Afghanistan : America ’ s Forever War
Two troopers from the 1 / 505 Parachute Infantry Regiment ( PIR ), 82nd Airbourne Division ( ABN DIV ) patrol a small village in the Khost Province . ( Summer 2002 ). Author ’ s Personal Collection .
Villagers from the Shah-I-Kot Valley pose for a photo , Gardez , Afghanistan ( Summer , 2002 ). Author ’ s Personal Collection .
It is of note that the Taliban are not against Western development , but the presence of foreign troops . 42 Author James Ferguson argues that “ The Taliban are representatives of an ideology as much as they are an army . It follows that we need to win arguments with them , not just battles — and we can ’ t do that without talking to them .” 43 For years , US policymakers had failed to consider ideology as a center of gravity , instead , measuring progress with firefights and
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