Obama's Afghan war - The Nation/Pakistan

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/Opinions/Columns/03-Dec-2009/Obamas-Afghan-war

About a half a century ago, an ambitious and charismatic American president inherited a confined war. Soon, he owned the war! His name was John F Kennedy. About 50 years later, another brilliant and charming president has owned another inherited war, the Afghan War.

Once President Kennedy pledged: "Pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and success of liberty." He asserted: "Now we have a problem making our power credible and Vietnam looks like the place." And just like that, he owned the Vietnam War.;

President Barack Obama warned: "Our security is at stake." He spelled out the goal for the war: "We must deny Al-Qaeda a safe haven." In this context, the president identified the battlegrounds too. He said: "We are in Afghanistan to prevent a cancer from once again spreading through that country. But this same cancer has also taken root in the border region of Pakistan. That is why we need a strategy that works on both sides of the border." Though he failed to mention how Taliban will be beaten or how Osama bin Laden will be captured. Moreover, there was no explanation of how America planned to wage war on the Pakistani side of border. Even though, the Gallup survey, showed 55 percent Americans disapproved the continuation of the war, President Obama decided to extend the war.

Reverse the clock 30 years back. The Soviet Union ignored the harsh lessons of history by entering the 'graveyard of empires'. They entered Afghanistan with an initial force of 80,000 soldiers. But at the height of occupation, the 'limited contingent of the Soviet forces' tipped the scales with some half a million personnel. In addition, the Afghan forces were raised to approximately 300,000 men. The occupation indeed came at a punishing cost of about 15,000 Soviets dead, 469,685 sick and wounded, and some 500 MIA. Needless to say that, the war of choice bankrupted the mighty Soviet empire, which hastened its ultimate disintegration.

[cliffordu]

1. Of course that idiot ignores the hundreds of stinger missles and

arms we sent the Afghans, too....

They did not beat the soviets, we did.