brahma: WSJ: A Dangerous Plan for Afghanistan

feb 23rd, 2009

brahma on how the yanks refuse to learn from history. they are going to give more money to the ISI, which obviously will be the middleman in dealings with the so-called "moderate Taliban". in fact the likelihood is that the ISI is the "moderate Taliban", which i think means fundies who can wear a suit and speak english one day with the yanks, and then put on their (clip-on?) beards and shriek like banshees the next with the fundies, er... pakistani civilians (think benazir bhutto with a beard and baggy pants).

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Brahma Chellaney

A Dangerous Plan for Afghanistan

Obama's about to repeat a Soviet-era mistake.

By BRAHMA CHELLANEY | Wall Street Journal FEBRUARY 24, 2009

President Barack Obama has unveiled a troop surge in Afghanistan that will put 17,000 more American soldiers on the ground. But his plan still lacks clarity on how to save a faltering military mission.

His administration risks repeating the very mistakes that have come to haunt the security of the free world. In the same way the United States created mujahedeen (holy warriors) by funneling billions of dollars worth of arms to them in the 1980s, Washington has now embarked on a plan to establish local militias in various Afghan provinces.

Hamid Karzai

The U.S. covert war against the nine-year Soviet military intervention in Afghanistan helped create Frankensteins like Osama bin Laden and Mullah Mohammad Omar. That war, fuelled by the CIA, contributed to the jihad culture that today plagues Afghanistan and Pakistan. Now, while trying to salvage the overt war that the U.S. has waged in Afghanistan since 2001, Mr. Obama is unwittingly seeking to repeat history.

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http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123541054607849715.html