The US media is missing the real heart of RNC Chair Michael Steele's comments on Afghanistan.
"If he's such a student of history, has he not understood that, you know, that's the one thing you don't do is engage in a land war in Afghanistan? All right? Because everyone who's tried, over a thousand years of history, has failed," Steele said. "And there are reasons for that. There are other ways to engage in Afghanistan."
I wish Obama had said that! I wish Petraeus had the courage and patriotism to say that at his confirmation hearing.
Poor bumbling Steele, he correctly states why Bush/GOP war in Afghanistan was a disaster, a foregone disaster based on 1,000 years of history. Steele is also correct that it is now Obama's war just as it was Gorbachev's war previously. It's Obama's war because he chose to escalate a war that US should never have engaged in, a land war in Afghanistan to impose a US puppet government on the Afghans.
The US is currently in year eight of its war against Afghans to impose a government on Afghanistan. Here is how the next two years will go.
Here is the Soviet situation in Afghanistan on change of leadership in Moscow, an almost mirror image of US change of leadership from Bush to Obama.
On his arrival in power in March 1985, the new Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev expressed his impatience with the Afghan conflict. He demanded that a solution be found before a one-year deadline. As a result, the size of the LCOSF (Limited Contingent of Soviet Forces) was increased to 108,800 and fighting increased throughout the country, making 1985 the bloodiest year of the war. However, despite suffering heavily, the mujahideen were able to remain in the field and continue resisting the Soviets.
As for Karzai, the names and situation are nearly identical
The government of President Karmal, a puppet regime, was largely ineffective. It was weakened by divisions within the PDPA and the Parcham faction, and the regime's efforts to expand its base of support proved futile. Moscow came to regard Karmal as a failure and blamed him for the problems
We know how this will all end. Here is how US "victory" will look.
In the last phase, Soviet troops prepared and executed their withdrawal from Afghanistan. They hardly engaged in offensive operations at all, and were content to defend against mujahideen raids. The one exception was Operation Magistral, a successful sweep that cleared the road between Gardez and Khost. This operation did not have any lasting effect, but it allowed the Soviets to symbolically end their presence with a victory.
Forgotten in all this the real reason US invaded Afghanistan, to get Bin Laden for bombing the US on 911. The only victory the US could ever have in Afghanistan is bringing Bin Laden to justice.