As I’ve mentioned in my last couple of posts I’ve been reading “Descent into Chaos” by Ahmed Rashid which, I believe, is must reading for anyone who wants to better understand what President Obama is “up against” as he decides on how to extricate our forces from Afganistan while ACTUALLY finding and bringing to justice Osama bin Laden. Everytime I start thinking about this I start getting angry. Not only did the Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld administration SCREW THIS UP MAJORLY, but the Republicans of today would have you believe they are innocent bystanders as they criticize WHATEVER President Obama chooses to do regarding this mess.

I heard an announcement today that Obama will send no more troops to Afganistan unless the US feels that the Afgan government is worth defending (or words to that effect). And that’s legitimate. The government of Hamid Karzai is corrupt, it’s knee deep in the drug trade from Afganistan which “feeds” the herion addicts in America, and Karzai is full of distrust and contempt for Americans. Obviously, none of that is good. But, looking closer at what has happened since 9/11 gives a much better picture of why the situation is as it exists today – and it’s close to an IMPOSSIBLE SITUATION!

The truth is that the Bush administration had no idea what they were doing when they invaded Afganistan. As everyone now knows, Bush and his fellow “neocons” had their sights set on Iraq from the moment the World Trade Center was falling to the ground. In fact, they had their sights set on Iraq several years prior to that – the terrorist attack on our soil just gave them the excuse they were looking for. In the process of getting us entrenched into Iraq and totally destabilizing the middle east, Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld got us entrenched in Afganistan and totally destabilized Central Asia. It’s almost as if they were trying to do this. However, I don’t for a minute think they were trying to do this on purpose – at least I hope not – although nothing surprises me anymore, I just think they were a bunch of political fanatics who managed to scam their way into the most powerful position in the world and they unleashed their ignorance on all the rest of us. (which really should give all Americans pause regarding listening to the likes of Limbaugh, Beck, and the other people who are attempting to undermine our present President due to the color of his skin)

Karzai was actually a true patriot when it was time to overthrow the Taliban from Afganistan and he actually put his life on the line, according to Rashid (who knows him personally), during the American attack which was coordinated with the Afganistan Northern Alliance through the American CIA – the Northern Alliance were the Afgans who were opposed to the Taliban at the time of our invasion. True to form for Rumsfeld, the Defense Secretary at the time – and maybe the worst Defense Secretary in our history – he virtually refused to commit enough American troops to “do the job,” which supposedly was to capture or kill bin Laden and destroy Al Qaeda. UNQUESTIONABLY the opportunity was there for success, but the Americans failed to provide the necessary troop strength and, even though he should have been captured, bin Laden was allowed to escape (twice).

Worse than that, not only did bin Laden (and most of the Taliban) escape, but when a government was set up in Afganistan to replace the fallen Taliban, the United States not only failed to support it but even undermined it. Instead of supplying Karzai the money and support he needed to set up a centralized government (which, in reading this book, I believe he would have done had we supported him), the United States funneled it’s support money – or at least most of it – to the warlords in the countryside which virtually insured the continued fragmentation of the country and diminished support for Karzai. The result of this policy was that – and here I’m inferring, because so far in the book I’m reading it doesn’t talk about Karzai’s corruption – Karzai had to find ways to keep himself in power without the full support of the US, which included raising money through the drug trade. We became just the latest country to abandon the Afgan people. In fact, we were essentially abandoning them for the second time, because after the Soviets were pushed out in 1988, we abandoned them at that time as well.

The makeup of Afganistan is quite complex as I’m finding from reading this book, and true to form the Bush administration attempted to carry out this “invasion” with virtually no knowledge of the people they were dealing with (just like Iraq). Bush/Cheney relied on the CIA which was following a policy of buying off the warlords – always thinking in the short term. Additionally, both Al Qaeda and the Taliban had found refuge in Pakistan in what’s called the “Federally administered Tribal Areas,” or, essentially, no man’s land. These areas were without any formal government and since 9/11 Pakistan’s government on several occasions has decided to make “treaties” with Al Qaeda and the Taliban in an attempt to keep them from creating problems “at home,” which NEVER WORKS. From the days they escaped the American invasion Al Qaeda has been regrouping to the point where today they are probably stronger and more of a threat than they were on 9/11.

