Koran burning ignited powder keg in Afghanistan

Afghan demonstrators shout anti-U.S. slogans during a protest against Koran desecration in Kunduz, Afghanistan, Feb. 25, 2012. / AFP/Getty Images

(TomDispatch) Is it all over but the (anti-American) shouting -- and the killing? Are the exits finally coming into view?

Sometimes, in a moment, the fog lifts, the clouds shift, and you can finally see the landscape ahead with startling clarity. In Afghanistan, Washington may be reaching that moment in a state of panic, horror, and confusion. Even as an anxious U.S. commander withdrew American and NATO advisors from Afghan ministries around Kabul last weekend -- approximately 300, military spokesman James Williams tells TomDispatch -- the ability of American soldiers to remain on giant fortified bases eating pizza and fried chicken into the distant future is not in doubt.

Afghan gunmen kill 2 U.S. troops
Obama dismisses critics of his apology to Afghans
U.S. official on Koran burning: We'll move forward

No set of Taliban guerrillas, suicide bombers, or armed Afghan "allies" turning their guns on their American "brothers" can alter that -- not as long as Washington is ready to bring the necessary supplies into semi-blockaded Afghanistan at staggering cost. But sometimes that's the least of the matter, not the essence of it. So if you're in a mood to mark your calendars, late February 2012 may be the moment when the end game for America's second Afghan War, launched in October 2001, was initially glimpsed.

Amid the reportage about the recent explosion of Afghan anger over the torching of Korans in a burn pit at Bagram Air Base, there was a tiny news item that caught the spirit of the moment. As anti-American protests (and the deaths of protestors) mounted across Afghanistan, the German military made a sudden decision to immediately abandon a 50-man outpost in the north of the country.

True, they had planned to leave it a few weeks later, but consider the move a tiny sign of the increasing itchiness of Washington's NATO allies. The French have shown a similar inclination to leave town since, earlier this year, four of their troops were blown away (and 16 wounded) by an Afghan army soldier, as three others had been shot down several weeks before by another Afghan in uniform. Both the French and the Germans have also withdrawn their civilian advisors from Afghan government institutions in the wake of the latest unrest.

Now, it's clear enough: the Europeans are ready to go. And that shouldn't be surprising. After all, we're talking about NATO -- the North Atlantic Treaty Organization -- whose soldiers found themselves in distant Afghanistan in the first place only because, since World War II, with the singular exception of French President Charles de Gaulle in the 1960s, European leaders have had a terrible time saying "no" to Washington. They still can't quite do so, but in these last months it's clear which way their feet are pointed.

Which makes sense. You would have to be blind not to notice that the American effort in Afghanistan is heading into the tank.

The surprising thing is only that the Obama administration, which recently began to show a certain itchiness of its own -- speeding up withdrawal dates and lowering the number of forces left behind -- remains remarkably mired in its growing Afghan disaster. Besieged by demonstrators there, and at home by Republican presidential hopefuls making hay out of a situation from hell, its room to maneuver in an unraveling, increasingly chaotic situation seems to grow more limited by the day.

Sensitivity Training

The Afghan War shouldn't be the world's most complicated subject to deal with. After all, the message is clear enough. Eleven years in, if your forces are still burning Korans in a deeply religious Muslim country, it's way too late and you should go.

Instead, the U.S. command in Kabul and the administration back home have proceeded to tie themselves in a series of bizarre knots, issuing apologies, orders, and threats to no particular purpose as events escalated. Soon after the news of the Koran burning broke, for instance, General John R. Allen, the U.S. war commander in Afghanistan, issued orders that couldn't have been grimmer (or more feeble) under the circumstances. Only a decade late, he directed that all U.S. military personnel in the country undergo 10 days of sensitivity "training in the proper handling of religious materials."

Sensitivity, in case you hadn't noticed at this late date, has not been an American strong suit there. In the headlines in the last year, for instance, were revelations about the 12-soldier "kill team" that "hunted" Afghan civilians "for sport," murdered them, and posed for demeaning photos with their corpses. There were the four wisecracking U.S. Marines who videotaped themselves urinating on the bodies of dead Afghans -- whether civilians or Taliban guerrillas is unknown -- with commentary ("Have a good day, buddy... Golden -- like a shower"). There was also that sniper unit proudly sporting a Nazi SS banner in another photographed incident and the U.S. combat outpost named "Aryan." And not to leave out the allies, there were the British soldiers who were filmed "abusing" children.

