And on the day we voted….

On the day we voted, the US military dropped some more bombs in Afghanistan, and hit a wedding party. And this report said that dozens of women and children were killed, but another report (sorry, no link) said that 23 children were killed.

And, just a few days before the election, Obama had this to say on MSNBC:

Interview on Oct 30, 2008

MADDOW: I have a national security question for you about Afghanistan. You have argued, as had John McCain argued and now the Bush administration agrees that we need more troops in Afghanistan. Why do more troops in Afghanistan equal a higher likelihood of success? What's the exit strategy for Afghanistan? How long are we going to be there?

OBAMA: Well, unfortunately, I think Afghanistan's going to be tough. I don't think there is a quick fix to what's happening there. Because we have a combination of a government that is not seen as fully legitimate all throughout Afghanistan. It's not particularly capable in terms of delivering services right now. You've got a very powerful narco-terrorism, or intersection of narco-trafficking with terrorism. Just the terrain is terrible for trying to move out the Taliban and al Qaeda. And then you've got Pakistan, and a border that is porous and very difficult. So, it's not going to be easy, but here's what I know. That we can't allow bin Laden and al Qaeda to establish safe havens where they are plotting to kill Americans and train troops. There's no dispute that that's taking place right now. And so, we've got to make Afghanistan stable enough and focused enough on controlling its own borders, that we're not seeing the Taliban and al Qaeda return. In the meantime, I think the most important thing that we're going to have to do in addition to adding more troops, providing alternatives to farmers for the poppy trade. Making sure that services are actually being delivered to the Afghan people.

The most important thing we're going to have to do with respect to Afghanistan, is actually deal with Pakistan. And we've got work with the newly elected government there in a coherent way that says, terrorism is now a threat to you. Extremism is a threat to you. We should probably try to facilitate a better understanding between Pakistan and India and try to resolve the Kashmir crisis so that they can stay focused not on India, but on the situation with those militants. And, we've got to say to the Pakistani people, we're not just going to fund a dictator in order for us to feel comfortable with who we're dealing with. We're going to respect democracy. But, we do have expectations in terms of being a partner in its terrorism.

MADDOW: But, you don't think of having a larger military footprint interferes their ability to do that stuff? To work with Pakistani government, to work with the Afghan government.

OBAMA: Oh, look. I mean, we're part of a coalition force that right now is under-manned. I mean, we have -- up until fairly recently, had one quarter of the troops in Afghanistan that we had in Iraq. And so, we're not looking to duplicate 150,000 troops in Afghanistan. But, on the other hand, if we've only got 30,000, or 35,000, on a huge terrain and we're asking people to do a lot, I don't want a situation in which our troops continue to be under stop loss, or they are on the kinds of rotations that they've been under. Or, they don't have the basic support services that will allow them to consolidate any gains that they make. Right now, it's just a little too scattershot an operation for them to secure and then build in these areas. And that's something that I think we can improve on. But, military power alone is not sufficient. It's necessary, but not sufficient.

Well, at least he recognizes that the military alone is not sufficient, and that we need to deliver services (not sure what that means exactly) to the Afghani people. The comment about not funding a dictator in Pakistan is odd, since they had an election and the dictator is gone. But they are bombing away there anyway. I think putting more troops and bombs into the area just means more dead children who were attending a wedding party or sleeping in their beds. I think the only solution is a political one, and they had better start talking to the Taliban and tribes and other parties in the area, and offering them some incentive to do what we want (get OBL and al Qaeda out of there) if they ever want to see some positive results.

It is bad enough they started up a war in Iraq for no good reason and destroyed that country, but considering how bad off Afghanistan was in 2001, I was thinking that MAYBE they would accomplish something of value there – but I was wrong.

And meanwhile, here is a quote I found recently:

An interviewer for the French publication, Le Nouvel Observateur, asked Zbigniew Brzezinski (National Security Adviser under Carter) in a 1998 interview whether he regretted "having given arms and advice to future terrorists," and Brzezinski replied: "Regret what? That secret operation was an excellent idea. It had the effect of drawing the Russians into the Afghan trap and you want me to regret it? ... What is most important to the history of the world? ... Some stirred-up Muslims or the liberation of Central Europe and the end of the Cold War?"

Brzezinski is an adviser to Obama. And, of course, those “stirred-up Muslims” went on to become al Qaeda and attacked the US on September 11, 2001. And that lead to the US being drawn into the Afghan trap. (For some more info on Brzezinski and his family, see this blog post.) Funny how the history of the world just repeats itself, and some of the main actors on the stage are seem to totally lack any self-awareness or awareness of how their policies and plans hurt other people grievously. Of course, that lack of awareness of others is due to the fact that they just don’t care one whit. I would bet the Brzezinski still has no regrets and since Obama has him as an advisor, that Obama does not care either.

Well, maybe the upcoming depression will stop all our warmongering. Maybe if Americans get hungry, they will demand an end to spending all this money on war making that leads nowhere, but kills a lot of innocent foreign brown people.

Photo: Pakistani peace activists hold candles as they protest against the U.S. air strikes in Pakistani tribal areas and Afghanistan, in Lahore, Pakistan, Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2008. Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Wednesday demanded that President-elect Barack Obama put an end to civilian casualties as villagers said U.S. warplanes bombed a wedding party, killing 37 people, including 23 children and 10 women. (AP Photo/K.M Chaudary)

War is not the answer.