Wash, rinse, repeat

Defence minister Gordon O'Connor is at least being truthful about the situation in Afghanistan. It's not good.

There was one part of his statement to the press which should have caused ears to perk up among those who watched the TV wars of the 1960s and 1970s.

I've [also] asked military officials to develop a plan designed to help the Afghan government assume more responsibilities for their country's security.
"I would like to see increased contribution of military equipment by the government of Canada to the Afghan National Police and the Afghan National Army.

How many times have we heard the same thing from Rumsfeld and Bush about Iraq? This is their plan from November 2005.

The goal is to train enough Iraqi forces to carry the fight against the terrorists.

If you'd like to know how that's working out, take a look here.

Why do these people insist on repeating past mistakes? If they want a well-trained national armed forces they had better be prepared to provide direct leadership and control of those armed forces for the next 20 years.

Need an example of how not to do it?

Repeat after me - VIETNAMIZATION.