President Trump has outlined a plan for further extending America's longest war without providing a means for us to win without Afghan support. The US didn't care a whit what the random Japanese thought about the war and did not make a plan that depended upon them supporting US troops. The US did not work with the German government to defeat the Nazis. In both of those cases - which took considerably less than 15 years - we flattened the enemies cities, invaded their territory with no local support, and imposed a new system of government on them while purging the proponents of the ideology that brought about the war. Nazism was outlawed and Nazis were hunted like the criminals they are. Imperialist policies were squeezed from the fabric of Japan to the point that their military has been purely defensive in nature since WWII.
What is the equivalent of Nazism in Afghanistan? Islam. Islam calls upon its followers to subdue or kill infidels. Unlike Nazism, Islam is a religion and thus purging it is disallowed by American attitudes toward religious freedom, even a religion that calls upon its adherents to slay all Jews. Dying while killing infidels is a guaranteed path to paradise. If one is unwilling to practice forced conversion - which is what Muslims have done to conquered lands over the centuries - then the next best option is to install a dictator who will oppress the people. A Hosni Mubarak or a Muammar Gaddafi are far preferable to the Mullahs of Iran or the anarchy of Afghanistan.
Trump's plan, though an improvement on Obama's, is no more likely to succeed. If you don't fight the ideas that inspire the terrorists, you aren't fighting to win. Even Turkey, the best example of a Westernized Islamic country, has suffered backsliding and is likely to de-Westernize in the coming years. Islam is not compatible with Western values and never will be. All these politicians who proclaim that Islam is a religion of peace and the terrorists and their ilk have been misinterpreting it for 14 centuries are delusional. I'm willing to bet that Osama bin Laden the lifelong Muslim had a stronger understanding of Islam than George W. Bush the Methodist.
Winning requires tactics that no one will implement. Therefore, we will not win. We can only contain and suppress.
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