"Is it possible that after four and six years respectively, the American-led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are at last beginning to come good? Our reports this week from the front-lines of both wars suggest that the answer to that question should be a guarded yes. In Iraq General David Petraeus's “surge” and a Sunni backlash against al-Qaeda have sharply reduced the killing. It is true that more than 20 civilians are still killed on an average day, but it was not uncommon a year ago to find as many as 100 corpses at dawn. In Afghanistan the yes is more tentative. Violence is spreading and suicide-bombings, less frequent now in Iraq, are taking a rising toll. ... The war in Iraq has taken a much greater toll of American lives—some 4,000, compared with about 500 in Afghanistan. (Economist, 15 December)
Capitalism has a strange set of values when 20 civilian corpses a day and 4,500 US soldier dead is looked upon as "coming good". RD
The Glasgow & Edinburgh Branches Blog. Towards a better understanding of the world, in order to change it.
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