Afghan's Time Honored Custom
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Remember when we invaded Afghanistan and whole tribes of Afghans would just abandon the fight against us? Their leader would decided, "Hey, we're gonna lose anyway so why die trying?" From what I've seen and read, It would appear that that tradition is alive and well with the Afghans.
It's like those old martial arts films, I could never quite understand when you had Bruce Lee or one of his successors enter the room -- you've watched him absolutely destroy the last 20 people who have attacked him - and yet, you throw yourself at him to be beaten into submission. Does that make any sense? It makes more sense to just leave unharmed or drop a dime in the phone to call the big boss and tell him - we need better fighters cuz Bruce seems to be winning.
The US invasion went quickly as a result. The Taliban victory was just as remarkable - for the same reason.
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"Switching to the winning side is part of the tribal culture of Afghanistan and it is why the Taliban now have all the weapons we’ve given the Afghan National Army over the years. If we were not bright enough to pull this from the pages of history, we have our own experience on the ground in 2001 and 2002 to confirm what invading armies have noted for centuries."