tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17206839.post7244442038207863761..comments2023-09-09T09:26:22.175-04:00Comments on Andrew Samwick's Blog: Tarawa and Tora BoraAndrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13514024573333057559noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17206839.post-17598717780692192082005-11-23T16:07:00.000-05:002005-11-23T16:07:00.000-05:00Even if U.S. Marines were at Tora Bora, it is like...Even if U.S. Marines were at Tora Bora, it is likely Osama bin Laden would still have escaped. The reason is U.S. strategy of targeting Afghanistan alone, even though in 2001, that country was a client state of Pakistan. We needed U.S. Marines and U.S. Army in western Pakistan and eastern Afghanistan including Tora Bora to kill or capture bin Laden. Interestingly four years from 2001, that is still what is needed to eliminate Al Qaeda's top leadership.Arun Khannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00283104336139330439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17206839.post-70823567864944948352005-11-23T19:33:00.000-05:002005-11-23T19:33:00.000-05:00War is such a tough thing. Decision-makers know pe...War is such a tough thing. Decision-makers know people are going to die. This is a gruesome cost-benefit analysis.<br><br>This calls into question trusting locals on the ground. It looks like the U.S. trusted or relied too much on the locals when the U.S. should have done the job themselves.<br><br>War on the cheap has never made much sense to me. If you stick a lot of men half way around the world in hostile territory, you had better be ready for a variety of scenarios. Being ready means having tons of stuff - men, equipment, etc. I never believed the cost estimates provided for the wars on Afgan and Iraq.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17206839.post-47830620387595533362005-11-23T19:45:00.000-05:002005-11-23T19:45:00.000-05:00As long as the topic is war and terror, I have mor...As long as the topic is war and terror, I have more input for more influential people.<br><br>About the only country that might be able to beat the U.S. is the U.S. We are free to choose. Do we want to be a modern-day Spanish Armada?<br><br>The war before us is not a traditional war. Bin Laden or others know they can not beat the U.S. in conventional ways. This is an economic and psychological war.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17206839.post-62330747741520240672005-11-27T13:56:00.000-05:002005-11-27T13:56:00.000-05:00If Bush and Cheney do not catch Bin Laden by end-o...If Bush and Cheney do not catch Bin Laden by end-of-office, it raises questions. How hard can it be? Seriously, no joking. These two have at their disposal the resources of the United States.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17206839.post-61368297297346946692005-12-01T10:25:00.000-05:002005-12-01T10:25:00.000-05:00I spent many years in Fleet Marine Force, Pacific,...I spent many years in Fleet Marine Force, Pacific, and learned forty years ago that the formidable superpower of the U.S. extends only so far, and for so long. Can't simply snap your fingers and make bad guys go away. But, then...it's always harder to defeat the baddies when your own 'brethren' are busy tying your hands here at home with 'protest.' The trick is discerning when that protest serves well, and when it transcends to support for your terrorist enemy. We'll win this fight when and if--and only if--we take heed of the last. My uneducated guess is, Bin Laden's bones are buried beneath thousands of tons of rocky rubble in a forgotten Afghan redoubt--having been unceremoniously placed there by a 'smart bomb.' I could be wrong.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17206839.post-21834831760408750592005-12-07T08:13:00.000-05:002005-12-07T08:13:00.000-05:00"But, then...it's always harder to defeat..."But, then...it's always harder to defeat the baddies when your own 'brethren' are busy tying your hands here at home with 'protest.' The trick is discerning when that protest serves well, and when it transcends to support for your terrorist enemy. We'll win this fight when and if--and only if--we take heed of the last."<br><br>Our troops hands have been tied behind their backs by the arrogance, incompetancy and dishonest of George Bush, and those who voted for him. Please examine the history of the Iraq war.Barrynoreply@blogger.com