What Is It We're Doing There Again?

Enjoy our new song about escalation in Afghanistan, the changing rationales for it, and the absence of a consensus on what winning really looks like.

The footage is from Brave New Films' excellent Rethink Afghanistan series.

What Is It We're Doing There Again?
[download the mp3]

Do you remember when the bomber first flew over?
With a mission and a target square in its eye
Before they asked for twice as many soldiers
Before we'd have to see 1300 die
When circumstances dip into a downswing
The $, days and the deaths keep ticking up
A laundry list of motives ever growing
The more I hear the less that they're enough

Do you know what success, it ought to look like in the end
What do you do when the fight, it don't go nothing like you planned
Tell me what it is we're doing there again

Victory, it will always prove elusive
With the vagaries of when, why and how
So who can blame us if we've grown a bit dismissive
Another day another rationale

Do you know what success, it ought to look like in the end
What do we do with this long list of beginnings without ends
Tell me what it is we're doing there again

If it still makes sense, here in the present tense
it has to be worth reexamining
The caskets all come home filled with blood and bone
Sacrificed to flimsy reasoning
How many will we send before this is at its end
Tell me what it is we're doing there again

--
Max and the Marginalized are a political band from LA with a liberal bent. They record a lot of songs and play a lot of shows.

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Comments

[den1953]

There needs to be a time line for a trigger to end this action there is no good to this country if the political leaders just continue to honor corruption & drugs to rule the land.

[hgovernick]

Why Afghanistan?: OIL. Visit:

http://commdocs.house.gov/committees/intlrel/hfa48119.000/hfa48119_0f.htm

"1998
U.S. INTERESTS IN THE CENTRAL ASIAN REPUBLICS

COMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

Mr. MARESCA (Unocal Corporation). Congressman, I am not here to defend the Taliban. That is not my role. We are a company that is trying to build a pipeline across this country.

Mr. ROHRABACHER (R - CA). I sympathize with that. By the way, you are right. All factions agree that the pipeline will be something that's good. But let me warn you that if the pipeline is constructed before there is a government that is acceptable at a general level to the population of Afghanistan and not just
to international, other international entities, other governments, that your pipeline will be blown up. There is no doubt about that. I have been in and out of Afghanistan for 15 years. These are very brave, courageous people. If they think they are being stepped on, just like the Soviets found out, they are
going to kick somebody back. They are not going to lay down and let somebody put the boot in their face. If the government that is receiving the funds that you are talking about is a government that is not accepted by a large number of people in Afghanistan, there will continue to be problems. You say you have had a positive relationship with all the factions. That is what you are presenting
to us today."

[William50]

O'man needs Afganistan to scare the people with. In fact and truth an attack would not harm his way to govern and would do away with that idea of openness.
By all legal and moral rights, laws and poltical statements we have won in both Afganist and that other little Bush war when the people were able to vote in their own government. That one act is what the American way is about. Tthe little people standing up to the mean guys and having a vote. So, we have won. We can leave. But what to do with three hundred thousand men and women needing jobs and the many business threw out the nation suppling what the military needs. If the wars ended the recession would become worse.
middleamerican2010
Casey

[Belizeguy]

I've posted this link elsewhere, but it's a heartbreaking reminder of the horrors of war:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article6836190.ece

[dadw5boys]

Since the Second Month of the Afgan War the U.S. has been the Occupier of a Hotel were some bad people once stayed.
Now the USA is in the middle of a Hostial Take Over of Afganistan by Rebels called the Taliban. In other words the USA is in the middle of a civil war and on the wrong side.
The old managment of Afgan wants the USA to provide them everything while the Taliban wants the USA to leave.

So the USA is in a fix , do they stay and keep the alquadi pushed into Pakistan and possible destablize Pakistan and then you have Terrorist with Nukes ?

Or leave and help the Taliban fight alqueadi ?

The USA can stay and go BANKRUPT like the USSR , that is a popular chooice with the Terrorist who would work to KEEP THE USA stuck in Afganistan.

[James Boyce - Huffpost Blogger]

awesome Max, great to see you back, what have you been doing? Haven't seen you up here in a long time