Pepe Escobar: Why the US won't Leave Afghanistan?!

Surge, bribe and run? Among multiple layers of deception and "newspeak", the official Washington spin about our quagmire in Afghanistan simply does not hold: According to our CIA, there are no more than 5o to 75 'al-Qaeda" operatives in Afghanistan, who are responsible for draining our US government by no less than $10 billion a month, or $12o billion a year. Unfortunately, US Defense Secretary Robert Gates has been adamant that withdrawing troops from Afghanistan is premature. The Pentagon wants the White House to hold off on ending the Afghan troop surge until the fall of 2012. That, of course, shadows the fact that even if there were a full draw down, the final result would be the same number of US troops before the Obama administration ordered the Af-Pak surge. Even if there were some sort of draw down, it would mostly impact troops in supporting roles. Right now, there are already over 100,000 "private contractors", (a euphemism for mercenaries). A recent, detailed study by the Eisenhower Research Project at Brown University revealed that the "war on terror" is costing our country a staggering $5.4 Trillion, plus another $4.4 Trillion!