Broken mirror.

I began writing this on the anniversary of that fateful day seven years ago when all hell broke loose and that psycho Bin Laden put a loaded bazooka into the sweaty hands of a dry-drunk frat-boy named George W. Bush. God knows, the ruins of the twin towers hadn't even stopped smoking before Dubya started blowing holes in everything pretty much at random. The war he started in Afghanistan - the "good war" as many see it - is nearing the end of its seventh year, still sowing death and destruction week after week, with no end in sight. This success story has become a dire failure, even in the eyes of military commanders, and our primary objective appears to have become one of staying there permanently. Not very different from our goal in Iraq, in essence. We allied ourselves with some of the most retrograde elements in Afghanistan, many of whom worked alongside the Taliban before our invasion (and in tandem with our own intelligence services two decades ago). These are the power brokers in that country - blood-soaked creatures like Dostum. Little wonder large areas of the country are beyond the control of the national government.

So, if Afghanistan is now a base for a resurgent Al Qaeda even with tens of thousands of U.S. troops there, how is it any less of a threat than it was before the invasion seven years ago? I've heard no satisfactory answer to that question, and yet there appears to be a strong bipartisan consensus to keep the meat-grinder running, even though increasing civilian casualties are bringing the predictable result of turning the nation (not to mention neighboring Pakistan) passionately against the occupation. This is what we're sending young, battle-weary soldiers into, placing this imperial project on their necks and making them hostages to some ephemeral "victory" as a reward for helping to pacify Iraq. Only Afghanistan is not Iraq, where one confessional community can relatively easily be played off another and where a murderous civil conflict (sparked by our invasion and ham-fisted occupation) drove large components of the Sunni insurgency into an alliance of convenience with the U.S. in order to counter ascendant Shiite power and avoid a total rout.

In light of the fact that we are now embroiled in two endless wars, it is almost shocking to think that we may be on the brink of sending back to the White House the same cabal of neo-conservative fanatics that carried Ahmed Chalabi on their shoulders and drove us into the ditch that is the Iraq war. McCain's campaign manager Charlie Black was a big Chalabi booster; the candidate's chief foreign policy advisor Randy Scheunemann as well. Scheunemann is a bona-fide neo-con, member of the Iraq Liberation Council and, as noted previously, a paid lobbyist for the government of Georgia up until earlier this year... though he is still apparently representing their president in his new role of shadow national security advisor. I have to say, Georgian President Saak'ashvili certainly got his money's worth this week, with the advent of a major party candidate for the vice presidency of the United States going on record as saying we may go to war with Russia over Georgia. Why this Alaskan creature is not considered a dangerous lunatic is a matter for Americans to sort out (and quickly), but she's probably a big hit in Tbilisi right now.

Now George W. is frantically rooting around Waziristan, hoping to pull a turbaned rabbit out of a hat for John McCain before election day. Thus may we be granted yet another seven years bad luck... if we're not very vigilant indeed.

luv u,

jp