"I wish I may, I wish I may, I wish I may"

Image by Army.mil via Flickr

"I can make it happen. By clicking my heels together and adding more troops the war in Afghanistan will turn in our favor very soon." That's the Wonderland hope of our leaders, at least as spoken to us, the masses.

But to Senator Feingold's question in a Senate hearing "Are we sure that when we...get up to a level of 70,000 troops, are we sure that that isn't making the situation in Pakistan potentially worse?" our special envoy to Afghanistan, Richard Holbrooke, replied that the troop buildup "could end up creating a pressure in Pakistan which would add to the instability." Fiengold follower up with "Are you sure that the troop buildup in Afghanistan will not be counterproductive vis-à-vis Pakistan?" Feingold asked. "No," Holbrooke replied. "I'm only sure that we are aware of the problem."

And here's what Mike Mullen, head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, had to say at the same hearing. "Can I [be] 100 percent certain that won't destabilize Pakistan? I don't know the answer to that," Mullen said.

It's beginning to sound like Johnson and Vietnam all over again.