This flies in the face of Bush's early statements that the U.S. would fight in Iraq and Afghanistan alone, if need be. Bush thumbed his nose at the U.N, world opinion, and pretty much everyone who had brains and moved ahead with his ill-conceived plans. He sold the Afghan mission to NATO as a "reconstruction" effort in a pacified nation, while bullying, bribing, and deceiving other nations to join in the Iraq mission. While most of those countries have since bailed on the Decider's "endless war" strategy in Iraq, the allies have largely stuck with Bush on Afghanistan. The problem is that the allies took Bush at his word and provided troop levels adequate for training the Afghan military and maintaining security for the "reconstruction". No, says, Bush. In for a penny, in for a pound. You were stupid enough to believe me in the first place, the Decider maintains, so send in more money and more troops, otherwise I'll look like I don't have a clue. And smile about it, too.
Afghanistan is lost, says Lord Ashdown
By Tom Coghlan
Last Updated: 3:33am BST 25/10/2007
Nato has "lost in Afghanistan" and its failure to bring stability there could provoke a regional sectarian war "on a grand scale", according to Lord Ashdown.
The former United Nations High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina delivered his dire prediction after being proposed as a new "super envoy" role in Afghanistan.
Lord Ashdown said: "We have lost, I think, and success is now unlikely."
The assessment will be considered extreme by some diplomats but timely by those pressing for more resources for Nato operations.
Lord Ashdown added: "I believe losing in Afghanistan is worse than losing in Iraq. It will mean that Pakistan will fall and it will have serious implications internally for the security of our own countries and will instigate a wider Shiite [Shia], Sunni regional war on a grand scale.
"Some people refer to the First and Second World Wars as European civil wars and I think a similar regional civil war could be initiated by this [failure] to match this magnitude."Lord Ashdown, 66, the former leader of the Liberal Democrats, was speaking in advance of a Nato summit in the Dutch town of Noordwijk yesterday.
Britain and the US are infuriated by the lack of assistance granted by allies to those countries with forces operating in Afghanistan.
5 comments:
Todd, have you seen any evidence that our NATO allies are resentful that they are committed in Afghanistan to complete a mission that was born out of an attack on the USA, and that they are not happy that we are not spending all of our anti-terror capability in Afghanistan, since it was our retaliatory war to begin with? Any evidence that NATO allies think they are stuck, pulling our chestnuts out of the fire? I have looked off and on and have found no actual statements to this effect.
Yes, I have.
If you mean statements by government officials, then, no.
Frankly, I am really tired of neocon jerks asking me to do their research for them and then having these jerks rejecting it out of hand because it doesn't come from Fox News.
I have seen statements from Canadian military commanders, off the record, saying essentially the Afghan effort was grossly mismanaged by the U.S. and they are expected to pay the price for that mistake. They also resent the friendly-fire killings of their troops by the U.S. and the arrogant response to those killings.
I have seen statements from German analysts, referencing military sources, saying that there is no way German troops are going to change their mission and get in harm's way because they don't see any hope of victory with the U.S. strategy of air strikes and civilan deaths.
I have seen (and posted in this blog) press reports and foreign opinion pieces that back up what I have said in the post.
This is not a doctoral dissertation. It is a blog. If you don't think I'm credible, please don't bother reading this blog and feel free to attempt to waste someone else's time. Your opinion of my opinions carries no weight with me.
No you misunderstand me. I'm totally in support of your orientation. I'm just looking for citations/links/sources to support the professional and political resentment I feel is out there.
I think that you are worn here. I think we are winnig up there but it will take time to show us the results. We are winning. be it the government put in place by us. But guys like you think that everything van happen overnight. You need to get your facts straighten and then blog this.......Bush's approval rating is still higher than any president in the whole history of the United States.
I think you are semi-literate at best, hopelessly ignorant of the Afghani situation "up there", and a perfect example of why I will no longer allow anonymous comments. Frankly, I'm amazed and somewhat sceptical of your ability to completely read the very post that you are commenting on.
I'm not sure which planet you call home, but I guess it's one where "overnight" lasts more than six years. The invasion of Afghanistan was ordered 7/01. Also, since as most people who can read and write will inform you, the primary Taliban stronghold is in the federally-administered tribal region of Pakistan. Pakistan is currently losing control of that area. You probably should look up the name "Karzai", too. He's the guy we installed as president there, and he's about as popular as Bush is here. Which, despite your references to polls taken six years ago, is currently pretty damn unpopular.
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