Slowly working my way through Obama's Wars. It's a challenge just to keep up with which General or politician is promoting which course of action-- but in the end, the book does provide deep insights into the political structures behind the 2 wars we're now fighting. My greatest insight has been in reading how the President's inner circle has kept significant Generals or military reports at bay from the President-- guess you could call that a little turf protection. It really shouldn't be surprising that a new administration, finding itself engaged in two war fronts, doesn't quite understand what's going on. I'm reading this book hoping that I will come to a greater understanding of how Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan fit together in the bigger puzzle of war in the Middle East. I am also curious to see if anyone in the administration understands the depth of the differences between the mindsets of US and Middle Eastern societies. Most disturbing is reading about the depth of Karzai's corruption. I can't help but feel somewhat pessimistic... if we are to really work at winning the war in Afghanistan we'd better plan on 20 or 30 years in that country. Do we have the capability for sustaining that action?
No comments:
Post a Comment