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Monday, October 02, 2006

Making a distinction

Cat-killer Frist, fresh off his victory over freedom in Washington, has taken the show on the road:
QALAT, Afghanistan--U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said Monday that the Afghan war against Taliban guerrillas can never be won militarily and urged support for efforts to bring "people who call themselves Taliban" and their allies into the government.

The Tennessee Republican said he learned from briefings that Taliban fighters were too numerous and had too much popular support to be defeated on the battlefield.

"You need to bring them into a more transparent type of government," Frist said during a brief visit to a U.S. and Romanian military base in the southern Taliban stronghold of Qalat. "And if that's accomplished, we'll be successful."
When you define failure as success, missions are easily accomplished. Did Dr. Video check with his partners in crime back home?
This is the challenge of our time. This is the call of a generation, to stand against the extremists and support moderate leaders across the broader Middle East, to help us all secure a future of peace.
George W. Bush, Friday. Who would have thought that when he was talking about "moderate leaders" that he meant the Taliban?
We will make no distinction between those who committed these acts and those who harbor them.
-- George W. Bush, September 11, 2001. This was the excuse for the brutal assault on Afghanistan--the Taliban was "harboring" bin Laden and al Qaeda.
The United States government is wholeheartedly committed to the full participation of women in all aspects of Afghan society, not just in Kabul, but in every province.
-- Laura Bush, speaking to a gathering of women at Kabul University, March 31, 2005. And we all know that nothing says "transparency" like a burka.

And now Dr. Video, fresh off the 100-0 Senate vote to continue funding Bush Quagmires One and Two, seems to think that returning Burkastan to the status quo ante would be a success. I can buy an argument that it's the least-worst option, compared to staying there forever (although Frist seems to favor that too), since the US presence has been an ongoing disaster for five years, doing little either to spread freedom or to prevent mayhem. But calling it a success? Maybe he needs to watch the tape again.

[Update 10:40 PM] Billmon has an actual Frist quote from three months ago:
Out of the black smoke and ashes of that terrible day, America stood up strong, united, and determined. After careful deliberation, we answered back. We toppled the Taliban in Afghanistan, where al-Qaeda had trained.
Frist apparently didn't realize that the Taliban are Weebles.