Dwayne Monroe wrote:

> Afghanistan is paying the price of the Soviet invasion
> and the American response to that invasion.  Is this
> not the proximate cause of all the miseries that
> followed?

Yes.

> Given that the Soviets were invaders and the Americans
> were playing lethal games, how could you expect either
> of these parties (one of which ceased to exist
> following withdrawal) to set up "alternate and
> provisional structures'?

The fact is there were no alternate and provisional structures in
Afghanistan and this fact had certain implications after Afghans and their
neighbours. The vaccum in Afghanistan was filled by ISI sponsored Taliban.
My question is not a historical one about ifs and buts of Afghan history.
Can we learn anything from Afghanistan and apply it to Iraq? That's my
question. I wasn't suggesting that the Soviets or the US could have (or
should have) created alternate and provisional structures.

> Those of us who demand withdrawal and who express no
> belief in the miracles of US-created 'stability'
> understand, I think, that we cannot change the
> character of these dreadful 'missions'.

I am not saying that the US should do this.

> It is the faith we must lose - faith that we can
> reform pirates, cutthroats, murderers.  Once this
> faith is lost, all else can follow.

US is not a neighbour of Iraq. American won't suffer the consequences if
there is chaos in and around Iraq. US Left can afford to make such
"anti-imperialist" gestures, just as their ruling circles continue to invade
distant nations.

Ulhas