Yes there was a terrorist attack on Christmas day. So now there will be more invasive scanning of people getting on planes.
What few appreciate is that in the war against al-Qaeda, al-Qaeda is winning. When will we ever learn that war is not an answer?
Let me start with Iraq. Sunnis, Shiites, and Kurds are still ad odds with each other and cannot agree on who should be allowed to vote. The Sunnis got angry at al-Qaeda for attacking Sunnis, so the Sunnis supported US efforts to end al-Qaeda attacks on Sunnis. Now Sunnis think that Shiites are using the military and the police to attack Sunnis. And now Shiites are suffering attacks. al-Qaeda dosen't play a role, yet is the US going to leave with massive fighting between Shiites and Sunnis about the break out? Think about it.
Now let's turn to Afghanistan. Let's start with the fact that as Professor Cohn says Obama's Af-Pak War Is Illegal. Guess what, before we invaded Afghanistan the US never offered any evidence that Ossama bin Laden or al-Qaeda were at fault for 9/11. Saudi Arabian citizens comprised the majority of the hijackers on 9/11. The Muslims from Saudi Arabia (frequently called Wahhabis fy others) played a huge role funding mosques that preach a radical form of Islam. The US has done little if anything to deal this radical form of Islam.
And then there are the drones. Each drone attack cause more people whether in Pakistan or Afghanistan to hate the USA. Kill a few al-Qaeda and create a dozen more. And then we go after the Taliban and what did the Taliban do to the USA, why nothing. Despite billions of dollars in aide the Taliban have built a shadow government in Afghanistan that delivers better justice than the government the USA supports. The shadow government even pays better than Karzai. And yet again the CIA is engaged in drug trade, this time through Karzai's brother.
Now turn to Pakistan. We give Pakistan billions of dollars and Pakistan uses the money to arm against their enemy, not the Taliban, India. The Pakistani Intelligence Service would much rather see the Taliban in charge of Afghanistan, because India is friendly with Karzai and the Taliban are not friendly with India. Of course Pakistan does not want the USA chasing after the Taliban and al-Qaeda, because that would weaken their government.
Worse, Pakistan has atomic bombs and have pardoned the Pakistani citizen who sold secrets to our enemies. And we are sending troops to Afghanistan and drones into Pakistan. Afghanistan the country where empires lose. And all this does is to make al-Qaeda and terrorists stronger.
Unfortunately the US will be caught in this quagmire until the US chooses to leave. I hope we leave before all the flowers are gone.
Comments are closed on this story.