Comments on: Al Qaeda, Obama And Victory In Afghanistan

By: P.J. Tobia - Afghan Desk - Al Qaeda, Obama And Victory In … | Afghanistan Today

Sun, 26 Jul 2009 05:20:22 +0000

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By: P.J. Tobia

P.J. Tobia — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 15:23:47 +0000

Thanks Holly! I quite like that little theory myself.

David, you are absolutely right. I only mentioned AQ b/c Obama did. I’ve written plenty here about the Haqqani network and other criminal/terrorist gangs that keep the coalition busy. My Afghan friends have a catchall phrase for these groups: “Mafia.” Works for me.

By: holly

holly — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 02:45:00 +0000

I think your spot on with your “theory” P.J.
David’s comment sums it up very well. So many more questions than answers.
Maybe…there is no answer?

By: davidlosangeles

davidlosangeles — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 19:20:23 +0000

Here is a question, are the coalition troops actually fighting “Al-Qaeda”? How many of the irregular forces that are firing rifles at NATO troops are in fact members of Al-Qaeda, i.e. Arab speaking foreign fighters? How many are Pashtun speaking foreign fighters from Pakistan or Iran recruited by the Taliban? How many are local Pashtun speaking tribesmen who have an entirely different agenda from Binladin, perhaps more tied to poppies, opium, and the local feudal lords? Are these the only groups and are their internal differences within them? How much do these different groups work together and to what extent are they hostile to each other? Is there in fact not a bright line separating friend and foe but perhaps a continuum with a large number of groups with varying degrees of hostility and amicability the NATO forces and Western goals.

Perhaps there are many different victories, rather than just one.