What irks me the most in this, is that the Bush administration continued to support Pervez Musharraf, the Pakistani dictator, thinking it was “convenient.” From 9/11 until he left office President Bush funneled approximately TEN BILLION DOLLARS to Musharraf because he felt it was keeping Pakistan as an ally to America. What was really happening was that Musharraf and the Pakistan ISI (their version of our CIA) continued to support the Taliban and ignore Al Qaeda. As the saying goes they played Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld FOR ALL THEY WERE WORTH. Just the stupidity of the American government undermined our position as much as anything. Of course, while all this is going on – the Taliban is moving back into Afganistan, Al Qaeda is rebuilding itself – Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld SCREWED UP IRAQ just as bad. It’s like Osama bin Laden couldn’t have orchestrated his wishes any better. Our leaders fell for EVERY ONE OF HIS TRICKS. And, we’re still falling for them – because one of bin Laden’s stated goals is to keep the US fighting in Iraq and Afganistan until we have bankrupted our nation just as the Russians did in the eighties. The ironies in Afganistan go on and on, and they started with the Reagan administration; essentially, we’ve been supporting and arming our own enemies – through Musharraf and other so-called “allies” since the 1980’s in a land which we totally DON’T understand.

Which gets me back to the point where I’m really getting sick of Republicans who created this MESS acting like it’s all Obama’s fault. I have no idea what decision President Obama will make regarding Afganistan, but I can tell you that THIS IS VERY SERIOUS. For anyone who believes that Al Qaeda is no longer a threat, in my mind they are kidding themselves. And, anyone who thinks Bush/Cheney “kept us safe” is kidding themselves even more. But to listen to them (Republicans and neocons), it’s almost as if they are rooting for another attack, because they are so set on the “failure” of the Obama administration. Can you imagine what the reaction from the Republicans would have been when Bush was contemplating the response to 9/11 if the Democrats would have been rooting for his failure? If they had blamed Bush for the terrorist attacks? (which, as it turns out, they could legitimately have done) President Obama needs to have the support of the American people as he goes forward in determining how to proceed in Afganistan.

I will be the first to say that we should be out of Iraq “sooner rather than later.” But Afganistan, I’m not so sure. It may be too late to gain the confidence of the Afgan people who were ready in 2001 for America to “nation build.” However, the reality is that the Taliban are moving back in and if we leave they will regain control within probably a year from when we pull out. Additionally, Al Qaeda is right across the border in Pakistan and attempting to destabilize the Pakistani government, apparently in an attempt to get their hands on Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal (which is significant due mostly to Republican – Reagan and GW Bush – negligence as well, but that’s another story for another day), and due to the Bush policies the people of Central Asia are pretty much just shaking their heads at the stupidity and lack of will from America. As much as I wish we weren’t in Afganistan, I’m not too sure that we should pull out. In fact, I believe if I was in Obama’s shoes, I would be figuring out how to get to bin Laden and I’d be letting the Pakistani government know that WE ARE COMING AFTER HIM AND HIS “NETWORK.” The more I look at and try to understand this situation I just have to shake my head at how stupid the Americans under Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld (all three of these people are pretty much a joke to the Afgans and Pakistanis) acted as they prosecuted their “war on terror.” It really makes me wonder: Was Bush/Cheney’s real motive in the war on terror endless profits for their private contractor buddies? It seems like it’s either that or the guys are REALLY DUMB. Unfortunately, we’re all paying for their stupidity or greed, whatever it was, and it’s time to get behind Obama as he tries to solve this terrible problem!