ÿþ<html> <head> <meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1"> <title>OnlineColumnist®.com: Putin Punishes Georgia</title> <meta name="generator" content="Adobe GoLive 4"> <style type="text/css"> .style3 { height: 68px; } .MsoNormal {} h1 {margin-bottom:.0001pt; page-break-after:avoid; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; font-weight:normal; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; } .style4 { font-size: large; font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; } .style6 { height: 69px; } h2 {margin-bottom:.0001pt; text-align:center; page-break-after:avoid; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Arial; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; } .style7 { width: 285px; } .style8 { font-size: x-large; font-weight: bold; } .style9 { text-align: left; } </style> </head> <body bgcolor="white" vlink="black"> <center> &nbsp;<table cool width="624" height="2719" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" gridx="16" showgridx gridy="16" showgridy> <tr> <td height="118" rowspan="2" valign="top" align="left" xpos="0" class="style7"> <a href="aboutdiscobolos.html"><img height="110" width="62" src="images/discobolos.logo.transp.gif" border="0"></a></td> <td width="7" height="118" rowspan="2"></td> <td width="482" colspan="2" valign="top" align="left" xpos="140" class="style6"><img height="75" width="450" src="images/banner.GIF"></td> <td width="1" height="118" rowspan="2"></td> <td width="1" class="style6"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="79"></td> </tr> <tr height="39"> <td width="182" height="39"></td> <td width="300" height="39" valign="top" align="left" xpos="322"><a href="aboutdiscobolos.html"><img height="14" width="267" src="images/divisionofNEW.GIF" border="0"></a></td> <td width="1" height="39"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="39"></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="624" colspan="6" valign="top" align="left" xpos="0" class="style3"> <table border="0" width="100%" bgcolor="black" cellspacing="0"> <tr> <td> <table border="0" width="100%" bgcolor="#99ffcc" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="4"> <tr> <td align="center"> <div align="left"> <a href="index.html"><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong> HOME</strong></font></a><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong> &#8226; <a href="articlesindex.html">ARTICLES</a> &#8226; <a href="books.html">BOOKS</a> &#8226; <a href="teflon.html"> THE </a><a href="teflon.html">TEFLON</a><a href="teflon.html"> REPORT</a> &#8226; <a href="mailto:letters@onlinecolumnist.com"> REACTIONS</a> &#8226; <a href="aboutdiscobolos.html">ABOUT DISCOBOLOS</a></strong></font></div> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> <tr height="2"> <td height="2" class="style7"></td> <td width="489" height="2576" colspan="3" rowspan="2" align="left" xpos="133" content valign="top" csheight="2573"> <p class="style4">Afghanistan and Iraq Trade Places</p> <p><b><font face="Arial,Geneva,Helvetica">by John M. Curt</font></b><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"><b>is<a href="books.html"><br> </a></b></font><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"><b> (310) 204-8700</b></font></p> <p><font size="2" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"><i>Copyright Sept. 2, 2010<br>All Rights Reserved. </i></font>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </p> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <p class="MsoNormal"> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<span class="style8"> F</span>ourteen members of the U.S. military lost their lives in Afghanistan between Aug. 29-30, attesting to the up-tick in violence since President Barack Obama decided to escalate the war.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Since taking office Jan. 20, 2009, Obama has added more than 50,000 troops, making good on at least one campaign promise to end the Iraq War.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>While the Iraq War served as a pivotal campaign issue, attesting to the collective frustration with his predecessor President George W. Bush, Barack has shifted the killing field to Afghanistan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Whether admitted to or not, both countries are equally corrupt and incapable of delivering the democracy or stability sought by the U.S. Neither country had anything to do with Sept. 11, though Bush, and now Obama, insist there s a connection between the two.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Whether or not the Taliban government in 2001 shielded Osama bin Laden, they had nothing to do with Sept. 11.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Today s Afghanistan bears little resemblance to the one after Sept. 11 where the Taliban s now exiled leader Mullah Mohammed Omar harbored the mastermind of the worst terrorist attack in U.S. history.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Having fled Afghanistan in Dec. 2001, the renegade 53-year-old Saudi-born Bin Laden lurks somewhere in the ungoverned lands inside Pakistan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> His forces and affiliate groups sponsor terrorist acts on virtually every continent, attesting to a shifting command-and-control that has long since left Afghanistan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Today s newly minted U.S. Afghan commander Gen. David Petraeus says he has a plan for victory but doesn t specify what winning looks like.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Much of Afghan s civilian population, including its current Prime Minister Hamid Karazai, has deep family and personal ties to the former Taliban regime.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Like in Iraq, Afghanistan no longer enjoys popular U.S. support. </p> <p class="style9"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Watching growing numbers of U.S. troops massacred in Afghanistan assumes Petraeus counterinsurgency strategy, the same one he used in Iraq, will work in Afghanistan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Unlike in Iraq, Karzai has strong ties through his brother, Ahmed Wali, to the opium trade and historical roots to the Taliban in southern Afghanistan, the so-called Kandahar region where most casualties are taking place.