...that is "the left of the left" or the "leftiest" or the "southpawiest" er... whatever. Frequently since I began blogging and so subjecting my tender Midwestern liberal sensibilities and obviously inferior cerebra to the trendy vertices of current moon-bat thought, I have experienced moments of mild discomfiture when reading about say ...thermite ash in the Twin Towers, or the always imminent invasion of Iran, the Blackwater coup d'état, the suspension of presidential elections et al. Despite my inability to follow the convoluted productions of these obviously superior minds I have striven valiantly to make common cause with them - always believing that despite my obtusity I might nonetheless occasionally make in happy conjunction with them a small contribution to the glacial march of America towards greater egalitarianism.
The last couple of days have given me more than a few reasons to question this alliance....
(1). If I hear one more freaking time a facile analogy of Afghanistan to Vietnam I will lose it. Ho Chi Mihn sat in the capitol of a united and determined nation with strong allies in the USSR and Red China. Mullah Omar sits in a rental in Quetta with support from some in the Pakistani intelligence establishment and many idiots in the American left. The Chinese government, instead of literally covering his rear, as was the case with Ho, is actively lobbying their long standing allies in Pakistan to crack down on Islamic extremists. The Russian government, instead of supplying SAM batteries and tanks to our opponent, is giving a big Fuck You to the Taliban and providing material support to the Afghan government, such as it is, and logistical support to our military there. India is doing everything it can, short of completely freaking out Pakistan, to prevent the extremists from regaining control. In short every major playa in the region, excepting some number of Indophobes in Pakistan, is supporting our effort there.
Vietnam was jungle, ladies and gentlemen, with all the tactical and environmental advantages such landscape affords an insurgency. The Viet Regular Army could attack in near division strength with very little observation of their movements. Omar's bunch, even if they had the numbers, couldn't mass them in any militarily significant way. The two wars are nothing alike.
(2). Sean Hannity has developed a new argument, one of the few of his that has ever had any merit, that goes something like this: "Well, the Kos crowd is showing it's true colors, they were never sincere when they argued that W and Rummy abandoned Afghanistan to pursue the war in Iraq. They have no intention to allow Obama to support our allies in Pakistan who have finally taken action against the extremists."
And this argument will resound with people. Though many agree that we should get out, your non-support of the President will be seen as hypocrisy.
(3). For the 60 years since FDR died, the right has continually tried to make the case that Democratic Presidents are unqualified to serve as CIC and are weak on national defense. Bubba so pissed them off with his success in Bosnia they felt the need to discredit him through impeachment. We cannot help them sell this idea to the country anymore. If we withdraw from Afghanistan and bad things result, related or not, the Rethugs will ride that horse right back into the Oval Office where they can begin even more disastrous wars. Large segments of America right now are like a skeeve-junkies, mainlining fear, cheap jingoism and hatred. You can't take them off their fix cold turkey. They have to be walked back slowly. First you subject the cost of the wars to the budgetary process and return some control and oversight back to Congress, which Barack is doing. Second you employ a very able and talented diplomatic team to pursue the nation's objects in a non-military effort, which Barack is in the process of doing. Third you use the military and intelligence services skillfully to kill or capture Omar and his henchmen and force a stalemate in the war, but one that disallows the nutcases that stoned women to death in Kabul's soccer stadium from further government service. Thanks anyway, assholes. I think all three goals are difficult but achievable and I also think that if we don't allow Barack room to work, the jihadists in our country will retake the White House and ironically the left will have put them there.
I don't think I can match Charles Johnson's list of ten because I'm not writing to a sixth grade reading level, or at least I hope I'm not, and because the peeps this is intended for, wrong and sometimes vicious and maddening as you are, are merely just that and not completely foaming at the mouth batshit crazy... yet... and so not worthy of separate mention.
But watch it.