The Costs Of The Afghanistan War Are MUCH More Than The $2 Billion A Month

As it becomes clearer that Afghanistan's "democracy" is more about giving cover to Obama and less not at all about meaningful political reform in Afghanistan, we are hearing each and every day how this war is circling the drain. This morning the Washington Post reported that Abdullah Laghmani, #2 in the intelligence apparatus, was assassinated by a suicide bomber-- the Taliban claimed responsibility-- in a blast that killed two dozen people and wounded 54.

The Taliban has become a much more potent adversary in Afghanistan by improving its own tactics and finding gaps in the U.S. military playbook, according to senior American military officials who acknowledged that the enemy's resurgence this year has taken them by surprise.

U.S. rules of engagement restricting the use of air power and aggressive action against civilians have also opened new space for the insurgents, officials said. Western development projects, such as new roads, schools and police stations, have provided fresh targets for Taliban roadside bombs and suicide attacks. The inability of rising numbers of American troops to protect Afghan citizens has increased resentment of the Western presence and the corrupt Afghan government that cooperates with it, the officials said.

McChrystal wants more troops but his is a doomed and pointless strategy that is as sure to fail as any war of occupation is doomed to fail. And with the conflicted Obama Administration flailing around pitifully on health care reform-- with Rahm Emanuel insisting on protecting the interests of the big campaign donors in the Insurance Industry, Wall Street and Medical-Indistrial Complex while actual grassroots Democrats and the members of Congress who represent them demand genuine reform-- drastically sinking polling numbers are making the war less and less tenable. Ironically, nearly no one supports the war but the Obama-hating far right.

Opposition to the war in Afghanistan is at an all-time high in a new national poll.
Fifty-seven percent of Americans questioned in a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey released Tuesday say they oppose the U.S. war in Afghanistan, with 42 percent supporting the military mission. The percentage of those in opposition to the war is up 11 points since April, and is the highest ever in CNN polling since the launch of the U.S. military involvement in Afghanistan soon after the September 11 terrorist attacks in 2001.

The poll indicates that opposition to the war is coming mainly from Democrats and independents.

"Fifty-seven percent of independents and nearly three-quarters of Democrats oppose the war. Seven in 10 Republicans support what the U.S. is doing in Afghanistan," says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland. "Democrats mildly opposed the war in April while independents and Republicans favored it. But opposition has grown 18 points among Democrats and 10 points among independents."

To be at the mercy of Republicans who would prefer to see America fail than watch Obama succeed-- at anything-- is a dangerous political course. If Obama is taking an arrogant and foolhardy Best and the Brightestattitude towards Afghanistan, he'll be a failed one-term president and deliver America back into the hands of a thoroughly radicalized far right GOP. Great going!