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Late last week, at a talk he gave at West Point, Secretary of Defense Gates made the most remarkable statement. After underlining “the strategic rationale for swift-moving expeditionary forces” in the future, he added, “But in my opinion, any future defense secretary who advises the president to again send a big American land army into Asia or into the Middle East or Africa should ‘have his head examined,’ as General MacArthur so delicately put it.”
Now, if we were out of Afghanistan – win, lose, or draw – and Gates had been reflecting on the relative costs of the venture, the message would be obvious: it wasn’t worth it. But we’re not out; we’re bogged down in a war that our generals portray as winnable in 10 years. Do we need ancient Egyptian soothsayers to interpret Gates’ remarks? If no conceivable land war in central Asia in the future would be worth it, what does that say about our continued presence in Afghanistan?…(Mac Deford in Maine’s Freepress)
