War is serious business. It’s also unpleasant, which may be the reason most Americans don’t pay as much attention to it as they should. Tonight, as you eat your dinner and enjoy your family, there are more than 60,000 American troops serving in Afghanistan, each of them separated from their families and exposed to deadly dangers. Within the next few months 30,000 more troops will join them.
Recent polls show that the war in Afghanistan ranks fourth or fifth among public issues that occupy the minds of Americans. That is a shame. Life and death should earn a higher ranking.
It’s easy to be “pro-war” and support every escalation requested by our military commanders, basking in the imagined patriotic glory of warfare. Similarly, it’s easy to be “anti-war” and oppose every deployment of our nation’s military, no matter the cause, basking in a self-righteous conceit of pacifism. Nature seems to dictate that easy things are seldom right things. Almost never do they inform us well when serious matters must be decided.
We are told that we are engaged in a global war on terror and that our further efforts in Afghanistan are central to victory in that war. This representation is either true or false. Insofar as it speaks of Afghanistan, we are now convinced that it is false.
In addition to a war on terror, America is doing battle with an illusion—a constantly moving mirage of a peaceful, prosperous and democratic Afghanistan, an ally of the United States. We struggle to believe in the reality of this illusion because we want to believe it, but our belief strains against the fierce resistance of all the facts before us. Our terrorist enemies are deadly, but no deadlier than a mirage that leads us to foolish decisions.
Our local fire departments exist for the purpose of protecting our lives and property. Our firefighters do a good job working in dangerous situations, often putting their lives on the line. It would be unthinkable that municipal leaders would conspire to set buildings on fire, then deploy our firefighters, equipped inadequately to extinguish the blaze, so that a favored contractor might profit from rebuilding the destroyed structure. Such a thing would be unthinkable, scandalous and would likely lead to rioting among townspeople.
It is not unthinkable, however, that our national leaders would deploy our military forces for reasons other than our national interests. It is not unthinkable that our leaders would manufacture reasons to extend military conflicts so that corporate war profiteers might be enriched by supplying the war effort and partaking in the spoils. It would be nothing new. We know it has happened before.
Some things make sense, and some things don’t. When political machinations make no sense, when they just won’t add up, it’s time to be suspicious. It’s time to question the authorities.
Defending ourselves from terrorist attacks makes sense. Spending $101,594,915.25, more than ONE HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS PER DAY, in an effort to force democracy upon an unwilling Afghan population makes no sense at all. None.
A long time ago in a classical civilization class, a learned professor cautioned us that “Romans were not Americans in togas.” It would be impossible, he said, to understand the history and culture of ancient Rome if we imposed American social and ethical standards upon our understanding of that ancient civilization.
Afghans are not Americans with turbans. They are people of many tribes, and democracy is anathema to the fundamentals of their tribal traditions and religious faith. They do not want democracy and, in fact, will not have it. If we impose democracy upon them, they will throw it off. We will fail.
Tearing down Al-Qaeda training bases, disrupting terrorist planning and operations within Afghanistan, and killing and capturing Al-Qaeda operatives within Afghanistan were goals that made sense. They were also goals that were accomplished by air power and 1000 special forces and elite troops on the ground within the first few days of the military campaign in Afghanistan. It is a completed mission. The bases and the Al-Qaeda operatives are gone.
Tracking down, capturing or killing Osama Bin Laden and the Al-Qaeda bigshots, wherever in the world they may be hiding, makes sense. Deploying 30,000 additional American troops to Afghanistan, where these enemies are not, makes no sense at all.
Bin Laden is not in Afghanistan. Our own CIA tells us that there are fewer than 100 Al Qaeda associates in that country, and none of them are bigshots. If we want to capture or kill Al Qaeda bosses, we’re gonna have to look elsewhere.
Finally, and more soberingly, asking American men and women to sacrifice limbs and lives in defense of American liberty has, throughout our history, made perfect sense to all but the most pacifistic Americans. On the other hand, requiring American troops to lay down their lives for the corrupt government of Hamid Karzai and corporate war profiteers is a shameful and criminal enterprise to which an end must be brought.
More than 3000 days have passed since American combat troops arrived in Afghanistan. Most of our legitimate objectives there have been accomplished, others have moved or otherwise been transformed. It is time to leave.
To date, we have spent $300,000,000,000.00, that’s THREE HUNDRED BILLION DOLLARS, in the Afghan theater of our war on terror. Our involvement there has already taken five times as long as it took Allied forces to win World War I, more than twice as long as it took to win World War II. What has not been won by now is not there to win. No prize remains in Afghanistan worth winning.
The beneficiaries of our continuing expenditures and the service of our sons and daughters in that 14th century country are not the people of either the United States or Afghanistan. The beneficiaries are:
- the domestic warlords who accept our generous bribes for being on our side,
- the domestic heroin moguls whose life destroying business our efforts subsidize,
- the corporate giants who benefit from the largest defense contracts in our nation’s history,
- private contractors who fatten at the overflowing trough of nation building swill,
- the corrupt government of Hamid Karzai which we prop up with our money and might,
- and the barons of international commerce in whose eyes gleam the prospect of a new trade route through which to compete with Russian and Chinese oil interests.
Some things make sense. Some things don’t. We are now 3000 days in Afghanistan. It is 2900 days too long.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
There is no way to justify our continued occupation of Afghanistan. I know that Americans don’t like to think of our presence there as an occupation, but that is what it is. Anyone who has spent any time in country knows that the people do not think that we are doing anything to improve their situation, and we are becoming less popular every day. If there was anything to be gained by our staying there I would be in favor of continuing, but there is nothing to be gained.
Thank you both for your insightful thoughts on this subject. Sadly I suffer from an inability to expres my thoughts so clearly. However I am happy to know that someone out there in the universe does put into words that which I know and believe. In this entry you have done just that and more.
This morning a front page article on “The Tennessean” is headlined: “Attack Kills 8 At Afghan CIA base”. That was the article that caught my eye as I collected the newspaper from my drivway. Immediately my excitement of starting a new day became clouded. “Kills 8″ I thought….not really that number doesn’t include the loved ones, family, friends, neighbors and peers who also met death as a result of that attack.” Walking back to the house my mind was filled with blured images of the many faces of the dead and dying men and women from a variety of countries who represent both sides of this and other wars we wage. Senseless, brutal and without merit. Certainly those souls who have been lost to us deserve more. Their time on earth has been cut short and we have lost our opportunity to love, laugh, cry, hope and dream with them. I wonder how many hugs, how many kisses, how many happy celebrations and how many conversations have been taken. My heart is heavy as I think about the tomorrows that will never come.
Continued war in Afghanistan is foolishness. You are right that there is nothing there to win.