Three related news items from the past two days:
1. The Washington Post reported this week that Afghan President Hamid Karzai held a meeting with Gen. David Petraeus two months ago, during which the diminutive Afghan leader became” agitated, then enraged.” Karzai then declared that he now has three “main enemies” — the Taliban, the United States and the international community. “If I had to choose sides today, I’d choose the Taliban,” declared Karzai.
2. Six American soldiers were killed and more than a dozen American and Afghan troops were wounded Sunday morning, when a van crammed with explosives blew up at a U.S.-Afghan outpost in southern Afghanistan.
3. Senior U.S. diplomat Richard Holbrooke, known for brokering an end to the Bosnian war, died Monday at age 69, after a 21-hour operation for a torn aorta. The Washington Post reports that Holbrooke’s last words came just before the operation: “You’ve got to stop this war in Afghanistan.”
Or, to paraphrase lyrics from Country Joe & the Fish, who sang in the late 1960s about another, bigger, though equally pointless, war: “And it’s 1, 2, 3, what are we fightin’ for?” (Thanks to special correspondent Mike for the idea.)
This article appears in Dec 14-20, 2010.
I don’t know why Americans seem unable to understand that an occupying army is always hated by the citizens of the country being occupied.
Agreed. If you wouldn’t die for it yourself don’t send someone else to.
Groomsie – You voted for Obama, so you need to get your own chickensh!t ass over to Kabul.