Cold War Warrior Award 2008

[TheMercenary]

Originally Posted by headsplice

And you're suggesting some dudes in the mountains of Afghanistan are as capable as the USSR. Whaaaaa????

And you are extremely naive. Please share with us your wealth of experience in this matter. Thanks.

[headsplice]

Originally Posted by TheMercenary

And you are extremely naive. Please share with us your wealth of experience in this matter. Thanks.

Okay, operationally, AQ was limited by the coalition invasion of Afghanistan. Since the massive (though incomplete) pullout of US forces, particularly Special Forces, from that region, there's been a resurgence of the policital/military entity that has supported them the most (the Taliban). That being said, while they have plenty of moral support, their basic capacity for engagement is extremely limited by their lack of a solid base of operations as well as a lack of discreet funding.
I'm not saying they aren't dangerous, to ignore them would be monumentally stupid. But they got away with attacking us because we weren't listening to the intel/chatter coming our way (the 9/11 Commission Report said as much).
Orders of magnitude in difference between the two groups, really. Nukes and the single largest land army (whether or not that operational capacity was actually up to snuff, that was a LOT of bodies to throw at NATO) in the world versus dudes in the mountains?
No contest.
And while the mujahedeen forced out the Red Army, it was a war of attrition and the persistence of native forces in assymetric warfare, much like Vietnam for us, rather than a full-scale military victory.