President Obama spent a lot of time seriously considering essentially three choices in Afghanistan: send more troops, send more troops, or send more troops. Not surprisingly, he chose the middle option.
Does this make sense? We went into Afghanistan to get Al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden. By all accounts, they have left. They are operating in Pakistan, and probably in Somalia, Yemen, and elsewhere.
Back in the old days, before 9/11, before George W. Bush, the strategy against terrorism was more surgical. Targeted attacks against bases, special forces, CIA, FBI. When Bush became president, all of this was ignored in favor of putting missiles in Alaska. After 9/11, this plan was dusted off and almost re-implemented. Then the military-industrial complex saw their opportunity and our current “boots on the ground strategy” was born.
Since then we have been pouring money and troops into Afghanistan, and, as a bonus, Iraq. Contractors get rich. The Mayor of Kabul and his cronies get rich. Lobbyists and their bought legislators get rich. Blackwater, Halliburton, etc., get rich. In contrast, Al Qaeda still operates throughout the world. Nation-building is a farce. Our country suffers. Our troops die.
It’s been said that Afghanistan is a nation where empires go to die. From Alexander the Great to the Soviet Union this has been so. Even our British allies have cemeteries in Kabul as testament to these follies. At home, our leaders drape themselves in the flag lying to the people about our cause. Our troops, meanwhile, come home in coffins draped in that same flag. This is not a just cause. This is folly.
Suggested reading for our leadership:
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