PrintDecember 8, 2009
Kicking the Can in Afghanistan
"Kick the Can" is a child's game familiar to kids from large cities. The only equipment required is an old tin can and a few willing children. The skills in play are stealth and speed. Like "Hide and Seek," all but one of the group hides, and then they are sought by the solitary player. With "Kick the Can," all initiative is ceded to the quarry -- a kind of fool's game for solitary hunters. At the risk of abusing a metaphor, we have now embarked on a national strategy that looks for all the world like a fool's game. In the process, we're ignoring rules even a child could understand.The first rule is that one side doesn't get to make the rules. In Afghanistan, declaring an arbitrary time limit not only telegraphs punches, but does little more than raise the pressure on the home team. Setting aside for a moment the nonsense about wars of "choice" and wars of "necessity," we might consider the blowback from Iraq. Having reversed the...(Read Full Article)
