When the Dead Have No Say: Can the war in Afghanistan be successful?

[laststeamtrain]

When the Dead Have No Say

August 13, 2009 By Norman Solomon

Official Washington is buzzing about "metrics." Can the war in Afghanistan be successful?

Don't ask the dead.

<snip>

"With the U.S. relationship with Pakistan still locked in a cold war embrace that accedes to Pakistani demands at the expense of Afghanistan, establishing a metric for anything is useless without reassessing the underlying assumptions," Elizabeth Gould and Paul Fitzgerald said last week. They're authors of the new book "Invisible History: Afghanistan's Untold Story," published after nearly 30 years of research.


"With Pakistan's creation of the Taliban, America's concept of 'winning' entered a complicated phase that continues to haunt American decision-making to its core," Gould and Fitzgerald added. "Pakistani intelligence knows full well the American political system, its history of compliance with their wishes and the lack of appreciation for Afghan independence. America's war in Afghanistan is an ongoing bait and switch where the U.S. fights against its own interests and Pakistan plays the Beltway like a violin."


Gould and Fitzgerald contend: "The only metric that matters is how far Pakistan's military has moved from supporting Islamic extremism. With the insider relationship the United States has with Pakistan's military intelligence, that should not be a difficult metric to establish."

<more>

http://www.zmag.org/znet/viewArticle/22296
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Gould and Fitzgerald have done some interviews on radio that are worth looking up. They're old hands with a wealth of knowledge.
http://www.invisiblehistory.com/

[Karmadillo]

1. Kick

nt

[elocs]

2. Can? Maybe. Will? History says that's unlikely.

Washington doesn't learn well from history and so it repeats its mistakes.

Chase the Taliban out of Afghanistan and into Pakistan which has nukes. Great improvement. Oops!