Complete Failure in Afghanistan

Eisenhower's words echo through time, a warning not heeded during the disastrous conflict in Vietnam in the 1960s and 70s, and again ignored over the last two decades.

How many billions in taxpayer money was wasted funding the corrupt Afghani and Iraqi governments we propped up? How many good men and women in our armed forces - who deserved better than to be sacrificed for a cause not supported by the local populace who did not ask for, nor want, to become the latest American state - have died?

Far too many. Over 4,550 in Iraq and another 3,793+ in Afghanistan as of 2018, to be exact. This does not include the civilians killed in country, nor the families of veterans who have been impacted here at home.

So, now as our countrymen flee Afghanistan, I consider, why the hell were we there?

Well, invading Afghanistan in 2001 was just. That made sense. But, then we stayed.

Some said it was to spread democracy. Yeah right. You can lead a horse to water...

No, it was all about power, and later, about vanity.

Vietnam was justified by some as fighting communism and preventing its spread. But, even though the Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam won the war, communism did not spread. In fact, they were later invaded by the Chinese, whose butts were kicked in short order.

Now, Vietnam is considered a close ally of the United States. Ironic.

The wars in the Middle East were justified by some as fighting "terrorism," the boogeyman replacing communism after the end of the Cold War.

Those wars were about power in that they projected the might of the U.S. throughout the Middle East. It is no coincidence the United States invaded the countries both east and west of Iran. Classic pincer action.

And even when it was clear no amount of nation building nor capturing the "hearts and minds" of locals would ever lead to the optimized vision the U.S. had for either Iraq or Afghanistan, our government doggedly continued its mission.

This is where vanity came into play. We had just invested too much already, war hawks said, to pull out.

This is the military industrial complex at work.

During the height of the conflicts in both countries, circa the mid- to late-2000s, the local Army Proving Ground near my home town was testing and pumping out Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles and other weapons of war with great haste. Somebody was getting very rich.

Now, those vehicles are in the hands of our enemy because it was too costly to ship them back home.

This just means the arms companies have an excuse to create more and more weapons to replace those conveniently left behind, because now we have too, some will say.

Now, armed with American weapons of war, warlords in Afghanistan may be more powerful than ever.

Was that the end game? Was the entire effort to ensure war would never cease? That there would always be a reason to keep the military industrial complex humming along? It is a very real possibility.

Still, the absolute collapse of the corrupt Afghanistan regime and evacuation of American allies in Kabul is a sad thing to watch. I was not alive during the fall of Saigon, but it seems very comparable.

Will America ever learn policing the world is not in our best interest?

Not likely.