Afghan War -- Getting Worse

Soon we will be marking the completion of the ninth year of war in Afghanistan and there is little to show that any progress is being made with the war. More and more every day it is starting to look like a replay of the Vietnam War. Just as in Vietnam, we are trying to impose our own style of government on the Afghanis and failing miserably. So far, all we have accomplished is to establish a corrupt puppet government that is not accepted anywhere outside of the capital city of Kabul.

We don't have anywhere near enough troops to stabilize the country (if such a thing is even possible). We send our troops in to stabilize a small section of the country and succeed in that, but when the troops leave to do the same in another part of the country the enemy moves right back in. So while the fighting and dying continues, nothing lasting is accomplished.

Even the American military leadership is starting to sound as if they aren't sure if any progress is being made. General Petraeus says one day that the enemy is showing signs of desperation, and then the next day says that we may not be able to meet President Obama's timetable for withdrawal. The truth is that if victory in the war is the mark of success then we will be there for many more years.

Instead of getting desperate, the Taliban actually seems to be getting more effective in their ability to wage the war. They seem to be figuring out how to fight the war and turn it to their advantage. In fact, the month of June set a record in lethality for Western troops. At least 102 soldiers from the Western nations died in June, with 58 of them being Americans -- and there is little to nothing to show for it. We are no closer to winning than we were several years ago, and the Afghan government shows no signs of being able to conduct the war without us.

If this was simply a matter of defeating another army the war would have been over a long time ago. We are probably the best at that sort of thing. But what we are really trying to do is engage in nation-building and attempting to do it at the point of a gun. And we should have learned in Vietnam that is something no one can do against a determined enemy with the support of a large part of the population.

Someday we are going to have to admit that we have done all we can do and leave. It would save the lives of a lot of Americans (and our allies) if we did that sooner rather than later. Just like the last few years of the Vietnam War, we now just seem to be fighting because of our pride and not in hopes of ultimate victory. Is that pride worth any more American lives?