"The Fog of War" is a common enough term...particularly when describing the US military misadventures in the Middle East. But stories like this one just amaze me.
Why is there any surprise at all that Afghanistan is an even bigger mess than when we got there?
After all, Afghanistan is the scene of two of the biggest defeats the mighty British Army ever suffered; and the Soviet Union (which doesn't have to worry about budgets or elections) after ten ignominious years there finally gave up.
Just why did we ever think the US was going to fare any differently? Because Reagan praised the opposition in Afghanistan against the Soviets as "Freedom Fighters"? (A good many of those Freedom Fighters are rotting in Guantanamo Bay and elsewhere awaiting trial on terrorism charges - today's catchy phrase is tomorrow's goat, or something like that).
Because we sent in the most expensive military force in the world (by several factors), who were perfectly trained for a 1960s Cold War battlefield?
Its not like the intelligence world and the thinkers of the world haven't known for a very long time that Pakistan and Afghanistan are two greasy sides of the same slippery coin and not worth our time, trust, or blood.
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