U.S. dropping the ball?

[tedthebear]

What do you think of what this guy says?


The military effort has moved out ahead of the diplomatic effort, with increasingly adverse consequences.

As a result, the United States now is losing the propaganda war. With an Afghan government of national unity yet to be established, U.S. bombing appears to be another foreign power beating up on the Afghans. The United States appears, to many in the Islamic world, to be at war with the Islamic world. In particular, angry Pakistanis are putting President Pervez Musharraf under growing pressure for his support of U.S. military operations. Musharraf now warns Washington that it may be creating a "quagmire," adding that "there has been, I think, a bit of excessive collateral damage."

Any positive message from Washington — that all Afghans will be represented in the new regime, that the Taliban is a creature of radical Arabs, that no foreign troops will occupy the country, and that the United Nations will contribute mightily to reconstruct the war-torn land — is being drowned out by reports of exploding ordnance and its devastating consequences.

The absence of a strong positive message coupled with the focus on bombing threatens to:

1. Taint any opposition to the Taliban as a tool of the United States. The American military is the most prominent active opposition to the Taliban, which makes the Northern Alliance appear to be subordinate to an outside power.

2. Bolster the Taliban as a valid national authority. Foreign invaders have been universally hated by Afghans of all stripes. Reports indicate that ethnic Pashtun volunteers from Pakistan are flowing to the aid of Kabul and that Taliban's domestic support has solidified in the face of the bombing campaign. In addition, Taliban leaders and soldiers are taking refuge in mosques, hospitals, and schools, thwarting efforts from the skies to degrade them.

3. Make the Islamic world increasingly hostile to U.S. military operations. Daily reports of errant bombing are putting increasing pressure on the governments of Islamic states, particularly Pakistan. Musharraf has called for a bombing halt and the suspension of operations during Ramadan, the Muslim holy month beginning in mid-November.

4. Create the false expectation in the U.S. media that the military campaign will produce the desired political outcome. The danger grows that the lack of military progress will increase calls in Washington for more military action, when facilitating an indigenous, all-ethnic opposition to the Taliban — a diplomatic task — remains the top requirement for a successful counter-terrorism operation in Afghanistan.


Rumsfeld now finds his continuing military operations treading water and awaiting progress on the diplomatic front, progress that the military operations themselves may be making more difficult.

October 31, 2001

[bob]

Just what is the diplomatic effort? What should we give and who should we give it to. Just who should we bargin with?
BTW, If you want to compare wars you should compare this with WWII.

[SINND3R]

Vietnam did not begin with them piloting two commuter jets into the WTC.

[LawyerRon]

Ted,
I think we're in for a few surprises fairly soon, ala the the "End Run" in Desert Storm. Anybody rememeber that? It wouldn't surprise me right now to learn that we have a 100,000 troops on the ground. We're not seeing everything that's going on or that's being planned. Most Americans want to sit down in front of the TV after a hard days work with a bowl of popcorn and watch the evening news feature video from "smart bombs" hitting targets. So, in a nutshell, I think we're being "sand bagged" so get ready for something interesting to happen soon.

[bob]

I can't wait for the history channel special.

The sad thing is that this has only just begun.

[Kubie]

I remember bush saying this will take a long time. I'm prepared to wait. the media is pushing so hard for something to report, they'll say anything to get things going.
bob, you're right. The history channel will have lots of new stuff to show.
Carl

[Mr N8]

I think we're justing cleaning off our shelves. We haven't even given Osama. et al, a glimpse of the hell we could put them in. Thank God for President Bush!

Nate

[troysvihl]

I don't think that guy (and many others, including the US military) fully understands how the majority of the American people feel about this or just how much solidarity there is in the general public.

This isn't like Vietnam. The American public isn't going to get weary of this conflict. I think they are quite willing to suffer tremendous casualties in going after these groups. And I think the American public is quite willing to have this go on for years; perhaps decades.

The American public is happy that the UK seems to be behind the effort, but in the end, they don't care if the US is going to go after terrorists by itself.

And they don't care if other countries raise a big fuss about it. They just don't care about how the rest of the world views them in this conflict.

[SARGE]

Culturally speaking, the NOW (national organization of witches) gang seems more interested in the Afghan women. Militarily, it seems too easy from my perspective, that there's a box canyon somewhere. I remember there were more bomb tonnage dropped around Khe Sanh than during all of WW II, and it did nothing but tear up trees and leave craters. But that's another story.