Provincial Reconstruction Teams in Afghanistan - Does it work?
362585
no, just as we fall for proaganda & our emotions dictate our actions, so do the rest of the world. multiply that by seeing your loved ones reduced to a moment of spray everytime a bomb or soldier does its 'job'. anyone resembling those they hate, no matter their intent, becomes enemy. in aghanistan in particular war a way of life. constant war for the last 50 years produces a nation of professional killers & potentially psychotic generatons.\nhttp://scotthortonshow.com/\nhttp://thestressblog.com\nhttp://www.kaos959.com\nhttp://www.antiwar.com\nmoney, http://www.philipdru.com/griffin_stream.html\neducation, \nhttp://www.philipdru.com/taylor_stream.html\nhttp://www.philipdru.com/gatto_stream.html\nww1 wilson,\nhttp://weekendinterviewshow.com/InterviewDisplay.aspx?i=88\nww2 http://www.philipdru.com/stinnett_stream.html\nnam http://www.weekendinterviewshow.com/InterviewDisplay.aspx?i=108\nbush & clinton http://www.philipdru.com/triplett_stream.html\nisrael \nhttp://antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=8730\nhttp://www.philipdru.com/webb_stream.html\niran http://www.weekendinterviewshow.com/InterviewDisplay.aspx?i=131\ngovernment explained simply,\nhttp://weekendinterviewshow.com/InterviewDisplay.aspx?i=98
830534
To answer your question, no.\nThey weren't drafted and what they are doing in the middle East is often atrocious.
406211
Some parts of Afghanistan may become more open. When I say open, I mean schools and working women etc. The rest of the country will remain the same. May be marginally better that means little to the world.\n\nNo other country would be in a position to rule it as the Russians did or the Pakistanis wished to do...\n\nThere is a saying that there are three no nos in the world\n\n1. Enemity with Afghans\n2. Drinking the water of Yamuna \n3. Trusting in people of Kashmiri... , but it is just a saying...
1171912
Yes they are.  I conducted operations with them during the year that I was in Iraq.  Obviously all the other people who answered have never been there.  For all the operations that they conduct though, you will not hear about them.  The SF with us did very little training with our Iraqi counterparts.  I can't tell you what they did, because we just can't talk about those operations.
1008835
Maintaining the Majority.  I would love to see our troops home and out of harms way but we can not do it prematurely.  The region needs to be set up and ready for self governing.  To leave them in political instability is to leave them subject to being taken over by another dictator war lord.  That is one of the reasons Ossama was mad at us.  We backed them in the Afghan-Russian war then left them high and dry when Russian retreated.  There was no established system and bands of war lords and dictators oppressed the country and citizens.  We should learn from our mistake and do it right this time like we did in Germany and Japan after World War II, look how well they have turned out.
416495
A government in Afghanistan friendly to the Soviet Union was threatened by a coup thought to be engineered by the USA so the Soviet high command sent in the 20th Army. The coup was an attempt to thwart the social modernizations the communist government had instituted such as allowing women into schools.\n\nIt is ironic, most of the time we go into a country to undo the problems caused by communism, this time we went in to try to bring Afghanistan back to the level of prosperity they had enjoyed under the communists.
1102781
Some success and good luck related to service in the army could begin for you on November 24 2006 and last for about a year or till December 18 2007 (in other words, anytime during this period).\n\nArmy training could actually commence between December 06 2006 to January 16 2007 but I suppose other periods are possible as well but I won't list them because they are less important though remind yourself they are still valid.\n\nI don't know what you mean by 'ologest'.\n\nHope this helps for the betterment of Pakistan and ultimately a free world especially in neighbouring Afghanistan.
583693
The MEU is up and running strong.  They are continually training.  They make trips over to Iraq and Afghanastan right now.  But they are kind of a quick reaction force.  Since they are pretty much geared up to go at any time, they can be dispatched to a problem area more quickly than other units.  For actual invasions, I would have to beleive that more troops would be needed.
