Losing Hearts and Minds
Simon Jenkins, The Guardian | November 20, 2008
The lessons, as well as the history of Iraq, have been ignored and are now being repeated in Afghanistan. ++ The US and the UK have only succeeded to “reduce what should be one of the world's richest countries to shambles.” ++ If there is one lesson from Iraq it is that “foreign expeditions undertaken in a spirit of jingoist revenge, with a crazed optimism and no strategic plan, are usually a bad idea.” ++ While Hamid Karzai seeks political reconciliation with the Taliban, US and British special forces continue their campaign of losing hearts and minds.