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Tom Engelhardt, co-founder of the American Empire Project and the author of "The American Way of War: How Bush's Wars Became Obama's" as well as "The End of Victory Culture", runs the Nation Institute's TomDispatch.com. His latest book, "The United States of Fear" (Haymarket Books), has just been published.

Nick Turse is associate editor of TomDispatch.com. An award-winning journalist, his work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, the Nation, and regularly at TomDispatch. His new TomDispatch series on the changing face of American empire is being underwritten by Lannan Foundation. You can follow him on Twitter @NickTurse, on Tumblr, and on Facebook.

This piece originally appeared on TomDispatch. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the authors.

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1/5

[noloyalisti]

We should never have gone in there for the oil corporations. We just encouraged them and Wall Street to manipulate the world's oil supplies.

We should have never let the Republicon neocons who wrote the PNAC document (most of the Bush-Cheney Crime Family) anywhere near our government and military.

[TJphoto]

Having travel extensively in the Middle East I've come to this conclusion. A vast majority of citizens are uneducated, illiterate, and the one thing they do know is the Koran. It also seems the Governments like it this way.

[noloyalisti]

And that is what the Republicons and their giant corporate masters would like here. I mean we even have Republicons like Sanitorium running on a platform for Christian theocracy. So that more and more people will learn to be anti-science and anti-education.

[Weazerdogg]

Its like I've said for years and years. And I speak from knowing the intelligence of some of my own peers who joined the military. Though it may have been done in the past for this reason, its not done anymore for patriotism or because they WANT to lay down their life for their country, its because they don't have the brains or the money to go to college. So they join the military to get a free education from the American taxpayer, who look at them as "heroes". I have personally known to many who screwed around in school, didn't crack a book, because they knew they were going to sign up. Its about time the American public woke up to this fact. The 5 idiots who started this mess are a perfect example.

[imnho]

It is time to consider if the cost of staying there exceeds the benfits. If the tailban understands that we will be back if the harbor people who will perform acts like 911 and are willing to take steps to prevent it then its time to leave

[julianpenrod]

FormerUSMCSergeant advises, with respect to Muslims, "Kill all of them over [sic] that even look at us sideways". The U.S. carried out innumerable programs of subversion, destabilization, fomenting of insureections, installing dictators and theft of resources in countries all across the Middle East. General Suharto alone is credited with around 750,000 murders, and Reza Pahlavi's SAVAK secret police carried out their own reign of terror. And Washington's craven disinterest in the welfare of the Palestinians is an open sore in interactions between America and the Muslims. And yet, the ilk of FormerUSMCSergeant doesn't think the Muslims have the right to be angry at the U.S. or even carry out actions to rid countries like Iraq and Afghanistan of those they see as invaders. Characteristic New World Order sentimentality, it's okay is we do it but wrong if you do it.

[brwing]

We have made many missteps in tactic, strategy, predictions, partners and contractors. At the same time, Karzai and his Government are no cherubs of virtuosity. The place is not worth the effort. The Northern Alliance was a positive while it had territory and before it was weakened. But overall, this place is not worth the billions. And besides, China got the copper mine. It is landlocked and very expensive to maintain. I don't see how it is so hard to disengage - it is a losing proposition with no upside. Tell Karzai you are on your own - the spigot is off. Then take every nail with you when you leave.

[sirmarion-2009]

Do any of these people work? Or just wander around looking for trouble to cause? What the hell are we doing there? We have pissed off the Dog fighters,those who would torture dogs to death but,Pretend to care enough about a book to Murder Americans over? Obama needs to apologize to them as we burn down every mosque in the country.

[FormerUSMCSergeant]

by Mikee3020 March 3, 2012 1:48 PM EST
Written just like a ***** liberal..We have setback and you want to stick a tampon in your vagina and run off in your skirt. Grow some balls...Kill all of them over that even look at us sideways....
---

You call that a demonstration of "balls" do you?

Not even close.

Balls would be joining your ass up and facing the enemy yourself - but you don't have the balls......

[ConSense]

Yeah, THEN you could create usernames and, for the rest of your life, remind everyone that you were a marine...

[Esp20]

To force a One World Order on people will bring violent reactions such as the one know taking place in Afghanistan. Even in the U.S. Multiculturalism is not working. Afghans are acting crazy because they do not want Western ways mixing with those of Islam.

[j40405]

Extreme religion isn't good for anybody, no matter what the faith is.