By Juan Cole
ICH
March 31, 2009 “Salon“
President Barack Obama may or may not be doing the right thing in Afghanistan, but the rationale he gave for it on Friday is almost certainly wrong. Obama has presented us with a 21st century version of the domino theory. The U.S. is not, contrary to what the president said, mainly fighting “al-Qaida” in Afghanistan. In blaming everything on al-Qaida, Obama broke with his pledge of straight talk to the public and fell back on Bush-style boogeymen and implausible conspiracy theories.
Obama realizes that after seven years, Afghanistan war fatigue has begun to set in with the American people. Some 51 percent of Americans now oppose the Afghanistan war, and 64 percent of Democrats do. The president is therefore escalating in the teeth of substantial domestic opposition, especially from his own party, as voters worry about spending billions more dollars abroad while the U.S. economy is in serious trouble.
[...]
FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog may contain copyrighted material. Such material is made available for educational purposes, to advance understanding of human rights, democracy, scientific, moral, ethical, and social justice issues, etc. This constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use’, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
see
Escobar: The secrets of Obama’s surge + Obama’s Afghan plan + The rights of women
Afghanistan on Dandelion Salad
Filed under: Afghanistan, Afghanistan on Dandelion Salad, Al Qaeda, Dandelion Salad Posts News Politics and-or Videos 2, Foreign Policy, Obama-Barack, Politics Tagged: | Barack Obama on Dandelion Salad, Cole-Juan, Meet the new boss the same as the old boss, Pakistan on Dandelion Salad
[...] Obama’s Domino Theory By Juan Cole [...]
With the obvious unrest and terrible problems in Pakistan, and the fact that now Obama’s been briefed on intelligence matters that the rest of us aren’t privy to, and the recent threats from al-Qaida in Pakistan, I don’t have any idea what to think anymore. This “war”: is not “winnable,” but it’s also true that I don’t have any idea what wreckage the last 8 years have brought down on all of us. We are more hated as a country than ever before, and much of it is for very good reason. The hatred and hostility is real for the United States. Do we deserve it? Sure we do. We allowed GWB to be elected. Can anyone prevent the next strike against this country that will make this “war on terror” permanent? I sure do hope so, but I’m not going to bet on it ~ oops
For once the generals are right: The afghan war cannot be won militarily.
The war on iraq was terrorism by any other name. The siege of Gaza was terrorism. Violence begets the next act of retaliation in train.
The US populace not only elected Botch once, but twice, knowing what he would do, and did the same now, knowing what Obama would do in Afghanistan.
Terrorism will beget more terrorism in train.
Ah but I waste my breath. We will only abandon the terrorism of overseas military strikes when the public grows bored with it, and then something will again ‘happen’ and the pitchfork wielding red-state goons will be out for blood-lust yet again, and the industry will again cash in.
But if true retaliation were the goal, the inevitable retaliatory demonic suicide attack on criminally complicit US civilians by radical, deranged fundamentalists will be in a state that overwhelmingly, consistently, and unapologetically votes for illegal US terrorist wars of arrogance and hostile aggression, like Texas, or Wyoming.
We on the east coast paid our dues (whoever did it), and the small resistance to US wars are localized on the coasts.
But terrorism is not revenge, it’s terror, and innocents get Killed, just like the weddings and children we bombed. It’s sickness, and it only will stop when somebody stops, and starts the healing and the communicating and the reparations for the illegal, overwhelming use of US militaristic force against nations of no threat to us.
As to US foreign policy? Apparrently ‘the war was never meant to end’ (orwell).
Obeyme’s lack of experience in the international arena is coming to the forefront.