Washington's Afghan clock ticking - Asia Times

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

Another lost war now being fought as an effort to CYA politically.

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/KI03Df03.html

WASHINGTON - A prominent right-wing political pundit has called for the United States to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan, the latest sign of a growing disenchantment in the US with the war.

While a growing number of analysts have recently questioned the course of the war in Afghanistan, Will's column is especially notable in that it comes from a pillar of the Washington right-wing media establishment - making his call for a withdrawal difficult to dismiss as a product of liberal anti-war sentiment.

Support for the war among the US public at large has also plummeted in recent months, with 51% of respondents believing the war is not worth fighting, according to an August Washington Post-ABC News poll.

On Monday, General Stanley McChrystal, the top US commander in Afghanistan, submitted a classified assessment of the war calling for a new strategy on the ground, according to media reports. McChrystal's report is widely seen as setting the stage for a further troop increase to supplement the 68,000 US forces already in Afghanistan.

[dixiegrrrrl]

1. The war budget is 53% of our total expenditures.

Last time I looked, and that was BEFORE all the contractors and our military really got started in
Afghanistan.
And I do not have any figures yet on how much Pakistan is costing us.

All I know is I can't afford to get sick.

[lysosome]

2. Ah, the unwinable war.

No, really. The stated goal was to get "them that got us". Elvis bin Laden has left the building. Say, do you guys remember how the Tali ban, knowing there was no way in hell that they could take us in a stand up fight, offered to turn over Bin Laden if only we would prove it was him. We couldn't, of course, and the evidence came after we found it in the caves. Unfortunately, it gave Bush the idea to attack first and look for evidence later. See where that got us. It's true, but it's probably been white washed down the memory hole.