Questions people prefer not to ask

I'm no psychic. I've got no special powers of forecasting. But I know how to read. History matters because common problems commonly occur.

When the US got involved in Viet Nam, it picked sides in an ongoing civil war. Then it tried to be a side in that civil war. It never even got the chance to occupy the place. Going in to Afghanistan meant we were going in to a region rife with tribal warfare that goes back centuries. The reason Al Qaeda could set up shop there was they could buy protection. Unfortunately, the corruption sprawls across national boundaries because tribal identities trump national identities.

The problem in Afghanistan is compounded by the presence of criminal cartels. War is a racket like you wouldn't believe. We're not dealing with that problem because we can't. That's why nation building is a fool's errand. That's why anyone who believes we our troops are "bringing democracy to [fill in the blank]" betrays a naivete that would be lampooned on Sesame Street.

Damn few people in power are willing to admit this, even fewer are addressing it. That's what makes people like Alan Grayson so important. If we're going to put a dent in this nonsense, he is the model of effective strategic action. He understands we are dealing with criminals that have deep pockets and a long reach. Until you clean that up, politics is just how they launder their money.

We are funding the forces that consign millions of kids to hell and drive desperate girls to light themselve on fire. All we are doing is funding criminal enterprises that get fat off a modern-day slave trade. Meditate on that image the next time you hear some political hack mouth the sanctimonious platitudes about "bringing democracy to [fill in the blank]."

This has nothing to do with improving our security. Hell, it doesn't even have anything to do with improving our lifestyle. We aren't even getting cheap shoes out of it. We're just pouring our money down a crime-infested rathole and our kids are dying while bankers in suits make a killing because corrupt politicians keep greasing the wheels. Do that long enough and don't be surprised if you wake up one morning to find the shining city on the hill has turned into little more than a broken-down public housing project.

You think I'm overstating this? Remember this story from 2005?

The FBI's counterterrorism unit has launched a broad investigation of US-based theft rings after discovering some vehicles used in deadly car bombings in Iraq, including attacks that killed US troops and Iraqi civilians, were probably stolen in the United States, according to senior US Government officials.

Where'd that go? No where. I'm shocked. SHOCKED, I tell you.