Jim
If you read what you just wrote I think you end up answering your
initial question. Winning a war in Afghanistan would be easy, true, but
it's the occupation that will sap the energy, as will the inevitable
police actions that must be taken as a direct consequence of any such
effort. Mark's points re the tinder box that is the Middle East are
unimpeachable, and for the US, of all actors, to weigh in full tilt is
to invite unmitigated disaster. Yet that is what is quite likely to
happen, given the truly mindless activity going on at the head of the US
state apparatus. Rumsfeld's performance yesterday was the clearest
signal of where the priorities of the Executive lie. Together with the
impromptu singalong on Capitol Hill, and the cheerleading of the
mainstream media, the task of stopping this drift to a war of mindless
retribution becomes ever more daunting. I think it's already
irreversible -- just like the decline and fall of the USA.
If you haven't already had a look, have a read of Chalmers Johnson's
"Blowback: The Costs and Consequences of American Empire" (Metropolitan
Books, 2000). I think I've paraphrased enough of it already on PEN-L
over the last few months, but, if you're interested, I can forward a
more extensive review offlist.
Michael K.
ps Sorry for re-sending Mark's message. Keeping abreast of events is
proving both difficult and distressing.
