i nearly choked on my tea when i read this headline
the Taliban can be "defeated" (that population re-educated under policing force and a replacing of all their Holy Books with a more moderate version, like Holy books have been replaced by force in entire regions quite a few times earlier in history all over the world)
we've always offered the Taliban the option to stick to themselves, to mind their own business, which includes leaving the moderates in their country in peace,
but know that with enough troops and money spent over a significant time, and just a few smart determined commanders with the right plan of action to enforce this cultural change, we do have the option of doing this.
the real question is : are the Taliban foolish enough to once again host training camps for attacks on western soft or hard targets, and foolish enough to do this often enough to force us into this monetarily expensive solution?
a nasty fact is that we can afford less to care about attacks on moderates in Afghanistan or Pakistan if those governments won't support a decisive push against extremists'/fundamentalists' expansionist ambitions.
and the troops to change the Holy books in Taliban regions, would have to be moderates from that region too. And yes, it would require more effort, much more effort, for those books to become the actual social guidelines for a Taliban-like population.
but attacks on western targets, especially double attacks or sequences of attacks, or growing of domestic muslim terrorists in western countries with a significant percentage of Muslims living there proven to be orchestrated from a Taliban stronghold,
would force us nearer to a solution like this, although budget restraints will probably restrict the actual defensive activities to things like drone strikes on Taliban commanders.
the Taliban has a simple and very real chance, at all times, to prevent such drastic action against their leaders and soldiers.
refrain from attacking anyone. do not think revenge sends any message but a need to be defeated yet again.
it's bad enough women seeking actual love in a bad marriage in Taliban regions, get stoned to death for that.
i'd love to see that changed, and frankly i don't care how much force it would take.
but.. unfortunately i'm not in charge of the military policy for the Taliban regions, so i can't do anything for the defenseless innocents tortured and killed by the more absurd social rules of groups like the Taliban. i wish i could. i would be moderate, wise, swift, unpredictable yet trustable, and ruthless only whenever necessary, with my use of force.
i would not risk the lives of my troops or see my troops take my enemies' lives without the most dire of need created by the enemy.
fight like that, and eventually enemies do reach a compromise.
and guess what? that's exactly what the US military has been doing when it comes to attacks by the Taliban outside their own territory. This war is a nasty asymmetrical war, but currently it stands as a win for both the west and the Taliban itself.
Taliban, we know how you treat those who can't defend themselves, and our very large populations don't approve of such "policing" of your own population.
So if you cross the line, you'll get "the treatment" (pruning by drone force most likely), again, and again, every time you cross the line of attacking people outside your own borders. I wish we could just culture-change you by force. You fully deserve that.