[This is from a discussion I had with an American Military Officer – a retired Vet who had even fought in Vietnam. This is part of his analysis. Some food for thought for me to chew the cud on. Jan]

This is an excerpt from his analysis:

Jan:

The Military action in Afghanistan should be obvious. For many years the USA was China;s Bitch, creating stability in Central and South Asia for 20 years while Russia, China and India grew strong.
If we left the Taliban in power, but poorly armed, India, China and Russia would not have a big problem.

But a highly Armed Taliban would be a very destabilizing force in Central and South Asia.
This makes life more expensive for the surrounding nations and helps destabilize their Governments.