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Friday, August 31st, 2012

How Quickly Will the US Leave Afghanistan?

Author:     TOM ENGELHARDT
Source:     Asia Times (Hong Kong)
Publication Date:     31-Aug-12
 Link: How Quickly Will the US Leave Afghanistan?
Stephan:   There are so many lies and distortion in the American media concerning these insane wars that I consider it largely unreliable. And almost none of our politicians, of either party, can be trusted to tell the truth about them either. What is clear, with story after story of American young men being shot in the back by the Afghans they are supposed to be training, is that they want us out of their country, and virulent anti-Americanism is on the rise. Here is a good assessment of what seems to be going on. Tom Engelhardt, co-founder of the American Empire Project and author of The United States of Fear as well as The End of Victory Culture, runs the Nation Institute's TomDispatch.com. His latest book, co-authored with Nick Turse, is Terminator Planet: The First History of Drone Warfare, 2001-2050.

In the wake of several deaths among its contingent of troops in a previously peaceful province in Afghanistan, New Zealand (like France and South Korea) is now expediting the departure of its 140 soldiers.

That’s not exactly headline-making news here in the US. If you’re an American, you probably didn’t even know that New Zealand was playing a small part in our Afghan War. In fact, you may hardly have known about the part Americans are playing in a conflict that, over the last decade-plus, has repeatedly been labeled ‘the forgotten war.’

Still, maybe it’s time to take notice. Maybe the flight of those

Kiwis should be thought of as a small omen, even if they are departing as decorously, quietly, and flightlessly as possible. Because here’s the thing: once the November election is over, ‘expedited departure’ could well become an American term and the US, as it slips ignominiously out of Afghanistan, could turn out to be the New Zealand of superpowers.

You undoubtedly know the phrase: the best laid plans of mice and men. It couldn’t be more apt when it comes to the American project in Afghanistan. Washington’s plans have indeed been carefully drawn up. By the end of 2014, US […]

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