The US Has Lost the War in Afghanistan -- It is time to recognize reality and start talking.

[Better Believe It]

The US Has Lost in Afghanistan -- We Have to Come to Grips with What That Means
There never was a goal set by NATO and Afghanistan that was achievable; because their blood and capital are finite.
By Conn Hallinan
August 16, 2010

Wars are rarely lost in a single encounter; Defeat is almost always more complex than that. The United States and its North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) allies have lost the war in Afghanistan, but not just because they failed in the battle for Marjah or decided that discretion was the better part of valor in Kandahar. They lost the war because they should never have invaded in the first place; because they never had a goal that was achievable; because their blood and capital are finite.

The face of that defeat was everywhere this past month.

According to the Afghanistan Rights Monitor, “In terms of insecurity, 2010 has been the worst year since the demise of the Taliban regime in late 2001.”

A recent U.S. government audit found that despite $27 billion spent on training, fewer than 12 percent of Afghan security forces were capable of operating on their own.

A poll by the International Council on Security and Development reaffirms that the NATO alliance is failing to win over Afghan civilians, a cornerstone of success in the current strategy employed in Afghanistan. The poll found that in the two provinces currently at the center of the war — Helmand and Kandahar — 75 percent of Afghans believe foreigners disrespect their religion and traditions; 74 percent think working for foreign forces is wrong; 68 percent believe NATO will not protect them; and 65 percent think Taliban leader Mullah Muhammad Omar should be part of the government.

So does one calculate the arithmetic of defeat. But “defeat” does not mean the war is over. Indeed, the moment when it becomes obvious that victory is no longer an option can be the most dangerous time in a conflict’s history. The losers may double down, as the French and the United States did in Vietnam. They may lash out in a frenzy of destruction, as the United States did in Laos and Cambodia. Or they may poison the well for generations to come by dividing people on the basis of ethnicity, religion and tribe, as the British did when their empire began to disintegrate.

We have lost the war. It is time to recognize reality and start talking.

Please read the full article at:

http://www.alternet.org/world/147860/the_us_has_lost_in_afghanistan_--_we_have_to_come_to_grips_with_what_that_means/?page=entire

[asjr]

1. I've always had trouble deeming our invasion

of Afghanistan as a "war." On 9/11 a bunch of Saudi Arabians led by Osama bin Laden of Al Queda fame, brought down twin buildings in New York city. The previous administration immediately told us the terrorists would get us. We sent in an army when a few dozen bounty hunters probably would have found bin Laden within a month. The Bush administration was not satisfied with one encounter, George Bush said Sadaam Hussein tried to kill his daddy and that was reason enough to invade Iraq. Now, we only have his word for it that Hussein tried to kill his Daddy. But, we were told Hussein had "weapons of mass distruction" and we had to go in. The majority of Americans do not believe a president is going to lie to them so most of us said Go Ahead--get the guy! Iraq is not a war either. We certainly have wartime casualties, harm to the inhabitants of Iraq, enough money wasted for the egos of political forces to make our country whole again. Until that previous adminstration en masse pays for ruining our country and our good name we will never be whole again. To me, that is what it boils down to. If our "new" Dept of Justice doesn't take this on and do what is required they are no better than Al Gonzales, Dick Cheney, and the rest of the rotten cabal.

[Uben]

2. War was never declared....

...it was a police action that is on-going, so the author is being disengenuos claiming we have lost a war. This guy needs to go back to school and learn what real journalism is. And yes, it has hit close to home, my son in law did a tour over there.

[rusty fender]

3. Well, whatever you want to call it, a police action,

violence party, MIC welfare program, we have lost it. We lost the minute we invaded. And Obama made sure his presidency and our economy would be a failure once he escalated it. Petraeus is running around cheerleading for support for violence and mayhem--how sick and ridiculous is that?:shrug:

[Uben]

4. I agree he should shut up...

...and do his job, and I want all our guys and gals home, too. The reason it's not a war os because there was never really an "enemy" to defeat other than insurgencies. These people can fold into the countryside and never be recognized, just like in Iraq.
They claim there is less than 100 Al Qaeda in Afghanistan, hardly enough to keep 140,000 troops over there. My guess is that it is all a guise to keep troops within striking distance of Iran on both sides, Iraq and Afghanistan, to keep them in check.

[Better Believe It]

5. I'm really sorry to hear that your son in law was sent to fight in a useless and unnecessary war.

I hope he returned to the states without any injuries or illness. Far too many GI's have been wounded or have lost their lives in vain for these wars that were built on a mountain of lies.

The soldiers who have been sent to Iraq/Afghanistan are not hero's, they are the victims of imperial war makers along with tens of thousands of Iraqi and Afghan civilians who have lost their lives or been injured.

Please read the post on Bob Herbert's article at:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x8989280

[Uben]

6. Hey, he didn't do it to be a hero....

...he needed the money! His goal was to get his commercial helicopter license. HE re-upped in the Air Force reserve to do the tour in Afghanista,. They offered him a nice bonus and it was only a 4 month tour. All he did mainly was unload planes. Since his return to the states, he has acquired his private helicopter license and is now working on his instructor's license. It takes 1000 hrs of flight time to qualify for a commercial license. At $300/hr for flight time, the way most get one is to become an instructor until they get the hrs logged. He already has over 150 hrs towards that goal, thanks to Sikorsky, a major manufacturer of helicopters, who let him fly one of their choppers to an airshow in Wisconsin and another function in Arizona. He works two jobs, one delivering beer and the other at an airport. The kid is sharp as a tack, knows what he wants, and is working towards that goal.
I am proud of the guy, and proud to have him as a son in law.

[Better Believe It]

7. Good for him .... and you and his spouse.

[Jester Messiah]

8. What does it even mean to win?

I've never even seen the conditions for "victory" established. How can you "lose" if you don't know what it means to win?

[Better Believe It]

9. I think "win" means establishing a stable "satellite" regime controlled by the United States.