Afghanistan and NASA

I'm sitting at home watching NASA TV on my old and slow PC, as the second EVA of STS121 takes place. Yesterday another Canadian soldier died in Afghanistan, a war that I used to support, but about which I now have grave doubts. Are they linked? Of course. The US administration told NASA they would have to deal with their budget cuts from existing programs, and it looks like science is the big loser, especially NASA'a global warming section (no surprise there). The US is spending billions of dollars a day on wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, which seem to be accomplishing the exact opposite of their announced purpose. And we (or at least the Government of Canada) are helping them. All of this is a lead-up to an article in the Sunday Times by Christina Lamb that repeats some old warnings, in a new context. Afghanistan has been the graveyard of soldiers from dozens of nations who thought to invade this harsh land. Read the article and let me know what you think.