Continuing, utter denial of the ideological roots of “terrorism” (that is, jihad). From AP:
KABUL, Afghanistan – One of America’s closest allies says the war on terrorism fails to address its root causes.
Experts agreed with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, saying Friday the major military offensive against the Taliban will not fix Afghanistan’s larger crises — a lack of reconstruction and jobs, a booming drug trade, and a weak government.
“You won’t win unless you can convince people that progress is being made,” said Marvin Weinbaum, a former State Department analyst now a scholar at the Washington-based Middle East Institute.
Passive voice can be used with great effect to deflect focus from who ought to be making “progress,” and at what.
“One of the things we recognize is that we have failed to improve on the development side, especially in the south. In the areas with the greatest need, we have not gotten the reconstruction that was necessary.”
On Thursday, a clearly frustrated Karzai criticized the coalition’s anti-terror campaign, deploring the deaths of hundreds of Afghans and appealing for more help for his government. The coalition has killed hundreds, mostly Taliban militants, since May.
Karzai spokesman Khaleeq Ahmad said Friday the president wanted the international community to reevaluate its approach.
“We want to fight (terrorism) in a way that we fight the roots of it: where they get trained, where they get equipment, where they get money, where the recruitment centers are,” he said.
How we wish that were true.