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Afghanistan an 'Unfolding Disaster'
Spurred by an opinion piece from former Foreign Office minister Kim Howells, the Guardian has published an editorial calling the war in Afghanistan "a political failure" with unclear goals and little chance of success. The center-left paper commends Howells, whose essay calls for the majority of British troops in Afghanistan to return to the UK border protection and intelligence gathering, for "saying publicly" what others are thinking in his sharp criticisms of an "unwinnable" and "unworkable" war, and writes that even though it does not agree with everything he says, Afghanistan is an "unfolding disaster." The "tarnished" Hamid Karzai, the editorial board writes, is President Obama's last hope to "deliver the central plank of his fight" and end corruption, but with the Afghan president's choices of vice-presidents—including a "notorious warlord”—expecting change is a fool's game: "It will be like groundhog day—all over again."
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It would take 5 thousand medics armed with urine cups to clean up the government in Afghanistan. Addicts must be weeded out and replaced with drug free politicians.
LOL
You're funny.
Afghanistan is tragically another horrific legacy from the Bushboy regime. Perhaps if we concentrated on eliminating al Qaeda and the Taliban back in 2002, and didn't get deceived into fighting an unnecessary war in Iraq, we might have a chance of having a working Afghan government today.
But with the Taliban resurgent and the Kabul government pathetically corrupt, it is going to be an uphill fight in Afghanistan - assuming that's the option Obama chooses.
I feel sorriest for the women of Afghanistan, who face the specter of a return to abysmal slavery under the Taliban.
Obama declared the Aghan war a necessary war, and sent 23,000 more troops in March. Obama also changed the strategy and sent US troops into remote areas, producing the highest number of US casualties seen in the entire war.
Now Obama has gone all wobbly. Hopefully now that the November election has passed Obama will quit dithering and will find the courage to tell everyone what his grand plan is now for Afghanistan.
Since Iran is trying to keep the Taliban from returning to power in Kabul, should it not occur to those in Washington working on strategy, to at least suggest Iran should be encouraged to take a larger role? Iran helped to install Hamid Karzai, and Iran is an enemy of the drug trade and at war with the drug smugglers. So idiot neocons support assisting terrorist attacks against Iran!
It would be nice if we could get Iran to help destroy the Taliban, but the Ayatollah Khomenei has not been reliable at much of anything, except oppressing his own people.
periscope - Iran doubts the effectiveness of military action, to defeat the Taliban (after its initial overthrow). Economic development, better roads, electical services for rural villages, water lines, and employment opportunities are favored by the Iranians.
It's worth keeping in mind that most of Afghanistan has been part of the Persian Empire for many centuries, over the millenia.
Garvagh - And the Persian Empire can have it back. With a slice for Pakistan.
Many of the reasons that The Guardian gives for the UK to get out of Afghanistan also apply to the USA. Since the war in Afghanist was a lost cause when W sent in use troops & the conditions have gotten much worse each year for the so called govt of Afghanistan, Canada [which plans to leave Afghanstan in 2011], the UK & the USA, et al; that war can't be won. It's time for AFRTS to play "Bug Put Boogie" 4 times an hour, 24/7. Americans who get captured by AlQ, the Taliban, war lords who oppose the USA, etc, their future is bleak. Remember the GI that got captured a few months ago. His captors made & distributed a video showing the early days of his captivity. Nothing has been heard of the lost, strayed or stolen PFC since then. Has the US been contacted by the GI's captors? Is the USA using back channels to ransom the GI? To be grusome(sic?) is the USA seeking to bring the GI back from his captors alive or to recover his dead body?
Prez Obama's secret motto is, "Billions for more troops, munitions, other supplies; not 1 cent for captured or dead GI's.". It looks like Uncle Sam & Prez Obama won't do anything for GIs who are captured by our opponents in Afghanistan, Iraq & the rest of the Middle East. That would be an unprecedented breach of trust for Prez Obama & the USA. It will be similar to essentially abandoning GIs captured by Japan in WW II. These captive GIs weren't freed till the USA defeated Japan in Aug, 1945. These GIs suffered greatly while they were captives of the Japanese Empire.
One hopes that the USA is using back channels to get the captive GI back.
larry278 - I worry that Obama does not recognize the degree to which the US troops are seen as part of the problem, by the Afghan people. This is what Iran continues to stress.
It has been another BushDrunk disaster long before the first ignorant shot was fired. "We" never learn from...history.
It is no longer a BushDrunk disaster. Now it is an ObamaSmoke disaster.
After 7 years of neglect and incompetence, the Bushboy regime leaves the Afghanistan disaster in Obama's hands, as well as the Iraq disaster, the economic disaster and the trillions of dollars of national debt disaster.
And the right-wing morons bray like the asses that they are that Afghanistan is now Obama's disaster.
Considering Bushboy had 7 years to fuck it up, I would think it would be "fair and balanced" to give Obama 7 years to unfuck it up.
This indecisive President will now come forward with a decision on the troops in Afghasistan, now that he passed his fraudelent healthcare bill in congress. This aloof Pres. did not want to lose any more votes then he had to in congress This was his premediated stall tactic, while our soldier were being murdered.
Winnie: and you know this how? Or did that message come to you through the airwaves from the crazies at Fake News?
periscope It came out of your bowels!
Thank you.
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