Looks like Russia has the cyber assault tactic down.
http://blog.wired.com/defense/2008/08/georgia-under-o.html#more
But even with all of those arms we delivered, they still only constitute a part of the massive amount of weaponry that is lying around/been used in that country. If they just used US delivered weapons, they would have run out of ammo years ago.
So, we did not create the Taliban. We did not create Al Qaeda. We did not arm either one of those groups. And we sure as hell are not wholly responsible for the mess that is Afghanistan today. Did we contribute? Sure, but the Russians, Pakistanis, foreign fighters and the Afghani's themselves are a lot higher on the list of 'people who ruined Afghanistan' than we are. If you think otherwise, you are wrong.
Jesus, Motballie, you obviously have no real experience in foreign affairs. We gave money and funds to the cause in Afghanistan, but due to the political ramifications of the time we had to separate our selves, so we gave it all to the Pakistani ISI. The Paki ISI does not share the same political alliances that it's parent government does, as a result, an inordinate amount of support went to extreme elements inline with the ISI's ideology. So while we defeated the FSU in Afghanistan, our subsequent non involvement left a power vacuum. The resulting lawlessness allowed a group such as the Taliban to step in and create a relatively more secure day to day lifestyle. If you read a bit about the history, the Taliban didn't start out as a super repressive regime it would become. They started out as the sole people willing to bring peace to a world of anarchy.
Unfortuneatly, I can't quote a specific article backing what I'm saying (I know this is akin to saying I am rambling) but I've always likened the ISI to the IGRC in their relation to the will of the people.
It's hard for me to compare this campaign against any others, I don't remember many specifics from the early days of OEF/OIF, but how is this campaign going for the russkies?
Seems like they are taking a while to push a much smaller force around, and collaterally damaging the eff out of a country while they're at it but I assume thats on purpose/a matter of no one else in the world having piles of JDAMS sitting around. What should we (the US) take away from this conflict?