Dan Lyons

“”2d AFGHAN VOTE VALID EVEN IF
KARZAI IS THE ONLY CANDIDATE””
says Clinton/
LONDON TELEGRAPH/31OCT

Maybe so in HER eyes—but in eyes of the world,?

of our already-dubious allies?
It doesn’t really matter to most Afghans—
only 1 in 10 accept Kabul regime already.

Even Russia & Iran pretend to have more than 1 candidate !

NUMBER OF SERIOUSLY INJURED BRITS
HAS DOUBLED Since last year. /

This will spike the number of Brits demanding pullout.
LONDON TELEGRAPH31OCT

Election coming up—will both parties defy the people?

US, ISRAEL PREPARE FOR IRAN RETALIATION/
Nobody thinks there is imminent danger
of Iranian 1st-strikeVs. US /
But they plan to bomb Iran flat,
So there will be fearsome retaliation—
Mainly against our hostage-GIs in next-door Iraq.

One scenario: we bomb their nuke facilities (postponing their nuke program
by a year or so)/

they retaliate/

this excuses our NUKING Iran--
turning whole world against us.

Everything hinges on whether Iran's leaders
are more corrupt or more fanatic.

IGNORANT US MEDDLES IN COUNTRIES
WITH AGE-OLD ETHNIC HOSTILITIES/
Ethnic killings in Iraq have gone down—
but perhaps only temporarily./
(They were relatively low under Saddam,
when unchallenged Sunni dominated.)/

Now we are in Afghanistan, split by ancient hatreds between Pashtun & Tajiks./
We are determined to set up central govt.
To unite all Afghans/bloody likely/

“Tajik’ candidate Abdullah is ready to boycott
farcical 2d election,/
leaving Karzai regime with no shred of legitimacy.

Matthew Hoh was told that only 1 in 10 Afghans support central govt.

WE WANT AMERICAN $,
BUT WE HATE AMERICANS/
Said Pakistan ambassador, apologetically.
Others said, “It’s your war, not ours.”
Others accused US mercenaries of huge bombing.

But we have no choice—we have to give billions
to Pakistan--
Hoping they’ll spend part of the $ in fight vs. Taliban.

MCCLATCHY/31OCT

FINALLY, WORD ON THE WOUNDED ! /
4000 wounded In Afghan war/
1000 wounded in last 3 months/
More troops there will mean more bombs.

350 still being wounded in Iraq each month.

1000 Afghan road-bombs in August.—
bombs that can take out our latest ‘bomb-resistant’ vehicles.

Amputations,spinal cord injuries, BRAIN INJURIES, fractures.

Some injuries are worse than death—
Pentagon doesn’t want us to think of injuries,
WASHINGTONPOST/31OCT

HUMANS ARE MEANING-GENERATING ANIMALS/
Must belief in evolution render our lives meaningless?
It does show that from single replicating cells
No mind is needed to produce dogs & humans.
So IF the SOLE source of meaning is having a role In a
Detailed, Divine Plan, then we’ve lost the meaning in our lives.

“Man is the only animal that feels shame or needs to.”
Nonsense: leopards play for hours with deer before they
Kill and eat them. Shame on them.

We feel shame and guilt because we don’t measure up
To ideal standards GENERATED BY HUMANS.
If Jesus didn't exist,
We should be proud that fellow- humans generated that
Ideal figure who embarrasses us by comparison.

By definition, an ideal is a standard matching the behavior
Of few or no actual humans. So these ideals
(of morality or beauty or splendid achievement)
inevitably produce shame and guilt in most of us.

But we can be proud of belonging to the single species
That CREATES MEANING for itself by generating ideals.

BUSH HONCHO ENDORSES
MATTHEW HOH’S CALL TO GET OUT/
Christopher Buckley was Bush’s main speech-writer.
He quotes parts of Hoh’s impressive resignation speech,
And agrees that we are doing harm, not good in Afgh.

THE DAILY BEAST/30OCT

4 INJURED FOR EVERY SOLDIER KILLED/
said of Brit troops/
LONDON TIMES/30OCT

Pent. Won’t say how many GIs wounded—
But we can guess that for every 10 killed,
40 more are wounded—in many cases,
injury is worse than death.

UNIMAGINABLE NUMBERS OF
POTENTIAL US ATTACKERS WORLDWIDE/
We must think separately about Taliban, Qaeda, and Pakistan./
KANANI IN HUFFINGTONPOST.COM

We can’t afford to waste more resources on Afghanistan;
We must concentrate on Homeland Defense.

LISTEN TO DEVELOPMENT VOLUNTEERS,
IN AFGH FOR YEARS/
Instead of just to military honchos & NGOs in their employ.

Let them tell you direction of development needed,
And how much mil. Support is needed.

Wallis in HUFFINGTONPOST/30OCT

ARE AMERICANS TOO IMPATIENT ABOUT AFGHAN WAR?

Ordinary Americans are concerned with unemployment—
if they still Have a job, they fear losing it /
their friends and relatives have lost jobs/
Their houses may been foreclosed—
at least they are worth much less Than 2 years ago/

Many can’t afford health insurance/ the GOP tells them
That the proposed health reform will cost too much
($100 billion a year,
while Pentagon gets nearly $700 billion for next year)

Folks are worried About h1n1 flu / Govt says it’s an emergency, But somehow not enough vaccine is being produced.

Now about the Afghan war /
Most Americans couldn’t find Afgh on the map/
For 8 years we’ve been involved in two pointless wars/
GI casualties are spiking up/
(23 killed in 2 days/55 so far in Oct/ far more wounded /

“Oh well,” the hawks say, “the first 8 years were mismanaged by the Bushies .
Now we’ll have a new strategy (protecting only 10 cities,
yielding Afghan countryside to Taliban).

But we’ll need
40,000 more GIs (with inevitably higher casualties).
Cost of this surge will be
over $40 thousand of millions more.”

Small wonder that half of Americans say, “Pull Out Now !”
Many informed analysts agree.

PREVIOUS US SURGES IN AFGH
HAVEN’T WORKED/
Number of GIs has TRIPLED in 18 months/
Why should we think more GIs now will work?
ZAKARIAH in NEWSWEEK

PAKISTANI ATTITUDES TOWARD GROWTH OF AFGHAN ARMY/
Desired features:
--Army should be ethnically balanced
(non-Pashtun troops—e.g. Tajiks—
would be as unwelcome for Pashtuns as US GIs!)/

--Final size should not be more than Afghanistan can support for 5-10 yrs/

--Army should not be dependent on regional powers (e.g., INDIA !) for funding, training, or equipment.

PAKISTAN DAILY TIMES/30oct

These restrictions would block a huge increase in Afghan army,
As desired by Gen. McCrystal.

OUR MISERABLE HOMELAND DEFENSE/
Budget is tiny fraction of Useless Pentagon’s/

BIO-ATTACK WILL HAPPEN/
ANTHRAX PLUS CROPDUSTER COULD CAUSE
MORE US CASUALTIES THAN WWII/

BIOWAR FUNDING LOW BY A FACTOR OF 10/

We inspect hardly any huge SHIP-CONTAINERS
Entering our ports by the thousands.

We should pullout of fantastically expensive Afghan war.
(10K more GIs would cost $10 thousands of millions more !)

We don’t understand Muslim world,
Shouldn’t meddle there.

Our NATIONAL GUARD SHOULD BE HOME GUARDING OUR NATION--
not attacking other nations.

Best defense now is NOT any attack.

AFGHAN GIRLS IMMOLATE SELVES
TO AVOID MARRIAGE MISERY/
Dozens set themselves on fire./
Abused by husbands & inlaws/
MSNBC/30AUG

Could Taliban be much worse than ordinary Afghans?

We should forget about helping Afghans,
Concentrate on defense of our Homeland.

CHOPPERS ‘OWN THE AIR’ IN AFGH ?
But 12% of GI Afghan casualties have been in copters./
Ground transport is awful (from bombs)./

US helped drive Soviets out of Afgh.
Soviets relied on copters./
US provided anti-Soviet forces
With shoulder-mounted anti-plane missiles./

Suppose Taliban gets these missiles—
Mysterious why not already?

Such missiles may dent US faith
In VICTORY THRU AIRPOWER.

KARZAI FLUNKIES HELP NEW-ELECTION FRAUD/
Half of election workers have been dismissed/
But they’re doubling the number of election posts,
Making fraud much easier.
CSMONITOR/30OCT

IN HOH'S OWN WORDS:

MATTHEW HOH GIVES HIS AFGHAN ASSESSMENT/
IN WASHINGTONPOST.COM(CHAT)30OCT

Sample: I asked local leaders how long we should stay?
They said TEN TO TWENTY YEARS,
Because right now only ONE IN TEN Afghans
Support the government.

Seeming silence on Hoh on GOOGLE search,
But lots on www. Crawler.com

ALSO SILENCE FROM USATODAY

MATTHEW HOH—A GREAT PATRIOT’/
Says CATO columnist
(CATO is a right-wing libertarian think-tank.)

Hoh is a war-hero, experienced senior diplomat
Who, rejecting various bribes trying to shut him up,
Resigned from his Afghan post
To protest pointless, unwinnable war.

MANY COMMENTS AGREE WITH
SENIOR HERO-DIPLOMAT RESIGNING,
IN PROTEST OVER UNWINNABLE WAR
CSMONITOR/28OCT

VP BIDEN WILL MEET WITH HOH

12 UN ELECTION MONITORS KILLED/
LUXURY KABUL HOTEL MORTARED/
ABC/28OCT

NEARLY HALF OF AMERICANS SAY ‘GET OUT ! “
45% IN NBC POLL/28OCT

HERO RESIGNS OVER UNWINNABLE WAR/
Top Afgh official says our troops help Taliban/
(US State dept. offered him various bribes not to quit.)
Furor reaches WhiteHouse.

