"Let’s be clear: Those who demanded that America divert its troops and treasure from Afghanistan to Iraq in 2002 and 2003 — when there was no Qaeda presence in Iraq — bear responsibility for the chaos in Afghanistan that ensued. Now they have the nerve to imperiously and tardily demand that America increase its 68,000-strong presence in Afghanistan to clean up their mess — even though the number of Qaeda insurgents there has dwindled to fewer than 100, according to the president’s national security adviser, Gen. James Jones.
But why let facts get in the way? Just as these hawks insisted that Iraq was “the central front in the war on terror” when the central front was Afghanistan, so they insist that Afghanistan is the central front now that it has migrated to Pakistan. When the day comes for them to anoint Pakistan as the central front, it will be proof positive that Al Qaeda has consolidated its hold on Somalia and Yemen."
So writes op-ed columnist for The NY Times Frank Rich in his latest piece "Two Wrongs Make Another Fiasco".
It makes for depressing reading to consider that the very same people who got the US, and the rest of the world, into the Iraq mess are now seeking to ramp up things on the Afghanistan War front - with an eye towards Pakistan to boot!
But why let facts get in the way? Just as these hawks insisted that Iraq was “the central front in the war on terror” when the central front was Afghanistan, so they insist that Afghanistan is the central front now that it has migrated to Pakistan. When the day comes for them to anoint Pakistan as the central front, it will be proof positive that Al Qaeda has consolidated its hold on Somalia and Yemen."
So writes op-ed columnist for The NY Times Frank Rich in his latest piece "Two Wrongs Make Another Fiasco".
It makes for depressing reading to consider that the very same people who got the US, and the rest of the world, into the Iraq mess are now seeking to ramp up things on the Afghanistan War front - with an eye towards Pakistan to boot!
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