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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: michael97123 who wrote (153982)	12/14/2004 3:30:50 PM
From: cnyndwllr	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

Mike, let me make a couple of points. First, what we have "done" in Afghanistan is to remove the Taliban leadership, at least for a while. We had the benefit of having an existing "insurgency" which we used and rewarded in upending the Taliban. In addition, much of the face to face killing in that war was done by Afghans. Our forces were in the air with the aid of special forces that moved with the "rebels" and directed the strikes. What we have now in Afghanistan is the possibility of a democratic government that faces the ugly reality that it controls little of the land mass, that it faces tribal forces which do not, and will not, recognize the authority of the federal government and that it is one gunshot away from losing its leader and therefor its legitimacy. So don't be too impressed with all the spin about how we've created a functional democracy in Afghanistan. Much of it is out of our hands and the Afghans are a long way from seeing a clear path ahead, but at least there the possibility is not in the "laughable" category. Secondly, Bush and Rumsfeld have shown no ability to learn and adapt. Your head has identified the answer to this question when all of your high hopes for change in the type and quality of Bush 2 cabinet members went into the toilette and Rumsfeld was retained. Ask yourself not what Bush would see but rather what the man behind the curtain would see, i.e. Cheney. It's only your heart that refuses to see. Ed