A huge car-bomb explosion kills at least 80 people in Pakistan. Six United Nations workers are among 12 killed when Taliban militants storm a guesthouse in the Afghan capital. October already is the deadliest month, for U.S. troops in Afghanistan. Which broke the record set in August. Which broke the record set in July. Anyone notice a pattern, here? I mean, anyone else?
As the asshat gasbag brigade tries to push President Obama to escalate the war even further, it seems a good time to ask what exactly we gained when the president escalated the war in February, and in September decided to replace 14,000 non-combat troops with combat troops, while contracting out the non-combat replacements. The horrors of August had already made this the deadliest year for U.S. troops in Afghanistan, and things have only gotten worse, since. The Taliban have only grown stronger. The stability we were supposed to be providing has only deteriorated. Perhaps modeling himself after his former patron, Afghan President Hamid Karzai tried to steal an election, while his brother, the suspected opium lord, has now been revealed to be on the CIA payroll. Which may explain why one part of the Afghan economy has been enjoying a record-breaking boom.
The White House has made clear that they are not about to make any major decisions on again escalating the war. Which is a good thing. Because the last escalation didn't help. The Bush disaster already was beyond repair. This is not a war that can be won. It may somehow still be possible to win a peace. With humanitarian aid. After the war. For months, I've been asking how this ends. The Afghan people want us to leave. Given that nothing we have tried has worked, perhaps it's time for us to give them what they want.