We are to believe that Obama, the Democrats and NATO have the political will to commit the US to the long, long mission in Afghanistan. That is too serious to be laughable. It is absurd and we do not have to go back to Viet Nam to get a hint as to how this will end.
We have been here before and as a matter of fact, we still are. It is called 'International Community' nation building in Kosovo & Bosnia.
First Afghanistan:
According to a story in The Washington Post:
"The top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan warns in an urgent, confidential assessment of the war that he needs more forces within the next year and bluntly states that without them, the eight-year conflict "will likely result in failure."
Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal says emphatically: "Failure to gain the initiative and reverse insurgent momentum in the near-term (next 12 months) -- while Afghan security capacity matures -- risks an outcome where defeating the insurgency is no longer possible."
His assessment was sent to Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates on Aug. 30 and is now being reviewed by President Obama and his national security team.
McChrystal concludes the document's five-page Commander's Summary on a note of muted optimism: "While the situation is serious, success is still achievable."
But he repeatedly warns that without more forces and the rapid implementation of a genuine counterinsurgency strategy, defeat is likely. McChrystal describes an Afghan government riddled with corruption and an international force undermined by tactics that alienate civilians.
Let's face facts and look at previous NATO nation building efforts in European Muslim conflicts, notably Bosnia and Kosovo. That has been going on for 14 years.
$14 billion and 14 years later, Bosnia is a living experiment of real time nation building. It is a country dictated to by Brussels and Washington. They are the bastard children of the Dayton Agreement.
Along with continued presence of NATO in Bosnia, the US and Nato attack on Yugoslavia resulted in the creation of Kosovo, another Muslim country (after Albania) in Europe. Kosovo is a criminal state run by drugs, organized crime and human traffickiing for prostitution.
Yet, Bosnia and Kosovo are a walk in the park compared to Afghanistan. Before we indulge in wishful thinking in Afghanistan, let's look at Bosnia and Kosovo.
