[Peace-discuss] Why are we in Afghanistan?

[C. G. Estabrook]

You may have wondered.  You may also wonder why we've invaded and occupied a 
half dozen other countries in the Middle East, half a world away.  This week 
Obama's choice as Afghanistan commander, Lt. Gen. Stanley McChrystal (known for 
assassination, torture, and the establishment of death squads in Iraq, as an 
article in the current Nation explains) "defined America’s essential goals 
there," as the New York times put it:

“The measure of effectiveness will not be the number of enemy killed," Stan 
said. "It will be the number of Afghans shielded from violence."

How would we have reacted, a generation ago, during the Soviet invasion and 
occupation of Afghanistan, to a Soviet general who said (as he undoubtedly did), 
"The measure of Soviet military effectiveness will be the number of Afghans 
shielded from violence"?  Why should we react differently now?  --CGE