– BARREL WITHOUT BOTTOM

 

In the last stage of the war in Vietnam, in 1973, the South Vietnamese army was the fifth army in the world in size and one of the most equipped army in the World with a huge air force, a large helicopter fleet and the latest of the most modern technology – all funded by USA tax payer.  Despite all that the South Vietnamese army collapsed within few weeks in 03/1976, in one of the most humiliating defeats in history, to the smaller and poorly equipped North Vietnamese army.

Just few months ago, the Fatah-led security forces in Gaza Strip collapsed within three days to the smaller, less equipped Hamas, despite $100 millions that USA poured on Fatah the year before. Today many more millions are invested in the West Bank of the Palestinian Authority in order to strengthen Mahmoud Abbas’s loyal forces. It is the third time that Fatah is rebuilding from the root its loyal security forces, but they did not manage to even observe and control the car trafficking in Ramallah or Nablus. Most of the active terrorists in the West Bank are on the payroll of one of the Palestinian security services – in fact funded indirectly by US and European money.

Billions of USA money is spends in Iraq to reconstruct the Iraqi security forces. Much of the money just “vanished” in unbelievable corruption schemes. The Iraqi army and especially the Iraqi police are deeply involved in sectarian violence, forming dead squads, running secret jails and committing all sorts of human rights abuses on regular basis. After four years and many billions dollars the Iraqi Army is not able to carry its own military full scale operation, but only to serve as auxiliary  force under USA supervision.

NATO currently has more than 40,000 troops deployed in Afghanistan, but Generals say a sharp rise in violence over the past two years has left them undermanned. On 10/24/2007 NATO allies convened in the Dutch coastal resort of Noordwijk. NATO forces are overstretched due to other commitments, including Iraq, Kosovo and Lebanon. Heavy casualties among troops from UK, Canada and Holland are turning public opinion against continued deployment in Afghanistan.

Two days earlier, on 10/22/2007, Robert Gates, the US Defense Secretary, accused allies of not living up to past promises on troops, equipment and army trainers. He urged NATO to greater role in Afghanistan in order to contain the Taliban and to strengthen the pro Western Afghan national army.

Just like in Vietnam, Iraq, the Palestinian Authority and elsewhere, Afghanistan will be, certainly, a barrel without bottom.

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