McChrystal Circus Sideshow
This McChrystal-Obama dustup is a circus sideshow. Afghanistan is a landlocked, timelocked Mad Max place that is impossible to govern. That is why Bush didn't make it the center front of the war on terror. The Russians couldn't supply their military from next door. How the hell can we support the military while hostile nations control every transit point into Afghanistan?
War is logistics. It takes seven people to support every trigger puller on the ground. If the US military has 60,000 troops in Afghanistan, only 8571 are engaged in direct combat. Afghanistan is 652,230 square miles of the most rugged and inhospitable terrain on the face of the earth. That's one soldier per 76 square miles! He better be Superman.
Afghanistan is bordered by Iran, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. None of these Mongol nations are fond of the US but some will allow us to fly or truck in supplies to our military. Essentially we bribe them to get their cooperation, which could end in the twinkle of an eye.
Obama has spat in the face of Karzai and the Pakistanis. Most of our troop's supplies come through Pakistan, who barely control the "frontier provinces" adjacent to Afghanistan. By now Karzai recognizes that Obama intends to pull our troops out next year no matter what. Surely he is making accomodations with the Taliban to survive.
The new rules of engagement that our troops must abide by in Afghanistan are supposed to win hearts and minds. That can only work from a position of strength. Stating that you are leaving in a few months is not a position of strength. So the only thing that america can do in Afghanistan is bleed and die. For nothing.
The Pakistanis are securing a gas deal with Iran, against US wishes. The Pakis are telling Obama to kiss their ass. What's the magic negro gonna do? Lecture them? Pakistan knows that the US is bugging out of the region and they must put their energy needs first. China and Russia will be the regional hegemons.
Despite the best efforts of our excellent military, Afghanistan is lost. It really always was but under the Bush administration it was manageable. McChrystal and Petraeus both know what's coming. Obama and his gang either know and don't care or just don't know.
This self-inflicted defeat will have repercussions. Iraq dispelled the myth of american weakness, ala Vietnam. Obama's withdrawls will re-install the myth, or perhaps the new reality, of the post-american world. The US is about to become the world's bitch.
War is logistics. It takes seven people to support every trigger puller on the ground. If the US military has 60,000 troops in Afghanistan, only 8571 are engaged in direct combat. Afghanistan is 652,230 square miles of the most rugged and inhospitable terrain on the face of the earth. That's one soldier per 76 square miles! He better be Superman.
Afghanistan is bordered by Iran, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. None of these Mongol nations are fond of the US but some will allow us to fly or truck in supplies to our military. Essentially we bribe them to get their cooperation, which could end in the twinkle of an eye.
Obama has spat in the face of Karzai and the Pakistanis. Most of our troop's supplies come through Pakistan, who barely control the "frontier provinces" adjacent to Afghanistan. By now Karzai recognizes that Obama intends to pull our troops out next year no matter what. Surely he is making accomodations with the Taliban to survive.
The new rules of engagement that our troops must abide by in Afghanistan are supposed to win hearts and minds. That can only work from a position of strength. Stating that you are leaving in a few months is not a position of strength. So the only thing that america can do in Afghanistan is bleed and die. For nothing.
The Pakistanis are securing a gas deal with Iran, against US wishes. The Pakis are telling Obama to kiss their ass. What's the magic negro gonna do? Lecture them? Pakistan knows that the US is bugging out of the region and they must put their energy needs first. China and Russia will be the regional hegemons.
Despite the best efforts of our excellent military, Afghanistan is lost. It really always was but under the Bush administration it was manageable. McChrystal and Petraeus both know what's coming. Obama and his gang either know and don't care or just don't know.
This self-inflicted defeat will have repercussions. Iraq dispelled the myth of american weakness, ala Vietnam. Obama's withdrawls will re-install the myth, or perhaps the new reality, of the post-american world. The US is about to become the world's bitch.
Labels: Afghanistan, American decline, Pakistan
posted by lugh lampfhota at 8:59 PM
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