LONDONTIMES/28OCT

100 KILLED BY TAL. IN AFGH & PAK/
Mortar aimed at Karzai’s palace in Kabul./
GLOBALPOST28OCT

US CAN’T PACIFY A DIVIDED COUNTRY/
We bought temporary lull in violence to Iraq
by surge in troops/

Actually, by bribing Sunnis to change sides.
But then, when we quit paying them
(& Shia govt WON'T pay them!)--

Now Sunni/Shia split, and Arab/Kurd split
May sabotage new election,
Leave Iraq without a legitimate govt./
Violence is spurting up.

Moral for Afgh: Without a legit govt,
More GIs won't help.
LATIMES/28OCT

REFUGEES SAY WAZIRISTAN CAMPAIGN IS PHONY/
“Just to please Americans & get more money.”
They won’t turn against Taliban,
When Taliban are likely to return to power.
WASHINGTONPOST/28OCT

HUNGER IS ON THE MARCH/
200 MILLION MORE (PLUS 1 BILLION) CAN’T EVEN GET
A CUP OF FOOD A DAY/

Technophils bragged that food problem was solved technically.
(bUT death control without birth control jumped population
up to 7 billion.)
For argument that megatech does much good,
but even more harm,
Goto lamar.colostate.edu/~dlyons
read ch.2

LET A FEROCIOUS DICTATOR RULE AFGHANISTAN/
LET OPIUM POPPIES FLOURISH/
LET LEGALIZED RAPE BE ALLOWED WITHIN MARRIAGE/

Columnist in LONDON TELEGRAPH/28OCT

Will most Brits & Germans & Americans stand for this minimal project
In Afghanistan? Or will they jump up their call to get out?

ESCALATE OR EVACUATE/
Says oped Robinson at WashingtonPost/27Oct
Obama’s penchant for ‘middle way’ Is crazy—
10k more GIs will enrage both progressive doves
And right-wing hawks.

Bring’em Home !

AMBIVALENCE OF GERMAN ‘ALLIES’ IN AFGH/
Since Hitler, German law has prohibited any fighting
but direct defense Of German Homeland./
Now Taliban is attacking German ‘peacekeepers’ in Afgh,
and Taliban propagandists are warning of
attacks in Germany. /

German warrant for Afgh efforts ends this December,
must be renewed.

Germans in Afgh have to fight back, are on the offensive.

But each German soldier stays only for 4 months !
And only 4500 are authorized.

NYTIMES27OCT

SENSIBLE ANALYSIS OF AFGHAN WAR/
By SamBlack in HUFFINGTONPOST/27OCT

Distinguish GOALS VS. STRATEGY VS. TACTICS/
Our GOALS: NO ATTACK ON US HOMELAND,
NO DESTABILIZING PAKISTAN/

Possible STRATEGY: CounterINSURGENCY in cities
(development, win hearts & minds)
Counter-TERRORISM in villages dominated already by Taliban/
(bomb the hell out of them)

Only after Goals & Strategy are settled
Can we sensibly determine number of troops needed.

KEY VARIABLES:
--Corruption, ineffectiveness of Kabul govt.
--relation between Taliban & alQuaeda
(no doubt Tal. Grunts hate US—but their leaders may see folly of inviting Qaeda back into Afgh if they take over).

NO US ANALYSTS KNOW THIS RELATIONSHIP.

DISTRACTIONS:
--WAR VS. OPIUM:/
Opium is NOT Taliban’s main $ source/

--‘WE mustn’t embolden jihadists by pulling out’
They already hate us, & are already emboldened by
Our failure in Iraq (made vivid by recent spectacular Iraq bombings) ,
and our retreat to cities in Afgh.

POIGNANT RESIGNATION OF TOP MARINE HERO / DIPLOMAT /
He wants us to reduce our forces in Afghanistan,
& ultimately pullout.

WASHINGTONPOST/27OCT
also HUFFINGTONPOST.COM

FIFTY-FIVE GIs killed so far in Oct/
8 the day after 14 died in copters/
worst month of war/

HUFFINGTONPOST/27OCT

NO INTELLIGENCE WITHOUT LINGUISTS/
FBI has 8000 terrorist phone messages they can’t read/
Because they have so few linguists./
PublicBroadcasting Radio/27Oct/

Americans are uninterested in outside world./

We can’t raise a cadre of intel agents competent
About foreign languages & cultures./

It would take years and years to produce such a cadre./

We should pull out of world adventures for now,/
And concentrate on Homeland Defense./

(NEW ATTACKS WILL HAPPEN—
PROBABLY BIOWAR..PENTAGON IS USELESS.)

WHAT ARE PAK.ARMY GOALS IN WAZIRISTAN ? /
They can clear some areas,
but it would take 600,000 troops
To hold them against Taliban sneaking back.
(Pak will not take that many
away from the tense Indian borders).

They say they are out to kill foreign Uzbeck fanatics/
If the local tribes think they are out to kill them,
(as the indiscriminate bombing gives the impression)
then there will be a long, bloody battle.
CSMONITOR/27OCT

SUICIDE BOMBERS VS. CHECKPOINTS/
When 2 trucks got thru to cause 800 casualties in Baghdad,
In spite of checkpoints/ it was said that
jihadists had infiltrated The security forces./

However, think of the situation of people manning the checkpoints:/
A vehicle comes toward you, seeming to be carrying bombs./
If you stop it, the driver will blow himself up right there,
Killing you./ You don’t get paid enough to face certain death;/ So you let it thru.

The only thing that works is huge CONCRETE WALLS protecting Key sites/
Malikites were stupid enough to tear these down;/
Now they putting them back up—too late.

Many govt. offices have been ruined, with all their files,etc.

KERRY’S INCOHERENT SPEECH/
We shouldn’t add (any) GIs until 3 preconditions are met:
1) Enough (competent) Afghan recruits available
to replace GIs
(Only 1 in 10 recruits are literate ! And they desert.)
2) We have support from enough local & tribal leaders
(Kabul is dismissed/considering that 1 in 4 Afghans
think it’s OK to kill GIs, this support is very unlikely.)
3) Enough foreign civilian experts available to assure development, To win Afghan hearts& minds.
(It’s said that the experts there now cower in Kabul,
sensibly unwilling to risk their lives outside).
-----
He made Biden’s good point, that we should not be spending $30 on Afghanistan
for every $1 on vital Pakistan (with nukes!)

Finally, a goofy statement:”We need a smart way forward
So nobody asks whether continuing was a mistake.”
There is no such smart way;
half of our people Now realize the whole war was a mistake.

LAST TIME AFGH HAD SECURITY WAS UNDER TALIBAN RULE/
Saving the people from incessant civil war and gangster rule—
Outside Taliban region, Life was ‘nasty, brutish, and short’./

Insurgents see not losing as winning—
They can just wait.

Obama has to provide that security again,
Says CNN analyst./26oct

We must defeat the only regime that gave security to Afghans ?? !!

HOSTILE AFGHAN HEARTS & MINDS DISCOURAGE GIs/
LondonTimes/26oct

US DOESN’T UNDERSTAND AFGH/
Says columnist in LONDON GUARDIAN/26OCT

Problem is broader than that:
--Americans are ignorant and uninterested in foreign languages & cultures/

--so we can’t produce a cadre of foreign policy experts/

--producing such a cadre would take years or decades/

--so we should back off from foreign adventures/

--threat of terrorist attacks on US is real/

--so we should divert the money and attention
from Afghanistan & Iraq to Homeland Defense.

US ABANDONS BORDER POSTS/
TALIBAN COULD FLEE FROM PAK. WAZIRISTAN
INTO AFGHANISTAN.

It is not known whether Pak. Army can HOLD
Waziristan areas it clears.
WashingtonPost/26oct

10,000 MORE TROOPS WOULD ADD
$10 THOUSAND MILLIONS
TO AFGHAN COSTS/

Washingtonpost/26oct

NEW TOTALS OF BAGHDAD SLAUGHTER/
732 CASUALTIES/
MCCLATCHY/26OCT

FOURTEEN AMERICANS KILLED IN COPTERS/
2D DAY OF ANTI-US MARCHES/

REUTERS/26OCT

ONCE-STABLE NORTH AFGH IS NOW BEDEVILED BY TALIBAN/
Only the main city is fairly stable/Natives worry that McC will abandon Villages, roads to the Taliban.

Foreign invaders can’t tell friendly natives
From Taliban /

GIs need mountains of supplies. Our Southern supply route is now threatened
in Pakistan; now our Northern rout is threatened.
LATIMES/25OCT

AFGHANS PROTEST VS. AMERICANS/
Hundreds march after rumor that GIs
Burned 6 copies of Koran.
GLOBAL POST/25OCT

It doesn’t matter what really happened;/
As long as foreign infidels occupy the country,
Such rumors will be believed/
And make it even more difficult
To ‘win hearts & mnds’ of Afghan natives.

650 CASUALTIES IN BAGHDAD/
from 2 bombs/
WASHINGTONPOST/25OCT

AMERICANS WANT PULLOUT:
49% want a full or partial pullout/
POLITICKER/24OCT

PAK.REFUGEES DON’T TRUST ARMY’S ‘OFFENSIVE’ VS. TALIBAN/
Indiscriminate govt. bombing in So.Waziristan.

Many say they have seen no soldiers yet./
One leader says govt. has used their militias like toilet paper: Used, then thrown away./

Earlier offensives led to peace agreements with Tal./

Some say Pak. Govt. is pretending to go against Tal.
Just to get more US money./

But army says that for 1st time, Pak. People are
Backing this attack.
MCCLATCHY/24OCT

NATO ALLIES ENDORSE HIGH-TROOP-NUMBER STRATEGY.
but offer no new troops.
AFP/23OCT

NO MORE TROOPS YET TO AFGH/
Say NATO ‘allies’/
Not until
--legitimate,effective Kabul govt. turns up/
(in other words, not for years)
--not until Obama decides whether US will send more GIs.

UN honcho says he can’t eliminate fraud in 2d election,
& calls for RECONCILIATION WITH TALIBAN !
ABC/23OCT

Chatter about reconciling with Taliban
will sink GI morale even more.
Taliban are kiiling,wounding them remorselessly.

