John Kerry says, “too early for more troops in Afghanistan”! I ask, why fight a LOST WAR?

Cost of War in Afghanistan
$229,453,573,956 and counting!

Even if Afghanistan were to be bombarded using Kennedy memorabilia and nothing else (as in the Dan Wasserman cartoon above) it would still cost $ 20 million to the defense exchequer of the ailing US economy. Jokes apart, must admit that Sen. John Kerry has done a tremendous job of convincing Afghan President Hamid Karzai for a second-round runoff to the election that began in August and is since mired in controversy.

Karzai must have been a tough nut to crack given that it took six long drawn meetings and five hectic days (Oct. 16-20) of Kerry’s twin trip to Pakistan and Afghanistan to get the man to tow the US line. A legitimate government in Afghanistan is a pre-requisite to the American plan of attempting a counterinsurgency that attempts to "provide for the needs of the (Afghan) population by, with, and through the Afghan government," as spelt out in the leaked memo that the U.S. commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley McChrystal wrote to his commander-in-chief, Barack ObamaBarack Obama.

Now, that explains Kerry’s usage of those sensible words in the first part of the title of this report. Let us then try and understand the question that has been raised in the second part of the title.

Is the Afghan war needed in the first place?

The war that by now has logged twice the amount of time spent during World War II. Still an end doesn’t seem to be anywhere in sight! The US administration has sanctioned an additional 21,000 troops for deployment by November which will take the troop levels to 68,000. And with McChrystal raising his requirement each time he opens his mouth, we will never know what the troop size is going to be eventual ly – will it be 200,000? Or, will it be a much safer 500,000?

It would pay to remember that when Soviet Union went bankrupt and left Afghanistan following a humiliating defeat their troop levels stood around 100,000. Hopefully, US will not invent the wheel of misfortune in Afghanistan all over again? If it does, who will take up the onerous task of garnering the all-important public support for continuing the war at a time when (as per a recent survey) 58 percent of the population is against it?

The American people must think over this: who is going to gain anyway from the war that’s gobbling dollars by the billions and lives by the thousands? Is there a need to continue the Afghan war, at all?

The Afghan war had come about originally in an aftermath of 9/11. But is 9/11 relevant today? What does the US aim to win in this war?

If Obama’s vision is to win over the hearts and minds but Mission Kabul dictates the use of force, the inherent dichotomy between the vision and the mission might eventually lead to a loss of face for Uncle Sam!

The time to save face is NOW. Tomorrow, it might be a tad too late! Would someone bell the Nobel Peace Prize winner

- myVox