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Edited on Tue Aug-18-09 06:04 PM by laststeamtrain
The Gadarene Gambit: Surging Over the Cliff in Afghanistan Written by Chris Floyd Tuesday, 18 August 2009 16:33 And they came over unto the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes. And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no man could bind him, no, not with chains... said unto him, Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit. And he asked him, What is thy name? And he answered, saying, My name is Legion: for we are many. And he besought him much that he would not send them away out of the country. Now there was there nigh unto the mountains a great herd of swine feeding. And all the devils besought him, saying, Send us into the swine, that we may enter into them. And forthwith Jesus gave them leave. And the unclean spirits went out, and entered into the swine: and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea, (they were about two thousand) and were choked in the sea. – The Gospel of Mark
The "Good War" in Afghanistan -- now in its eighth year with no one even pretending there is light at the end of the tunnel – is about to reach yet another "major milestone" in its blood-stained progress. No, we don't mean this week's presidential election – a chaotic, violent affair that will produce more chaos, more violence, more dissension and repression, whoever is "elected" to head the widely despised and mistrusted American-backed government. We're talking about the "strategy review" now being conducted by the death-squad commander appointed by Barack Obama to lead the war in Afghanistan and Pakistan: General Stanley McChrystal.
Sometime later this month, or early next month, McChrystal is due to give his recommendations for subduing a land that Alexander the Great, the British Empire and the Soviet Union all failed to conquer. Naturally, these considerations of this "secret" review have already been leaked to a fare-thee-well, and naturally, they involve a massive increase of American and British combat troops, as Reuters and ABC report:
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What we will probably see is the old good cop-bad cop ploy: McChrystal will ask for double great googily-moogily amount of troops, then Obama, striking a pose of Solomonic wisdom and moderation, will give him only a single great-googily-moogily amount of troops. The president will then bask in progressive praise for "restraining" the "defense establishment" – even as he as he throws that establishment huge slabs of war-profiteering red meat, while escalating the war toward Vietnam proportions.
<snip>
And now this general of genius is set to propose yet another "surge". This despite the fact, as Carlotta Gall points out in the New York Times, virtually every outside expert as all well as every interested party in the Afghan conflict – from the Karzai government to Karzai's opponents to the various insurgent factions to the NGOs to the UN mission – all agree that the very last thing that Afghanistan needs right now is an even greater influx of foreign military forces.
Unfortunately, the only party that doesn't agree with that approach is the one with the most guns, planes, bombs and loot: the United States (and its little panting bulldog, of course.) While Afghans cry out for immediate negotiations and redress of grievances, preferably beginning at the tribal and local level, the American-Anglo warlords insist on enforcing a top-down solution, and only "from a position of strength." For example, America's chief "diplomat," Hillary "Obliterate 'Em" Clinton, says she is for negotiating with anyone – as long as they first surrender completely to America's terms. This is of course the same line she and Obama are taking in their "diplomatic" approach to Iran: "We will by happy to sit down and negotiate with you as long as you accept all of our demands up front."
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http://www.chris-floyd.com/component/content/article/1-latest-news/1818-the-gadarene-gambit-surging-over-the-cliff-in-afghanistan.html
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