A very interesting article in today's Washington Post Outlook section by George McGovern, a former senator from South Dakota who was the Democratic nominee for president in 1972.
Read the full article here and here are some highlights of George McGovern's :
To send our troops out of Iraq and into Afghanistan would be a near-perfect example of going from the frying pan into the fire.
- British Empire a century ago when it tried to pacify the warlords and tribes of Afghanistan, only to be forced out after excruciating losses.
- Soviet Union was also a superpower when it poured some 100,000 troops into Afghanistan in 1979. They limped home, broken and defeated, a decade later, having helped pave the way for the collapse of the Soviet Union.
- logic does not always prevail in South Asia. The one factor that could unite Afghan War lords is the invasion of their country by a foreign power, whether British, Russian or American.
- That war has clearly weakened our economy and our armed forces even as it has made the national debt soar
"A truly audacious hope for your administration: How about a five-year time-out on war -- unless, of course, there is a genuine threat to the nation?
During that interval, we could work with the U.N. World Food Program, plus the overseas arms of the churches, synagogues, mosques and other volunteer agencies to provide a nutritious lunch every day for every school-age child in Afghanistan and other poor countries"
What do you think ?
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