US defense secretary Robert M. Gates has stated an obvious fact: The troops in Afghanistan “are tired…and the American people are pretty tired.” So, what next (or new)?
In an ominous use of the word “unwinnable”, once used by the legendary media person the late Walter Cronkite to turn public opinion against the Vietnam war, defense secretary Gates (photo above) says that “after eight years, U.S.-led forces must show progress in Afghanistan by next summer to avoid the public perception that the conflict has become unwinnable.”
The LA Times reports that in a sharp critique of the war effort, Gates said that victory was a “long-term prospect” under any scenario and that the U.S. would not win the war in a year’s time.” However, U.S. forces must begin to turn the situation around in a year, he said, or face the likely loss of public support.”
Does the US defense secretary expect the US and the allied soldiers to use a magic wand when Gates actually knows that the Afghanistan war is becoming “unwinnable”? Isn’t it a pathetic scenario that instead of Washington seeking a diplomatic strategy to exit from Afghanistan, the US administration is pleading with the US and allied forces to achieve an impossible goal? More here…
Gates’ confessional statement comes in the wake of extremist attacks that rose dramatically last year and U.S. and NATO troop casualties surpassed record levels. “A U.S. fighter jet crashed on Saturday, killing the two crew members and bringing the number of Western deaths in Afghanistan to at least 50 in July, the deadliest month yet (this year).”
To top it all, the Taliban have released a 28-minute video showing a US soldier captured in Afghanistan last month, reports the BBC. “In the video, the soldier, in grey clothes and with shaved head, says being a prisoner is ‘unnerving’ and that he misses his family.
“He says the US public has the power to bring US troops home to be ‘back where we belong and not over here, wasting our time and our lives’. The US military in Kabul said the man in the video was the missing soldier.” More here (including the video)…
The ABC story about the kidnapped US soldier here…
Here are some key facts and figures about Afghanistan and the British and other international forces fighting in Afghanistan.
The BBC reports that “mobility is a major factor in guerrilla warfare and Taliban fighters often operate as a ‘pick-up truck cavalry’ force in adapted four-wheel drive vehicles such as the Toyota Hi-Lux. ISAF forces tend to rely on heavier armoured vehicles.”
It adds that “the true number of civilians killed in the Afghan conflict will probably never be known.” More here…
Swaraaj Chauhan describes his two-decade-long stint as a full-time journalist as eventful, purposeful, and full of joy and excitement. In 1993 he could foresee a different work culture appearing on the horizon, and decided to devote full time to teaching journalism (also, partly, with a desire to give back to the community from where he had enriched himself so much.)
Alongside, he worked for about a year in 1993 for the US State Department’s SPAN magazine, a nearly five-decade-old art and culture monthly magazine promoting US-India relations. It gave him an excellent opportunity to learn about things American, plus the pleasure of playing tennis in the lavish American embassy compound in the heart of New Delhi.
In !995 he joined WWF-India as a full-time media and environment education consultant and worked there for five years travelling a great deal, including to Husum in Germany as a part of the international team to formulate WWF’s Eco-tourism policy.
He taught journalism to honors students in a college affiliated to the University of Delhi, as also at the prestigious Indian Institute of Mass Communication where he lectured on “Development Journalism” to mid-career journalists/Information officers from the SAARC, African, East European and Latin American countries, for eight years.
In 2004 the BBC World Service Trust (BBC WST) selected him as a Trainer/Mentor for India under a European Union project. In 2008/09 He completed another European Union-funded project for the BBC WST related to Disaster Management and media coverage in two eastern States in India — West Bengal and Orissa.
Last year, he spent a couple of months in Australia and enjoyed trekking, and also taught for a while at the University of South Australia.
Recently, he was appointed as a Member of the Board of Studies at Chitkara University in Chandigarh, a beautiful city in North India designed by the famous Swiss/French architect Le Corbusier. He also teaches undergraduate and postgraduate students there.
He loves trekking, especially in the hills, and never misses an opportunity to play a game of tennis. The Western and Indian classical music are always within his reach for instant relaxation.
And last, but not least, is his firm belief in the power of the positive thought to heal oneself and others.