Mr. Hagel Meet Mr. Karzai

Our new Secretary of Defense certainly got a warm reception on his surprise visit to Kabul. Two suicide bombers blew up 19 people.  What's a celebration without some fireworks?

Mr. Karzai has long been a blustering irritant but now he's turning into a full fledged clown.  Soon no one will pay any attention to his outbursts. One can hope. Except for his people and ours just before those bombs go off.

The Taliban has taken credit for the pyrotechnics.  Those jokers.  After all they have been in negotiation for months with Karzai as to how he's going to end his presidency.  At least that's what we've been told.

But wait!  Seems not to be so!  It seems they are now in collusion with us! Because they want us to stay where we will continue to kill them and protect the women and children as best we can and pour money into that bottomless pit of a country.

I get dizzy trying to keep things straight.  My mind cries for an explanation as to why we'd want to stay in that God forsaken place.  Our generals have already stated we've gotten darn little for the money we've poured in - other than the gracious and continuing commentary of how grateful they are from Karzai.

Let's see, one more time, we put him in office.  We helped him throw a second election.  We've enriched he and his family.  We've kept the Taliban at bay.  Really, we have.

What have we gotten?  Thousands of dead men and women, hundreds of thousands injured and billions of tax payer dollars lost.

So why would be want to collude with the Taliban or anyone else for the privilege of staying?  Granted some of our government officials are on a permanent ego trip, but even they can't find a positive here.  They have no educational system for our students to take advantage of.  They have no national security.  They have no industry.  The majority of their population lives so far below our poverty level no one in their right mind would want to join them. Heck, they don't even have indoor plumbing!

'Tis a puzzlement.  We've gotten the message Karzai wants us out.  We're doing the best we can to accommodate him without everything we have accomplished, no matter how minuscule, being ripe for reversal.

He wants charge of the prisoners we still hold.  To let them go free.  As George Bush might have said, "Come an' git 'em!" Never fear, they'll get them soon enough unless we export them to the U.S. for trials in our courts.  We wouldn't do that would we?

I know.  I'm droning on and on.  Hey.  Speaking of drones...