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>With Karazi s close ties to the Taliban, it s difficult to say whether Karzai continues to tip off the Taliban with respect to U.S. troop movements.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Having lost a national election July 30, 2009, Karzai has been accused to rigging the results.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>White House officials can t reconcile Afghan corruption with a failed leader that can t accept the legitimate results of an international monitored election.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>U.S. troops now die to defend a corrupt puppet regime with ties to the opium trade and Taliban. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp;</span><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Escalating the Afghanistan War has cost Obama votes, especially among independents and crossover Republicans.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Obama took votes away in the  08 presidential election for his opposition to both wars.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> There should be a review of the strategy in the fight against terrorism, because the experience of the last eight years showed that the fight in villages of Afghanistan has been ineffective apart from causing civilian casualties, said Karazi, attesting, if nothing else, to coddling the Taliban, al-Qaida and other terrorist groups.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Karzai seeks to change the mission of going after the Taliban because of his family ties to Kandahar.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Karazi knows that the Taliban hides in the civilian population.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>He also knows that there s no defeating the Taliban because the U.S. has no real enemy to attack.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Hiding in the civilian population assures that a U.S. victory is next to impossible.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>With U.S. counterinsurgency operations shifting to Kandahar, there s no way to know how much intelligence about U.S. troop movements Karzai gives the Taliban.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>There s growing futility among U.S. forces because it s impossible to know the exact whereabouts of the enemy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Placing 140,000 troupes in Afghanistan has only made the country more dangerous for U.S. forces.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Whether or not the U.S. wins, it s difficult to reset the objectives, including clearing out terrorist nests.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Karzai recently criticized Obama s plan to begin withdrawing troops by 2011, citing a lack of progress gaining control of the country.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Yet, at the same time, he blames the U.S. for going after the Taliban in the civilian population in the Kandahar region<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Karzai can t have it both ways:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Criticizing the U.S. for going after the Taliban in civilian centers and faulting the U.S. for planning an exit strategy.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Today s Afghan War raises the same doubts that once plagued Iraq:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>What possible benefit is there to the U.S?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>It s difficult for Obama to make the same national security argument as Bush with a straight face, without alienating his base that saw only a downside for American troops and the U.S. economy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Watching the death toll rise reminds voters facing the midterm elections that there s little differences between the parties under Obama.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Afghan President Hamid Karzai must do more than criticize the U.S. for going after the Taliban in the civilian population in southern Afghanistan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Escalating the war since taking office, Obama has only added to U.S. casualty rates without making a compelling argument.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Before the death toll rises too much and the miderm election is out of reach, Obama should reset U.S. Afghan strategy and plan to accelerate his timetable.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <b>John M. Curtis </b>writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He&#x2019;s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of <a href="books.html">Dodging The Bullet</a> and <a href="books.html">Operation Charisma</a>.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> &nbsp;</p> </td> <td width="1" height="2576" rowspan="2"></td> <td width="1" height="2"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="2"></td> </tr> <tr height="2574"> <td height="2574" valign="top" align="left" xpos="0" class="style7"><img height="172" width="111" src="images/johninframe3.jpg"></td> <td width="1" height="2574"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="2574"></td> </tr> <tr height="1" cntrlrow> <td height="1" class="style7"><spacer type="block" width="133" height="1"></td> <td width="7" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="7" height="1"></td> <td width="182" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="182" height="1"></td> <td width="300" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="300" height="1"></td> <td width="1" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="1"></td> <td width="1" height="1"></td> </tr> </table> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="2" width="597"> <tr> <td><font size="1" face="Arial,Geneva,Helvetica"> <hr noshade size="1"> </font><a href="index.html"><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong> Homecobolos> p><font size="2" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular">©1999-2005 <a href="aboutdiscobolos.html"> Discobolos Consulting Services, Inc.</a><br> (310) 204-8300<br> All Rights Reserved. </font></td> </tr> </table> </center> </body> </html>