Tuesday, June 15

Why I changed my mind...

In my last posting, I was hard on Barack Obama, but I still gave him the confidence of waiting until June 21, 2011 for his start of a withdrawal. In the past 24 hours, events have occurred which changed my mind. I wish to share them with you.

At a conference, inspectors have declared (supposedly, the first time) that Afghanistan, formerly home of poppies and little else, is a gold mine of mineral wealth. I find this to be highly dubious in several areas. First, when the former USSR took over Afghanistan, the pertinent question is: Why?


If Afghanistan were really dirt-poor, that's one reason not to go. Afghanistan is land-locked. That's another. Afghanistan has large areas whose mountains are very rugged, if not impassable. One more. The houses are poorly constructed. Shall I continue?

Since the Soviet takeover in 1980, Afghanistan has been in a state of anarchy and/or dissension. It doesn't have the calm and serenity of, say, Rwanda.

Since we have installed Hamid Karzai as president, things have scarcely become better. He is "head" (cough, cough) of the Afghan army. This army seems more capable at shaking down civilians for money and food (both of which are sorely lacking) just to survive another day.

This, hence, is what I see: President Karzai's support for the US is evaporating. Taliban forces show no signs of abating, despite occasional news conferences. The final nail in the coffin, though, was this silly "finding" of minerals. Enough is enough. Let us leave, now.