DC's Soviet Strategy

Public support for the Afghanistan War is collapsing. Even George Will sees Afghanistan as the bottomless money and blood pit that it is. And the irony of it all is that, just like LBJ in Vietnam, and the Soviets in Afghanistan, the battle is not over self-defense, control of valuable resources, or fulfilling commitments to allies, but simple imperial hubris -- losing control would just look bad, or so DC's ruling elite believes.

But as Andrew Bacevich points out, the real threat to empires is their own inherent weaknesses, which the ruling elite cannot, or will not, see:

Like the Politburo of olden days, our political elites remain oblivious to the possibility that the real threats to the American empire might be internal: an economy in shambles and basic institutions wallowing in dysfunction. The conviction that “victory” in Afghanistan will make things right grips Washington with the same intensity that once gripped Moscow—and with as little justification.

Before you snicker at the Soviets for ruining their economy while wearing ideological blinders, let's not forget that our ruling elite is in the process of doing the same thing with the ongoing, and still growing, Diversity Depression. And let's not forget that the same elite is imposing a demographic revolution on us with its Open Borders policy, which not only steals jobs, but depresses wages for those who manage to hold onto their jobs. Toss in the exporting of American jobs with outsourcing, ruinous spending, and the continuing assault on basic liberties, and you have a regime that has lost all legitimacy with its subjects.

Something's got to give.

More at memeorandum.