"Afghan war barely echoes in US; Battles rage in Afghanistan, but political and public focus fades" by Bryan Bender | Globe Staff, August 17, 2012
DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. — The longest war in American history commands little attention or debate — in the halls of Congress, on the presidential campaign trail, or in the public square....
For most Americans, the war is not at the forefront of their political consciousness, even though Americans will be in combat for at least another two years, and some troops could stay well beyond that.
Not true for this American. I think about it nearly every day even if I'm not blogging about it.
“In Vietnam people had skin in the game,” said retired Army colonel Joseph J. Collins, a professor at the National War College in Washington who supports the current strategy. “You had angst on campuses and revolts inside of the Congress. You don’t have that here. People don’t feel affected by it. We are not drafting people or revoking their deferments if they fail out of college.”
Proving the kids have been cowed and that Israel has firm control over U.S. foreign policy.
The Obama administration plans to withdraw US forces by the end of 2014, and as greater responsibility is handed off to Afghan security forces, some 23,000 of the estimated 90,000 US troops now in the country will be pulled out later this year.
Related: US pulls last ‘surge’ troops out
Yet the fighting is nearly as intense as ever.
But we are winning.
Seven more Americans died Thursday when their Black Hawk helicopter crashed, bringing the number of US troops killed in August to 27.
See: Helicopter crash kills seven US troops
In the previous month, 41 troops were killed, making July the bloodiest month in nearly a year.
All told, some 2,000 Americans have died in the war since October 2001.
Polls show that nearly seven out of 10 Americans believe the US military should leave Afghanistan.
And yet we are still there. So much for democracy.
But that opposition barely registers in voting or discourse. Even the returning bodies rarely receive media coverage.
Yeah, and WHOSE FAULT is THAT, AmeriKan media? Instead we get endless shit-shoveling.
“I realize that there are a lot of other things going on around this country that can draw our attention, from the Olympics to political campaigns to droughts to some of the tragedies we’ve seen in communities around the country,” Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said at a Pentagon press briefing this week. “I thought it was important to remind the American people that there is a war going on.”
We didn't need one.
In interviews with lawmakers, analysts, military officers, and service members, a number of explanations for the disconnect emerge.
Yeah, except it turns out Muslims didn't do 9/11; Israel and her helpers in various western governments and intelligence agencies did.
“Politicians don’t know how to talk about it,” said Andrew Bacevich, a professor of international relations at Boston University and a former lieutenant colonel who opposes the war and whose son was killed in Iraq in 2007. “There is no plausible outcome that they can promise to bring. You can’t gain any votes by talking about it.”
Actually, ENDING the WAR was a GREAT POLITICAL POSITION with LOTS of VOTES (Ron Paul) -- except our RIGGED POLITICAL SYSTEM simply WOULDN'T ALLOW IT!
Another reason for tepid interest, several experts said, is that in a faltering economy voters are simply more concerned about making ends meet.
Always a good way to weaken the people and divert their concerns as the agenda advances.
Antiwar groups such as Massachusetts Peace Action have calculated that to get any traction, they have to couch the war in economic terms. A nonbinding referendum on the November ballot in a third of Bay State districts urges leaders to prevent cuts to social programs, create manufacturing and renewable energy jobs, close corporate loopholes and offshore tax havens, and finance it all “by reducing the military budget, ending the war in Afghanistan.”
The relative silence on the campaign trail is also due, in part, to the only minimal differences in the presidential candidates’ positions. The presumptive GOP nominee, former governor Mitt Romney, has insisted he would listen to the advice of generals but otherwise supports a phased withdrawal. Meanwhile, Obama, who rarely brings up the war, has sought to advance the message that American involvement is coming to an end, in effect moving the issue off the political agenda.
Top military officials insist the current plan is solid and believe the public’s seeming lack of attention is a reflection most Americans understand that.
“It’s not just winding down like the Vietnam War did, when it was really all about ‘just get the hell out,’ and everybody knew it,’’ said Marine Corps Lieutenant General John F. Kelly, a Brighton native whose son Robert was killed in Afghanistan in 2010. “There is confidence by the American people that the US military is doing it right, and they don’t have to worry about it too much.”
Representative Stephen Lynch, who has toured the war zone numerous times, agreed.
“There is a shared sense of acceptance that this war is ending,” said the South Boston Democrat, who had been a steadfast supporter of the war until earlier this year, when he called for an accelerated withdrawal. “But the end of 2014 is a long time from now. I worry about the risk to those who remain.”
Related: The Reincarnation of George Romney
The apathy frustrates others who have been arguing for a quicker withdrawal for years.
“We keep hearing ‘the end is near, the end is near,’ ” said Representative James McGovern, a Worcester Democrat, one of the few members of Congress who have tried to intensify debate about the war. He pointed out that the Obama administration has committed the United States to train and support the Afghans for another 10 years — and has not said how many forces that might require. “What’s after 2014? We have no idea.”
