Rethink Afghanistan: a new website and blog from filmmaker Robert Greenwald

Tomgram: The Ir-Af-Pak War
By Tom Engelhardt

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So, this is now truly Obama's war, about to be run by his chosen general, a figure from the dark side. Expect, then, from our sunshine president's men an ever bloodier secret campaign of so-called counter-terror (though it's essence is likely to be terror, pure and simple), as befits an imperial power trying to hang on to the Eastern reaches of the Greater Middle East.

The new crew aren't counterinsurgency warriors, but -- a term that has only recently entered our press -- "manhunters." And don't forget, President Obama is now presiding over an expanding war in which "manhunters" engaging in systematic assassination programs will not only be on the ground but, thanks to the CIA's escalating program of targeted assassination by robot aircraft, in the skies over the Pakistani tribal borderlands.

For those who care to remember, it was into counter-terrorism and an orgy of manhunting, abuse, and killing that the Vietnam era version of "counterinsurgency" dissolved as well.

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What a record, then, of blood and war, of great power politics and imperial hubris, of support for the heinous (including various fundamentalist groups and grim, authoritarian Middle Eastern regimes who remain our allies to this day). What a tale of imperial power frittered away and treasure squandered. Truly, Rudyard Kipling would have been able to do something with this.

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(Note for readers: Credit where credit’s due: the neologism “Ir-Af-Pak” is actually the invention of Jonathan Schell. A small bow of appreciation to him for handing it off to me and to Jim Peck for some inspired suggestions. Thanks as well to Alfred McCoy for helping to bring me up to speed on the meaning of Gen. McChrystal’s Iraq activities. In addition, the filmmaker Robert Greenwald’s Web site is starting to post clips about Afghan casualties of the U.S. air war for the next part of his film about the Afghan War being released part by part on-line. Because we see so little of this, these initial clips are sobering and well worth viewing. To do so, click , , and .)

http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/175083/the_ir_af_pak_war