June 27th, 2010 | 
Author: First Read – Afghan war anniversary a political occasion for GOP …
firstread.msnbc.msn.com10/7/11
The 10th anniversary of the U.S. war in Afghanistan proved a political flashpoint for Republican presidential contenders, who sought Friday to sharpen their foreign policy message for prospective primary voters. Republicans …
Aid, Not War in Afghanistan: An Open Letter From Religious Leaders …
www.sojo.net6/22/11
As leaders of these communities, some of us initially supported the war in Afghanistan as a justified response to the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York City and Washington, D.C. Others opposed the war, believing there were better ways than military force to address the al Qaeda threat. Today, however, we are united in the belief that it is time to bring the … Resources. Faith Works (By Jim Wallis) · Living God's Politics (By Jim Wallis and editors of Sojourners) …
Wouldn't you be hedging your bets too?
I believe that President Obama was fully justified in requesting Gen. Stanley McChrystal’s resignation, and not because McChrystal’s comments amounted to insubordination because they didn’t, but because his comments were a serious enough show of disrespect to justify his removal.
Choosing David Petraeus to succeed him was most likely the best choice too, given the belief that Petraeus strategies have been so successful in Iraq, but it should be noted that there are major differences between the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The Afghan government is weak and corrupt whereas Iraq’s Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki has shown that he can be a competent national leader rather than just a sectarian one, whereas Hamid Karzai has been making public overtures to the Taliban, which suggest that he is hedging his bets.
Why Are Hamid Karzai And The Non-Taliban Hedging Their Bets?
The answer is simple.
In the same breath that Obama announced the Afghan surge he announced an intended withdrawal schedule which was just one year later.
If you were a non-Taliban Afghan and had to decide whether to support the combined Afghan and American forces who would only remain in the area for a year or so, or the Taliban, whose fighters return to a village, and butcher collaborators mercilessly, and publicly, which side would you back?
Bush And The Iraqis – The Big Difference
The surge in Iraq succeeded in large part because George Bush refused to set a withdrawal date and the Iraqis trusted him and that trust meant that the locals cooperated in large numbers with the U.S. and local forces, and the more bad guys that got killed and arrested, the greater became the trust in the local forces and the Americans, and the greater the cooperation.
The Bottom Line
If you were Hamid Karzai, or a peasant in Afghanistan, then you’d most likely be hedging your bets too, and for very good reasons.
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Posted in administration, Afghanistan, fanatics, foreign policy, Iraq, islam, Middle East, muslims, president, Taliban, War
