Commentary By Ron Beasley
As I have said here more than once the circus in Washington DC is not about ideology but is tribal warfare. Juan Cole takes a look at why the conflict in Afghanistan no longer appears to be news.
So here�s the reason the whole bloody Afghanistan war is off the radar: it isn�t a partisan issue. The Republican Party, except for a few Liberatarians, is solidly in favor of the war and would apparently like to go on fighting it for decades if only they could. But the Democrats cannot oppose the war (as they eventually opposed the Iraq War) because their own president has implemented a surge and is dedicated to prosecuting the war. The rank and file Democrats may not be very happy about Obama�s adoption of the war, but they are loathe to attack their own party leader (i.e. many of them feel as though they have to support their team).
In the United States of America, if you cannot get an argument going on a partisan party basis, then it just tends to be ignored and to generate no buzz.
I fear he's probably right. The sport is the partisan tribal warfare and that becomes the "news." Cole notes that his posts on Afghanistan get less traffic than posts on other subjects. The United States has become a country of mindless sports fans and the sport is red and blue tribal warfare. Yes - this is how Empires end.
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