White House is Whistling Past Afghan Graveyard

In an exclusive interview with The Nation, Sen. Russ Feingold defends his lone vote to oppose an amendment to the latest 'defense' spending bill.

Feingold said he is increasingly disturbed by the war in Afghanistan, where troop levels are escalating by the month, US casualties are mounting and the insurgency is expanding. "It appears that no one even asked the president about [Afghanistan] at his [July 22] press conference after apparently thirty or thirty-one Americans were killed in Afghanistan last month. How is that possible?" Feingold asks. "People have to wake up to what's going on in Afghanistan, and my vote is a request that people wake up to what's happening, which is we are getting deeper and deeper into this situation in a way that I don't think necessarily makes sense at all and may actually be counterproductive."

On July 23 Vice President Joe Biden told the BBC that "in terms of national interest of Great Britain, the US and Europe, [the war in Afghanistan] is worth the effort we are making and the sacrifice that is being felt.... And more will come." Feingold said Biden's statement and requests from Defense Secretary Robert Gates for more US troops in Afghanistan are making him "very worried that this is heading into a free fall of support for something that may not make sense." More

Revealed: £12bn hidden costs of Afghan war
The soaring cost of Britain's military campaign in Afghanistan is laid bare today, as a comprehensive analysis reveals that the cost of fighting the Taliban has passed £12bn. An Independent on Sunday assessment of the "hidden costs" of fighting since the Taliban was ousted in 2001 reveals that the bill works out at £190 for every man, woman and child in the UK – and would pay for 23 new hospitals, 60,000 new teachers or 77,000 new nurses.

Iraq Invaders Find Afghan fighters Even Bolder