[Richard]

Leaked files suggest Pakistan is aiding Afghan rebels

MOO - but I would suggest that we aided the Afghan rebels when we made OEF effort a seconadary priority in 2003 with the focal shift to OIF.

From the article's timeline:

The Conflict in Afghanistan

• 1979 The Soviet Union invades Afghanistan. Mujahedeen - Islamic fighters - from across the globe, including Osama bin Laden, come to fight Soviet forces.
• 1989 Last Soviet troops leave Afghanistan.
• 1996 The Taliban take control of Afghanistan, imposing fundamentalist Islamic law. Mr. bin Laden takes refuge in the country.
• 2001 After the 9/11 attacks, President George W. Bush gives the Taliban an ultimatum to hand over Mr. bin Laden; the Taliban refuse, and in OCT the U.S. leads a campaign that drives the Taliban out of major Afghan cities by the end of the year.
• 2002 Hamid Karzai becomes interim president of Afghanistan. The Taliban continue to wage guerrilla warfare near the border with Pakistan.
• 2004 New constitution is ratified, making Afghanistan an Islamic state with a strong president. Later, Mr. Karzai wins the country's first presidential election.
• FEB 2009 President Obama orders 17,000 additional troops to Afghanistan.
• AUG 2009 President Karzai wins re-election in a vote marred by fraud.
• DEC 2009 President Obama issues orders to send 30,000 troops in 2010, bringing the total American force to about 100,000.

This is the calendar of events per the NYT article. What is missing is arguably the most important date in this matter - 2003 US forces relinquish the lead of the war in Afghanistan to NATO forces. US focus instead on IRAQ. NATO forces are hamstrung in that our "allies" do not want to leave the security of the bases, allowing the Taliban resurgence.

NOTE: DEC 2009 President Obama issues orders to send 30,000 troops in 2010. We are still deploying these forces and that should, from all reports, be completed by the end of the summer.

Just think, at one time we assured our allies that we were prepared to deliver 10 Mech/Armor Heavy Divisions in 10 days...and now we are hard pressed to deliver 30,000 soldiers (less than 3 of the previous heavy divisions) in 30 weeks.

Progress is apparently not our most important product.*

And so it goes...

Richard's $.02

* With apologies to GE.