Afghanistan

From My point of view here is what we should do in Afghanistan.

I am constantly hearing how we should be pulling out of there especially now that we have had over 100 dead. This country has just stated to get back on it feet after first the invasion by the Soviets and then being abandoned by the west so that the Taliban could take over and oppress the populous. We abandoned them, we now need to help them until they are stable enough to help themselves. That means we should have an open ended alliance with the afghan government with no end predetermined end date.

To facilitate this support we need to increase the number of troops we have over there. I believe that we need to increase the total number by 2 to 3 divisions. Canada alone should contribute double its contingent. These troops should be used to take fortify and defend the land. The major highways between the cities should not covered with Taliban road blocks and IEDs. We need to increase the presence of militry and police on these roads to prevent this.

But military responce is not the only thing that needs to be done. Far more important is the building of infrastucture. Schools, hospitals, and clean water will do more to reduce the threat of the Taliban then any long term military action. If we can educate the afgan people especialy the girls then we go along way to eliminating the Taliban. The farmers and the poor citizens of the country side need to see the benifits of the central govermanet. If their children are given the opertunity to advance and they have clean water, with free medical care they will work closer to except the goverment. The Taliban use fear, food and propoganda to recuit new soldiers . If we can remove the food and proganda then the fear will have no teeth.

This has been my point of veiw as a arm chair general and politician.