Retrospektivt krigsexpertcollage

Andrew Sullivan Länk: andrewsullivan.com bad sina läsare att skicka in mindre lyckade lägesbetraktelser och profetior. Här är några av godbitarna.

Den rabiata vänsterkolumnisten Molly Ivins får inleda vår expose:

"It now looks, with 20/20 hindsight, as though we should have taken a few more deep breaths before smacking that tar baby that is Afghanistan. Were running out of time for three reasons: winter, Ramadan and the prospect of millions of people starving to death." Molly Ivins, 4 november.

Nej, Molly, med "20/20 hindsight" framstår du som en hysteriker. Å andra sidan, det har du gjort så länge jag kan minnas.

Hur som helst, den alltid och oavsiktligt självparodierande institutionen National Public Radio slog till med full kraft under bombningarna. Här ett av, eh, bombnedslagen:

"I dont know how long this was supposed to take but its certainly going a lot worse than expected. We have leading opposition figure captured and executed ... defections from the Taleban not happening on any large scale ..Afghan support for the Taleban appears to be on the increase and, if anything more was needed to dim the support of our allies for this whole adventure here we have another Red Cross warehouse has been bombed because of what is called human error. This is a war in trouble." - Daniel Schorr, NPR Weekend Edition.

Föga förvånande bidrog brittiska vänstertidningen The Guardian med ett smörgåsbord av krigsdystopier:

"But if we seek to bludgeon Afghanistan into submission, we will lose the war on terrorism, while inadvertently slaughtering some millions of its inhabitants. ." - George Monbiot, the Guardian, 2 oktober.

"The first body bags are now on their way home to the US, adding to the number of American families stricken by grief and loss. Once again - for what? Predictably, relentlessly, this conflict shows every sign of becoming the Vietnam of our generation - the graveyard of strategic interests and ideals, as well as lives." - Madeleine Bunting, The Guardian, 22 oktober.

"With every unguided bomb that drops, with every pinpoint missile gone astray, with every child maimed and with every redoubled cry of Taliban defiance, the military assault on Afghanistan becomes more of an obstacle to justice in its broadest sense, less a legitimate part of the solution." The Guardian, 2 november.

"Key Afghan opposition commanders are on the verge of abandoning the fight against the Taliban because their confidence in US military strategy has collapsed. Insurgents are no longer willing to infiltrate eastern Taliban-controlled Afghanistan because they believe American blunders are destroying the opportunity to spread revolt against the Islamist regime." -"Opposition leaders ready to quit battle against Taliban. US blunders leave key fighters disillusioned" - Rory Carroll, 14 november, 2001.

Jag tror att det kallas för "kirurgisk journalistik": Med stor precision hamnar reportern helt fel.

"The United States is not headed into a quagmire; its already in one. The United States is not losing the first round against the Taliban; it has already lost it. Soon, a new credibility gap will emerge as the Pentagon attempts to massage the news." - Jacob Heilbrunn, Los Angeles Times, 4 november.

Käre Jacob, var försiktig med var du sätter fötterna så att du inte ramlar ner i trovärdighetsgapet. Det är både brett och djupt.

De amerikanska feministerna ska ha cred och massor av det för att de mycket tidigt varnade världen för de kvinnoförtryckande talibanerna. När det väl blev dags att göra någonting åt saken drog de däremot snabbt åt sig öronen:

"Many of the Afghan women who have been warning us about the Taliban for years say that bombing would be the surest way to unite most Afghanis around them." - Gloria Steinem, Village Voice.

Under bomboffensiven som föregick Nordalliansens offensiv klagade många amerikanska journalister över Pentagons ovilja att redogöa för effekterna av bombningarna. Problemet var kanske snarast deras oförmåga att lyssna:

After four weeks of air attacks, Lt. Gen. Charles F. Wald, commander of combined air forces in Afghanistan, declared early this month: "Theyre basically at this point militarily defeated for all practical purposes."

"Quite frankly, I dont think the Taliban really realize how bad off they have it," he added.

Från artikeln "Blended Tactics Paved Way for Sudden Collapse," Los Angeles Times, 16 november.

Det är allt för den här gången. Vi återkommer efter nästa ovinnbara krig mot en beslutsam, hårdnackad och stridserfaren fiende som inga bomber i världen rår på.

Av Mats Tolander 17 nov 2001 09:12