Two days after President Obama announced that he was sending 30,000 more American troops to Afghanistan, I find myself very conflicted. I, like any other American, want every reasonable effort made to protect this country from the threat of terrorism. I initially supported the war in Afghanistan; in late 2001, it WAS a war against those responsible for 9.11. It was a just war waged for solid, supportable reasons. Eight years later, I find my resolve (and my support) crumbling. Once again, we're engaged in nation-building...only in this case we're attempting to rebuild a country largely still mired in the Stone Age and burdened by a phenomenally inept and astonishingly corrupt government. When the police and army charged with protecting the people instead terrorize and steal from them, when government officials from top to bottom have their hands out looking for bribes before performing their jobs, when the government controls only a few population centers and almost none of the countryside...are we really accomplishing anything of value? I wish I could say that we were making a difference, defeating terrorism and helping Afghans rebuild their country into a modern, functional, and healthy democracy. I wish I could say that, but there's no truth to be found in that sort of statement, is there?
What disturbs me more than anything is the historical context in which all of this is occurring. The British couldn't "solve" or "fix" Afghanistan. Neither could the Soviets. Do we really have ANY sound basis to believe that American might will make Afghanistan right? Our experience in Vietnam should have clearly demonstrated the limits of American exceptionalism and arrogance. Instead, we find ourselves slipping ever farther down the slippery slope into a war without apparent end. As one who came of age during the Vietnam War, I can't escape the comparison. No, Afghanistan is not Vietnam, and I'm not about to assert that we've learned nothing at all from that experience. Even so, I have to wonder about an exercise in nation-building that's into a ninth year with no light at the end of the tunnel.
How many more of our sons and daughters have to come home in flag-draped boxes before we demand an end to the carnage? I wish I knew, because I fear that, while we have a seemingly endless supply of flags, coffins, and bodies to fill them, we have no clear idea of how to extricate ourselves from an unwinnable war of attrition.
WE DESERVE BETTER.
