[Peace-discuss] The wider war

[C. G. Estabrook]

 From <http://original.antiwar.com/justin/2009/09/22/mcchrystals-conundrum/>:

...The Afghan government – the government our troops are fighting and dying to 
protect – is described by McChrystal as riddled with corruption and "malign." 
This has led to a “crisis of confidence among Afghans. Further, a perception 
that our resolve is uncertain makes Afghans reluctant to align with us against 
the insurgents."

But of course the Afghans are "reluctant" to welcome foreign invaders with open 
arms – yes, even if they are Americans. When have they ever done so?

...McChrystal himself fails to grasp the essential fact about the country he is 
invading and occupying, which is that Afghans – like people everywhere – hate 
invaders and invariably resist occupation. Just ask the Russians or the British. 
The reason for the insurgency isn’t because the Afghan government is any more 
corrupt than governments in that region of the world generally tend to be: it’s 
because President Karzai is an American puppet who was installed because we 
invaded the country and continue to occupy it. Without U.S. military support, 
the Karzai regime wouldn’t last but a month or two, at most – and the same is 
true of any regime we support, no matter who is at the head of it.

...Which leads me to believe that this isn’t about Afghanistan at all, that the 
country is just a staging ground for a wider, much more ambitious military 
campaign, whose immediate target is Pakistan. The insurgency, the general avers, 
"is clearly supported from Pakistan. Senior leaders of the major Afghan 
insurgent groups are based in Pakistan, are linked with al-Qaeda and other 
violent extremist groups, and are reportedly aided by some elements of 
Pakistan’s ISI,” which is its intelligence service. Al-Qaeda and other extremist 
movements “based in Pakistan channel foreign fighters, suicide bombers, and 
technical assistance into Afghanistan, and offer ideological motivation, 
training, and financial support."

McChrystal is clearly itching to strike targets in Pakistan with more than just 
a few drones every now and then – and before you know it, we’ll be launching yet 
another invasion and occupation, while the good general exhorts his troops to 
decrease their "distance" from the Pakistanis and tells us we ought to build 
more schools and hospitals.

Yes, well, they’ll need more hospitals, no doubt about that...

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