5, December 2009 Afghanistan
Obama’s speech calling for an upsurge in troop
levels in Afghanistan was both unconvincing and profoundly disappointing. The
war infested culture of the Pentagon out-snookered Obama by leaking General
McChrystal’s request for more troops and effectively boxed him in to adhere to
the status quo. McChrystal’s “request” for more troops was eerily similar to General
Westmoreland’s ongoing requests for more troops in Vietnam. I urge readers to
Google ‘Bill Moyers Journal’ last month in which he featured recorded
conversations between President Johnson and Robert McNamara just prior to
President Johnson’s announcement of an increase in troop levels in Vietnam.
The ill-fated Soviet invasion of Afghanistan has
also been largely ignored or forgotten. This turned out to be the final nail in
the USSR coffin.
Like many of his presidential predecessors, Obama
shamelessly used the West Point graduates as convenient props to deliver his
war message. Obama grossly exaggerated the alleged threat from Al Qaeda. The
insurgency is not comprised of Al Qaeda renegades
but of disparate groups of Taliban fighters. It makes little sense to augment
troop levels to support the thoroughly disgraced and corrupt Karzai government,
and his oppressive and corrupt Afghan police and army.
Our continued occupation is fueling the insurgency
and killing more insurgents and civilians will only intensify the rage and
embolden the Taliban. It is time to exit this un-winnable quagmire and
negotiate a power sharing settlement with the Taliban.
