Why Are We "Surging" into Afghanistan?

Excuse me for being impolitic, but why the -- is America "surging" so unquestioningly into Afghanistan? Not for nothing is that country called "the burial ground of empires," "a guerilla's paradise" and "the theme park of problems." Yet, President Obama insists that America must act now to "stabilize" Afghanistan and its dizzyingly disparate, ethnically fractious, heavily armed tribal factions. Actually, our military has already been trying to do this for more than seven years. Despite having 36,000 U.S. troops on the ground and spending $2 billion a month, the current situation there is described by our intelligence agencies as in a "downward spiral."

Once again, we're getting a rush job, and it would serve us well to ponder a few realities. First, it will be a nightmare of futility to try stabilizing Afghanistan by force.

Second, Afghan stability has to be a diplomatic task undertaken by a regional coalition that should include Iran, China, Russia, India and Pakistan.

Third, Afghanistan's remote mountainous regions are not the place where terrorists train for sophisticated attacks on urban America Also, our military action in Afghanistan has merely pushed the extremists into neighboring Pakistan, where they are now destabilizing that fragile, nuclear-armed government -- a huge problem that will worsen with Obama's escalation.

Just because Obama's team is drumming up a war doesn't mean we should go along. For more information and action suggestions, contact Win Without War, a broad coalition of grassroots groups opposing escalation in Afghanistan: www.standupcongress.org