Quoted:
Thats excatly what we did with the taliban and look what it got us. I would rather not arm them and we fight them. The cycle may never end.
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Not the same, but let's take a closer look anyway.
We assisted the Afghani resistance when they were fighting Soviet occupation. No matter how flawed our view of this policy is today, the fact remains it was the pervasive policy to "stop communist expansion" (aka Cold War) during the 60's, 70's and 80's. Personally, I would have opted to let the Soviets have it. They would have realized very little gain for their investment... but hind sight is almost always 20/20.
So today the Taliban has a few old Stinger missiles laying around. That's had exactly what effect on us? They didn't use Stingers on the World Trade Center or Pentagon... Hell, the Taliban wasn't even the aggressor in these attacks. Bin Laden isn't a member of the Taliban, he is a Saudi dissident who has sought refuge in the Sudan, Pakistan and Afghanistan. The Taliban didn't attack us on 9/11, a terrorist group financed by Bin Laden comprised mostly of Saudi Arabians and Egyptians attacked us. The Taliban is only giving him refuge due to his investment in their struggle against Soviet occupation. He built roads, training camps and raised money for them, so out of gratitude they offer him a place to operate. I'm sure they are now realizing the error of their generosity and are kicking themselves profusely... but pride is one of mans uglier qualities at times.
So, when you say "look what that got us" regarding the Taliban, what exactly are you implying? I guess they've inundated us with Heroin in the past...
Are you suggesting that it's a worth while investment in lives to have our soldiers killed fighting a war against the Taliban when we could have used existing alternate resources?
To me it makes perfect sense to arm the rebels, train them and let them do the dirty work. I'm not for nation building or occupying Afghanistan... or even being there with our forces longer than is necessary to kill Binny and inflict horrific damage on the Taliban regime. Obviously you have a different opinion...
It's call fighting intelligently. As ArmdLbrl already mentioned, they are getting 20-30 year old technology as military aid. We're hardly arming them so they might invade the US or one of our allies. [;)] So, what the heck are you worried about again?