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Tom Engelhardt, Tom Dispatch: Mapping a World From Hell
76 Countries Are Now Involved in Washington’s War on Terror
He left Air Force Two behind and, unannounced, “shrouded in secrecy,” flew on an unmarked C-17 transport plane into Bagram Air Base, the largest American garrison in Afghanistan. All news of his visit was embargoed until an hour before he was to depart the country.
More than 16 years after an American invasion “liberated” Afghanistan, he was there to offer some good news to a U.S. troop contingent once again on the rise. Before a 40-foot American flag, addressing 500 American troops, Vice President Mike Pence praised them as “the world’s greatest force for good,” boasted that American air strikes had recently been “dramatically increased,” swore that their country was “here to stay,” and insisted that “victory is closer than ever before.” As an observer noted, however, the response of his audience was “subdued.” (“Several troops stood with their arms crossed or their hands folded behind their backs and listened, but did not applaud.”)
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WNU Editor: Running an empire is always costly. But while Tom Engelhardt provides a good picture on what is currently happening, he does not provide a solution on what should be done. And that is the rub .... the U.S. desperately needs a debate on what should be its foreign policy and national security objectives, the military that is required to do such a job, and a State Department that can handle the diplomatic aspects of it. But there is no debate, little if any think-tank or foreign policy institute contribution, no political pressure, zero media attention, and definitely no public pressure that something should be done. And the nations that are involved in America's War on Terror are just as guilty .... if not more so .... as this never-ending war continues to grind on.
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