If more evidence is needed that Afghanistan is an unsolvable mess for the U.S. and NATO, the "accidental" burning of copies of the Quran and subsequent murder of a couple of U.S. advisors should be sufficient.
This feeling has been exacerbated by President Barack Obama, who never seems more comfortable than when he is apologizing on behalf of the U.S.
Apparently copies of the Quran were burned in a garbage pit at the Bagram base north of Kabul on Sunday, and when news of this got out, grenades were thrown and people were killed, all of which culminated in two U.S. advisors to the Kabul government being murdered in the confines of the Interior Ministry -- both shot in the head.
It's understandable that NATO has now pulled all its advisors out of Afghan government offices, and countries like Germany and France are pulling out altogether.
One wonders why Obama felt obligated to apologize about the Quran burnings when a "regret" would have sufficed -- and been more accurate. Heck, until recently Japan would only express "regret" for its barbarous treatment of prisoners of war, refusing the gesture of "apologizing."
To some of us, torturing prisoners seems worse than burning a holy book.
But Obama's worst folly was announcing to the world that American combat troops would be withdrawn from Afghanistan this year -- making the announcement not when there was a lull in fighting, but during the height of the fighting season.
In a word, that's not a formula for encouraging peace, but an incentive for the Taliban to hold on and keep fighting until the Americans leave -- a 10-year war that is arguably less effective than the Vietnam war.
It was last June when Obama, radiating optimism about Afghanistan, said: "I can tell you we are fulfilling that commitment . . . we are meeting our goal . . . We have put al-Qaeda on a path to defeat." Hunh. Wanna bet?
Some defeat! He said 33,000 U.S. troops would be pulled out by this September.
If you were a Taliban zealot, would that intimidate or reinforce your determination to prevail? These guys never learn.
Pakistan is an increasingly unreliable U.S. ally and a sanctuary not only for hardened Taliban fighters, but a continuing source for new recruits.
Apparently the guy who shot the two advisors in an Interior Ministry room escaped, but is known. Reports say he was a driver, who worked his way up the ladder to become an intelligence officers, and was outraged at copies of the Quran being burned.
As well as Obama inadvertently undermining American soldiers -- reportedly whose morale is lower than at any time in Afghanistan -- Afghan Presient Hamid Karzai isn't much help. He's supposedly already negotiating with the Taliban, and openly criticizes alliance actions. He's poorly regarded by the very foreign soldiers on whom he depends for survival.
If indeed, the Afghan National Army (ANA) and national police force being trained by Canadians, Brits, and Yanks are not up to the job, it seems a safe bet that the Taliban will again be a political force in Afghanistan.
And if Karzai negotiates a share power deal with the Taliban, it also seems a safe bet that he's signing his own eventual death warrant.
Wonder how John McCain would have handled Afghanistan had he won the Presidency? Or Mitt Romney if he does win it?