Reply #40: Afghanistan is getting real bad, buddy - and it's costing a ton

[social_critic]

One Burger King at Baghram doesn't mean everybody gets to eat junk food. Supply choke points are a real issue. The reason why US diplomats are being very cozy with Turkmenistan's dictator is the critical need to have that supply route stay open - but that route stays open only if the Russians say it's OK. The Russians aren't about to lean on Turkmenistan's ruler because they enjoy seeing our troops stuck in Afghanistan - the more we bleed, the better off they are.

The military has been getting around the problem by flying more supplies in. Here's a little tidbit for you:

"As a deeper example, using a three-month window, between January and March 2009, there were 29,500 tons of cargo airlifted for OEF, statistics show. In that same amount of time from January to March 2010, there were 64,100 tons of cargo airlifted for OEF, more than double from the previous year."

http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123220441

Another comment from the same article:

"In continuing operations, officials said that at many locations throughout Afghanistan, mobility warriors will continue to go full throttle because "Soldiers and Marines depend exclusively on airlifters to bring them supplies they need to survive and overcome in the fight.""

In other words, there are many places in Afghanistan where troops CAN'T be re-supplied by land. It's all done by air because supply convoys are a weak link. The heavier the gear they deploy, the more of a logistics tail they need. And it's getting really complicated. If they are having to deploy tanks it means they're not being successful with the lighter gear. And it also means they'll need much more complex re-supply - or they'll keep the tanks in flat terrain in areas where they already got fuel stashed.

Afghanistan is a lost cause. It's being fought for face saving reasons. But the more they up the ante, the worse it will be. And our economy can't stand having these military parasites like Petraeous dictating the national budget. It's time to send the generals to retirement, and the soldiers back to the barracks where they should have been kept all along.