Last night we wrote of President Trump's new Afghan strategy. Today the
New York Post carries Col. Ralph Peters' reaction thereto. Mostly, we like Peters' analysis of things military. His column is headed:
I hope Trump is right (and I'm wrong) on Afghanistan
That tells you his bottom line - Peters is dubious about our prospects. What he believes is actually going on in Afghanistan:
In Afghanistan, we’re the Redcoats.
The Taliban are barbaric, woman-hating pederasts, but they’re the home team for Afghanistan’s Pashtun majority, fighting for religious truth, Sharia justice and the Islamist way.
It really comes down to that blood test: What will men die for? The answer, were we willing to open our eyes, is that more Afghans will volunteer to die for the Taliban than for our dream of a “better” Afghanistan. Nor could the Taliban have survived without support among the population. This is Mao 101.
Well-meaning US officers convince themselves, again and again, that they’ve built a real rapport with their local counterparts, that loyalties are to us, to progress, and that our relationships are about more than the money we’re doling out. We’re renting hookers and expecting love.
Perhaps Peters means "We're renting hookers and telling ourselves it's love."