“AWAR OF NECESSITY” THIS IS A MERE SLOGAN/

WhiteHouse spokesman repeats this slogan,
But then in terms of content,
He cites need to see that Taliban takeover of Afgh
Doesn’t set Qaeda up to attack US.
NBC TV/23OCT
There are probably more than one million Muslims world wide
Eager to attack US, which they regard as at war with Islam.

Against this background, the threat of AFGHAN Qaeda
Looks trivial indeed.

The hundreds of billions spent on this war
Are needed instead to improve Homeland Defense.

A panel just said that precautions against Biowar attack
Are underfunded by a factor of ten.

“SECURITY TRENDS ARE RUNNING
IN TALIBAN’S FAVOR”/
says foreign policy expert Biddle./
Conditions are not now favorable
for splitting different factions of jihadists.
NYTIMES/23OCT

PRO-MCCRYSTAL EDITORIAL (USATODAY/22OCT)
--it wrongly says that McC plans to protect villages.
That’s not what he says and is doing—
He’s protecting only ‘population centers’,
Leaving Taliban to control small villages.

--It says we can’t separate Taliban from Qaeda
in our plans…many Taliban are now fanatics
who hate America.
Of course—but fanatic Muslims who hate America
Are scattered all over the world. The question is
Why we should concentrate so much GI blood and money
On those in Afghanistan?

--“Our enemies can sense any weakness.”
Sure—our big ‘weakness’ in Afgh
Is that the whole world knows we have no real stake there:
Prevailing there would not make our homeland safer.
We got into Afgh by mistake (none of the 9/11 bombers were Afghans)/
We stayed in by Bushie stupid stubbornness/
Obama is stuck there now by his foolish campaign promises/
The whole world knows that half of Americans
Oppose sending more troops—and that number will grow.

Bin Laden knows (& says) he is bankrupting America
(each GI in Afgh costs $1million a year;
each GALLON OF GAS COSTS FOUR HUNDRED DOLLARS !)By entangling us in these 2 stupid wars.

We ARE weak when it comes to fighting jiahadists
(there may be hundreds of thousands scattered around the world,
of every race and color).

So we should avoid such pointless wars
And concentrate on Homeland Defense.

PENTAGON CAN DESTROY MAGNIFICENTLY—BUT NOT WIN/
A history of Pentagon ‘achievements’ since WWII.
NICK TURSE on CBS/22 OCT

Pentagon hasn't really won a real war since 1945.
US hasn't won vs. guerillas since around 1900.

BRIT TROOPS MUST STAY IN AFGH
FOR AT LEAST 5 MORE YRS/
Says general/
TELEGRAPH/22OCT

Will Brit pols and US pols dare to agree?

PAK.ARMY MUST COLLABORATE WITH ANTI-US TALIBAN/
Pak. Army will fight ONLY Tal attacking Pakistan,
Not those attacking US in Afgh.
GUARDIAN/22OCT

2D AFGHAN ELECTION RAISES TRIBE-CONFLICT FEARS /
Pashtun are 45% of Afghans, Tajiks are 25%.
But in ’02, US sided with Tajiks against Pashtun Taliban.

In 1st election, there were many candidates;
Tribal conflict was concealed—

But this time, Abdullah will be backed by Tajiks,
Karzai by Pashtun (many of whom will be intimidated
By taliban into not voting).

Gates said, “Aside from election fraud, there is huge problem Of govt. corruption “
(Karzai will likely win a plurality).
…before Afghans trust govt. more than Taliban/

FINANCIAL TIMES/22OCT

DIM HOPE TO SIPHON OFF SOME TALIBANIS/
McCrystal hopes to wean away some lower level Talibanis
As they bought loyalty of some Iraq insurgents./
But many experts think this is a dim hope indeed--
until we start winning decisively.
WASHINGTONPOST/22OCT

‘SUCCESS’ IN AFGHAN TOWN IS LIMITED/
A town in Helmland, now occupied by GIs, has turned
Peaceful and ‘Taliban-free’ BUT
--To replicate this success all over Afghanistan,
US would need to send ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND MORE GIs;
--and Kabul govt. would need to send help,
which so far it has not dones.
WASHINGTONPOST/22OCT

OBAMA’S CIVILIAN CHALLENGES IN AFHG, PAK, & IRAQ/
In all 3 countries, new ‘democratic’ regimes are threatened,
AND NOT JUST BY JIHADISTS !
Nytimes/22oct

VIETNAM & AFGHANISTAN/
Hawks back then cited the spectre of Chamberlain’s refusal to face Expansionary Nazi force—substituting exapansionary world Communism./
But it turned out there was no unified, surging Communist force—
e.g., China had rebelled against Moscow domination./

Analogously, hawks today cite surging ‘Islamofascism’
To say we must continue war in Afghanistan./
But jihadists are a decentralized bunch of forces
United only by a dislike for US./
Columnist in HUFFINGTONPOST/22OCT

We are threatened by hostile individual terrorists
around the world--
Not by Taliban attacking our Homeland./

We have no important stake in Afghanistan.
We need to switch focus to Homeland Defense.

FINLAND & AUSTRALIA TO PULL TROOPS
OUT OF AFGH/
IHC/22OCT

HOW LONG WOULD IT TAKE TO SET UP 40K MORE GIS IN AFGH?
The 27k extra GIs Obama authorized months ago STILL HAVEN’T ARRIVED !
MARTHA RADITZ ON ABC NEWS HOUR/20OCT

McCrystal said if we can’t show real ‘PROGRESS’ (MEANING?)
In 12-18 months, we’ll fail EVEN WITH MORE TROOPS.

GOVT NEGLECTING BIOWAR THREATS/
Says bipartisan commission set up by Congress/
--anthrax spores spread by cropduster
could kill more Americans than died in WWII/
2 trillion dollars repair.
--program to buy drugs,etc. for biowar attack are
UNDERFUNDED.BY A FACTOR OF 10 !

--It’s getting cheaper and easier to use biowar weapons.

--Biowar is a more urgent and immediate threat
than nuke attack.

BIG FRONT-PAGE ARTICLE IN USATODAY/21OCT

North Korea says it has 14 different biowar germs
(with no immunity).

Homeland Defense is much more urgent
Than silly wars in Afgh & Iraq.

PLAUSIBLE BUT UNSOUND ARGUMENTS FOR STAYING IN AFGH/
Steve Coll in FOREIGN POLICY offers complex,
LONG-RANGE scenarios
For POSSIBLE, minimal success in Afghanistan and Pakistan./

However, he never faces the plain fact that
Americans, having already endured 8 years of Bushie blundering
in Afgh, will sensibly never stand for years more of
HIGH GI CASUALTIES and further draining of our near-bankrupt treasury—
when we have NO immediate and urgent interests in that region.

The next 9/11 attack (there will be one) may originate in Europe (as the last one did) or Indonesia.

We must switch our focus from overseas war
To beefing up our Homeland Defense.

DUMB US GENERAL HELPS
THOSE WANTING TO DELAY IRAQ ELECTION/
He says he might recommend slowing down US pullout
If election is delayed./
LONDON TELEGRAPH/21OCT

However, many Iraq pols WANT US pullout delayed—
So now they’ll help delay election.

“LAST CHANCE FOR COMMITMENT TO AFGHAN PEOPLE’
says LondonTimes columnist(21Oct)

“We must set up a legit Kabul govt,
And support it (presumably with more troops)
--otherwise no point in staying there.”

Our commitment is to warlords, just as when
Soviets pulled out:/
Taliban taking over South,
Civil war in North.

There IS no point in our staying there.

VATICAN BIDS ANGLICAN REACTIONARIES
TO JOIN ROMAN CHURCH/
latimes/21OCT/

However, they can enlist in Orthodoxy,
say under the non-interfering Patriarch of Antioch,
without submitting to distasteful Pope.

JIHADIST ROOTS IN INDONESIA/
Govt. just killed a famous leader,
But radical schools train students
To be willing recruits for jihadism.

GLOBALPOST TV SEGMENT/21OCT

Indonesia’s jungles are ideal places
For Qaeda-type training havens./

Why do we spend so many resources
On Afgh, when many other places
Haven threats to our homeland?/

If only 1 in 1000 world Muslims sympathize
With jihadists, that’s 1,500,000 sympathizers,
Of every race & color, scattered around the world./
Our military offensives convince them that
We are at war with Islam.

We should concentrate on homeland defense,
The best defense now is NOT any offense.

US DOUBLE-CROSSING PAKISTAN?
PAK.CLAIMS US IS ALLOWING TAL. TO GO TO & FRO AT BORDER/
US has closed checkpoints, perhaps hoping
Afghan Taliban will move to Pak.
To help their allies./
NYTIMES/21OCT
Also LONDON TELEGRAPH/21OCT
This shows unreality of US/PAK alliance.

TAL. USED DRONE ATTACK TO RECRUIT /
Says former US prisoner of Taliban/
They exaggerated number of civilians killed/
NYTIMES/21OCT

As long as we bomb Afghanistan & Pakistan,
Taliban can convince natives that local innocents
Are being killed, using native rage for recruitment.

AGREE WITH AMERICANS & AFGHANS,
OR WITH A SMALL MILITARY CLIQUE?

3 PHONY ARGUMENTS
FOR CONTINUING AFGHAN WAR:/
--“If they take over, Taliban will establish trainng camps for Qaeda, enabling a future 9/11 on America.”/
----Most Taliban are motivated just to retake Afgh
(which they have nearly done)
and expel the infidel invaders.
Why would they want to enable Qaeda,
and bring more bombing on themselves.
Gen Jones says there are only
100 Qaedas In Afghanistan./
Besides, there are many other places
where Qaeda can train safely.
If we chase Taliban out of Afghanistan, they will retreat again into Pakistan, A much more important theatre—because Pakistan has nukes !

--“We need to protect human rights in Afgh, especially women’s rights.”
The warlords we have set up are just as anti-woman as the Taliban.

