Afghanistan Eight years wasted.  600 Americans dead, $ 250 B gone.  And Obama’s plan?  TOTAL JUNK.  Won’t work.  Not in 18 months, not in 18 years.  But this will:   Americans      Pull back to 50% of current borders.  Secure that.  Support that.  Build that.  And everything beyond that front line is done by the Afghans for the Afghans.   Afghan Government              Corrupt.  Inept.  SO?  Most governments are.  But you don’t give a blind man glasses.  And you don’t force-feed democracy to a medieval society.  Let the Afgans develop the government they want.  Corrupt warlords?  OK.  Taliban?  OK.  Their choice.   Afghan People           They just don’t care.   After centuries of warfare, they’ve learned to sit back, watch the fighting, and wait for a temporary victor to emerge.  But to become part of the New Afghan Society, every family must fight for the government!  Fight…and you get money, 500 acres of land, and a voice in the new Afghanistan.  Don’t fight…lose everything, and absolutely no role in the new country.    Taliban           Brutal.  Uncivilized.  Inhuman.  SO?  We can’t beat them down using pillows.  To win, the Afghans must be as brutal as the Taliban.  For the suicide bombers (who survive) and their handlers:  blow off both hands and both feet and send them home.  Julius Caesar did it with the Germans, and it works.  Same for anyone planting an IED.  But if Afghans “choose” (or end up with) the Taliban, that’s their fate.  But that’s a dead end.  100% uneducated women supported by 100% uneducated men who only know the Koran.  By heart.  Since they can’t compete in the modern world, they will gradually return to 1,000 AD without us.