"We already won. We are picking up the pieces now... Bombs happen in London, bombs happen in the USA, bombs happen in Israel, bombs happen in Pakistan. Bombs happen in every country. This is something you cannot control. It's not only happening in Kandahar."
"None of this makes any sense. If it took you 10,000 (U.S. troops) to do Marjah, there aren't enough troops (for Kandahar)."
- anonymous US Defense official
They are now promoting Kandahar as if it is some kind of public relations battle.
ReplyDeleteI listened to Mac Crystal on PBS last night. Then today's post with Gen. Cartwright says it all.
Mc considers this a long term partnership with Afghanistan, not Karzai in particular. Cartwright is pretty blunt. "Stay the course". And not necessarily in Iraq or Afghanistan. Nothing really new there, but at least they are admitting it now.
I find irony in the fact that McChystal is talking up a "slow, rising tide of security" - but only as a last resort after being opposed by Afghans in Kandahar. Now he tells us a large operation in Kandahar isn't necessary because the city isn't under Taliban control (even though the US dubs it the Taliban capital and the Taliban local commander rode in alone and unopposed on a motorbike.) So when Wali tells us Kandahar is already won, he and McChrystal finally appear to be on the same manipulative page.
ReplyDeletePolitics and war do make strange bedfellows. "Stay this coarse" and America will end up on the rocks.
You bring up a good point.
ReplyDeleteJust how close are the Karzai Bros,?
Are they working in tandem, or are they lone wolves?
Does Wali have political aspirations? Or is he more comfortable being a king maker. Can he be a go-between for the West, and certain factions of the Taliban.
What are the odds of Afghanistan being Balkanized.
Nepotism has always been a way of life. But it rarely works out for any amount of time.
Ghost info---
ReplyDeletehttp://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/66224/robert-m-gates/helping-others-defend-themselves
CFR another Rockefeller project.