--“Taliban victory would energize Qaeda,
and they’d spread all over the world.”
Bin Laden has said: “All we have to do is send
a few jihadists someplace,Waving a Qaeda flag,
and US will rush to fight them. /
We’re bankrupting America.”

There are risks in disentangling ourselves from hopeless Afghanistan;
But there are greater risks in continuing this pointless war.
COLUMNIST IN LONDON INDEPENDENT,
QUOTED IN HUFFINGTON POST, 20OCT

WILL AFGHAN TROOP SURGE WORK?
Doubts among Obama’s war council/
Counter-insurgency theory calls for 160,000 troops in Afgh.
(Soviets had that many, still got driven out.)
Quick buildup of competent Afghan army is impossible.

The most that can be hoped for is increased security
In Afghan cities. That leaves rural areas (most population)
To the Taliban.
CNN/20Oct

DLYONS SEES AFGHAN WAR AS HOPELESS, POINTLESS/
--hopeless because of a) long-time needed to build Afghan nation,
vs. (b)short time before Americans demand pullout.

-- pointless because even if we prevailed in Afgh,
we’d be no safer from terrorist attack—
because of all the other places where terrorists find havens.

All my posts are to document & support these claims.

RESPECTED AMBASSADOR SEEMS OPPOSED TO BIG TROOP SURGE/
But he does insist we must stay in AfPak for a long time.
And he thinks Obama must decide soon.
But he knows we have to have a functioning
Afghan govt…& this can’t happen till
Election fiasco is sorted out.
GLOBALPOST/

US populace has turned against this war—
And rightly so—we have no urgent stake in this region,
Except to hold off jihadists grabbing Pakistan’s nukes.

WE’RE NOT A SUPERPOWER in ‘chaosistan’,(nor is Russia or China)
The huge region where central govts.
Have little real power.

“ALLIES” WORRIED THAT OBAMA MIGHT PULL OUT/
pretty nervy of them when they contribute so little to the fight.
WASHINGTON POST COLUMN/19OCT

PAK. OFFENSIVE WON’T HELP AMERICANS/
They invaded So.Waziristan, attacking the jihadists
Who are attacking Pakistan.

But the guerillas attacking Afghanistan
Are stationed elsewhere,
Prominently in city of Quetta.

CSMONITOR/19OCT

US CAN’T CUT OFF TALIBAN MONEY/
“We’ve barely made a dent..”
NYTIMES/19OCT

MISSILE-KILLED JIHADIST LEADERS
CAN BE REPLACED/
Recruitment is high, even among Europeans & Americans,
To be trained in Afgh & PAKISTAN./
Small, mobile training camps./
Huffingtonpost/19oct

If only 1 in 1000 world Muslims sympathize with jihadists,
that's 1.5 MILLION potential recruits.

We should concentrate on Homeland Defense,
Not on attacking other countries.

AFGHAN ‘CHAOSISTAN’/
A CIA report listed the forces militating against
any central Afghan govt/
--hostile ethnic groups/
--intrusive neighbors/
--social damage from previous Taliban govt.

HUFFINGTONPOST/19OCT

IMPLICATIONS OF SHORT TIMETABLE PLUS AFGHAN POLL/
McCrystal says if we don’t ‘show progress’ in 12-18 months,
We can’t prevail, even with extra troops.

He hopes to prevail by getting natives on our side vs. Taliban.

But poll shows natives favoring US is very low,
and is dropping.
(It dropped 18% this year !)

The most upsetting finding: one in four Afghans think
it’s OK To kill Americans ! (That number is rising.)

It’s very unlikely that we can turn these attitudes around
In 12-18 months ! So we probably cannot prevail.

So we should pull out right away,
And avoid wasting more GI casualties.

Obama should use election fiasco
(with Karzai refusing a unity govt.)
as excuse to pull out.

AFGHANS SOURING ON ALLIED EFFORT/
(changes from ’05 to start of ’09):

Afgh is going in right direction: 77% to 40%

Favor US: 83% to 47% (18% drop this year)

US doing well in Afgh:68% to 32%

Most people in my region support NATO: 63% to 37%

OK to attack GIs: 13 % to 25% !
ABC/18OCT

All this when you'd think increased Taliban bombs
would make Afghans side with NATO !

US SUCCESS WINDOW SHRINKS/
McCrystal said we must show progress in 12 months
(or lose Americans’already-shrinking support).

But the Afghan election fiasco—
If a runoff election is necessary,
That will trim the time by 2 months—
Because Obama won’t OK troop surge
Until Afghan govt. is seen as legitimate.
CBS/18OCT

US could force Karzai into cooperation
By threatening to quit protecting his palace.

FORMER TALIBAN HONCHO
(still in touch with Tal. Leaders)
SAYS A DEAL IS POSSIBLE/
If Tal. Divorces Qaeda, and US allows Taliban to govern
A couple of Afghan provinces, and allows them to impose
Strict Islamic fundamentalism.
TELEGRAPH/18oct

To get out, US would also have to
Tolerate murderous warlords in power.

NO MORE TROOPS WITHOUT
LEGIT, UNCORRUPT AFGHAN GOVT/
Says Obama aide/ also Kerry/
HUFFINGTON POST/18OCT

The ‘uncorrupt’ part is probably impossible—
Or at least it will take years.

PAKISTAN’S ARMY & GOVT. ARE IN DENIAL
ABOUT STRENGTH OF JIHADISTS/
--Now Punjabis as well as Pashtuns

--Army is infiltrated by jihadists.

LONDON TELEGRAPH/17OCT

“PULL OUT NOW” FROM 29% TO 36% OF BRITS SINCE SEPT.
LONDON TIMES/17OCT

A VERY UNREALISTIC TIMETABLE FOR AFGH/
Says an analyst: McC will get his troops, but will be instructed
To show results quickly.
With Afgh. election still in limbo,
That would negate the whole strategy at its birth.

FINANCIAL TIMES/17OCT

PULLING OUT OF AFGH
WOULD DESTABLIZE PAKISTAN?
Pak. Is already destabilized, when jihadists can occupy their army HQ !

US presence in Afgh and bombing Pakistan have already enraged Pakistanis—only 15% of them approve of cooperating with US To fight Taliban. Staying in
Afgh will provoke Paks more, recruit more for jihadists.

If we pulled out, Taliban would try to retake Afgh.
They are very unpopular there; they would face civil war
With warlords. They would have little energy left
To bolster present attacks on Pakistan.

And Pakistan is far more important than Afghanistan.

Pakistan’s neighbors are far more in peril than we are
From Pak. Nukes. (They have no intercontinental
Missiles.) These Moslem nations should stabilize Pakistan.

AFGHAN GI MORALE PROBLEM:
A chaplain told the London Times that GIs worried
That their mission was pointless, that Afghans
Were reluctant to help them.

Commander wrote a pep-talk letter to his troops
(not likely to change things).

Sgt.”A lot of soldiers will be glad as hell
That the chaplain spoke up. Fearing reprisal,
They don’t speak up. Morale has gotten low;
I’ll say it from the mountaintops !”

HALF OF FRONT PAGE. USATODAY/16OCT

Who’s to blame?
--Obama for delaying escalation decision?
If he decided quickly to send only a few thousand more troops,
That wouldn’t help morale.
It looks like he’s not going For escalation whole-hog.

--bloggers like Lyons who denounce this war
as hopeless and pointless? We have few readers
to counter millions spent by Pentagon for
upbeat analyses.

--Questioning of war by many respectable pundits,
in many respectable news-sources.
Canada & Holland are scheduled to pull out;
French will not send “one more soldier’!
Brits MIGHT send another 500.

(GIs can call this info up on their computers—
Korean & Viet soldiers had no info source
Except STARS&STRIPES, run by Pentagon)

Besides, GIs can observe directly
the ‘ungrateful’ Hostility of the Afghans they meet.

When at least half of Americans at home
Oppose the war, and many of the GIs
Fighting that war doubt its point,
It’s time to pull out.

NOT ONE MORE FRENCH SOLDIER TO AFGH/
Says Sarkozy/
It’s necessary to win, but still…
LONDON TELEGRAPH/16OCT

Britain might send 500 more. Big Deal.

Our 'allies' are dribbling away.

TALIBAN BOMBS BRING BLAME ON US/
“If US were not in Afgh, Taliban would not be bombing us.”
Columnist quotes Afghans in LONDON TIMES/16 OCT

It’s true that US invasion of Iraq
Brought new slaughter far worse than any Saddam atrocities.

WHICH HALF OF WAR DO YOU WANT TO WIN?/
Asks sarcastic GOP legislator/
WASHINGTONPOST/16OCT

There’s a point here—if we can afford to fight only half a war,
We should pull out instead.

Another GOP calls on Obama
To let our ‘dream-team’ win.

It’s a bad dream.

5 REASONS TO PULL OUT OF AFGH/
--We went in to combat Qaeda, which is now scattered outside Afgh,
mainly in Pakistan
--We are abandoning Afghan countryside already
--We can’t build Afghan army when they know we will pull out
--We have no legitimate Afghan govt. as partner
--We’re spending billions each day which we desperately need at home
Columnist in HUFFINGTON POST/16OCT

He doesn’t mention pointless slaughter of GIS
(25 killed in 1st half of Oct)

Nor the need to invest more billions in Homeland Defense.

EACH GI IN AFGH COSTS $1 MILLION (a year?)

Each gallon of gas for troops costs $400.00

HUFFINGTONPOST/16OCT

25 GIs KILLED IN 1ST HALF OF OCT/
4 IN ONE DAY/
GOOGLE NEWS/16OCT

We can guess that 100 were wounded.

WE CAN’T SEND ENOUGH TROOPS TO AFGH/
Oversretched army could send only 30k in next 3 months./
But McCrystal demands 80k./
And counterinsurgency manual
Calls for 600,000.
MCCLATCHY/16OCT

DOZENS OF PAK.CASUALTIES/
On Thursday & Friday/
CNN/16OCT

It must be clear to Taliban that such attacks
Will provoke, not deter, invasion of Waziristan.
So they must WANT this invasion now,
During the winter.

