GOOD MORNING AFGHA….NIS….TAN!
(you’re gonna look good….in our rear-view mirrors)

Last night, facing up to economic and political realities here at home, President Obama decided to pull the plug on our long haul in Afghanistan. Well….sort of.

Pulling some of our surge troops out by the end of this year, and the remainder of them perhaps by the end of next year, is better than none at all. But that will still leave us with a significant military presence there. Considering what it has cost us in terms of the blood of our soldiers and billions of dollars for so little “progress” after ten years, it’s not much of a declining tide of war.

Worse yet, making a grand pronouncement event of that decision, about our further draw-down intentions, was not one of the smartest things to do. The Taliban opposition (not to mention any al Qaeda still able to stand up and be counted) now only has to wait us out, while they prepare their own plans for how they will take over once we’re out of their way. Any so-called negotiations that might be made with them in the interim may well be conducted with smiley faces, but there will be little good faith behind them. To be blunt about it, the so-called central Government still won’t have gained much in the way of credibility or power over the people of Afghanistan, by the time all our forces are out of there. The Taliban and their Pakistani ISI backers will simply take over again as they did before.

Our career politicos and policy wonks in Washington can try to sell us on how such a scenario won’t happen, because we’ve shown the Afghan people what freedom means, etc., etc., etc., but the odds are they’ll be facing the results of such wishful thinking, and perhaps sooner than they think. They missed the boat at the beginning of that nation-building exercise because they ignored Afghanistan’s historic matrix of warring tribes, clashing clans, and medieval religious ideologies, opting instead, to try to cobble together an ersatz central government institution along our western models. Models which have never existed there (and now they’re bewildered because it hasn’t worked as they’d hoped!).

Yet, the President was right about one thing. It is time we did some “nation building” back here at home for a change. At least….here….we have some real materials to work with. But more importantly, until we get our own house in order, we won’t be of much use to anyone else in the world. This is not an isolationist moment in our outlook. It’s simply a rational reaction to the pie-in-the-face realities we face.

For the past half century we’ve been used as the world’s police force (mostly at our expense …. not anyone else’s) to intervene in all sorts of other people’s useless squabbles. It’s time we let them settled their own disputes, and let them pick up the tab for that, saying….sorry, folks, our deep pockets aren’t so deep anymore….so you’ll just have to figure out how to haul your own trash out the door yourselves.

So, with that thought in mind, let’s say….good morning Afgha….nis….tan! It’s been nice to know you, but, we’ve got more urgent things to do….and….oh, yes….you’re gonna look good in our rear-view mirrors.

CENTURION