NEW DELHI — When reports of WikiLeaks' disclosure of raw U.S. intelligence data from Afghanistan hit computers worldwide, commentators in Pakistan reacted with vitriolic broadsides. One spoke of "Neocon vampires" . . . "bloodthirsty Islamophobes" . . . "think tank irredentists" . . . (Indian) revanchists planning another dismemberment."
Strong words — particularly when compared to those of U.S. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, who was merely "mortified" and "appalled." The leaks provoked such fiery debate because the U.S.-led fight against "jihadism" had suddenly run into an unexpected adversary: truth.
Indeed, it now seems clear to anyone with eyes that the invasion of Afghanistan was built upon a great miscalculation: that Afghanistan could be successfully invaded.
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