Biden Admin. Should've Adopted an Enclave Strategy in Afghanistan

Discussion in 'Warfare / Military' started by Dayton3, Aug 19, 2021.

  1. Dayton3

    Dayton3 Well-Known Member

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    Ironically the Obama Admin. had the right idea.


    https://prospect.org/article/enclave-strategy-moves-fore./


    That is the U.S. should've selected relatively defendable areas such as Bagram air base that serves as a place we could defend, keep order, and a place that opponents to the Taliban could flee to for safety. We could protect enclaves forever if necessary.


    Best example of an "Enclave strategy". West Berlin. It served as a refuge for those opposed to communism and an example of western prosperity and freedom in the midst of communism.


    So why has this strategy very seldom been adopted?


    For one historically the U.S. military has hated it. As one member of the military once said "enclaves mean that you volunteer to be surrounded"


    Yet I'm convinced that in many places from Afghanistan to Vietnam it was the only viable strategy that was doable.
     
  2. MJ Davies

    MJ Davies Well-Known Member

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    Economics. The bigger the crises, the bigger the paycheck.
     
    Last edited: Aug 19, 2021
  3. Dayton3

    Dayton3 Well-Known Member

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    What does that mean?
     
  4. MJ Davies

    MJ Davies Well-Known Member

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    It's not self-explanatory?
     
  5. Dayton3

    Dayton3 Well-Known Member

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    No. Please enlighten us.
     
  6. MJ Davies

    MJ Davies Well-Known Member

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    I don't understand why it's not understood so how am I supposed to fill in that gap?
     
  7. Dayton3

    Dayton3 Well-Known Member

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    The best you can.
     
  8. MJ Davies

    MJ Davies Well-Known Member

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    The enclave model is a smaller interest. Smaller operation requires less financing, military support, civilian support and time.
    The "target everything" approach multiples all that.
     
  9. Dayton3

    Dayton3 Well-Known Member

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    I assumed the goal in Afghanistan would be to provide (in the enclaves) regions of order. Not to enrich anyone.
     
  10. MJ Davies

    MJ Davies Well-Known Member

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    Why do you think countries go to war?
     
  11. Dayton3

    Dayton3 Well-Known Member

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    Not always strictly because of money.
     
    Joe knows likes this.
  12. MJ Davies

    MJ Davies Well-Known Member

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    That wasn't what I asked.
     
  13. Joe knows

    Joe knows Well-Known Member

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    Obamas idea was definitely better than this but I wouldn’t have called the “right idea”
     
  14. Dayton3

    Dayton3 Well-Known Member

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    Then stop being coy and please simply explain what you mean.
     
  15. MJ Davies

    MJ Davies Well-Known Member

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    How am I being coy? I answered your question.

    I asked you a question you did not answer.
     
  16. Mircea

    Mircea Well-Known Member

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    No, you couldn't.

    You might wanna look at a map, which would make you way smarter than Obama who either didn't look at a map or he was totally confused by all the lines and pretty colors on the map.

    You don't control Iran. To overfly Iranian air-spaces risks unjustifiable confrontation on the global stage, and the wrath of many Americans.

    Likewise, you don't control Russia or the 5 Central Asian States.

    The only place you do control is Pakistan, but that is tenuous at best and the Pakis would jump ship to the Chinese in a heart-beat if you gave the Pakis too much grief.

    That fails miserably.

    Berlin was never attacked or under any armed threat.

    It was a whole freaking 30 minute flight in a Tornado or F-4 Phantom from RAF Guetersloh to Berlin.

    And if you had a CAP parked on the border near Klötze or Salzwedel, it was an 8 minute flight on after-burners.

    You got no way to get to Bagram in 30 minutes and it'd be all over over in 12 minutes. Just ask all the survivors of the Special Force base camps and Army's forward base camps that got over-run by the Viet Cong/NVA.

    And, you're gonna fly over the Himalayas in inclement weather? That's a disaster waiting to happen.

    At least some of the Special Forces camps and all the forward bases were in range of 203 mm/8" tubes, so they had that going for them.

    I'll give you a foreign policy lesson that us Constructivists and our brother Radicals understand, but the Conservatives, Neo-Cons, Liberals, Neo-Libs and Neo-Liberal Institutionalists cannot wrap their brains around:

    Q: How many Afghans live in Afghanistan?
    A: Zero


    When you understand why that is so, maybe you can help the US and Brits pull their heads out of their asses and go about "nation-building" the right way, which will go a very long way to eliminating the strife in that country.
     

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