On April 12, its parliament unanimously approved conditions for future US/Pakistan relations. They include ending drone attacks and apologizing for killing 24 Pakistan troops last November. Washington offers neither. Stalemate and tense relations remain.
America's war shows no signs of ending. All it achieved is more war. Conflict won't end until America's gone. Washington won't leave. Karzai serves dutifully as puppet leader. Afghans hate him. Ethnic leaders and Taliban fighters want him ousted. He wouldn't 10 minutes if unprotected.
On April 4, former Reagan Assistant Defense Secretary Lawrence Korb's Politico article headlined "Time to let Hamid Karzai kick us out of Afghanistan," saying:
US leaders are "much better at starting wars than ending them satisfactorily....No matter how long we stay, we cannot control the future of Afghanistan."
Soviet Russia learned the hard way. So did other occupiers. For centuries, Afghanistan's been their graveyard. Washington ignores reality. Declining public support doesn't matter. Unless Congress ends funding, expect protracted war to continue.
A Final Comment
A May 1 The New York Times editorial headlined "Missed Chance," saying:
Obama's Afghanistan speech "squandered the chance to fully explain his exit strategy from a war Americans are desperate to see brought to an end."
Fact check
Hyperbole substituted for truth and full disclosure. Obama didn't disclose an end game because he has none. America came to stay. Foreign media report what The Times ignored.
Most Americans want war in Afghanistan ended. Complacency and indifference describe them, not desperation.
"Obama repeated his commitment that American combat troops would be withdrawn by the end of 2014 and that Afghan troops would be ready" well in advance to replace them.
Fact check
As London's Telegraph and other foreign media reported, America came to stay. Plans are being finalized to leave US combat forces in place until 2024.
"We have long supported the war in Afghanistan as a painful but necessary fight to ensure that Al Qaeda does not again have a major launching pad for attacking the United States."
Fact check
