Talibondage

As increasing numbers of bombs explode in and around Baghdad, reflecting minority Kurds’ and Sunnis’ frustration of the overwhelmingly pro-Iranian Shiite majority that control Iraq, it becomes increasingly clear how badly we lost the war in Iraq. Once again, American efforts have installed a “democracy” that (a) doesn’t protect minorities (even huge ones) within the nation and (b) doesn’t remotely reflect a pro-American posture. It took days for the new government to cozy up to fellow-Shiite Iran after NATO forces left the country. America is rather irrelevant for Baghdad’s future these days.

And so it is with Afghanistan. Our installed “democracy” (a) provided a government that is ranked 179 out of 180 among governments based on corruption and (b) barely has control of even the capital (Kabul) and its immediate environs. As our forces are destined to leave by the end of 2014, it is equally clear that no matter when they depart – tomorrow or in five years – the Afghanistan they leave behind will unravel in months if not days. We and our allies have pledged “support” for the Karzai regime after our departure, but our track record in this arena is less-than-stellar. Don’t feel bad for the incumbents; they’ve salted away lifetimes of fortunes in Swiss bank accounts!

Within the most likely faction to govern the largest part of Afghanistan going forward – the mega-nasty religious freaks/girl-killer Taliban – Afghanistan represents another American “declare victory and leave” scenario that will erase the U.S. presence with a massive regime change instantly when we and our NATO allies vacate. The Karzai “democracy,” they promise, will topple very much the way the Saigon regime we abandoned toppled when U.S. combat forces left Vietnam in 1973. The U.S.-backed government fell two years later, in April of 1975 (see above picture).

The Taliban are gloating already, issuing a statement on January 2^nd to usher in the New Year. “‘[The Americans] want to flee from Afghanistan just as they turned tail and ran from Vietnam,’ the Taliban statement said. ‘When America faced utter destruction in Vietnam, they came up with the formula `declare victory and run' and want to utilize the formula of ‘transfer security and run’ here in Afghanistan.’” Huffington Post, January 2^nd. Pisses you off, right?! But they are totally correct, and we definitely blew and tanked ourselves in the process. Terrorists couldn’t have inflicted more damage on the United States than these the Iraq and Afghanistan wars inflicted on us… because we simply chose to be there. Why couldn’t we bomb those who attacked us, hard and furious… Why did we have to enter their rugged terrain – land that claimed the Soviets decades earlier – and embroil ourselves in a desolate region where we were viewed as nasty invaders?

Today, our Afghan-based forces face greater danger from “green on blue” attacks – anti-U.S. forces embedded in the official government military and police ranks – than they do from external attacks. Forget about the civilian casualties and the collateral damage that U.S. attacks have inflicted, “[a]s of 15 December 2012, there have been 3,063 coalition deaths in Afghanistan as part of ongoing coalition operations (Operation Enduring Freedom and ISAF) since the invasion in 2001. In this total, the American figure is for deaths ‘In and Around Afghanistan’ which, as defined by the United States Department of Defense, includes some deaths in Pakistan and Uzbekistan and the deaths of 12 CIA operatives.” Wikipedia. A little over 2000 of those deaths were Americans.

Together, the direct cost of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq approaches $1.5 trillion, but the impact of the underlying deficit (including the accrued interest) and the necessity to build-up our Homeland Security because we have provoked so many terrorists, would probably double that sum… if not triple it. And still we want a massive military just in case we have to teach another nation a lesson that they will never forget… if we can survive another such mistake!

I’m Peter Dekom, and as talk of deficit-driven budget cuts resumes, don’t believe for an instant that a military that accounts for 41% of global military expenditures cannot find a whole lot more to cut!