The Afghan War Could Destroy The U.S.

[No DUplicitous DUpe]

The Afghan War Could Destroy The U.S.
(posted with permission from http://saneramblings.com/phpBB/viewforum.php?f=1 )

Ear shattering explosions rocked the area and trembled the ground, lighting the night in bright orange flames as black billowing smoke rose high into the sky. The caustic stench of burning gasoline and heavy chemicals permeated the air as firefighters battled to put out the flames.

"Allahu Akbar," (God is Great), yelled out the men who caused this horrific scene. "Down with America."

Sunday night in Pakistan, an estimated 300 gunmen using rocket-propelled grenades brazenly destroyed more than 160 military vehicles at the Port World Logistic Terminal compound near Peshawar and at the Faisal depot close by.

These are the major facilities and the primary route used to supply U.S. and allied troops fighting the Taliban. It is not the first such attack but it is by far the biggest yet and the most successful one.

These gunmen demonstrated America's vulnerability. If the U.S. is to continue its war, it must secure these facilities and the long highway route to Afghanistan, which will require vastly more soldiers and weapons.

"Militarily insignificant," is how U.S. spokeswoman Lt. Col. Rumi Nielsen-Green termed it. "So far there hasn't been a significant loss or impact to our mission," she said.

Privately, the U.S. military was very likely stunned by the magnitude of the attack and is scrambling to protect those facilities and that highway from further aggression.

The U.S. military does not have the support of the Afghanistan government, which wants this seven-year-old war to end, nor does it have the support of the Pakistan government. Yet it continues its attacks, ignoring these nation's sovereignty and often killing innocent civilians as part of its "war on terror," an empty abstraction, and the basis for endless war.

Before this becomes another Iraq war, or one similar to the 1980's Soviet Union military disaster* in Afghanistan, the U.S. should work with the Afghan government and their neighbors to find a peaceful solution to the region's troubles. And withdraw the American military before any more blood is spilled.

The U.S. is financially and morally bankrupt from Iraq and should not further compound its problems in Afghanistan and Pakistan. If you are an American citizen, please raise your voice in opposition to this war before it becomes another sorry chapter in U.S. and world history.

Dick

*The Soviets ultimately committed 620,000 soldiers to that war and over 14,000 of them were killed and more than 53,000 were injured. The costs of that war skyrocketed and played a key role in bankrupting and destroying the Soviet Union. The Afghan civil war that followed put Afghanistan under the control of the Mujahideen, a faction of which later became the Taliban, and Osama bin Laden.

For further details of the latest attack, please see the BBC report, "MIlitants torch Afghan supplies." http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7769758.stm

[tekisui]

1. 21st Century Vietnam.

Unwinnable. We need to get out now.

[anonymous171]

2. Find and capture OBL, then get out (if he's even still alive.) DO NOT REBUILD, DO NOT REFORM.

That place is, and will always be, a backwards hellhole.

[spanone]

3. out of iraq AND afghanistan.....

clusterfucks one and all

[Wiley50]

4. Our Guys in Charge never read Rudyard Kipling

I can't place tan exact quote, so I paraphrase:

When wounded on the Afgan Plain
reserve your last bullet for your own brain
least ye succumb to the long knives of the Afgan women


or something like that

[atreides1]

7. Here it is

The Young British Soldier

When the 'arf-made recruity goes out to the East
'E acts like a babe an' 'e drinks like a beast,
An' 'e wonders because 'e is frequent deceased
Ere 'e's fit for to serve as a soldier.
Serve, serve, serve as a soldier,
Serve, serve, serve as a soldier,
Serve, serve, serve as a soldier,
So-oldier _of_ the Queen!

Now all you recruities what's drafted to-day,
You shut up your rag-box an' 'ark to my lay,
An' I'll sing you a soldier as far as I may:
A soldier what's fit for a soldier.
Fit, fit, fit for a soldier . . .

First mind you steer clear o' the grog-sellers' huts,
For they sell you Fixed Bay'nets that rots out your guts --
Ay, drink that 'ud eat the live steel from your butts --
An' it's bad for the young British soldier.
Bad, bad, bad for the soldier . . .

When the cholera comes -- as it will past a doubt --
Keep out of the wet and don't go on the shout,
For the sickness gets in as the liquor dies out,
A' it crumples the young British soldier.
Crum-, crum-, crumples the soldier . . .

But the worst o' your foes is the sun over'ead:
You must wear your 'elmet for all that is said:
If 'e finds you uncovered 'e'll knock you down dead,
An' you'll die like a fool of a soldier.
Fool, fool, fool of a soldier . . .

If you're cast for fatigue by a sergeant unkind,
Don't grouse like a woman nor crack on nor blind;
Be handy and civil, and then you will find
That it's beer for the young British soldier.
Beer, beer, beer for the soldier . . .

Now, if you must marry, take care she is old --
A troop-sergeant's widow's the nicest I'm told,
For beauty won't help if your rations is cold,
Nor love ain't enough for a soldier.
'Nough, 'nough, 'nough for a soldier . . .

If the wife should go wrong with a comrade, be loath
To shoot when you catch 'em -- you'll swing, on my oath! --
Make 'im take 'er and keep 'er: that's Hell for them both,
An' you're shut o' the curse of a soldier.
Curse, curse, curse of a soldier . . .

When first under fire an' you're wishful to duck,
Don't look nor take 'eed at the man that is struck,
Be thankful you're livin', and trust to your luck
And march to your front like a soldier.
Front, front, front like a soldier . . .

When 'arf of your bullets fly wide in the ditch,
Don't call your Martini a cross-eyed old bitch;
She's human as you are -- you treat her as sich,
An' she'll fight for the young British soldier.
Fight, fight, fight for the soldier . . .

When shakin' their bustles like ladies so fine,
The guns o' the enemy wheel into line,
Shoot low at the limbers an' don't mind the shine,
For noise never startles the soldier.
Start-, start-, startles the soldier . . .

If your officer's dead and the sergeants look white,
Remember it's ruin to run from a fight:
So take open order, lie down, and sit tight,
And wait for supports like a soldier.
Wait, wait, wait like a soldier . . .

When you're wounded and left on Afghanistan's plains,
And the women come out to cut up what remains,
Jest roll to your rifle and blow out your brains
An' go to your Gawd like a soldier.
Go, go, go like a soldier,
Go, go, go like a soldier,
Go, go, go like a soldier,
So-oldier _of_ the Queen!

-- Rudyard Kipling

[Karenina]

11. What was it? ONE Brit got out alive way back when?

You would think... :shrug:

[PearliePoo2]

5. The Soviets got their ass kicked and so will we.

We're pouring money and lives down one big rat-hole after another.

[greenman3610]

6. the Afghan war has this aura of being the "good war"

but I told people in 2001, before we invaded, that this was a beartrap and
a snake pit.
If the Russians, with much shorter supply lines and arguably better intelligence,
could not control the country, what are our chances?




And didn't we kind of create a paint by numbers template of
"how to use the Afghans to bleed a major power into submission"
that any one can now follow?

[leftstreet]

9. Yep. Just ask Brzezinski

And didn't we kind of create a paint by numbers template of
"how to use the Afghans to bleed a major power into submission"
that any one can now follow?

[Mari333]

8. Heres a video well worth watching

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LyfZu4V-KY0

embedded reporter with the troops.

[Greyhound]

10. No price is too high to protect our energy corporations! n/t