Trapped In Afghanistan?

Juan Cole has a great article up(Go read it) about Obama's Iraqi plan and his recent comments about how he wants to shift American troops out of Iraq and into Afghanistan's ancient bloody trap:

Obama on Iraq and Afghanistan: A Friendly Critique

"..Afghan tribes are fractious. They feud. Their territory is vast and rugged, and they know it like the back of their hands. Afghans are Jeffersonians in the sense that they want a light touch from the central government, and heavy handedness drives them into rebellion. Stand up Karzai's army and air force and give him some billions to bribe the tribal chiefs, and let him apply carrot and stick himself. We need to get out of there. "Al-Qaeda" was always Bin Laden's hype. He wanted to get us on the ground there so that the Mujahideen could bleed us the way they did the Soviets. It is a trap.."

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I'd only comment that if our plan becomes how to set up an Afghani "strongman" then we'd need to walk a fine line between the Afghan government and the rights of the people of Afghanistan.

Thanks dday at Hullabaloo.

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