It was al Qaeda that attacked us September 11, 2001.
Al Qaeda was headquartering in Afghanistan, supported by the Taliban.
By 2002, US forces had chased al Qaeda out of Afghanistan and removed the Taliban from power.
Al Qaeda today is almost everywhere EXCEPT Afghanistan; Pakistan, Somalia, the Sudan, Morocco, Uganda, the Congo, really big in Indonesia . . . everywhere except Afghanistan.
But the Taliban is back (Why do I hear the Angel's 1963 rock-n-roll hit My Boyfriend's Back rolling in the background? Taliban's back and you're gonna be in trouble, hey la, hey la, Taliban's back. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IjTGi4NbmII). They're really big in Afghanistan . . . and al Qaeda might return, but only might.
So the US must use its might to prevent that might.
And, no matter that, because of their brutality, the Taliban is widely despised by Afghanis, the Taliban are preferred over Karzai's ever-present endlessly palm-greasing, top-siphoning corrupt bureaucrats.
Karzai gave a speech a couple days ago wherein he pledged to ferret out the corruption and the corruptors in his government.
But it was the corrupt bureaucrats who stuffed the ballot-boxes that made his reelection a reality, and they are not desirous of being removed. Now. Since Karzai owes them. Everything.
But, Pakistan has nuclear missiles.
And Pakistan's government is under threat of being toppled by non-tippling radical Muslim elements, including the Taliban. And that might mean the radical, non-tipplers might be able to lay their hands on Pakistan's nuclear inventory. And then they might distribute those weapons to the crazy elements in the world that don't like us, or US. So much might running all over the place.
And that is why we have to plan on being in Afghanistan for the next 15 years; on the kid's and grandkids' credit cards. And about the cost, Doan worry bout it.
You got that? Cause I sure as hell don't. So, please explain that to me again.
It's Christmas: Ho, ho, ho what the hell, I'm going back to bed, and pull the covers over my head. Wake me when it's over, okay.
Ed Tubbs
Palm Springs
A truly important PS: Several years ago, I read Michener's Caravans. Extraordinarily descriptive of Afghanistan, it was the shortest book he'd ever written. The too-charitably-anointed-as-a-country is nothing but impassable mountains, treacherous gorges, roads that are at best rough-hewn goat trails, and a dispersed population that doesn't really communicate with those in other towns, because of the distances and terrain. Currently I'm reading Three Cups of Tea, ostensibly by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin, but as the latter says in the intro, Mortenson lived it, he only wrote it. The story, about Mortenson who has forged more lasting peaceful ties by building schools in Afghanistan and Pakistan, is also exceptionally vivid in its description of the two countries. I'm also reading Lessons in Disaster, by Gordon Goldstein; how US hubris, most particularly as wielded by McGeorge Bundy, led the country on a wholly futile quest called Vietnam. For any who want to learn where we're investing those trillions we don't have, what we're up against, and where it's likely to lead us, rather than loudly pontificate out some orifice . . . read all three Incredible.
Al Qaeda was headquartering in Afghanistan, supported by the Taliban.
By 2002, US forces had chased al Qaeda out of Afghanistan and removed the Taliban from power.
Al Qaeda today is almost everywhere EXCEPT Afghanistan; Pakistan, Somalia, the Sudan, Morocco, Uganda, the Congo, really big in Indonesia . . . everywhere except Afghanistan.
But the Taliban is back (Why do I hear the Angel's 1963 rock-n-roll hit My Boyfriend's Back rolling in the background? Taliban's back and you're gonna be in trouble, hey la, hey la, Taliban's back. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IjTGi4NbmII). They're really big in Afghanistan . . . and al Qaeda might return, but only might.
So the US must use its might to prevent that might.
And, no matter that, because of their brutality, the Taliban is widely despised by Afghanis, the Taliban are preferred over Karzai's ever-present endlessly palm-greasing, top-siphoning corrupt bureaucrats.
Karzai gave a speech a couple days ago wherein he pledged to ferret out the corruption and the corruptors in his government.
But it was the corrupt bureaucrats who stuffed the ballot-boxes that made his reelection a reality, and they are not desirous of being removed. Now. Since Karzai owes them. Everything.
But, Pakistan has nuclear missiles.
And Pakistan's government is under threat of being toppled by non-tippling radical Muslim elements, including the Taliban. And that might mean the radical, non-tipplers might be able to lay their hands on Pakistan's nuclear inventory. And then they might distribute those weapons to the crazy elements in the world that don't like us, or US. So much might running all over the place.
And that is why we have to plan on being in Afghanistan for the next 15 years; on the kid's and grandkids' credit cards. And about the cost, Doan worry bout it.
You got that? Cause I sure as hell don't. So, please explain that to me again.
It's Christmas: Ho, ho, ho what the hell, I'm going back to bed, and pull the covers over my head. Wake me when it's over, okay.
Palm Springs
A truly important PS: Several years ago, I read Michener's Caravans. Extraordinarily descriptive of Afghanistan, it was the shortest book he'd ever written. The too-charitably-anointed-as-a-country is nothing but impassable mountains, treacherous gorges, roads that are at best rough-hewn goat trails, and a dispersed population that doesn't really communicate with those in other towns, because of the distances and terrain. Currently I'm reading Three Cups of Tea, ostensibly by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin, but as the latter says in the intro, Mortenson lived it, he only wrote it. The story, about Mortenson who has forged more lasting peaceful ties by building schools in Afghanistan and Pakistan, is also exceptionally vivid in its description of the two countries. I'm also reading Lessons in Disaster, by Gordon Goldstein; how US hubris, most particularly as wielded by McGeorge Bundy, led the country on a wholly futile quest called Vietnam. For any who want to learn where we're investing those trillions we don't have, what we're up against, and where it's likely to lead us, rather than loudly pontificate out some orifice . . . read all three Incredible.
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