M.D. Nalapat
Manipal, India — This columnist was among
the first outside the United States to cheer on, in February 2008, the ascent
of Barack Obama to the U.S. presidency. Even if he achieves little else during
his term, the election of an African-American by a majority Euro-ethnic
electorate will mellow the tension between races in the United States.
It also gives poorer peoples around the
globe a confidence that there is nothing intrinsic in themselves that prevents
them from reaching the collective levels of achievement of the Euro-ethnics.
For this alone Obama has merited the Nobel Peace Prize awarded to him.
However, many in the future are likely to
judge the soundness of the Nobel Committee's decision by Obama's success or
failure in Afghanistan. This is now Obama's war.
In this theater, as yet, change has been
absent. An important reason has been the high cost of operations due to the
policy of sourcing materiel almost exclusively from the United States and other
NATO partners. Such procurement resembles the policies of former U.S. President
George W. Bush, who declined to get needed materiel from the most
cost-effective sources.
With even the aftershave coming from home,
NATO armies have become the most expensive to field in combat. Should NATO ever
do battle against an enemy more endowed than the goons that fill the Taliban's
ranks, or the debilitated militaries such as those of the late former Iraqi
President Saddam Hussein, the enemy may only need to focus on their supply
lines from home to demotivate the NATO troops.
