Afghanistan War: Headed where?

The news today that June is shaping up as the deadliest month for deaths of US military in Afghanistan, once again raises the critical question whether this can ever be a war that the Coalition fighting there can win.

Two interesting pieces in The New York Times puts things in something of a context.

First, "Karzai Is Said to Doubt West Can Defeat Taliban":

"Mr. Karzai had lost faith in the Americans and NATO to prevail in Afghanistan.

For that reason, Mr. Saleh and other officials said, Mr. Karzai has been pressing to strike his own deal with the Taliban and the country’s archrival, Pakistan, the Taliban’s longtime supporter. According to a former senior Afghan official, Mr. Karzai’s maneuverings involve secret negotiations with the Taliban outside the purview of American and NATO officials."

Then this op-ed piece "The Courage to Leave" by Bob Herbert:

"There is no good news coming out of the depressing and endless war in Afghanistan. There once was merit to our incursion there, but that was long ago. Now we’re just going through the tragic motions, flailing at this and that, with no real strategy or decent end in sight.

The U.S. doesn’t win wars anymore. We just funnel the stressed and underpaid troops in and out of the combat zones, while all the while showering taxpayer billions on the contractors and giant corporations that view the horrors of war as a heaven-sent bonanza. BP, as we’ve been told repeatedly recently, is one of the largest suppliers of fuel to the wartime U.S. military."

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