If Marx would have termed the Vietnam war a tragedy, he probably would have regarded the Afghanistan war a farce but, of course, not with the purpose of ridiculing or playing down the very real suffering of the Afghan people. The farcical resides in the fact that the US government is repeating step by step all the stupid mistakes, lies and crimes of the Vietnam era, as if acting on the basis of some unknown Pentagon screenplay. If that is not farcical, I would not know what is.
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| Obama, Afghanistan and Karl Marx |
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Moreover, the Washington dimwits who embarked on the Afghanistan adventure (planned in detail long before the New York Twin Towers were destroyed) had another example of a failed operation right in front of them. But they did not care to look at it. The ill-fated Soviet intervention in Afghanistan should have made the Pentagon war planners realize that a US attempt to conquer and colonize Afghanistan was not such a good idea. As it turned out, no one in the Pentagon had the frame of mind to ask the right questions. After the demise of the USSR, these mentally challenged planners found it convenient to ascribe the Soviet failure in Afghanistan to Soviet ineptitude, not to the inherent difficulty of the Afghan geography or the tenacity of the insurgency.
Hence we are faced with the unique situation of a country, the US, unwittingly re-enacting two scripts at the same time. Even Karl Marx would have been puzzled. Perhaps here we have struck upon the true uniqueness of the US: its complete denial of history and historical experience, including its very own history.
Now what about Obama? Surely the man has been trying to follow in the footsteps of a famous predecessor (Lincoln), much like Napoleon III tried to reenact the career of his famous uncle. It is still too early to tell whose example Obama is imitating. Obama himself may believe he is a second Lincoln, but for the time being, it rather looks like he is a second George W. Bush on account of his decision to escalate the war in Afghanistan. Obama may also turn out to be a second Kennedy and meet his end by an assassin's bullet, or another FDR, given the seriousness of the depression currently affecting the US. But perhaps the predecessor is to be found outside the US. Some are suggesting that Obama may actually be the US Gorbachev, presiding over the dissolution of the US into a number of smaller independent states. It seems under the surface, disintegration has already set in, with major states like California and Texas having made the first steps on the road towards full autonomy.
One thing is certain: we are living in interesting times. We are now witnessing the end on an era and the birth of another. At any rate, it seems the days of the US as the main determining factor of international affairs are over. We should now rather be making a catalog of the good things that have come out of the US before the curtains are drawn. I would suggest this list will not turn out to be as long as many would have thought only yesterday.
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