Originally Posted by
ETWolverine
I find it interesting that the Italians fell for the "protection racket"... pay up for protection from the local bosses or you get beat up by the local toughs. Isn't that the same tactic that organized crime uses in more civilized countries?
Do you support organized crime and the protection racket?
I guess you do.
Elliot
Look, that sort of thing is business as usual for the Italians, they understand it. You could say it is the family business and expected. The Taliban has some of the aspects of organised crime but is paying the Taliban to protect foreign troops or even Afghan citizens any different to having a standing army and a police force to do it? Morality takes strange twists in exotic places and cultures and it won't change just because you think it undesirable.
It may actually be the solution for Afghanistan, enlist the holy warriors as protectors of the people, For a few million dollars you could secure the whole country, and no doubt for a few more get rid of Al Qaeda once the deal is in place. Is it any different to offering rewards or paying informants?
To get a result in Afghanistan you have to think outside the square and come to grips with the thinking of the people. Conventional military strategy won't do it short of a massive army on the ground, a million men or more, and maybe not even then. A few thousand insurgents don't warrant such a response, but obviously their cause is easily overturned by financial incentives, so hire them as security guards, they are probably cheaper than american contractors and obviously more effective.
The americans are so dumb sometimes.