MORE ON THE WARS WE'VE ALREADY "WON"

War Rages in Afghanistan
Leaves 47 Dead

The men were among 40 Taliban suspects killed Wednesday in one of the deadliest exchanges between Taliban and government troops since the hardline religious regime was overthrown in late 2001.

Seven government soldiers also died in the nine hours of fighting in three villages north of Spinboldak, near Afghanistan's border with Pakistan.

Here.

Ex-Army boss: Pentagon won't admit reality in Iraq

Former Army secretary Thomas White said in an interview that senior Defense officials "are unwilling to come to grips" with the scale of the postwar U.S. obligation in Iraq. The Pentagon has about 150,000 troops in Iraq and recently announced that the Army's 3rd Infantry Division's stay there has been extended indefinitely.

"This is not what they were selling (before the war)," White said, describing how senior Defense officials downplayed the need for a large occupation force. "It's almost a question of people not wanting to 'fess up to the notion that we will be there a long time and they might have to set up a rotation and sustain it for the long term."

Here.

Coalition to curb Iraqi press

Faced with a freewheeling Iraqi media, the U.S.-led occupation authority is devising a code of conduct for the press, drawing protests from Iraqi journalists who endured censorship under Saddam Hussein and worry for their newfound freedom.

Coalition officials say the code is not intended to censor the media, only to stifle intemperate speech that could incite violence and hinder efforts to build a civil society. The country is too fragile for a journalistic free-for-all, they say.

Here.

More of the same. On the one hand, the US proxy army continues to do the heavy lifting in Afghanistan, which remains, for the most part, in a state of war-imposed lawless chaos. US soldiers are dying there, too, but the locals endure a much heavier death toll, and greater pain and suffering. Whatever goodwill that might exist there toward the US surely cannot last. Iraq, on the other hand, hates the US, making the oil rich nation all the more difficult to control: this is now resulting in an incremental rise in US oppression against Iraqis--censoring the Iraqi press is only a preliminary step.

This is not to say that Bush plans or wants to further oppress Afghanistan and Iraq; if he wants to continue occupying, without UN interference, our two new colonies to the East, however, oppression, Israel-style, is ultimately the only choice that he will be able to make. The White House abandoned diplomacy long ago. Force is now America's way. Large segments of these US subjugated peoples don't believe that their respective wars have ended. So the fighting continues. Not knowing what else to do, Bush just keeps on fighting, too stupid to realize that he can't win. Never surrender.

One day, US forces, indeed, will leave Iraq and Afghanistan, but not before a lot more blood is spilled. Not before many more innocent civilians are killed in the crossfire. Not before many more American families see their loved ones come home in boxes. Not before the continual carnage escalates to such a senselessly absurd level that the American population clears its mind and cries out for peace.

We've learned nothing.

Thanks to J. Orlin Grabbe.

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