Round and Round We Go...

Great news yesterday:

ATLANTA – Nearing a milestone in the long and divisive Iraq war, President Barack Obama on Monday hailed this month's planned withdrawal of all U.S. combat troops — "as promised and on schedule" — as a major success despite deep doubts about the Iraqis' ability to police and govern their country.

At the same time, we also get this from the Secretary of Defense:

Amid growing clamor against the war in Afghanistan, Defense Secretary Robert Gates has cautioned that large numbers of US troops will remain even after a "limited" July 2011 drawdown.

Despite mounting casualties and public doubts, Gates said Sunday the US-led force was making headway and Taliban insurgents would not be able to wait out American forces because a major troop withdrawal was not on the horizon.

"I think we need to reemphasize the message that we are not leaving Afghanistan in July of 2011," said Gates, referring to a deadline set by President Barack Obama for the start of a withdrawal.

What we are doing there is anyone's guess. Time magazine's answer to that question is downright dispicable:

Yes, according to last month's Time magazine, if we leave Afghanistan after the longest war in US history, this is what happens. I'm sure for the sake of balance they did another cover featuring a the corpses of the thousands of Afghan civilians killed by our Predator drones with the title "What Happens If We Stay in Afghanistan" , but I probably missed it.

So that's what happens what we leave now? What a shameless piece propagandist bullshit. Maybe the people at Time are so stuck 2002 warmongering mode that they forgot that we ARE ALREADY IN AFGHANISTAN. The horrible act that disfigured this woman happened ON OUR WATCH, while we were occupying the country. So being there almost ten years didn't prevent the Taliban from treating women dispicably... another 5 years and we will have put an end to it? Maybe another 10? 20?

Obama's courageous opposition to the Iraq war was one of the main reasons I was excited about his candidacy early on. While he was very clear that escalating the war in Afghanistan was a central part of his foreign policy, it's very depressing to watch him bring one senseless war to an end while continuing an equally disastrous one indefinitely.