We’re Gonna Rock Their World

Once upon a time there was a Hundred Year’s War, one of my old history professors said. That was whittled down to a Thirty Year’s War, then a Nine Year’s War, then a Seven Year’s War, and then, finally, a Six-Day War. “So that’s progress,” he observed.

Since we’ve been in Afghanistan for over seven years now, you could say we’re backsliding with regard to the good professor’s standard of progress. And, of course, it’s going to get worse:

The United States is sending 17,000 more troops to Afghanistan. President Barack Obama said in a written statement that the increase was “necessary to stabilize a deteriorating situation in Afghanistan.”

The additional troops will arrive during the spring and summer and will bring the total number of American soldiers and Marines in Afghanistan to about 55,000, along with 32,000 non-U.S. NATO forces.

In Imperial Hubris: Why The West Is Losing The War On Terror, the author recounts a conversation between a Russian intelligence official and his CIA counterparts in September 2001 about our upcoming invasion of Afghanistan:

“With regret,” the Russian said, “I have to say that you are going to get the hell kicked out of you.” One of the Americans responded in words that will someday be found in a U.S. military study about its failed Afghan war. “We’re going to kill them,” the U.S. official asserted. “We’re going to put their heads on sticks. We’re going to rock their world.”

Seven years and counting.