Speaking to the media today, NATO commander Gen. Philip Breedlove confirmed that several NATO nations, identified later as Germany, Italy, and Turkey, have agreed to extend their involvement in the military occupation of Afghanistan in an open-ended manner.
The US announced last week that it’s latest pushed-back date for a withdrawal was being scrapped outright, and officials suggested no new date. Gen. Breedlove appeared to discourage the idea of ever setting a date for a pullout, saying troop levels shouldn’t be based on “schedules.”
NATO invaded and occupied Afghanistan way back in 2001, and 14 years in, the most recent UN report has suggested the security situation is worse now than at any point in the entire occupation. That is being presented as justification for keeping the troops around.
Yet. with the situation just getting worse in the face of a continuing occupation, there seems to be no pretense that a couple of more years if going to magically turn the situation around, and rather this open-ended commitment is more open-ended than ever, and one coming with no real plan for ever succeeding.
This is NATO, NATO is a militarism regime, is principals are based on land grabbing, occupation, dividing nations and militarization of Europe and beyond.
If you substitued "Putin" for NATO, wouldn't it fit perfectly? Grabbing land, occupying and trying to carve up Ukraine, using military force in Europe for the first time since Hitler and now, using force in Syria. Putin's Russia should be welcomed into NATO forthwith!
The last paragraph applies also to Putin's involvement in Syria. A state army never wins a war against an insurgency, particularly a foreign army operating in the insurgents' home territory. Israel has spent nearly 70 years trying to "crush" the Palestinians and shows no signe of ever succeeding! What hope has the US in Afghanistan or Putin in Syria?