Here we go again

I remember hearing over and over again something along the lines of history repeats itself if no one learns and applies lessons from history. Case in point, Afghanistan. It looks ever day to me that we are repeating past mistakes in our dealings with the pivotal country. You may ask, why pivotal? There doesn't appear to be much in the way of natural resources or other things we might seek. Problem is, Afghanistan is located in just the right spot to provide a wonderful place to train and ship terrorists around the globe. It would be much better to commit funds and troops towards rebuilding the country than any other place if we truly want to fight terrorism.

As for history repeating itself, remember that little conflict in Afghanistan between the Soviet Union and the locals? The U.S. provided considerable backing to those opposing the Soviets. Eventually the Afghanis defeated the Soviets. After all of that assistance, seems like we would help them out and build up their country so they would be one of those beacons of democracy, right. Well, we didn't. We mostly left the country to rot. This lead to the rise of a little group name the Taliban. They eventually allowed this Saudi fellow, you might have heard of him, Osama Bin Ladin, to take up residence.

After 9/11 we went in and defeated the Taliban and sent Osama running. So, once again, you would think we would back the quasi democratic government, right? Nope, we are supplying no where near the support required either financial or military. We recently pulled out troops and handed over operations to NATO troops in the south. Guess what? What is left of the Taliban is based in the south and they are gaining strength. Nothing against NATO troops, but I am betting they can't suppress the Taliban. Elsewhere in the country things are moving back to warlord controlled normal. Seems folks are not to keen on this, so they are a bit miffed at the government.

I'm betting that we see a repeat of the past. Collapse of the government, rise of the Taliban, new breeding ground for terrorists. We should consider putting money and troops into Afghanistan, BEFORE it is too late.

(As per normal, this is all much more complicated than I have distilled it here or even than what the media presents. I suggest you pick up Ghost Wars by Steve Coll. This is a thoroughly researched book that presents an even handed look at the history of Afghanistan from the Soviet invasion through September 10, 2001. I highly recommend it.)