It’s hard to believe that it has been 10 years since the invasion and the euphoria that seemed to result from the “quick victory” in Afghanistan. I know some people will argue the long costly fight has been worth it but I really can’t find a single thing that the 10 years has accomplished, other than making the region (Pakistan and the 5 “Stan” countries in the immediate area) far more unstable and ripe for extremism.
It is America’s longest war and the coalition has been there longer than the Soviets.
We seem to be good at celebrating anniversaries like 9/11 but it’s not quite as popular or correct to recognize this war and the incredible loss of life and waste of resources.
Let’s hope (beyond hope) that there won’t be a 20th Anniversary.
It is a coalition in Afghanistan and there were high hopes that we would be delivering some good to the Afghan people but once again, the foreign powers have let the people down. I can only imagine things get worse as the people will fear siding with the coalition for fear of retaliation from the Taliban.
Also, Pakistan has zero interest in having a stable Afghanistan. They fear a strong Afghanistan will side with India, leaving them surrounded by enemies.
As long as Pakistan is given a free pass to allow the Taliban/Al Qaeda to take refuge within their borders, there is no hope for Afghanistan and the people will just continuing suffering. That suffering just adds incentive for them to get revenge so we will create another generation of terrorists.
When will we ever learn to go into a country with a strong military plan and a rebuilding plan, and then stick to it without turning attention to other distractions (ie. Iraq). For all the money, lost lives and overwhelming superiority in soldiers, technology and weapons, we have accomplished next to nothing.
**I was just reading an article the other day where McChrystal said we are halfway towards achieving our objectives in Afghanistan. Half. Way. **
Yes, and he was criticized by saying derogatory things in a Rolling Stone article a few years back even though it turns out he was largely correct. David Petraeus even said we would be there for our generation and maybe our children’s generation but those words are dismissed for fear of a public outrage. I think they are both wrong, we will be there until we decide to pull out but there will never be a glorious exit.
It is a shame though because we had the chance to actually do some good and make the world safer. The world was united in the effort to stamp out extreme Islam and once the Taliban were knocked out, we could have swooped in with massive nation building efforts to show the potential extremists that our system is better for the people. It would have also sent a message to the neighboring countries like Uzbekistan that their extremism is a waste of time.
Instead, the opposite has happened and the Taliban are stronger than ever, poppy production is higher than ever and the people have no confidence that the coalition will stay and protect them so they have little choice but to side with the Taliban. Add to that mix the role of Pakistan and the growing fundamentalism in the “Stan” countries surrounding Afghanistan and we have made the world far more dangerous now than it was on 9/12. And for all that, we spend billions and have lost a lot of good men.