Kabul kabuki

As the big election day in Afghanistan nears, the natives are getting restless, the lousy puppets that the US is trying to control apparently defy its orders, and the colonial powers (the US and Britain, at least) are planning another escalation of their war of choice.

Karzai bringing back Dostum was surely an act of defiance, and a bid to stay relevant as the US has seemingly turned its back on its one time favorite. According to Syed Shahzad at the Asia Times, the Taliban is also rooting for Karzai's defeat, seeing the defeat of the Pashtun Karzai as strengthening their hand within their territory.

Whatever the results, the new arrangement of the deck chairs will hardly affect McChrystal's upcoming plea for more troops. With no realistic possibility of 'victory', and a huge money sucking machine demanding "Feed me!" ever more insistently, expect this increase to be another in a long series.