10 years ago we were shown a video of a Taliban Executioner shooting a Burqa clad woman, accused of Adultery, in the back of her head. Today, after 10 years, about Half a TRILLION dollars spent by the US alone and significant Coalition troop losses we are treated to the very same video. Except it is the husband administering justice. As if that makes a difference.
This, I believe is the definition of a colossal waste of time, effort and money for which I hold Bush Jr. solely responsible. Driving the Taliban out in 2001 was the easy part. Securing the nation against those they let escape into Pakistan, by rebuilding a nation from scratch was the need of the hour. An achievable task given the tide of world opinion in the US favour, the lining up of countries to form a Coalition Force that defeated the Taliban and generous offers of Aid to rebuild the country. And what did this man do? Invade Iraq on the sole intelligence provided by some obscure Iraqi Intel official called "Curve Ball" by the CIA who today smilingly asserts he cooked up the whole story to gain asylum in the States!
What ensued in Iraq was a supremely disastrous exercise at the expense of Trillions of Dollars that got the American Forces bogged down to the point where they became sitting ducks for a freshly created Al Queda in Iraq. Combating Daily troop losses to IED's and sundry Suicide Bombers ensured that all the attention of the US veered completely away from the task at hand. Afghanistan.
And so a man of mediocre means with no leadership Qualities became the President of Afghanistan, a man whose only contribution to date was a distinctive dress style, sanctioning of corruption in all avenues from Aid to Heroin and a complete refusal to address the immediate priority. Rebuild the Nation using international largess so that the Afghans would be able to take on the Taliban who were enjoying a rebirth courtesy Pakistan which had never relinquished its stated goal. The rule of Afghanistan by a regime answerable only to them. The Taliban.
Today, the funds have dried up, the Americans are leaving and Karzai holed up in his Palace knows his time is running out. His only hope, a modern disciplined Army and Police force ready to take on the Regional Warlords and the newly revived Taliban has melted away or rather never took off given Bush's undivided attention to the mess in Iraq giving Karzai's cronies the opportunity to corner all the Aid flowing to rebuild the nation. So what we have today is a ragtag army that tries to act tough given the current American armed presence but will vanish the day the Americans leave and the Taliban step in to fill the power vacuum, eliminate Karzai and his cronies and recreate the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. A definite possibility given that they now control all the districts bordering Pakistan, proof of which is that execution video.
This, I believe is the definition of a colossal waste of time, effort and money for which I hold Bush Jr. solely responsible. Driving the Taliban out in 2001 was the easy part. Securing the nation against those they let escape into Pakistan, by rebuilding a nation from scratch was the need of the hour. An achievable task given the tide of world opinion in the US favour, the lining up of countries to form a Coalition Force that defeated the Taliban and generous offers of Aid to rebuild the country. And what did this man do? Invade Iraq on the sole intelligence provided by some obscure Iraqi Intel official called "Curve Ball" by the CIA who today smilingly asserts he cooked up the whole story to gain asylum in the States!
What ensued in Iraq was a supremely disastrous exercise at the expense of Trillions of Dollars that got the American Forces bogged down to the point where they became sitting ducks for a freshly created Al Queda in Iraq. Combating Daily troop losses to IED's and sundry Suicide Bombers ensured that all the attention of the US veered completely away from the task at hand. Afghanistan.
And so a man of mediocre means with no leadership Qualities became the President of Afghanistan, a man whose only contribution to date was a distinctive dress style, sanctioning of corruption in all avenues from Aid to Heroin and a complete refusal to address the immediate priority. Rebuild the Nation using international largess so that the Afghans would be able to take on the Taliban who were enjoying a rebirth courtesy Pakistan which had never relinquished its stated goal. The rule of Afghanistan by a regime answerable only to them. The Taliban.
Today, the funds have dried up, the Americans are leaving and Karzai holed up in his Palace knows his time is running out. His only hope, a modern disciplined Army and Police force ready to take on the Regional Warlords and the newly revived Taliban has melted away or rather never took off given Bush's undivided attention to the mess in Iraq giving Karzai's cronies the opportunity to corner all the Aid flowing to rebuild the nation. So what we have today is a ragtag army that tries to act tough given the current American armed presence but will vanish the day the Americans leave and the Taliban step in to fill the power vacuum, eliminate Karzai and his cronies and recreate the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. A definite possibility given that they now control all the districts bordering Pakistan, proof of which is that execution video.
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