Pak. Army is not trained to fight guerillas.

JAPAN STOPS MINIMAL AID TO US IN AFGH/
It may be replaced by some other noncombat aid.

Tensions over GIs in Okanawa also symbolizes
Japan’s rejection of role as US slave.

New honcho says Asia must restrict
US economic & political excesses.
LONDON TIMES/15OCT

PAKS.FEAR US MORE THAN TALIBAN OR INDIA !

Tisdal in GUARDIAN/15OCT

OBAMA SAID TO EMPHASIZE
CIVILIAN IMPROVEMENTS
(OVER GI increases?)
reforming corrupt govt,
training Afghan army,etc.

WASHINGTONPOST/15OCT

IRAQ SHIA SHRINE THREATENED/
3 different explosions in Karbala/
NYTIMES/15OCT

To provoke Shia attacks on Sunnis,
Jihadists know that attacks on Shia shrines
Are more provocative than attacks
Causing hundreds of Shia casualties.

“FIGHT FROM AFAR IN AFGH”/
(from ships & planes)
says noted hawk Pape./
He claims that Tal.attacks have risen in proportion to
US ‘footprint’ (GI numbers).
NYTIMES/15OCT

But McCrystal notes that airstrikes
Enrage locals more than GI footprint,
and recruit them to Taliban.

Pape may be speaking for war corporations
Who want to restore mythical respect for
Expensive ships and planes.

TALIBAN BEEFS UP/
Yearly RISE OF 25% IN JIHADIST NUMBERS/
MCCLATCHY PAPERS/15OCT

US FORCES TOO OVERSTRESSED
TO ADD 80K GIs TO AFGH/
Says Sen.Levin/
CSMONITOR/15OCT

NEW-TROOP COMPROMISE? (20k NOT 40k)
MAKING EVERYONE HAPPY WILL MAKE NOBODY HAPPY.

Pentagon worries that our people will not tolerate more years of war.
LATIMES/15OCT

130 PAKISTANIS KILLED LAST WEEK
BLOOMBERG/15OCT

HORRIFIC IRAQ WAR TOLL/
Between 80,000 and 600,000 dead
are guestimates.
NY DAILY NEWS/14OCT

No such horrors under Saddam regime.

A just war must cause fewer casualties than it prevents.

WOULD HUGE GI INCREASE BE RESENTED
BY AFGHANS AS OCCUPATION?
Mc Crystal says that depends on how they act, not by their numbers.
REUTERS/14OCT

But thousands of new troops, with no experience of Afghan culture,
Would likely misbehave enough to anger Afgans.

MCCRYSTAL VS. WAR CORPORATIONS/
One of the most persistent US myths is
VICTORY THRU AIRPOWER/
But Mccrystal points out that againt guerillas
Who can hide out among civilians,
Airstrikes are counter-productive./
(Brits couldn't use ships & planes against IRA.)

As I said before,
“surgical strikes’ are like using a meat-cleaver
instead of a scalpel.

(Drones can sometimes hit guerilla leaders,
but at the price of enraging civilian survivors
and producing new jihadist recruits.)

Now war-corporations don’t make most of their billions
By producing rifles or even MRAP vehicles,
But by producing monstrous ships and science-fiction
Planes./ Once these lose their glamour,
Americans might not go for their fantastic expense.

(Of course the Congressmen who are paid to promote
these obsolete monsters will continue to promote them—
but sooner or later the populace will catch on
and spend instead on other defense measures.)

Paradoxically, our war-hero general
Is threatening the war-corporations.
So we can expect that they’ll move to undermine
HIS glamour.

CLINTON SEEMS LESS HAWKISH/
“Not every Taliban is linked to Qaeda”/
She seems to favor buying off Tal. Grunts/
She didn’t endorse McCrystal’s grandiose plan
To convert, protect all Afghans.

ABC/14OCT

BIDEN’S VIEWS NOW BETTER ACCEPTED/
--We should concentrate on Pakistan, not Afgh.
--We shouldn’t try to secure whole Afghan population,
but concentrate on attacking Qaeda,
the only group there that threatens US.
MSNBC/14 APR

In fact, McCrystal is pulling back into cities,
Abandoning rural natives to Taliban.

EVEN 80,000 MORE GIS MIGHT NOT WORK/
Says McCrystal, because of Afghan corruption/
CBS14OCT

McC said earlier, “I’m just the mechanic who tells
What would be necessary to repair the machine;
Someone else has to decide if the machine is worth
That much to repair.”

He may be covertly advocating pullout.

AFGH A DESPERATE SITUATION/
Says top Canada general/
REUTERS/14OCT

AFGHAN FAILURE CATASTROPHIC FOR US?

This is just asserted, with no supporting evidence,
In an essay by a JohnMcCain worker & colleague.

They claim we can prevail even with an illegitimate
Central govt. in Afgh.
LATIMES/14OCT

PAKISTANIS REJECT US AID/
Only 15% want to accept HUGE aid package
approved by Congress/
CSMONITOR/14OCT

Obviously most Pakistanis side with military against President.

“Will doing more in Afgh accomplish more?
“Is Afgh. central to our war on terror?
“Can we transform Afghan situation?
These are 3 doubting questions
from a former Bush honcho,
quoted in long essay on Afgh in NYTIMES 14OCT by D.Wilkins

McCrystal is telling natives that we’ll stay there for years.
(after 8 yrs already !)
He must know that our populace will not stand for that.

ADDED TROOPS WOULDN’T GET THERE IN TIME TO PREVENT MCCRYSTAL’S ‘EMERGENCY’/
He said Tal. ‘momentum’ must be reversed in 12 months,
Or even more troops won’t help.

But the Surge in troops wouldn’t arrive in less than a year.

So this Surge is irrelevant to the ‘bloody shirt’
McCrystal is using to scare Americans into
Investing more GI blood into this fiasco.

HUFFINGTONPOST (Naiman)14oct

His scare isn’t working;
US support for war is still plummeting:
GOP support sank 8% in 2 weeks !

2 of 5 VETS OF GULF WAR I (in 1990s)
ARE CLAIMING DISABILITY—
1 IN 5 ARE GETTING DISABIILITY PAYMENTS/
WORLD NET DAILY

To confirm this , google GULF WAR I VETS DISABILITY/

We tend to think the FIRST Gulf war cost us relatively few
GI deaths or injuries./
But chemical pollution has left Many of these GIs seriously,permanently ill.

Americans every 20 years or so go enthusiastically
for war,Forgetting the hidden, long-term human costs of war.

800 GIs HAVE BEEN KILLED IN AFGH,
AND 4000 WOUNDED !/
acc. To ABC TV NEWS/13Oct

Pentagon won’t tell us week by week how many wounded—
Sometimes wounds are worse than death—
e.g. brain-damage From bombs.

Brit ‘pentagon’ said 4 wounded for every soldier killed.

So when you hear that 3 GIs have been killed,
You can guess that 15 more have been wounded.

FLAWS IN NEW ‘DOMINO THEORY’/
In Viet war, hawks warned that our bugout from Viet would set up other Asian countries for Commie takeover.
It didn’t happen.

Now hawks claim that if we pull out of Afghanistan,
Jihadists will take over NUKE-ARMED Pakistan.

But many informed analysts question this.

REUTERS/13OCT

HOW LONG WOULD IT TAKE FOR TALIBAN TO STRENGTHEN QAEDA?
Taliban now very unpopular in Afgh.

For a few years after we pull out,
Taliban will be fully occupied in fighting civil war
With warlords in Afghanistan.

We would arm and fund warlords,
provide air-intelligence,
and bomb suspected qaeda hideouts.

No immediate danger to US homeland,
besides danger there already from other
jihadist nations.

CAMPAIGN VS. TERRORIST-FUNDING
WORKS VS. QAEDA, NOT VS. TALIBAN/ says US official/
NEWS.YAHOO.COM/13OCT

This report strengthens Obamites’ claim that
they can weaken Qaeda while tolerating Taliban.

THOUSANDS OF SUPPORT TROOPS
NOT DISCUSSED
(But they can be killed by bombs
just as combat troops can.)
Big problem with inadequate number of total troops
around the world/
22,000 wounded or non-deployable/
WASHINTON POST/13OCT

Big puzzle : why aren’t the hundreds of thousands
of GIs scattered in 500 useless bases worldwide—
Why aren’t these sent into combat,
Instead of returning exhausted troops
Again and again?

“THOROUGLY FILLED WITH DREAD” /
is right reaction to PBS summary of Afghan situation/
acc.to WASHINGTON POST/13OCT

“OBAMA DESERVES PEACE PRIZE IF AFGHAN WAR IS JUST, AIMED AT PEACE”/French philosopher quoted by HuffingtonPost/13oct/
Hold it ! Whatever the good intentions, a war is not just unless..
--it is necessary—with no peaceful alternative possible.
--ALSO IT MUST BE VERY LIKELY TO WORK !
But this war
a) is pretty hopeless, and b) will not make US Homeland safer
So it’s pointless, and therefore unjust.

THOUSANDS OF ADDED TROOPS/
13K ADDED ‘SUPPORT’ TROOPS (VS. COMBAT TROOPS)
WASHINGTON POST (quoted by VoiceOf America) 13oct

Is this the beginning of larger troop addition?
Or substitute for troops McCrystal demanded?

PAPER MISINTERPRETS MCCRYSTAL’S WARNING/
USATODAY editorial (10OCT) quoted him as saying that
Improvement will happen within a year (but then they warn
That ‘improvement’ does not guarantee prevailing).

Actually, I believe he warned that WITHOUT such visible,quick improvement,
Taliban will be impossible to beat. That is, that such improvement is necessary,
But perhaps not sufficient, and perhaps not possible (especially without
40k added troops).

NO TIME TO PREVAIL IN AFGH/
By the time (years ahead) that we implement
‘counter-insurgency’ strategy (nation-building in Afgh
needing permanent escalation)
present large majority of Americans opposing escalation
will be overwhelming, irresistible.

