Remember Viet Nam and how long that went on because of the restrictions placed on the military by the politicians? Do we want another Viet Nam in Afghanistan? We have the power to put an end to this war and to the Taliban and Al Qaida organization in Afghanistan, and to do it promptly. After the leaders have been dealt with, then we can collect the rest of them elsewhere in the world. We have to stop pussy footing around civilians if we are ever going to accomplish our goals. The Taliban and Al Qaida personnel are hiding out in civilian towns and using them against us as a shield because they know we don't want to kill civilians even though they are telling their people that that is exactly what we want to do. We need to warn the civilians to get the hell out of the way because we are coming in to get those troops and anyone in the way will unfortunately be eliminated as well. Innocent casualties are tragic but can't always be avoided in a war. We have to stop worrying so much about what other countries think about us and stop being such a paper tiger, and get the job done that we started out to do regardless of the civilian cost. That's the only way we are going to be able to get the Taliban. We can't send our troops in to go door to door and person to person then shoot when they find an enemy. That won't work, the enemy will already have them in thier sights and will shoot first. Too much compassion for Afghan civilians will cost us this war and we just can't afford it. When I hear that we caused 300 civilian deaths, the first thing that comes to mind is "well, only 6700 more to go and we'll be even".
We started out by targeting their defenses, that is primarily their defense equipment. Of course this was necessary for the safety of our planes and personnel that are entering the territory and should be continued whenever and wherever we find it. One problem here is that every time we bomb something, we have to hear in the news that the Taliban is complaining that we caused casualties, the don't always say if they were civilian or military. I have to wonder why we are allowing the Taliban to even say anything at all. We are told that they are communicating by satellite phones since we have destroyed their other means of communication. Why are they using satellite phones? They don't have a satellite phone company there or the means of putting up a communications satellite so who's service are they using, AT&T? Why haven't their phone accounts been shut down and their phones disconnected from the system? Whoever is providing them with cordless phone service is aiding terrorists and should also be considered our enemy and dealt with accordingly. Shut off their phones then we won't have to hear their lieing propaganda any more and neither will anyone else. Then maybe we can win the propaganda war.
Now here comes the hard part. We have so far destroyed most of the defense equipment that we have found, but still much of it is being hidden in caves and in civilian towns just waiting for our troops to get close enough to be used against them. We have maybe killed a couple hundred people in their country but the ones we want are still there and they have killed 7000 of our people, it's time to even the score and put the Taliban out of business for good. They are hiding in caves tunneled into canyon mountains and laughing at us for being unable to get at them. Our government wants to send in ground troops to root them out but at what cost to more American lives? I say NUKE THE BASTARDS with small tactical nuclear warheads sent right down into the canyons where they're hiding and seal up those caves for good so that they will never come out of them again. We need swift and decisive action that will use the power that we have available to achieve a victory over the terrorist leaders and stop tip-toeing around civilians who unfortunately get too close to the action. i don't want to see civilian casualties any more that anyone else, but we can't let the fear of it stop us from winning this war and achieving our goals. If we don't use our power to destroy the Taliban, we are going to loose whatever respect we still have left in the world and be considered all talk and no show. The military planners must run this war, not the politicians as happened in Viet Nam. We have to stop wasting money and time on the bombing of equipment and supplies and start targeting the people who are running the show and carying it out. As long as they are alive, this war will go on.
I know our leaders have a plan to win this war but sometimes lately I get the impression that it is not going the way they planned. I don't pretend to know what they are doing and not telling us about but I hope it will be more effective than what I suggest here. I also realize that total destruction of the Taliban government is being delayed intentionally to give time to the formation of a replacement government that will be more representative of the country as a whole. This page reflects my opinion based on what I have learned so far from the news that we have been given. I'm getting frustrated and discouraged at the lack of progress against the Taliban and Osama Bin Laden's Al Qaida network and believe this is due to too many restrictions placed on the military by politicians. We don't need the approval of other Islamic countries to retaliate against an act of war committed on our soil and we don't need their approval to destroy the Taliban and the terrorists they are protecting. If they wish to join us in our fight, that's fine. If they want to sit and watch, that's fine too. If they try to get in our way, then we have to power to remove them too. You can't please all of the people, all of the time. I think our government needs to learn that and to stop trying. We are the only "Superpower" country left in the world and we should be respected as such and not be afraid to flex our muscles and do what must be done when necessary. If the use of nuclear weapons is necessary to kill the enemy, then that's what we need to use, that's why we have them. I hope there is a plan in place to win this war decisively without the use of nukes but lets face it, you can't get rid of roaches by smacking them one at a time, you have to use something that will get them all even if it kills a few ants and flees at the same time.