Despite the immense evil of war, Jesus said it is inevitable that wars will continue until He returns (Mark 13:7-8). In 2001, the war in Afghanistan had a clear and simple objective: capture or kill Osama bin Laden, degrade or destroy his al Qaeda network’s ability to wage war against America. Period. We knew where he was and we went to go get him. Like Vietnam, Afghanistan is a war based on paranoia. This war really isn’t about Afghanistan so much as it is about Pakistan and, ultimately, India. Even the most benign version of the 2010 theory ends with millions of dead people and a nuclear winter. None of which makes the Afghan war winnable or even a good idea, but it at least explains that look on the president’s face when he is forced to defend it.
Four Thousand Days
It is possible the largely-symbolic and ineffective Afghan army
has found a way to do something Washington has tried and failed
to do for twelve years: finally pull U.S. forces out of
Afghanistan. The growing trend of so-called “green on blue”
killings, Afghan soldiers turning their weapons on their U.S.
advisors, is driving a nervous wedge between coalition forces
and the native troops whose successful training will precipitate
their exit. We are, of course, at war against ignorance, against
tribalism. In the history of the planet, no army has fought and
won in Afghanistan, and America’s mission has been murky, at
best, since the decimation of the Taliban in 2001. I have no
idea why we’re there or what we’re hoping to accomplish. The
all-but admittedly corrupt Afghan president, who stole the
election in 2009, is a dope fiend and a liar who exploits his
people much the same way the resurgent Taliban oppresses them.
There is nothing to win, there. And, despite Senator John
McCain’s war-mongering and Governor Mitt Romney’s political
opportunism, I am quite certain more troops staying longer will
also gain us absolutely nothing. And, now, the very forces our
strategy relies upon to allow us to finally leave are,
incredulously, lousing up the plan by shooting US troops. I
suppose they hate us and want us to leave. We’re anxious to
leave but first these guys have to be trained and certified. As
we train them, as they become proficient, they start killing our
guys.
America has never been equipped to fight a tribal war. A war on
ignorance is simply not winnable. A war against an ideal,
against deeply-embedded traditions and mindsets, is a waste of
blood and treasure. If we are unwilling to go in and nuke them
off the face of the planet, anything short of that is a fool’s
errand unworthy of the brave men and women who serve. We should
not be nation-building in Afghanistan. Our goal should not be a
stable democracy in places where such a concept is totally
alien.
This week marks 12 years and 2,000 U.S. armed forces lost in
this mission with no perceptible goal and no perceptible end.
May God bless, protect and keep every American, every coalition
partner, working to protect and improve lives in that theater.
CONTINUED
