7-22-08, 9:30 am

Barack Obama’s whirlwind tour of the war-zones in Iraq and Afghanistan, combined with visits to Israel and Germany, where he will give an historic speech near the Brandenburg Gate, has left John McCain in the media dust. McCain earlier invited Obama to accompany him on a trip to Iraq, but it is now quite obvious that McCain would have had a tough time keeping up with the young Barack, who is appearing very presidential indeed on TV these days, whether suited up to chat with President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan, or shifting gears to deftly shoot baskets with US troops in Kuwait. McCain couldn’t even handle throwing out the first pitch at soon-to-be-shuttered Yankee Stadium in the Bronx the other night. Could it be we are witnessing the end of two eras here?

Obama met with US field commanders in Kabul and Jalalabad and dined and talked with the regular troops. One African American officer who appeared on footage on CNN looked very proud to be introducing the first African American presidential candidate to the men and women under his command.

Before arriving in Kabul, Obama told reporters, 'I am here to listen, but there is no doubt about my core position, which is that we need a timetable for withdrawal [from Iraq], not only to relieve pressure on our military but also to deal with the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan – and to put more pressure on the Iraqi government.'

Obama talked extensively with Hamid Karzai, the beleaguered president of Afghanistan, who these days is more or less confined to what passes for a Green Zone in Kabul. Last week on Face the Nation, Obama was sharply critical of the corruption in Afghanistan, where billions of dollars and euros have vanished into crooked pockets without a trace (just like in Iraq), while hundreds of international aid workers live lavishly

in the few luxury hotels that exist in Kabul and jack up the prices on apartment space. Basic foodstuffs and fuel have shot up 100 percent in Afghanistan in the past year, as they have everywhere else in the region. Karzai, a long-time CIA-operative formerly resident in California, has been called “charismatic” especially in the early years of his reign, but these days his trademark green tribal cloak has considerably more charisma than he has, beaten down as he is by the ravages of Endless War II in Afghanistan – with nothing to show the Afghan people, for all the billions spent, that would give them an inkling of hope for a better future.

Bombing has increased dramatically in recent months in Afghanistan, so that the record for tonnage of bombs dropped in war-torn Iraq and Afghanistan is now held by the latter, having wrested that dubious title away from Iraq in June, when it also surpassed Iraq for the first time in the number of American troop deaths.

Each day in Afghanistan there are reports of horrific civilian casualties from US bombs, 45 on their way to a wedding party, 15 women and children in a house, 10 people in an old folks’ home, 11 ill-equipped Afghan police elsewhere. All the result of “unfortunate mistakes” or denied altogether by the military brass, who claim that only terrorists were killed.

Obama has called for increased troop levels and greater focus on Afghanistan in order to root out Taliban and Al Qaeda forces there. The danger is that the US, under an Obama administration, would continue to see enormous loss of life, military and civilian, along with US national treasure being sucked down into an endless swamp of corruption and violence in far-away Afghanistan.

It must not be forgotten that the Taliban, trained and financed by the CIA, were strongly backed by the US government against the Soviets and the leftist Afghan government. Osama bin Laden, too, was in large part a creation of the US intelligence services, who employed radical fundamentalist terrorists to combat Afghan secular and moderate forces, destroying schools, teachers, and opportunities for women in the process – all in order to prevent a left-wing Marxist government from taking root in the region. US imperialism had already previously “successfully” practiced this form of sabotage in Iraq (installing Saddam Hussein as head of the Iraq secret service in 1963), Iran (by overthrowing democratically-elected Mohammed Mossadegh in 1953), and Muslim Indonesia (where more than a 100,000 leftists were slaughtered by US-backed troops in 1965-66).

The current bombing upsurge and the deaths of civilians in Afghanistan is painfully reminiscent of the savage reprisals against Guatemalan and El Salvadoran civilians for “siding with the rebels.” The military may claim the deaths are mistakes, but it looks a lot like the unleashing of state terrorism, designed to punish innocent civilians and deprive the Taliban of indigenous support.

Immediately following 9/11 an effective international police action could have been effectively mounted against bin Laden, but instead the Bush Administration recklessly shifted their attention to war on Iraq and overthrowing Saddam Hussein. It should be recognized by Obama and his advisors that it is now too late to hope for a recreation in Afghanistan of the conditions that existed immediately post 9/11, when the world was on our side and ready and willing to go after Osama Bin Laden and his band of terrorists. Too much time, money and blood have been lost, and too many people in the Muslim world have been turned against us. It would be a great tragedy if Afghanistan became Obama’s Vietnam. The military-industrial complex depends on war to sustain itself, but no one else anywhere in the world benefits from endless war – the only beneficiaries are the makers of armaments, the Department of Defense, and the military top brass.

Because of Obama’s electoral skills and the grassroots movement that has formed around him, we now have a chance to once again rebuild a Great Society here at home, where loss of good jobs due to free trade, rampant home foreclosures, and a rotting infrastructure have nearly sapped our strength to the point of no return. However, we cannot rebuild America with US-stoked military conflagrations raging around the world. Wars abroad are manipulated by capitalism to preserve its own narrow self-interests, and those interests are seldom, if ever, patriotic.

Obama has called for leaving Iraq within 16 months of the beginning of his term. His position received support from Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki over the weekend, who told the German magazine Der Spiegel that a timetable for withdrawal is needed: 'As soon as possible,' Maliki said. 'As far as we're concerned. US presidential candidate Barack Obama talks about 16 months. That, we think, would be the right timeframe for a withdrawal, with the possibility of slight changes.'

Although Nouri al-Maliki was forced to “clarify” his remarks the next day by Bush, his moment of clarity did not last for more than 24 hours. On July 21st, the chief Iraqi government spokesman, Ali al-Dabbagh, speaking after Obama met the Iraqi prime minister, told reporters: 'We cannot give any timetables or dates but the Iraqi government believes the end of 2010 is the appropriate time for the withdrawal of forces.' Obama, for his part described his talks with Maliki as 'very constructive.' This is a big boost for Obama in that he has been calling for withdrawal of all US combat troops by April, 2010.

It boils down to this. Obama has said that it is time to respect the wishes of Iraq as a sovereign government – as well as the wishes of more than 70% of the Iraqi people according to the most recent polls – and start withdrawing US troops. Obama thinks this is in the strategic interests of the US, and the Maliki government obviously thinks it is in theirs.

Following the Der Spiegel interview last week, a top McCain advisor is reported to have said “We’re f-----!” After the Maliki government’s official remarks yesterday, that goes double. There may be more “clarification” to come, but it is obvious that the once brightly shining lights of neo-con foreign policy are finally starting to dim.

--Peter Zerner is managing editor of Political Affairs. Joel Wendland can be reached at