1020969
Didn't see too many camels over there, actually.  There's plenty of sheep, but few camels.  There are more camels in Afghanistan.\nBut good luck.  Another fun thing to do is wait for night fall and steal anything that isn't nailed down from the Army.
828380
Unfortunately I don't think that authorities are too concerned about people back there! Sure there are rescue teams, but the further away they are from a city, the less budget they got to work with. \nI believe more in prevention than rescue after a disaster. But again, there is not much being done about that either except major cities like Tehran hosting lots of Sky-scrapers.\nYou've brought up an interesting topic! It needs to be looked into.
492223
Well, first of all, they would have to stop fighting eachother and focus on rebuilding their lands and farms and infrastructer so they can better feed everyone, and go from there. Outside help and aid can only bring them so far.  They have to become self sufficient or they will never truely end the misery.
611450
Let the afghani's decide them selves what is good for them\nThe recent riots in Kabul have shown, how much resentment for forigners is in their hearts.\nThey hate invadors, so no policy will be effective unles \nthey are givien a chance to decide them selves.\nnote the british in history tried for years to conqure but failed.
598228
It’s going not-so-good, but not as bad as it could be.  \n\nThe bad news: Hamid Karzai may be the best option, but his primarily activities seem to be weakening parliament as much as he can and installing people from his own clam and ethnic group into all positions of power that he can (oh, and pardoning his convicted drug dealer brother).  The US really scaled back operations in the country in the past few years, which gave the Taliban and related groups a chance to organize, form alliances and strengthen their positions.  Now the US is starting to figure this out and is putting a bit ore effort into it, but a lot more is needed.  \n\nAlso, Afghan people thought that things would get better now that the US was here, but for most, life didn’t change at all, and now they feel disillusioned and wonder why they should put up with foreign militaries in their country if they don’t get anything for it. In the South they are also more socially conservative, and are concerned about any immorality coming to their areas. So much more investment, soldiers, attention, etc. is needed because things are slowly getting worse, even with the increased interest, and only concrete improvements in their lives will convince the Afghans that the foreign powers really are there to help.  As the Taliban and affiliated forces increase in strength in the South, they spread their ideology and even those that don’t agree feel obligated to work with them to stay alive, as the US and ISAF forces can’t permanently secure their villages. \n\nThe good news: It is not (yet?) Iraq.  A civil war is not on the table.  A thousand civilians aren’t killed in a month.  The economy is growing (especially in Kabul, where it is booming), more schools and clinics are open and security is better than it was during the Taliban.  It still offers opportunity (for some), reform is happening (just very slowly) and there is a parliament sent to represent each area, and it is fighting the President’s efforts to weaken their authority. Imports from Pakistan are streaming in, and it even finally rained after a years-long drought.  (There is a lot for visitors to buy– esp. handicrafts like carpets, embroideries and jewelry (and anything else made of precious or semi-precious gems).
355438
No I don't think the UN have been successful. When the people in Africa need the UN help to stop the war within itself the UN waited to long to help them. It is like us in the USA calling 911 and been told that we have to wait a week for the EMT to come and help. That is not right. If they are being asked for help then They need to help asap. Not when they feel is the right time. They are the world police.
831063
Having spent 16 months over here now, I can tell you that the Marines in the Al Anbar province actually do something similar to what you just described.  In fact they take cities that have had lots of problems and basically wall them in them in with a huge berm.  Then they only allow travel in and out thru a few tightly controlled check points.  This reduces the amount of weapons that can be brought in, and it helps to catch foreign fighters and others.
756467
One really powerful primary source about Iraq and Afghanistan is the Sandbox blog on the Doonesbury website.  Every day there are a couple posts by soldiers involved over there.  There is a range of content, but it gives you the sense that there really are good people working hard to improve the lives of Iraqis even though there is also a lot of disastrous stuff happening.  It might open their eyes a little.  I think they'll find glimpses of the good side there, regardless of their politics.
526234
Great idea! Let's get all the Taliban in one place, then we can just go ahead and nuke those SOBS back to the stone age. It would fit in with their mindset, you think?