MOST IN SOUTH,EAST AFGH
DON’T WANT MORE GIS/
ABC12OCT

WE DON’T HAVE TIME TO WIN OVER AFGHANS
Says McCrystal/ We need progress in 12 months (to appease Americans) in convincing natives We’re on their side—but this would take a long time.
CBS12OCT
He tacitly admits we can’t prevail.

CONCUSSIONS LEAD TO PERMANENT BRAIN DAMAGE/
Article is about football (cbs/12oct)

But this worry is also about GIs in bombed vehicles.
Some injuries are worse than death.

This is what’s outrageous about Pentagon refusal
To tell about GIs injured.

BUY OFF TALIBAN GRUNTS? A GREAT IDEA, BUT…
LONDON TIMES/12OCT

We bought off Iraq Sunnis—but this pay ended,
And violence is up again.

“You can rent an Afghan, but not buy him.”

HAWKS SAY MORE TROOPS NEEDED,
OR WE’LL LOSE QUICKLY/
NOT that more troops mean we WON”T lose !
Just like Vietnam.

US FIGHTING WORLD TERROR;
TALIBAN FIGHTING TO CONTROL AFGH/
US ALLIED WITH VICIOUS WARLORDS
(THE NORTHERN ALLIANCE)/
When we pull out, new civil war between Taliban (controlling most of Afgh)
And these warlords.

GLOBALPOST/12OCT

Pretty stupid of US thinking that it's denting
world terror by killing Afghans.

US DECISIVELY LOSING/
Says expert Cordesman/

Kabul will never control ‘wild’ areas
Beyond provincial capitals.
SEATTLEPI/12OCT

ASTONISHING ATTACK ON PAK.’PENTAGON’
May have had internal help—
Showing that Pak.army may be infiltrated by jihadists./
HUFFINGTONPOST/12OCT

EXPERTS AFRAID TO LEAVE KABUL/
Over 500 foreign civilian experts have been sent to Afgh,
To help develop the country politically & economically—
But most cower in Kabul.

The govt. judiciary is so weak
That natives prefer Taliban judges, who are quick & fair.

Building a competent Afghan govt
Will take AT LEAST DECADES.

The election was a fiasco.

McCrystal is now demanding 80,000 new GIs,
Not 40k. He won’t even get 40k.
It looks like he’s working with GOP
To discredit Obamites.

Our whole aid effort has been a disaster;
Millions have been wasted.

Reforming the police force is hopeless.

86 PAK. CASUALTIES IN SWAT/
VoiceOfAmerica/12Oct

US WAR SUPPORT PLUMMETS/
Support down from 53% in April to 38% now/

58% now oppose war.(Only 4% undecided!)

Only 39% of Independents support war.

GOP support dropped 8 %points in last 2 weeks !
CNN/11OCT

JIHADISTS’ ATTACK ON PAKISTAN ‘PENTAGON’/
STUPID OR SMART?

Deeply humiliating to Pak. Generals/
Now they will certainly go heavily into Waziristan/

Was this a stupid move by Taliban?/

Or do they want Pak. Army to rage into Waziristan,
during winter?

Enraging populace and recruiting more insurgents?

Pak.army has no experience or knowledge how to fight insurgents.

WHY SPEND $30 IN AFGH
FOR EVERY $1 FOR PAK?/
When nuke-armed Pak. Is far more important?/
This is type of assumption-questioning from VP Biden
In WhiteHouse meetings/
NEWSWEEK

CAN WE MATCH MORE TROOPS WITH NEEDED EXTRA CIVILIAN ADVISORS?/
HOW WILL WE PAY FOR 40K MORE GIS?/
HOW LONG WILL IT LAST?/
IS GOP WILLING TO PAY NOW FOR ESCALATION ?
(In the past, it has put wars on credit tab.)
Questions from Senator/
CBS11oct

McCrystal’s ‘hearts&minds’ campaign would need
Many foreign civilian experts—but these are not volunteering.
After all, a civilian can die from a road-bomb
As easily as can a soldier.

PAKISTANIS ANGRY AT STRINGS FOR OUR AID/
For the first time, Congress is giving lots of
non-military aid,
But they demand regular reports on correct use of that aid.
That’s humiliating to Pak./
WASHINGTONPOST/11OCT

Pak. has us over a strange barrel:
We dread possibility that Islamists (jihadists?)
Might grab Pak. Nukes ! So we have to try
To strengthen their government, no matter
How ungrateful they are.

PRACTICALLY ALL PAKISTANIS OPPOSE HELPING US VS. TAL./
80% oppose cooperation vs. jihadists with America.
CSMONITOR/11OCT

TO SELL A WAR TO US PUBLIC, FIRST START TO WIN/
Says NYTIMES analyst,11OCT’
Citing experiences in past wars/
But there’s no way US is going to start winning soon
in Afgh/
Even McCrystal won’t say we’ll win with 40k more GIs—
Only that we’ll quickly lose without them.

Americans are forgetting about Iraq, now that US casualties there Are down. Let’s face it—Americans don’t care much about Foreign nations or cultures.

BUILDING AFGHAN ARMY SO WE CAN GET OUT
IS PIPEDREAM/ Says anonymous expert/

Obamites seem determined not to escalate Afghan war/
They’re saying they’ll concentrate on fighting Qaeda,
not Taliban./

But anonymous experts say yielding to Taliban
Will help jihadists all over the region.
MCCLATCHY PAPERS/11OCT

Obamites realize that what Americans want is lower US casualties—
Americans now don’t give a damn about long-run effects in the region.

PROLONGED BATTLE AT PAK. ARMY HQ ! ! /
Many attackers were Punjabi
(the tribe that contributes many To Pak. Army)/
not just Pashtuns or militants From border districts.
REUTERS/11OCT

AT LEAST 90 IRAQ CASUALTIES/
From 3 bombs in Anbar (Sunni) province.
WASHINGTONPOST/11OCT

4 TIMES AS MANY TALIBAN IN AFGH
as in 2006 /
They need infiltration from Pak. Less—
But that’s still going on.
REUTERS/9OCT

WEAKEN TAL, NOT VANQUISH THEM?/
Obamites talk of preventing Tal from overthrowing
Kabul govt
Or giving haven to Qaeda terrorists,
(who might threaten our Homeland)
But not hoping to conquer them.

Retreat of US into heavily-populated areas in Afgh
Effectively cedes the other areas to taliban.

WASHINGTONPOST/9OCT

OBAMITES THINKING SEPARATELY ABOUT TALIBAN & QAEDA/
They despair of beating Taliban—
too rooted in Afghan society/
They think they could castrate Qaeda without huge increase in GI numbers/
NYTIMES/9OCT

TAL.SAY THEY HAVE RAISED FLAG
OVER NURISTAN/
(the region where a US outpost was overrun by hundreds of jihadists, killing 8 GIs)

Some say GIs have pulled out of this outpost/
US says they’re still fighting in Nuristan.

Nuristan is famous for willingness to fight foreign invaders.
NYTIMES/9OCT

AFGH. IS SITE OF PROXY WAR PAK. VS. INDIA/
India has invested over $1billion in Afgh reconstruction/
India sees friendly Afgh as access to resource-rich neighbors/

Pak. Sees Taliban as counter to India in Afgh./
SEATTLEPI/9OCT

So we can’t expect much help vs. Tal. Attacking Afgh. from Pakistan.

3 SHAKY ASSUMPTIONS BEHIND OUR AFGH. WAR/
--Our pullout would mean Taliban victory/
--Tal. Victory would provide Qaeda safe haven/
--Qaeda safe haven would mean more danger to US/

Doubts about each of these assumptions
Point toward prudence of our pullout/

HUFFINGTON POST (Naiman)/9oct

150 PAK.CASUALTIES FROM 1 BOMB/
in Peshawar/
VOICE OF AMERICA/9OCT

1 in 4 HUMANS IS MUSLIM/
SCATTERED ALL OVER THE WORLD./

5 times as many as Americans/

Most are moderate/
But if only 1 in 1000 is sympathetic to jihadists,
That’s 1,500,000 sympathizers./

Western govts were crazy to pick a fight with Muslims--
mainly by backing Israel slavishly.

We desperately need to get out of Muslim countries,
And spend our money and attention on Homeland Defense.
True there are 1 billion Indians, 1 billion Chinese,
1 billion Roman Catholics in the world.

But any Indian or Chinese attacks would come from states,
Which can be deterred by our gigantic arsenal of H-bombs.

Muslim attacks are stateless, from individuals
Who cannot be deterred by our arsenal.

Catholics are not at all violent.

WAS PAK.INVOLVED IN ATTACK
ON INDIAN EMBASSY IN KABUL?
Does Pak. only fight Taliban fighting against Pak. Govt?
Not against Tal. Attacking in Afgh?
CSMONITOR/8OCT

DO WE NEED TO FIGHT TALIBAN?
IS TALIBAN.A DIRECT THREAT TO US?/
Anti-escalation people among Obamites
Distinguish between Taliban & Quaeda,
Saying we don’t need tens of thousands
More GIs in Afgh. to fight Taliban.
NYTIMES/8OCT

US PULLOUT: QUAEDA PROPAGANDA TRIUMPH?/
They would say they drove 2 superpowers out of Afgh/
SEATTLEPI/8OCT

Even now they can say they castrated 2d power, US,
By driving them out of villages, into cities/

Also, they have turned populaces of allied nations
Against this war—preventing any temptation to
Indulge in another anti-jihadist war.

IF WE PULLED OUT, TALIBAN WOULD HAVE LEISURE TO ATTACK US/
Says prowar argument/
HUFFINGTON POST/8OCT

But plenty of Qaeda in non-Afghan places also have leisure to attack us./
Attacks on US are inevitable/ we must concentrate on Home Defense
To prevent many attacks and repair after those that get thru.

