Bush foreign policy and national security, or, McCain? Really?

The Army War College (patchouli-soaked hippies) has released a report on the Iraq occupation, concluding that Rumsfeld and the neocons really never knew there asses from a hole in the ground.

Not that we didn't already know that.

And not that a solid review of the mess that got us into and sustained this grand adventure isn't needed. It is, if only to maybe put a few red flags in people's minds in case our government decides to launch a new grand adventure (like, I don't know... in Iran?)

But there's more to our global situation than Iraq, unfortunately. There still exists a nagging little problem called Afghanistan, the first one we invaded, because the governing body there was actually harboring al Qaeda, plus they were (are) total assholes.

And there still exists the nagging problem of Pakistan, a country that actually has nuclear weapons. Like the kind we were sure Saddam Hussein was hiding under his bed, the kind we pretty sure the mullahs in Iran keep beneath there skirts, the kind North Korea has developed over the last few years of non-engagement.

NY Times:

PESHAWAR, Pakistan — In the last two months, Taliban militants have suddenly tightened the noose on this city of three million people, one of Pakistan’s biggest, establishing bases in surrounding towns and, in daylight, abducting residents for high ransoms. [...]
The threat to Peshawar is a sign of the Taliban’s deepening penetration of Pakistan and of the expanding danger that the militants present to the entire region, including nearby supply lines for NATO and American forces in Afghanistan

Today the Times reports:

PESHAWAR, Pakistan — With Islamic militants tightening their grip around Peshawar, kidnapping residents and threatening the city itself, the new coalition government of Pakistan delivered its first military response to the Islamists on Saturday.

The action was limited, with security forces shelling territory outside Peshawar held by an extremist leader. Army forces were not used, and the intent apparently was merely to push the militants back from the city’s perimeter.

But the shelling was the first time the new civilian government, which has been committed to negotiating peace accords with Pakistani Taliban and other Islamic militants, resorted to military action.

In response, the leader of the Pakistani Taliban, Baitullah Mehsud, announced that he had suspended his participation in peace talks.

It remains to be seen whether this initial action has accomplished anything: it is likely that the militants left the area ahead of the force, and shutting down shops and imposing curfew are temporary controls, one would think.

The news from Peshawar this week is a reminder that Afghanistan hs not been stabilized at all. That outside of Kabul, muscle is the only government, and Taliban have a lot of muscle.

And that the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan is still a dangerous home base for extremism. Focusing only on our grand adventure in Iraq lets the administration off the hook for the complete bungling of Afghanistan.

And this region was always where the threat lay, and this region was always where we had the chance to be the "liberators" our government assured us we were destined to be.

Any discussion of national security needs to include these facts.

And the idea that McCain is still seen as "strong" on national security would be laughable, if it wasn't so frightening. This is a man who still believes that Iraq was a great idea, who still believes that concentrating all of our might and money to Iraq will lead to a bright and beautiful and capatalist middle east.

And who hasn't addresses Afghanistan to any real degree.

Just keep celebrating the surge, senator. That will make everything perfect. No, for real.