Charlie Wilson's War

And God saw everything that he had made,
and behold, it was very good
--Genesis 1:31

I still think politics is about who's getting screwed
and who's doing the screwing
--Molly Ivins

Purple haze all in my brain
Lately things just don't seem the same
--Purple Haze, Jimi Hendrix
____________

When Ranger was a young man the argument against drug usage was that drugs distort reality and are therefore harmful. However, long-term U.S. policy is so out-of-touch with reality that it seems to operate on a psychedelic plane.

Exhibit #1:

"The new provincial government is expected to be led by the Awami National Party (ANP), a left-leaning, secular group that backed the pro-Soviet government in Afghanistan in its war against U.S. and Pakistani-backed Islamic guerrillas in the 1980s (Voters in Pakistan Reject Religious Extremists.)"

ANP is now seen by the U.S. policymakers as a viable counterbalance to the religious extremists, which favor groups like al-Qaeda and the Taliban. But look at this historically, and darkly, through a State Department prism:

• The USSR invades Afghanistan -- this is bad.
• USSR policy marginalizes religious extremists -- this is bad.
• U.S. backs the Taliban, war lords and drug deals -- this is good.
• The Taliban and al-Qaeda types shoot USSR aircraft out of the sky with U.S. missiles -- this is good.
• The ANP supports the Soviet incursion -- this is bad.
  

Fast-forward 25 years. . .

• The U.S. invades Afghanistan -- this is good.
• The U.S. marginalizes religious extremists -- this is good.
• The U.S. opposes the Taliban and al-Qaeda -- this is good.
• The U.S. supports the war lords and drug lords -- this is good.
• The Taliban and al-Qaeda shoot U.S. aircraft out of the sky -- this is bad.
• The ANP opposes the Taliban and al-Qaeda -- this is good.

Well, Ranger doesn't use drugs or even get drunk, but this is mind-bending stuff. U.S. policy is as fickle as presidential hopefuls.