PAK.MIL. FUROR OVER STRINGS ON US AID/
Periodic assurance that Pak IS fighting Tal. Attacking Afgh./
Info on security of nuclear facilities./
Evidence of civilian control of military/

Strings seen as humiliating attack on Pak. Sovereignty.
REUTERS/8OCT

93 CASUALTIES IN KABUL BOMBING/
aimed at Indian embassy/
India is giving big aid to Afgan govt,
Annoying Pakistan./

How did truck-bomber get past guards at each end of street?

AssocPress/8Oct

Pak. Tribal leaders will support Taliban if drone attacks continue/
The International News/7OCT

123 NATO SUPPLY TRUCKS DESTROYED IN 4 MONTHS/

Winter attacks now possible./

Attacks made over 2/3ds of country.’

Kyber Pass route closed 7 times this winter./

Those trucks that get thru might pay $5-6k (to Taliban?)

TIME MAGAZINE

57% of Americans think our Afghan adventure
has hurt or not helped US safety.

CBSBEWS.7OCT

WEAK OBAMA
OBAMA MAY ADD 10K GIs/
Dem .Congress leaders will not say they support increase.
This move will please nobody, cause no improvement
in Afgh.
LONDON TELEGRAPH/7OCT

870 GIs killed in Afgh in 8 years
More than 200 in the last 4 months !
UNITED PRESS/7OCT

Many more wounded—Pent.won’t tell how many.

57% of Americans oppose this war./only 40% support it/
LONDON GUARDIAN/7OCT

OBAMA COMPROMISE ON MORE TROOPS WILL PLEASE NOBODY’/
Will accomplish nothing.

53% OF CALIFORNIANS OPPOSE MORE TROOPS/
ONLY 33% APPROVE/
LATIMES/7OCT

PART OF OUR AID $ GOES TO TALIBAN/
Taliban gaining ground every week/
Even 40K more troops wouldn’t meet
Requirements of Petraus counterinsurgency strategy.

GLOBAL POST (Sennett)7Oct

US BLUNDERING JUST LIKE SOVIETS/
Says Russ ambassador /
They had as many troops in Afgh as McCrystal wants/
Twice as many Afghans now to protect/
NYTIMES(LEDE)7OCT

HAWK OBAMA IN TROUBLE WITH DEMS/
Doing right thing in Afgh? 49% no/38% yes/
Succeeding? 2 in 3 no/26% yes/
57% say troop increase not necessary/
More troops ? 2 of 3 say no/

All Americans:more troops?38% yes/49% no.

HUFFINGTON POST
/7OCT

AMERICANS STRONGLY OPPOSED
TO AFGHAN WAR:47%
STRONGLY FAVORING WAR: 31%
Huffingtonpost/7oct

Trend is toward less approval,
Especially as US casualties mount.

WHY HELP AFGHANS?
When they oppress half their population, the women?
No, the only justification for the war is
protecting our Homeland—
And Afgh is ONLY ONE haven for terrorists—
These can come from many places, INCLUDING BRITAIN & US. Success in Afgh
(bloody likely!)
Would make us no safer.

We need to forget Afghanistan,
And concentrate on Homeland Defense.

DO TALIBAN & QUAEDA NEED EACH OTHER?’
Taliban has lots of money of its own/
Qaeda has plenty of other havens/
MCCLATCHY/7OCT

AFGHAN SOLDIERS REFUSE TO BRING WATER
TO THIRSTY GIs/
GIs ran out of water; Afghans were supposed to bring in new supply,
But refused because of danger.
MCCLATCHY/7OCT

OBAMA RULES OUT COUNTER-TERRORISM ONLY/
Biden’s proposal was to settle only for
bombing terrorist areas/
Rumors are that O. will send a few thousand more troops./
That won’t satisfy McCrystal or GOP/
VoiceOfAmerica/7oct

MORE TROOPS TO AFGH? HALF SAY NO./
Only 38% back Surge./
49% want us out in 2 years; half fear we’ll stay too long;/
32% see this war as another Vietnam/ only 30% think we’ll succeed./

Here’s an awful figure: 65% think it’s OK for GIs to die
To prevent another 9/11.
AFP/7OCT

Why not? It’s not THEIR sons will die.

Only 30% think war will succeed, will WORK to protect Homeland.

DOZENS OF CASUALTIES FROM 2 IRAQ BOMBS/
WASHINGTONPOST/6OCT

US NOT LEAVING AFGH/
Say Gates & WhiteHouse spokesman/
CNN/6OCT

Too bad.
HOWEVER, McCrystal’s pulling back to cities, abandoning villages,
(obviously to minimize GI casualties
--all the time he chatters about less emphasis on ‘force protection’).

Soviets did this also, just before they were driven out.

Jihadist morale worldwide will be jubilant
Over this retreat.

AFGHANS COOL TO MORE GIs/
Most Afghans hate foreign occupiers/

ABCNEWS/6OCT

BILLIONS NEVER REACHED
PAK. BATTLE VS. TERRORISTS/
Now we’re giving their govt. billions more.
MSNBC/6OCT

NORTH KOREA CAN UNLEASH 13 BIOWAR AGENTS/
Says So.Korea agency/
LONDON TIMES/6OCT

We should forget about Afgh,Iraq adventures
And concentrate on Homeland Defense—

Pentagon won’t protect us from biowar !

Bombing No.Korea would just precipitate
Their attack on us.

We need to develop homeland biowar
Recovery strategy.

AFGHAN GENERAL: “We can take over in 3-5 years”.
Globe&mail/6oct

Oh yeah?
Will Americans stand for a 13-year war with US casualties?

ONE HUNDRED HOUSE MEMBERS SIGN ON
FOR AFGHAN EXIT STRATEGY/
No ‘exit’ proponents were invited
to Obama’s meeting with legislators.
NEWS.YAHOO.COM/6OCT

16 GIs killed in 5 days in Oct
—one more on 6th/
ABC TV NEWS/5OCT

Even more probably wounded.

PAKISTAN HONCHOS OPPOSE
MCCRYSTAL’S TROOP SURGE/
They say it would be counter-producteive/

Brzizinski also opposes huge troop surge.

NYTIMES/6OCT

OBAMITES LIKE INCREASE IN AIRSTRIKES/
As substitute for more troops in Afgh/
NYTIMES/6OCT
But these airstrikes are not ‘surgical’—
It’s like operating with a meat-cleaver instead of a scalpel.

McCrystal says without more troops we’d lose
Intelligence ability about Pakistan.
But he intends to pull back from isolated posts
Near afpak border

EXPANDING US FOOTPRINT
ALIENATES PAKISTANIS/
President brags about securing over $1000 millions
From US/ but that spikes his unpopularity even more.
US feared weakening Pak. Army,
So it is weaker vs. India.

NYTIMES/6OCT

NO US-CIVILIAN SURGE IN AFGH/
McCrystal dreamed of a flood of skilled US advisers
Coming to guide Afghan reconstruction.

But they’re not volunteering
HUFFINGTON POST columnist 6OCT
—after all,
A civilian can get killed by a road-bomb
As easily as can a soldier

3 IMPOSSIBLES MUST HAPPEN SIMULTANEOUSLY IN AFGH/
says Obama aide/
--security
--economic development
--good government
ABC/5OCT

Implicit conclusion: we should pull out.

CAN US REFORM WORLD POLITIES? /
We must recognize limits of our power.
NYTIMES/4OCT

(Not mentioned is our lack of a cadre
of people knowledgeable about
foreign languages & cultures !)

BRITISH PM TALKS ABOUT FEWER TROOPS
TO AFGH/
‘as soon as Afghan army is expanded and trained’
BLOODY LIKELY!

British Lord says Brits would support war
If they knew what it is for,
And likelihood of prevailing.

Neither of these is now present.
War will be lost at home.
WALL ST.JOURNAL/5OCT

MCCRYSTAL IMITATING
FAILED SOVIET STRATEGY/
Abandon isolated villages,
concentrate on population centers./

LONDON TIMES/5OCT

I DON’T WANT FOREIGNERS
BUILDING ROADS,ETC—
WHEN THERE’S BLOOD ON MY DOORSTEP.
Says an Afghan.
FINANCIAL TIMES/5OCT

IF OBAMA WERE HONEST, HE’D SAY:
--I was wrong to pose war of necessity vs of choice as the only alternatives.
/Afghan war is pointless.
--I should have realized that the Bush administration had bungled
Afghan war so badly that we can’t prevail there, without hundreds of thousands
Of troops and years of sustained casualties.
--McCrystal has to pull GIs back into cities,
abandoning villages to Taliban.
--only 39% of Americans now support the war—that proportion is sinking.
--We’re losing our allies, one by one, just as in Iraq.
--We have no legitimate Afghan government to partner with.
--In spite of what this will mean to my Presidency,
we have to pull out of Afghanistan.
--This war is pointless as well as hopeless—
Jihadist terrorists have plenty of havens besides Afghanistan;
Most serious recent threat to our Homeland came from England!

--We must pull back from foreign adventures
and concentrate on Homeland Defense.

TALIBAN ON THE RISE IN KANDAHAR/
CITY OF 800,000, whereTal. Rule at night.
Big problem is corrupt govt.
WASHINGTONPOST/5OCT

CAN PENTAGON REMAKE FOREIGN SOCIETIES ? /
When we can’t produce a cadre of people who understand
Foreign languages and cultures?

McCrystal’s scheme is far too ambitious and open-ended.

And he plans to pull out of the villages/
using troops only in ‘population centers’./
That signals Taliban that we’ll pull out sooner, not later.
CSMONITOR/5OCT

ANOTHER TOP GENERAL BACKS MCCRYSTAL
VS. OBAMA/
He says we need many more troops there, and we need them quickly.
CBS/4OCT

PAK.HAS ENOUGH TROOPS EQUIPMENT
TO ATTACK TALIBAN/
In Waziristan./say US mil. Honchos/
REUTERS/4OCT

If they don’t attack, they’ll have no excuse.

