Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) -- November 28th last year
passed pretty quietly here. But in some ways it was more significant a
date than today. That was when, by my calculations, U.S.-led coalition
troops had been in Afghanistan longer than the Soviet Union was.
Today, they've been here 10 years.
That's almost impossible to contemplate. The time has drifted by,
measured more in sacrifice and expenditure: The numbers of young
soldiers who risked a lot to join the military and won't be going home.
The immeasurable amount of money spent here, on roads that will be hard
to maintain once the coalition leaves, on homes in Dubai for Afghan
officials who should have known better.
Cruder calculations suggest the money spent on war each month here
could alternatively be given straight to Afghans -- hundreds of dollars
each a month. That would have been something in 2001, but now the huge
inflation of war makes it comparative small change.
General Stanley McChrystal, the former top U.S. commander in
Afghanistan, said Thursday the coalition is only 50 per cent of the way
there.
It is likely McChrystal, who lost his job after he and his team were
quoted extensively in Rolling Stone magazine, will be remembered as the
great truth-teller of the war that ended his military career. For a
little while, his bluntly pessimistic assessments felt like there was
someone in charge who knew how bad and how complicated it was, and how
long the road ahead would be.
As one of McChrystal's top aides, Maj. Gen Bill Mayville, told
Rolling Stone in that same article: "It's not going to look like a win,
smell like a win or taste like a win."
But after McChrystal's hasty departure, the war seemed to revert to crisis management again.
His replacement as commander of U.S. and ISAF troops in Afghanistan,
General David Petraeus had little time in the job before the collapse in
domestic support -- dare I even say comprehension -- of the war led
Obama to begin thinking about the exit.
It has been curious to see Obama, the presidential candidate who
seemed to understand the importance of leaving this country in a
manageable state, become the drum beater for an exit. The war is not a
vote-winner after Bin Laden's death, and there's simply no money left in
the kitty.
Some things are better: there's money everywhere here; there's better
healthcare in some places; there's technology the Taliban held at bay;
there are hospitals and schools where before there were none.
But it's not a proper democracy; it's not safe; the vast majority of
people here are still poor and illiterate; and it's still got the
Taliban, al Qaeda and a lot of narco-traffickers in play.
Now the timetable is set, the battle of perception, as NATO called
it, being fought with one unmistakable backdrop: The Americans want out.
The NATO message is being persistently and deftly put out there: We
are making security good enough for the Afghans to handle. You hear that
message, come hell or high water, almost independent of what's
happening on the ground.
It's easy to understand why: It may be there's not much more America can do here, bar stay another 10 years.
Source: CNN
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