Gates Insists Afghan War Going Really Well

Endorsement Will Keep Strategy From Changing

by Jason Ditz, December 08, 2010

Record death tolls and a really pessimistic Pentagon report delivered to Congress just days ago are old news, according to Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who insisted that the war in Afghanistan is going really well and indeed “exceeded my expectations.”

Those expectations have been pretty high, as officials are constantly insisting that a major momentum shift is just about to happen, but the proclamation is particularly convenient now as it will keep the current strategy going through the official “review” of the war.

And even though bombings are on the rise and by all accounts the war is getting worse, not better, it is a very good time to make false claims of progress, as snowfall will soon make Afghanistan virtually impassable for several months, keeping the lies from being obvious for quite awhile.

At the same time one can’t help but wish the US was spinning the false claims of progress the way British Prime Minister David Cameron is, as an excuse to get out of Afghanistan soon. For the US claims of progress seem to be as good a reason to stay this year as lack of progress has been for the last nine years.

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