The warlords are having a bad time of it. Boththe Afghanistan and Iraq adventures are turning moreand more into pumpkins, and rotten ones at that.

In addition, their scare tactics on Iran havebackfired and exposed the National Post for theyellow journalist rag that it is. In a movereminiscent of a Nazi propaganda operation thePost ran a story about the Iranian governmentforcing religious minorities to wear special colourcoded badges. It was a pure fairytale planted firstin the Post and spread to other papers around theworld to create hatred towards Iran and pave theway for military action against that nation.

Fortunately, because of an international uproar,the story was exposed it for what it was and thePost had to print a retraction. Unfortunately forCanada, Prime Minister Stephen Harper thought that thestory might be true. The question arises, was Mr.Harper in on the disinformation operation, or is hejust gullible?

In Iraq, the U.S. led conquest is having a very badtime. Over three years into a war that wasproclaimed a victory almost immediately after itstarted, the troops are still dying, Iraqi civilians arestill being slaughtered and the place is a disasterarea. The Pollyannas will still tell you that it isgetting better or some other happy-faced bumpf,but the facts say otherwise.

Much noise has beenmade the past few months about a draw down oftroop strength, as if to say that missionaccomplished is nearly at hand this time, but it isall pure politics. The hidden message is feel goodabout Mr. Bush’s war and don’t vote theDemocrats back into power this fall.

Despite thepropaganda, however, things are have got tothe point that rather than pulling out troops moretroops are being moved into Iraq from Kuwait tohelp deal with rising difficulties in Anbar Province.

Increasing insurgent activity is only one worry thatCoalition Forces have to deal with in Iraq. Recentinvestigations have indicated that out-of-controlMarines have murdered Iraqi civilians includingwomen and young children in at least twoseparate instances. Indications are that not onlyare a few troopers directly involved, but manymore are guilty of either failing to stop themurders or of covering them up.

A battalioncommander and two company commanders havebeen relieved of duties, and indications are thatthe rot could climb right up the chain of command.Unfortunately those the most responsible maynever see the inside of a courtroom to answer fortheir crimes. The biggest criminals are thepoliticians who started this war in the first placeand put the troops into terrible situations thatmade these murders possible.

Things have not been going too well in the othertheatre of Bush’s Mideast war either. Afteralmost five years in Afghanistan, the war still dragson and indications are that not only are theTaliban rebuilding their forces, many otherAfghans are turning against the foreignoccupation.

The Christian Science Monitor ran astory last week on the deteriorating state ofsecurity around Kandahar and a growingdisillusionment with the foreign-supportedgovernment. The Toronto Star also reported lastweek that clerics in the mosques of Kabul wereurging worshippers to join the fight with theTaliban against the foreigners, and recently atraffic accident in Kabul involving U.S. forcessparked an anti-foreign riot of hundreds of people.

Warm feelings for foreigners have not beenhelped, either, by the killing of women andchildren in coalition air strikes.

Other reports coming out of Afghanistan remindone of the war in Vietnam 40 years ago ormaybe China in the 1920s. A countryside hostileto foreign and government troops, insurgent spiesinfiltrated into the heart of foreign compounds,ineffective combat missions that take ground onlyto give it back, difficult cultural differencesbetween the occupiers and the local population,and a troublesome mix of political and economicinterests that lead to conflict between tribes andlocal leaders.

Canadians need to continue to ask theirgovernment why we are there, and how manylives it is willing to waste before it has had enough.We have lost 17 so far, with no doubt many moreto come if the pace of the war picks up, asindications suggest. The Americans are overextended around the world and will be drawingdown their forces in Afghanistan. As thathappens, more and more of the burden will fall onCanada, and the cost in lives and material will rise.

The end result of the wars in China in the lastcentury was the expulsion of foreigners from thecountry and the defeat of the warlords by thePeople’s Liberation Army. In Vietnam, theVietnamese nationalists threw out both the Frenchand the Americans, and in Algeria the locals droveout the French. The Afghans are masters atdefeating foreigners. The list goes on.

The questions for Canada are how much is itwilling to gamble that this time foreign invaderscan beat the odds, and who will take responsibilitywhen things go wrong?