How does a nation misplace a trillion-dollar, 16-year-old war, even as the Pentagon seeks thousands more troops and where Russia reportedly plans to screw with us next?
We just forgot about Afghanistan. It barely makes the news. Trump doesn’t tweet about it. Political and military officials seldom talk about it, perhaps because it’s a failure nobody can fix.
When I go with my Dad to his local VA Medical Center for frequent appointments I see young vets wearing caps or jackets marking them as Afghan War survivors (barely it seems, in some cases). I wonder what they think about their sacrifice, what was it for? I never ask, of course, because we all know the answer. Just in case they aren’t thinking about it at that moment I wouldn’t want to remind them.
More Troops?
Yes, when corruption and resistance bedevils you in a tribal land that has been ungovernable and unconquerable at least since Alexander the Great WHY NOT keep doing more of the same for another 16 years. But few eyebrows rose in Washington when we learned the Pentagon wants 5,000 troops added to the 8,400 we have there now.
Here Come The Russians
Next up for Putin appears to be making trouble for us there, even though the failed Afghan adventures of his Soviet predecessors contributed to their demise. It appears Russia’s boss sees intervention as a piece of his aim to be a global power player. Let him have it. Empires tend to crumble there.
What Are We Fighting For?
No one seriously argues that any of our three main goals in Afghanistan are faring well: Defend the government, fight terrorists and hold land recaptured from the Taliban last year. As a Kentucky sergeant in Afghanistan recently told a reporter, “The Afghans ain't buyin' what we're sellin'."
Even if they were, is it worth our lives, limbs and billions and billions of dollars? No wonder we’d rather just forget it’s happening.
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