Rubbish

Whatever one thinks about a withdrawal date from Afghanistan, Joe Biden just clarified it during his latest visit to the Hindu Kush. His boss just ramped up troop levels there by 30,000 soldiers with the intention to start a draw down by mid-year 2012 and withdrawing all NATO troops by the end of 2014 — but they would naturally stay longer if it were necessary. So says Obama’s second-in-command. So German soldiers now have every reason to keep an eye on the announced troop level plans, especially when one considers that this is an election year in so many places.

What have the additional troops and the escalation of military offensives of the past year accomplished? Success that is “fragile and reversible,” according to Biden. Even that’s putting it euphemistically. Classified maps from the U.N. mission in Afghanistan indicate that risk assessment has dramatically worsened between the beginning of the annual campaign season and its end. The situation has noticeably deteriorated even in areas previously considered secure. The increased deployment of U.S. troops to the insurgent stronghold Kandahar has mainly resulted in damage to houses and farmers’ fields amounting to millions of dollars, and caused more and more innocent civilians to flee the area. Despite that, Washington and NATO persist with their strategy of military escalation. That revelation is first and foremost a timetable for disaster.