Like Vietnam, we need to get out

I've been reading several articles in the last few days about Afghanistan and the Afghanistan war the previous administration got us into.

It seems everyone is talking, lately, about our status there now and what, exactly, we should be doing in the short- and long-term.

I think if we consider a few basic statistics and some raw, hard data about Afghanistan that we can see the only sensible thing to do is, as I said above, treat it like Vietnam and get the hell out and as soon as possible.

The following information comes from Frank Rich's article in The New York Times today:

--"the number of Qaeda insurgents there has dwindled to fewer than 100, according to the president’s national security adviser, Gen. James Jones";

--"American intelligence officials now say that 'there are few, if any, links between Taliban commanders in Afghanistan today and senior Al Qaeda members'”;

--"we will never build a functioning state in a country where there has never been one";

--we cannot "score a victory against the world’s dispersed, stateless terrorists by getting bogged down in a hellish landscape that contains few of them", describing Afghanistan;

--"The Congressional Research Service estimates that the war was running $2.6 billion a month in Pentagon expenses alone even before Obama added 20,000 troops this year";

--"The existing Afghan “army” is small, illiterate, impoverished and as factionalized as the government;"

--"Afghanistan is not Iraq. It is poorer, even larger and more populous, more fragmented and less historically susceptible to foreign intervention." Thinking that we've had "success" in Iraq is virtually completely unsupportable in my view and many others and even if you do think we've been "successful", the war and difficulties we face in Afghanistan are far more vast and troubling than Iraq;

This is the big one, for me:

--"Gen. David Petraeus stipulates that real counterinsurgency requires 20 to 25 troops for each thousand residents. That comes out, conservatively, to 640,000 troops for Afghanistan (population, 32 million). Some 535,000 American troops couldn’t achieve a successful counterinsurgency in South Vietnam, which had half Afghanistan’s population and just over a quarter of its land area";

This all, for me, brings up the following questions which Mr. Rich wrote of today:

--Why are we dealing and working with Hamid Karzai who is known to be part of greedy, corrupt and graft-laden government that is benefitting mightily from overseeing this country, which is in such a mess? and

--Why are we doing anything but writing scenarios to get out of Afghanistan as quickly, safely and intelligently as possible, given even these few facts, above, other than to "save face" for America?

--Are we too proud to do the right thing for our soldiers and our country?

The Soviets had to do it--and did--and somehow survived. If it's the right thing--in this case, withdrawing from Afghanistan, you just do it, eventually.


Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/11/opinion/11rich.html?th&emc=th

Addendum:
http://www.alternet.org/blogs/video/143097/the_human_cost_of_war%3A_the_images_the_corporate_media_doesn%27t_want_you_to_see/

Why this war isn't truly even sustainable

Consider these major factors:

1) News today: "Soldiers deaths announced: The US military announced the deaths of 5 more soldiers, raising the number of US troop deaths to 17 since Sunday. The announcement came amid new fighting in a Shiite militia group stronghold under siege by US and Iraqi forces in Baghdad." From the Kansas City Star, today, April 10, 2008.

2) The "Green Zone", which is supposed to be our military's "safe haven", is by no means safe. Some of the above 17 fatalities came from attacks in this very Green Zone. Zbigniew Brzezinski once said, at the start of the war, that the Green Zone was the only thing in Iraq that we controlled. We really don't even control that, if we ever did.

3) More news today: "Soldier Suicide record: 'US soldiers committing suicide at record levels, young officers abandoning their military careers, and the heavy use of forces in Iraq has made it harder for the military to fight conflicts elsewhere', Army Vice Chief of Staff General Richard Cody said.'" If all this is true, and it most assuredly is, how can we continue this fight in Iraq indefinitely, let alone maintain our military worldwide? (Source: Kansas City Star, April 10, 2008).

4) Okay, quick, can you tell me how much this war has been figured to be costing us per month? From the very official and "nonpartisan Congressional Research Service, which provides research and analysis to lawmakers", it has been estimated to be $12 billion per month. That's twelve. Billion. A month. Our national debt, alone, can't support an endless funding of this very expensive, seemingly endless war. (Source: Go to: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=11847236)

5) As of today, "the federal deficit through the first half of this budget year hit a record high of $311.4 billion, up 20.5% from a year ago. The Treasury's monthly budget report showed that revenue for the budget year that began Oct. 1 totaled $1.146 trillion, up 2.2% from last year. Government spending was up" (thanks, "conservative" President Bush!) by a much faster 5.7%, rising to $1.457 trillion." (Souce: Kansas City Star, April 11, 2008).

With this limited information alone--just these five points--what about this war seems supportable? We can't afford the military personnel. Too many of the military men and women don't want to be there. We can't afford the materiel to support our personnel--and this is not a recent development. We can't control much of anything in Iraq. No one wants us there from the outside. The American people don't any longer want us there/support the war, if we ever did. We can't afford it financially. And we've never held a high, moral ground with this war, in spite of what a few in the government said and what too many people believed.

How could it possibly be considered supportable, sustainable and/or defensible any longer?

Mr. President? Mr. McCain? Anybody?