Too Many Wars

One of the many awful things about the war in Iraq that people don't really talk about because they aren't as sexy as torture and beheadings is how much Iraq is undermining our efforts in Afghanistan. Ostensibly, we are in Afghanistan to get rid of the Taliban and establish a government that won't harbor Al Qaeda. Unfortunately, as this USA Today article discusses, we have fewer troops than we would if we weren't in Iraq, we have less money to spend on reconstruction, and our diplomatic capital (to say, convince Pakistan to stop harboring Taliban fighters) is totally spent. This all certainly helps explain why things there are not really improving.

But now, the good news. Oh no, wait, it's more bad news. According to this article from late last year, insurgents and fighters in Afghanistan are able to pick up (often over the Internet) tactics developed and honed by the insurgency in Iraq. Super. Which brings us to today's news. The New York Times reports that a helicopter crashed in Afghanistan, killing 8 Americans. The Taliban has taken credit, though the military says that it was engine failure, not enemy fire, and I'm more inclined to believe them. But more downed copters in Afghanistan may be something we should watch out for, because as Josh Marshall has covered extensively, there has been a nasty up-tick of helicopters shot down in Iraq in the past couple of months, and it appears to be new tactics, not new weapons, that has allowed it to happen.

The sooner we leave Iraq, the sooner the operators of counterinsurgency101.blogspot.com find something better to do than develop and disseminate more and more effective anti-American tactics.