Afghanistan close to anarchy, warns general

From the London Guardian courtesy of AlterNet:

The most senior British military commander in Afghanistan yesterday described the situation in the country as "close to anarchy" with feuding foreign agencies and unethical private security companies compounding problems caused by local corruption.

The stark warning came from Lieutenant General David Richards, head of Nato's international security force in Afghanistan, who warned that western forces there were short of equipment and were "running out of time" if they were going to meet the expectations of the Afghan people.

The assumption within Nato countries had been that the environment in Afghanistan after the defeat of the Taliban in 2002 would be benign, Gen Richards said. "That is clearly not the case," he said yesterday. He referred to disputes between tribes crossing the border with Pakistan, and divisions between religious and secular factions cynically manipulated by "anarcho-warlords".

Click here for the rest.

In the post immediately below, I think it's pretty clear that the White House has failed utterly in the task of making this country safe from terrorists at home. I think this latest news from Afghanistan makes it pretty clear that Bush is failing utterly abroad as well. Even though I didn't agree with the invasion there in the first place, because terrorism really can't be ended without some hardcore diplomacy and a massive change in how the US treats the rest of the world, I have to admit that there was a much better case for going into the nation that was harboring Al Qaeda than there ever was for going after Saddam Hussein. I mean, if I understand correctly, Al Qaeda really did end up being totally disorganized, incapable, for the time being, of mounting the same kind of operation that freaked everybody out and killed thousands back in 2001. After that initial success, however, the White House started pulling out troops for the Iraq operation, which, many critics say, resulted in bin Laden's escape when he was cornered at Tora Bora. Then the Iraq invasion began, which diverted the world's attention, and the situation in Afghanistan started to deteriorate.

Now it appears that both Iraq and Afghanistan have become real life training grounds for the terrorists the President said he was going to get rid of, and the whole "flypaper" theory that we're fighting them there so they wouldn't attack elsewhere was proven stupid by the Madrid and London attacks. That is, Bush's wars have made things worse, not better. It would be amusing, if it weren't so damned sad and serious, that "close to anarchy" now describes both of Bush's military adventures in the Middle East.

Meanwhile, Lebanon burns.

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$