The Wrongologist

What’s
Wrong Today:

In a press conference
that was not well-covered by the MSM, our ambassador to Afghanistan, Ryan Crocker
told The
Daily Telegraph that if the West were to leave Afghanistan too early,
al-Qaeda would be able to increase its presence:

“Al-Qaeda is still
present in Afghanistan. If the West decides that 10 years in Afghanistan is too
long then they will be back, and the next time it will not be New York or
Washington, it will be another big Western city.”

Ambassador Crocker,
an Arabic speaker who took up his post in Kabul last year, having previously served as ambassador
to Iraq, said al-Qaeda remained a potent threat despite suffering setbacks. With the US preparing
to withdraw the majority of its combat forces from Afghanistan next year, Mr.
Crocker warned:

“We have killed all
the slow and stupid ones. But that means the ones that are left are totally dedicated.
We think we’ve won a campaign before our adversaries have even started to
fight. They have patience, and they know that we are short on that.”

Crocker claimed that
by killing many alleged al Qaeda militants, we have somehow made them stronger
by leaving their most dedicated fighters alive.

He continued:

“We think we’ve won a
campaign before our adversaries have even started to fight. They have patience,
and they know that we are short on that…If we decide we’re tired, they’ll be back.”

The
Christian Science Monitor also reported on Crocker’s thinking about the Strategic
Partnership Agreement that is under negotiation between the US and
Afghanistan, saying it will be:

“a powerful signal to
the Taliban that the international community will remain committed to
Afghanistan into the future.”

He
went on to say that the Taliban need to understand:

“this isn’t going to
be about holding out until 2014. It’s you getting killed, or dying of old age
and your sons facing the prospect of having to fight a war.”

So,
What’s Wrong?

This is
Ryan Crocker speaking, not that pilot who freaked out on the Jet Blue flight.

So begins
the effort to counter American public opinion, which
now thinks we should get out of Afghanistan. It is clear that Crocker is putting
forth the same fear mongering and
disinformation as so many of our current and former government officials have.

NATO believes that there
may be 100 al-Qaeda fighters in Afghanistan, based mainly in the Kunar and
Nuristan provinces near the border with Pakistan.

Of course, Ambassador
Crocker’s view is flawed given the fact that in reality, IF al-Qaeda is capable
of conducting another 9/11 style attack, they
could plan and initiate it from anywhere.

Does it
really matter that they might try to use Afghanistan a second time for this
purpose?

After
all, can’t they just as readily use Pakistan,
where they are today? Not to mention dozens of other places, including England,
France or Germany, or the US, to prepare such plots?

In reality, the
threat of domestic terrorism may
be more significant than potential
terror launched from Afghanistan, so
says this study by George Washington University’s Homeland Security Policy
Institute. In September, 2011 the study indicated that there have been 52
homegrown plots since September 11, 2001. Despite the numbers, Homeland Security seems to be doing
a pretty good job of intercepting terrorist plots.

So, will spending
billions of incremental dollars and the attendant loss of life and limb on the
part of our military in Afghanistan prevent such threats? It will not.

Bush
invaded Afghanistan with the perfectly understandable motive of revenge for
9/11 and because we knew Bin Laden was there. Since then we have been treated
to a succession of increasingly ludicrous justifications as to why we must remain
there to the detriment of our young soldiers’ lives, our financial security and
our reputation in the third world.

It’s
over. The Taliban will return once we leave, whenever that is. All of our
technology, loss of lives and billions will have not been enough to make us
feel safe from terror.

To stay one day longer than the earliest we can leave is WRONG!

Can I interest you in a nice, shiny new war with Iran instead?