Everyone seems to agree that the Bush Administration dropped the ball in Afghanistan. They started a war that they did not finish.
But I have been thinking about parts of the Band of Brothers movie. The parts where the men are out of supply, out of food and ammo, literally freezing to death.
The thing is, modern fighting takes a lot of resources. You cant work a job or grow food while you are fighting so someone else has to. Someone has to provide food, guns, ammunition. A lot of it.
For example, Israel is able to maintain their state of war against the Palestinians because of aid from the US. The palestinians survive and struggle because of aid from other countries smuggled through Egypt.
So with all the recent attention on fighting in Afghanistan, I keep asking myself: Who the fuck is arming the Taliban? If this is such a rugged, barren wasteland, how the hell are these religious nuts able to continue fighting the most expensive army in the world? I just dont get it.
When the Soviets invaded Afghanistan, the US smuggled in weapons and supplies to fight them. Are they returning the favor now? I have not seen a single news article that probes this issue.
If you cut off the supplies, you end the war. What is the hold up?
I suspect the problem involves the lawlessness that is Pakistan and also the financial appeal of the weapon industry. There is a lot of money to be made selling guns. If the Mexican drug cartels are buying their guns in the USA, it stands to reason that it is pretty easy for the Taliban to resupply which again points to a larger, unreported issue.
Maybe we arent fighting Afghanistan so much as we are fighting our own economic system and the military-industrial complex we created.
If that is true, it is some nice symbolism.
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