She is also concerned about the drones that are launched to kill the bad guys but also kill the good guys.
� ���"It's harder to win the hearts and minds of the Afghan people when you send more troops, destroy their schools, and kill the good guys,� �� � said Bennis. � ���"There is no one at the administration's table saying this.� �� �
Such missteps have occurred from the very start of this war, she said. From November 2001 until January 2002, American Special Forces only numbered about 2,000. The big action was in the air, mostly over Kabul where cluster bombs were used.
Cluster bombs are softball-size and they explode into several hundred � ���"bomblets� �� � that spread 100 yards before they hit the ground, explained Bennis. However, 10 percent of the cluster bombs dropped don't explode. Once they are on the ground, they become land mines that endanger civilian populations. (Many countries have banned cluster bombs but the United States still uses them.)
At the beginning of the invasion, President Bush ordered food drops over Afghanistan in order to make the point that the United States was fighting the terrorists and the Taliban, not innocent civilians. Officials calculated that 7.5 million of Afghanistan's 27 million population was starving. However noble that gesture, the food was wrapped in the same yellow plastic as the cluster bombs, and the people didn't know if they had come upon a bomb or a food package.
As a result of all these mishaps and the fact that Afghanistan has been largely seen as � ���"the forgotten war,� �� � many Americans wonder why we are still there.
� ���"It's not about oil pipelines, natural resources or women's rights,� �� � said Bennis. � ���"George Bush found a great moment to expand the American empire and Afghanistan was the logical place to start. Obama, now, has to make a name for himself. But he had to find a war of his own and Afghanistan was available. He regards it as a good war.� �� �
Meanwhile, American support for the war has flipped from 53 percent in 2001 to an opposition of 58 percent in mid-September . CNN recently reported that 59 percent of people questioned opposed sending more U.S. troops to Afghanistan compared to 39 percent who favored the move .
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