Are we chasing phantoms in "Af-Pak"?

Obama is telling our NATO partners that Al Qa'ida is a greater threat to Europe than to the US. (Obama advierte de que Al Qaeda es un peligro mayor para Europa que para EE UU El País 03.04.2009)

If that's the case, then why is the US so much more insistent on carrying on an open-ended war in Afghanistan and Pakistan for the purpose of fighting "Al Qa'ida"?

Similar questions were asked about the Vietnam War, where the US was far more worried about the alleged threat than the immediate neighbors who were supposedly more threatened.

The US certainly has good reason to keep looking for Osama bin Laden and whatever group of followers he still commands. But carrying on a protracted war, already in its eighth year, primarily against Pashtun tribal warlords in Afghanistan and Pakistan - whether we label them "Taliban" or not - isn't a way to reduce the overall terrorist threat from Muslim extremists. The Afghanistan War has turned into a war in search of a mission. And we keep finding new ones.

Tags: afghanistan war

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