Back on 11 May 2005, Warren Ockrassa repeated a question:
... why ... was Afghanistan not democratized and stabilized
entirely?
He said:
Assuming that:
1. The US is interested in spreading the
idea/blessing/gift/[whatever] of democracy to the other nations of
the world; and
2. The US's security is better served by reducing, rather than
increasing, places where terrorists can train; and
3. In 2001 and 2002, the REAL purpose of the US was to find and
prosecute OBL and his cabal of lunatics; and
4. A good US presence in the middle east would be a way to see
goals 2 and 3 successfully met,
...why was #1 not enacted in a nation that we know had terrorist
camps, ties to OBL, and an oppressed people yearning for freedom?
Indeed, even if you do not presume #1,
* but agree with #2, that US security is helped by reducing, rather
than increasing, places where terrorists can train,
* and think a major US goal, agreed upon by most of the US
government, congress, and military, was to frighten various
dictatorships into greater efforts supporting the US,
stabilizing and democratizing Afghanistan would have made good
military (as well as other) sense.
The action would have been difficult and expensive, since Afghanistan
is land locked. For example, it would have meant even more US money
going into Pakistan as harbors and roads were improved, rather than or
in competition with Chinese spending.
Warren asked another question, too:
Why leave Afghanistan an unresolved mess -- which it still is --
to go and make another unresolved mess?
There is short term gain. Moreover, from their point of view, the
current administration has been successful: the events of Iraq have
not bitten them; government borrowing has continued, non-military
government spending has increased, tax cuts have continued; people
have been distracted by social security debates from bothersome issues
like the current government deficit.
--
Robert J. Chassell
[EMAIL PROTECTED] GnuPG Key ID: 004B4AC8
http://www.rattlesnake.com http://www.teak.cc
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