pakistan. Perhaps even worse though is the corruption that spreads as the Taliban bribe or otherwise intimidate local officials into turning a blind eye to their drug smuggling and other criminality. It's literally the equivalent of having the mophia take over the American Mid-West while running drugs, weapons, and protection rackets in the rest of the country - not too mention bombing anyone in the rest of the country that begins to organize against them.
Do nothing, eh?
Well, let's add to the complexity a bit by remembering that Pakistan just happens to have nuclear weapons and blood feud with India. Already the daggers are drawn over Kashmere, and the thought of the Taliban getting control of nuclear weapons just might be enough to get India rather fervently involved, which in turn causes Pakistan to reach out to China to balance the region and suddenly we have three nuclear armed rivals ready to use force over the situation.
No worries, do nothing as the problem will solve itself?
Or, perhaps we can acknowledge that drones are merely one part of a larger solution set. The worst of the bunch are indeed targeted and killed by drones. They know that there is a consequence to their actions. In the mean time, we look at issues like cutting the criminal financing, extending local governance and police forces into these regions (a painstakingly slow process), establishing justice and rule of law in the regions, etc.
It's easy to quit, but we should bear in mind that quitting has consequences. A reminder made all the more paramount in this case based on our 'quitting' the same region after the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan. That certainly seemed to turn out well for us, eh?
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