If we had done the right thing back in 89 and gone in when the russians left and helped them rebuild we wouldnt be there today I feel certain of that.

And even THAT link (wikipedia, )is quite the simplification in regards to actual relationships between certain organizations in that area of the world. It has all been simply wrapped up nicely in a tidy package and transmitted to you through the airwaves. Inside that package are terms like "Al Qaeda" and "Taliban!". In reality, the overwhelming majority of the insurgency in Iraq had little or nothing to do with Al Qaeda (or any of the other labels the Pentagon, CIA and MSM tried to shove down your wide-open throats). They were mostly just dudes from the hood. Home-boys that didn't want soldiers there. There most certainly was a somewhat of a nationalistic undercurrent for some of them. Sort of a "this is Iraq, GTFO white boy" kind of thing. There was (and still is) the sectarian dynamic. That was a "We're gonna take the opportunity to fck up some Sunni folk, so stay out of the way US, or we'll fck you up, too" kind of thing. But even more important than these dynamics are the tribal dynamics that exist there, and the failure to understand the tribal dynamics in Iraq as they relate to local, regional and national government, sectarianism, and local economies. And these internal dynamics were continually influenced by neighboring nations who wished (and wish) to manipulate these local, regional and national entities towards their own purposes. Al Qaeda my ass. Al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI)? Nope. Get that shit out of here.
And you know what? A similar reality holds true in Afghanistan. Failure to understand tribal demographics, tribal history, and the history of local, regional and national governance in Afghanistan is a failure to understand the nature of most of the fighting in that country. Failure to understand what the Taliban truly is, and the frequency with which its influence is grossly overstated, is a failure to understand who our military is fighting against in a given area on a given day. Home-boys and farm-boys. And Warlords, although that term wants for accuracy. Fck the Taliban. That's another package that has been wrapped up nicely and forced down your throat. Most of you swallow it willingly.
It is in our cognitive nature to tend towards a monolithic explanation for the events that take place around us. This cognitive tendency is purposefully exploited by the Pentagon, Central Intelligence Agency and the media. Al Qaeda and Taliban? Pffft.

 

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