Actually, yeah we do: Afghanistan After 2014
Gonna be there until 2030 and beyond!
“This war is not some abstract thing,” he added. “We have 88,000 troops there, and we are borrowing $8 billion a month. . . . Americans are dying and being wounded every day,’’ McGovern said. “This should be a major topic.”
McGovern contends that many colleagues have repeatedly blocked efforts to discuss the war. He cited the reaction to Army whistle-blower Lieutenant Colonel Daniel L. Davis, who earlier this year published a detailed critique questioning official reports of progress. No congressional committee has heard his testimony, and only 10 lawmakers met with him.
Related: Kerry on the Case For Obama
“There is bipartisan complicity to ignore the war,” McGovern said.
He's my congressman now.
Kelly, the Marine general who made the very personal trip to Dover two years ago to greet the body of his son, sees a fundamental disconnect between the electorate and those who serve.
“We [in the military] are only less than 1 percent of American society, and the other 99 percent doesn’t really know much about us,” said Kelly, who enlisted in Boston in 1970, at the height of the Vietnam War.
Related: Giving back to the other ‘1 percent’
Giving Thanks For the Globe: The Other 1%
Also see: Thankful to be in Afghanistan
What are you guys complaining about?!
The sense of isolation was on display at the nearby American Legion post here, where a mix of veterans and active-duty troops sipped happy hour beers and watched the Olympics.
“The media doesn’t cover it so Americans don’t see the war,” said an enlisted airman who did not want to give his name. “It’s kind of odd because in every other case, bad news travels faster than good news.”
They are only good at getting them started.
His friend, a recently retired master sergeant, diagnosed a terminal case of “war fatigue” in the country.
“It’s the elephant in the room, but people are desensitized to it,” said Brian Bellamy, 47....
Not this one.
--more--"
Related: Retiring Guard general feted at State House
At least we are winning:
"US forces’ death toll in Afghanistan hits 2,000; Perils of war still high 11 years later as allies await exit" by Patrick Quinn | Associated Press, October 01, 2012
KABUL — In a cold reminder of the perils that remain after an 11-year conflict that now garners little public interest at home, the toll has climbed steadily in recent months and that has raised troubling questions about whether countries in the US-led coalition in Afghanistan will achieve their aim of helping the government in Kabul and its forces stand on their own after most foreign troops depart in little more than two years....
Tracking deaths of Afghan civilians is more difficult. Most estimates put the number of Afghan deaths since the war began at more than 20,000.
Actually, I'll bet it is a hell of a lot more, but those comparisons start to make the war-promoters look bad.
In recent years, some of those casualties have generated a great deal of criticism from President Hamid Karzai and changed the way NATO forces carry out airstrikes. The overwhelming majority of civilian casualties are caused by insurgents — with the United Nations blaming them for more than 80 percent of the deaths and NATO putting that figure at more than 90 percent.
Self-serving lies that I no longer believe. Were they true the Taliban would have no support.
The 2001 invasion of Afghanistan was launched to target Al Qaeda and its Taliban allies. Kabul fell within weeks, and the hardline Taliban regime was toppled with few US casualties.
But the George W. Bush administration’s shift toward war with Iraq left the Western powers without enough resources on the ground, so by 2006 the Taliban had regrouped into a serious military threat....
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Also see: AmeriKa Has Lost Afghanistan
And that was two years ago.
"Afghans set to keep peace, Karzai says; Asserts early exit by NATO would not hurt country" by Slobodan Lekic | Associated Press, October 19, 2012
KABUL — With support for the already unpopular war fading in the West, there has been growing speculation that NATO could accelerate withdrawal plans....
See: Making Some Afghan Withdrawals
What support are they talking about?
Polls show that the 11-year war has little public support among NATO’s 28 member states, most of which are cutting defense budgets as part of the austerity measures adopted to deal with the financial crises.
A recent upsurge in the number of insider attacks on coalition troops by Afghan soldiers or police — or insurgents disguised in their uniforms — has further undermined public support for the war in the West....
In the past several months, there have been calls in the United States and elsewhere to accelerate the drawdown and to withdraw coalition troops by the end of next year....
See: Senate vote backs quicker Afghan troop withdrawal
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Related:
"A recent upsurge in the number of insider attacks on coalition troops by Afghan soldiers or police — or insurgents disguised in their uniforms — has further undermined public support for the war in the West."
What public support? The damn thing is now hated by the masses of people almost everywhere save for the money-laundering banks and war profiteers benefiting from it.
UPDATE:
"The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have been largely out of sight, out of mind, for most Americans."
The feeling here is it is the fault of the media. They sure get 'em started with loads of attention.
