Mass Graves For Change

Blood test time approaches for American liberals. Obama's decision to accelerate the war in Afghanistan should force his fans to reexamine their allegiance, yet something tells me that ain't gonna happen anytime soon. Not being registered Democrats, Afghan civilians can't compete with liberal concerns, like how Republicans aren't true patriots, always seeking to blackmail or intimidate Dems into acting against their moral beliefs. Or how Sarah Palin's still crazy. Or how the corporate media hates Democrats. You know, the pressing issues.

A recent UN survey reports that violence in Afghanistan is surging, the civilian death rate up some 40 percent from last year. The Taliban is blamed for 60 percent of the carnage, but the US hasn't been slacking either, killing more than its share of civilians through airstrikes and raids on villages. Obama plans to add to the body count with no end in sight. What is the final purpose here? Kill kill kill until the Taliban and other armed groups surrender? Or is Obama simply planning to exterminate them, regardless of the civilian toll? Negotiation appears out of the question, if Hillary Clinton's uneasy reaction to Pakistan's ceasefire deal with militants in Swat is any indication.

So, where does this all lead?

As a former, enthusiastic supporter of this war, all I can see is perpetual death for years on end. Obama's not going to turn Afghanistan into Sweden; he'd be lucky to turn it into post-Katrina New Orleans. Given how many liberals bashed Bush for shifting the focus away from the Good War in Afghanistan in favor of his Iraq adventure (which continues and will continue under Obama), I'm not sure if partisan Dems will ever seriously question President Change's Central Asian crusade. Their main concern is the holy American middle class, at least those segments that reflect their political biases and educational levels. The American poor are pretty much out of the picture. The forgotten and marginalized have no real voice amid the ceaseless white noise. And that's inside the greatest country ever created forever. What do the Afghan poor offer American liberals, other than target practice?