""But I suspect that's not the point you wish to drive at, right? ;-)""

It's precisely the point, and I'm surprised that you haven't caught on.

Whether or no the troops should be there is immaterial.....THEY ARE THERE!

Accepting that fact, you have to decide what your exit strategy should be.

If, in the first Gulf War, we had finished the job by arresting Hussein, we would have had a lot of friends willing to help bring back order and stability, and an exit strategy which would allow withdrawal in a very short time.

We blew it, abandoned them to the tender mercies of a psychotic tyrant, and they were slaughtered. Now we have only what you call a client government, no friends, and it looks like being many years till the last US troops can leave, without anarchy following.

In Afghanistan, we still have many allies, and we have two choices.

We can keep faith with them, and stay until they no longer need support, or we can cut and run, leaving the country and those friends at the mercy of the Taliban.

You blythely accept the slaughter of such allies as something natural, and state ""An imperial power always uses disaffected sections of an enemy populace to fight the group who are in power there. It's standard military policy, and everyone's been doing it since the Romans and Greeks, if not long before."".

Does that make it right, in your opinion, to sacrifice allies?

As far as I can see, that would only be strategically acceptable if you don't care what happens when you leave, or when you have no intention of leaving.

Firstly we have not invaded Afghanistan with the intention of making it part of our empire, so forget theRomans and Greeks. Not the same scenario.

So, we plan to leave......Sometime! Again, two choices.

1.) We don't care what happens. We leave, they die, the Taliban are back in control. Why the Fuck were we there then?

2.) We care. We keep faith with our in country allies. It takes a little longer, but we leave a stable regime, capable of maintaining order. We have friends in that country, it is better living there than it was before we came.

WE HAVE DONE SOME GOOD!

Which of those alternatives would give you the better feeling about yourself, and your country?

Don T.