We probably are hopelessly mired in another Vietnam trying to win an un-winnable war

Wikileaks has release 90,000 official documents on the Afghan war. Canada has lost 151 soldiers and created several thousand disabled veterans.  The US has lost 1,000 men and women, the UK 320.  Civilian deaths may be as high as 33,000.  BBC

When you consider the casualty statistics in Vietnam, that’s not bad. But is it going anywhere or is the Afghan war hopeless?

The 90,000 documents released by Wikileaks point to ineptitude on the part of military leaders, complicity by Pakistan with the Taliban, and and every increasing amount of violence.

The White House say the documents point to a period before President Obama got involved which is hardly re-assuring. Can Obama possible be the silver bullet? Not likely.

The problems are deeper, and go back centuries. We are fighting a war between the people in that area which they should be winning on their own. But the Afghan government is both corrupt and inept. So our soldiers go over there to fight and die.

When the west pulls out, the Taliban will likely take over but it won’t be the end of the world.

The Guardian prepared a map showing every IED attack in Afghanistan from the Wikileaks documents.  It’s obvious the Taliban are getting more effective at killing western soldiers. A report on CBC said local Afghans plant the devices for the Taliban for money.

6 years of IED attacks, click for larger image (map: Guardian.co.uk)