A Hasty Retreat Would Add to the Huge Toll of the War

I cannot understand this fake obliviousness to our goal in Afghanistan: To "pacify" it so that it serves as a pass-through for oil pipelines from North of Afghanistan to a warm water port in Pakistan. So far, we failed to impose any one faction, supporting us, on all the others and so the oil companies won't risk the capital for such a pipeline.

Now contrast this with the motivation of the enemy. He has been fighting the "Western Infidels" for centuries. We thought that our commanders-- ALL OF KNOWN UTTER INCOMPETENCE-- could substitute with firepower for brains. But in the end, the Taliban fights in order to live only to kill as many of us as possible in revenge before we kill it. We kill to live. There's no other purpose to our massive use of firepower. As a result, little disconnected tactical back-and-forths have little meaning in light of the operational incompetence. Our commanders counted for too long on the American "ain't my kid going to war" disconnect syndrome and suddenly, all that wasted firepower seems much too expensive just for a "towel head body count."

All other failures in the region can only be attributed to the incompetence and corruption of our side compared to the Pakistanis and Pashtuns fighting towards only one goal: GETTING US OUT. Mr. Nawaz is making a lot of imaginary complexity for a situation where our side has the IQ only for the simplest and most short-sighted of goals. In the end, the veterans are victims and the voters are vile in their disconnection. All these "v"s do not spell victory.

DE Teodoru of DE 5:20PM March 24, 2012