Talk to the Hand

Every game has a distinctive fire-and-dodge action
that you will gradually master.
In Defender it is a fast two-finger action
on Fire and Thrust,
in Asteroids a spray action on Fire and Rotate.
In Space Invaders it is a continuous co-ordination
of Fire and retreat, Fire and retreat ...."
--Invasion of the Space Invaders, Martin Amis

We were as men who through a fen
Of filthy darkness grope:
We did not dare to breathe a prayer,
Or give our anguish scope:
Something was dead in each of us,
And what was dead was Hope
--The Ballad of Reading Gaol, Oscar Wilde

--I thought you spies knew everything.
--Only God knows everything.
He works for Mossad
--The Constant Gardner (2005)
____________________

Max Boot in the L.A. Times argues that the U.S. not only stop al Qaeda, but also stop it from "regenerating itself as it has in the past" (Staying the Course in Afghanistan.) That means preventing the Taliban from returning to prominence and projecting power into Pakistan.

While the suggestion that the U.S. operate as constant gardener of evil weeds has a nice ring of closure, how can anyone or anything stop anyone or anything from regenerating itself? One can spray Ortho Weed Control, but sure as hell those weeds will be back in a few weeks, usually hardier than ever.

We do not control the future. We control only now, and that just barely. How can anyone say that we are trying to keep the Taliban from returning to prominence and projecting their power into Pakistan? This seems ass backwards since the problem with the Taliban began, matured and to date is the result of Pakistan's projection of power into Afghanistan rather than vice versa, as Max Boot and crew would assert.

How many decades, or centuries, should the U.S. allocate to giving the surge time to work? When did the U.S. begin championing its failures? The ill-fated Challenger mission made its way onto a license plate, as did the seriously dead Nascar hero Dale Earnhardt. Keeping people from joining groups which are their pleasure is a losing proposition -- why does the U.S. want to be a loser?

We could say, "Home by Christmas", but what year?