Quote:
Originally posted by sgtclub
You obviously know far more about the Sudan than I do. If it would only take a few thousand troops, I'd order it done tomorrow. I was under the impression it would take far more, and our military is pretty stretched as it is. Frankly, I wouldn't mind pulling out of western europe, for efficiency, geopolitical, and just plain spite.
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It doesn't take much militarily if your goals are limited and you're happy to support the division of an established country.
Realize the things that make life difficult militarily are not necessarily the size of the country or the population, but the goals established and the level of resistance. Afghanistan has about the same population as Iraqs, they are about as highly armed, the terrain is more difficult, Afghanis are probably more divided ethnically than Iraq, and there is likely about as much opposition among Afghanis as Iraqis to our presence -- but our death toll is much higher in Iraq, because we are more ambitious and are trying to actually occupy and run the country. The Iraqi economy is also much larger than the Afghani one, and we are trying to play a hands-on roll in that economy.
So why is our death toll so much higher in Iraq than Afghanistan? It has nothing to do with terrorism or WMD, the stated administration goals (depending on what day you listen to them), and everything to do with oil and geopolitical goals.
