Ian Welsh once again speaks the truth that is not permitted in our corrupt and bought-out news media.

[P]onying up to save Afghanistan isn't going to happen. It's not just a matter of "the population" of NATO countries being unhappy, the governments haven't shown the willingness to pay either. In large part that's because while it's a NATO war officially, the US made it clear that Afghanistan wasn't a priority for Washington when the US invaded Iraq. Since Afghanistan isn't a priority for the US, why should it be a priority for anyone else? Sure, there are reasons -- it isn't just the US that has had al-Qaeda inspired attacks, but at the end of the day, Afghanistan was invaded because of 9/11 and if the US, which was attacked that day doesn't take it seriously, no one else is going to massively contribute either.

It is also the case that the money that would be required to win in Afghanistan has been thrown away in tax cuts for the rich, and on domestic pork, corruption and financial bubbles. Massive bonuses for hedge fund managers and record profits for corporations are a choice that America has made about where money should be spent and the refusal to tax that money is likewise a choice.

The people that George Bu$h used as an excuse to loot our Treasury, kill off and maim some of our best and brightest, destroy our Army, and shit on the Constitution will likely win back Afghanistan while the Republicans plan how to turn a probably 2008 Democrat electoral victory into accusations of treason so they can win in 2012.

While the US is fulminating over Iran, and the possibility it might get nukes it would never use in a first strike, the possibility of a real nuclear power, which already has nukes, falling to people much more radical than the Mullahs seems to be only peripherally on Washington's radar.

Unless they’re counting on it as part of their 2012 strategy. Creating a corporate dictatorship has a higher priority than national security.

Living in the Age of Bu$h.