Don’t Panic: What is the U.S. mission in Afghanistan?
Tuesday, February 3rd, 2009
Critics of the not-yet-passed-as-I’m-writing-this economic stimulus package complain it’s packed with wasteful spending that won’t do anything to defibrillate the U.S. economy.
Among the spending singled-out as wasteful by critics: $25 million to improve trails for all-terrain vehicles, $50 million for the National Endowment for the Arts, and $335 million to help fight the spread of STDs. As someone whose lifelong dream it is to film ironic, noir-ish sex-ed videos in remote corners of national parks for screening on PBS, I’m feeling pretty good right about now.
As luck would have it, the big stimulus bill working its way through D.C. isn’t the only economic lifeline being tossed my way by Team Obama. The Feds are also offering a generous subsidy to foreign policy columnists.
Unlike the stimulus, this subsidy is not being offered as a cash payment. Rather, the Obama administration’s war strategy in Afghanistan is so unclear, newspapers have no choice but to keep paying people like me to help explain it. With unemployment in my home state at a 26-year high, all I can say is WOO-HOO! Yes we can!
In fairness, Obama didn’t create the current mess and his White House may well soon emerge with a smart, sane, clear mission statement for Afghanistan.
But that doesn’t change the fact that, as of right now, Obama has committed an additional 20,000 U.S. troops to a battle without any obvious goals. (more…)
