The point is that resources matter, and we are providing great resources, training, and techniques to make his job easier, and on an entirely different scale. True, they've probably been recruiting suicide combatants for a long time, just not as methodically on a scale to be reckoned with.
But had we not gotten involved, the Soviets may have conquered them, imposed some sort of order, then fallen anyway. Everyone would have been better off, obviously,win or lose; it's their battle, not ours.
To get an idea of the scale of resources we supplied, a recent story emerged that many new weapons weren't used in the Soviet combat, but were cached for future internal battles. Clever folks, dealing with rich Uncle Sam. Billions of dollars were supplied, and even more important, high levels of training in both covert and overt warfare.
The point here is that this kind of action on our part is ill-conceived and out of control, and has been for decades. We have been able to afford this kind of habit in the past because we're a rich nation and it didn't kill too many of us, and we succumbed to the self-interested propaganda of the combatants.
Now, it's different, we now need to pay attention to where our dollars go, to whom, and for what. It's time to get "justice", declare victory, and leave, with only commerce remaining. The civil combatants can use their own blood to solve their disputes, not trick us into using ours.
A worldwide coalition to combat terrorism is being shaped with Powell in the driver's seat. From this will emerge combined military/financial means to reduce this threat within participating nations. We should learn to stick with that, and avoid being engaged in further civil and holy wars. |
