The Tragic US Strategy in Afghanistan

The Tragic US Strategy in Afghanistan
by Eric Stoner
Published on Monday, January 17, 2011 by OtherWords

Albert Einstein famously defined insanity as “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” If that doesn’t accurately describe the more than nine-year-old U.S. war in Afghanistan, I don’t know what does.

The results of the surge of tens of thousands of additional troops into the “graveyard of empires” are now evident. More soldiers, humanitarian workers, and civilians were killed in 2010 than any year since the United States invaded. One tally put the dead at more than 10,000 last year alone.

At least 120,000 Afghans have also been driven from their homes due to the violence over the last year and a half. I visited Charahi Qambar in December, the largest of some 30 camps for the internally displaced around Kabul, and was horrified by the living conditions there. These refugees call simple mud huts home and lack adequate access to food, clean water, education, or work. The most vulnerable, especially the children, often die from the cold during the bitter winters.

Meanwhile, with the presence of foreign troops in Afghanistan serving as one of its most effective recruiting tools, the Taliban has grown exponentially--from an estimated 7,000 in 2006 to 35,000 or 40,000 today, according to NATO.

But after the release of the December review of the war, President Obama nonetheless declared that the United States is “on track to achieve our goals.” Either the administration has deluded itself or it can't muster the courage to tell the American public the truth.

his fact-finding tour. We are on the right track according to marco.

It'll be the death of the USA. I know that may sound like hyperbole but in all honesty it seems that the administration is keeping us in Afghanistan simply to keep people fearful of terrorists, to keep the draconian Bush-era policies in effect to keep people monitored, as well as to speed the inevitable collapse of the American Empire. The moment our country dissolves into anarchy we'll become like Russia, a shadow of our former selves, all the patriotic vigor that seems to be coded into our DNA will probably die and at the very least we will be forced to bow to whatever system arises from the ashes.

The New Russia was lucky to get what it did as it could have just as easily devolved into a criminal what with the massive increase in the power of the Russian Mafia, they are stabilizing and their future looks bright, but our future? It looks dark and continues to darken as the days march on. My only hope is when we collapse that a democratic - a TRUE democratic system rises from the ashes, a socialist democracy where the government protects its citizens AND interests - where it'll be better than this, but still not perfect, as perfection is impossible.

I just pray I live through the chaos...

I curse the day I voted for you.

The Afghans are simply not interested in one.