20 HOUSE MEMBERS FLOAT A BILL TO FORBID AFGHAN ‘SURGE’
THE HILL/4OCT

On the other hand, a rt-wing legislator warns that
our top generals Might resign
if Obama doesn’t OK the surge/

A FEW TAL. HELD OFF SUPER-STRONG US FORCE FOR 2 DAYS/
Right near Kabul/
LONDON TIMES/4OCT

KARZAI’S ELECTION SEALED FATE OF ALLIED INVASION OF AFGH/
Says Brit commentator, comparing McCrystal with Westmoreland,
Who kept demanding more troops to be slaughtered in Vietnam.

ELECTION FRAUD
THE GREATEST TALIBAN VICTORY/In whole war, says official fired by UN
for denouncing Karzai’s fraud.
FINANCIAL TIMES/4OCT

AFGHAN OPINIONS:
If villages are not protected, no foreign troops,planes will work.
(US is pulling out of isolated villages).

US doesn’t understand Afghan culture.
LATIMES/4OCT

“WE MUST STABILIZE AFGH !” /says McCrystal/
LATIMES/4OCT

but he’s already pulling back troops into population centers,
abandoning the villages where most Afghans live.

And US is announcing Karzai election-win,
Imperiling any govt. reform.

SOON: AFGHAN DEMONSTRATIONS FOR US PULLOUT/
ANGER VS. FOREIGNERS AT ITS PEAK/
Says woman long in Afgh/
GLOBALPOST/4OCT

CORRUPT PAK. FORMER LEADER OPPOSES
US AFGHAN PULLOUT/
“It would be disastrous—DON’T LETS TALK OF TIMELINE” (!)
CSMONITOR/4OCT

REFORM KARZAI REGIME OR GO HOME/
Says former Petraeus adviser/
NYTIMES/4OCT, HEADLINE “10 STEPS TO VICTORY”

“TALIBAN CAN’T LAUNCH ATTACKS ON US
OR ON AFGHAN TROOPS”
says mil. Honcho, just as 300 Taliban slaughter GIs & Afghan troops.

AssocPress/quoted on Google/4Oct

WE MUST VS WE CAN/
Obama (foolishly) called Afgh a ‘war of necessity’/
But it’s not at all obvious that failure there
Would be disastrous for US.

(We could protect our homeland better
by investing more In Homeland Security,
and investing in Pakistan.)

Only if we’re sure that Afghan failure
Would lead to huge recruitment boost
For Quaeda worldwide would this be a war of necessity./
And this is only a possibility, not a probability.
NYTIMES/4OCT
And even then, the longer we bleed GI blood
And billions of dollars BEFORE PULLING OUT,
The bigger boost we’ll give to Qaeda

(which seems to be losing glamour
for world Muslims anyway.)

10 GIs KILLED THIS WEEKEND/
In spite of airsupport/
dozens of Afghan soldiers killed or captured/
Commanders are preparing to pull GIs
out of these outposts /
And protect only population centers./
LONDON TIMES/4SEPT
Any villagers who cooperated with GIs
Will be slaughtered by Taliban
taking back The villages.

This partial pullback signals the Taliban
That we are on our way out./
Taliban can attack cities from villages
They’ve repossessed.

BRIT MIL.HONCHO FROTHS ABOUT ‘UNIMAGINABLE DEFEAT’
If Taliban wins in Afghanistan, they’d then take Pakistan
And have nukes, he says.

Pakistanis now hate Taliban almost as much as they hate Americans.
If we prolong this war (bombing Pakistan!) they may side with Taliban.

CHANGES IN GI BEHAVIOR NECESSARY/
To win trust of Afghan people.
UNITED PRESS (EMERGING THREATS) 3OCT
(How will 40k new troops behave?
No time to train them in culture sensivity.)

MISSION ‘DOABLE’—SO WHAT?
--It’s not at all clear that Afghan mission IS doable;/
--Even if it were, it’s not clear that it’s necessary,
any more than countering jihadists elsewhere is necessary/
--will it work (to make US safer)? Probably not.

NEW TROOPS WOULDN’T GET THERE IN TIME/
McCrystal says if we don’t do better within 12-18 months,
More troops won’t help/
But the new troops can’t be mobilized and moved there
For a year.

Obama’s 2d term doomed. So he might as well do what’s right—
Pull out !

FINANCIAL TIMES/3OCT

PAKISTAN FIGHTING TALIBAN?
When 80% of people oppose helping US vs. Taliban ?? !!

GIs—PROTECTION OR PROVOCATION ?
Natives are divided on whether GIs
Are good for country or bad.
WASHINGTONPOST/3OCT

US NO SAFER FROM AFGHAN WAR/
--QAEDA MIGHT NOT MOVE IN AFTER TALIBAN WIN/
--MANY OTHER QAEDA HAVENS
--TERRORISTS DON’T NEED A HAVEN/
CSMONITOR/3OCT

CULTURAL IGNORANCE -- BATTLE DISASTER/
IN ’08 /
NYTIMES/3OCT

TALIBAN INFILTRATES AFGHAN ARMY/
Several GIs killed by Afghan ‘allies’/
SEATTLEPI/3OCT

AFGHAN WAR DOESN’T MAKE US SAFER/
When Americans turn against a war,
It does no good for army to ‘stay committed’

Analyst from rt-wing CATO/
quoted in HUFFINGTON POST,3OCT

5 GIs KILLED IN AFGH/
VoiceOfAmerica/3oct
Number wounded?

WHAT WORKED IN IRAQ (a surge in GIs)
MAY NOT WORK IN AFGH/
Warns Petraeus, architect of Iraq progress/
CBS/2OCT

“PERHAPS WE’RE TRAINING TALIBAN”/
worries US trainer of Afghan army, about high rate of desertions/
REUTERS/2OCT

Taliban pays better !

WHAT WILL 40K MORE GIs ACCOMPLISH?
Columnist (at LondonTimes/2Oct)
Says plausibly that foreign troops
each in Afgh only for short time
will NEVER learn complex Afghan culture/

FOREIGNERS LEARN ONLY FROM
AFGHANS WHO SPEAK ENGLISH/
Says Afghan/
LATIMES/2OCT

This sounds very plausible, knowing how few of the invaders speak Local languages.

19th-century English imperial forces
quite often did learn local languages.

NO DATA ON WOUNDED/
SEATTLEPI/2OCT
Why won’t Pentagon tell us how many GIs are wounded
In Iraq, Afghanistan.?/

The number is probably quite a bit larger
Than the number killed.

They’ve redefined “casualties” as those killed only,
Whereas official meaning is those killed
Plus Wounded who can’t return at once to combat.

Many injuries (esp. to brain) are worse than death.
Pent. Obviously doesn’t want us to know full costs of war.

A very large proportion of veterans of Gulf War I
Are still on disability.

40K NEW GIs TO AFGH? NO./
It’s being said about administration leanings.
Instead:
--train Afghan army faster/
--bomb Quaeda leaders in Pakistan/
--help Pakistan fight Qaeda
--Doubts that TALIBAN takeover in Afgh
would set Qaeda back in protected haven.
WASHINGTON POST/2OCT

DRONE ATTACKS(e.g., on Qetta City) WILL BRING HARM TO VITAL US SUPPLY LINES THRU PAK/
Threatens Pak. Honcho.
PAK.DAILY TIMES/

WHY NOT MUDDLE THRU FOR NOW
(WITHOUT MORE TROOPS)
AND CONCENTRATE ON BIGGER PROBLEM IN PAKISTAN?
Stepahonolis on ABC/1oct

PROBLEM: If Taliban make big advances this next year,
McCrystal will say I told you so;
Average American doesn’t understand bigger danger from Pakistan
& our helplessness.

SUPPOSE AFGH DOES FALL TO TALIBAN—
WHAT THEN?
There might be 1 more base for jihadists—
But so what? There are already plenty of bases
Worldwide for them. We won’t be any less safe.

Hawks for Viet war used to say if that domino fell,
All Asia would go Communist. Bullshit.

McCrystal says Afgh situation is ‘serious’(and deteriorating)
& then says he uses that word carefully—
what he probably means is that it’s damn near hopeless.

COUNTER-INSURGENCY IS NOT SAME AS NATION-BUILDING ?

Colonel [writing in UNITED PRESS/EMERGING THREATS/1OCT]

Rejects nation-building, but describes counter-insurgency
In a way that makes it equally impossible in less than decades
In Afgh/

McCRYSTAL’S NEW TROOPS ARE NECESSARY
TO AVOID QUICK FAILURE,
BUT PERHAPS FAILURE ANYWAY/

Vietnam generals could have said same thing,
Knowing they ‘d lose anyway.

1 IN 4 BRITS ARE CASUALTIES IN HELMLAND
IN 4 MONTHS/
Chances for an individual Brit are pretty grim.

Brits are ‘losing war’ there.
LONDON TIMES/1AUG

PASHTUN/NON-PASHTUN SUSPICIONS IN AFGH/
Video shows police cheerfully handing weapons
to Taliban/
Non-pashtuns fear Karzai siding with Taliban/
(especially now with calls to negotiate with Taliban)

Pashtun fear attacks by other Afghans.
GUARDIAN/1OCT

3d AFGHAN PLAN (BETWEEN ESCALATE & EVACUATE)
By Leslie Gelb in NEWS.yahoo/1oct
--he thinks pullout unthinkable./
--Forget Kabul/ arm local warlords/
--train small, real Afghan army/
--pay lukewarm Taliban more than they pay/
--deter takeover by planes, ships, small residual force of GIs
--forget DISPROPORTIONATE EMPHASIS on Afgh.

PROBLEMS WITH THIS PLAN:
--any Afghan army would be subject to hopeless Kabul govt.

--use of planes, ships was Bush plan—it didn’t work.

--but he’s right; we have other problems, domestic & international,
more important than Afgh.

TALIBAN EXPLOITING ELECTION MESS/
They cite fraudulent voting, corruption,
And Allied fussing over vote (as showing that foreigners control Kabul govt.)

Taliban won’t be converted as long as they’re winning,
As long as allies are losing stomach for the war.
WASHINGTON POST/1OCT