as it is to unleash the US military to do what they do best. Change the ROE, and go all in to win. Bomb the crap out of every last Taliban and Al Quidea strong hold. Let then know we mean business, let them know we are not going to negotiate with their corrupt governments and population. Go in, do the job big time, and quickly, and then get out. No protracted wars should be necessary, just go to the source and do it, now. Then bring our boys home with honor.

I would not suggest it’s time to kick them to the curb, but .. they would perhaps understand things more clearly were they dealing with a cowboy instead of a community organizer….

Mew

… so much as a confederacy of tribes and would-be empires.

   This has been the case throughout much of history.  When Alexander of Macedon marched through the Khyber Pass on his way into that invasion of the Indus Valley, he had to fight his way through hordes of mountain tribes in order to reach his goal.  The region has more or less been a potpourri of warring factions before or since.

   This area rarely saw a stable government that lasted more than a couple of centuries.  If it wasn’t being torn apart by tribal warfare, it was being overrun by invaders from the steppes on their way into northwestern India (the Aryans, the Persians, Alexander’s army, the Parthians, the Huns, Arab conquerors, the Turks and Mongols).  Rather than try to play nice with the backwoods next time, we flatten the mountain range to get rid of this latest incarnation of the “Old Man of the Mountain”, and leave them with the impression that if they allow such a person to establish themselves in the area again, they’re better off not provoking a response from us again.